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Macumbista Blog Sound art, noise, metal & etc. Please subscribe to my blog via MySpace, or use the RSS link below in your favorite newsreader. I can also be reached at derek --at--- umatic.nl

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Derek Holzer


Last Updated: 5/9/2009

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Thursday, July 09, 2009 

Category: Travel and Places
Rokolectiv Soundcamp
Star Dome, Rucar, Romania
27.07 – 02.08.2009

Artists:
Suzana Dan, Sergiu Doroftei, Camil Dumitrescu, Ion Dumitrescu, Derek Holzer, Catalin Matei, Eric Minkkinen, Paul Popescu, Daniel Stanciu

With support from AFCN - Romanian Ministry of Culture

Partners: MNAC Lab, Ableton Live, Collectif Mu, CTM Berlin, Star Dome s.r.l.

Rokolectiv Soundcamp is a seven days artistic residency for sound experiments and field recording. Ten artists will work out of the urban context in a studio hosted by the prototype of the Star Dome in Rucar, an innovative house turned into a space for artistic residency. Star Dome is a modular dwelling, one of the few sustainable architecture structures in Romania.

Rokolectiv Soundcamp promotes an artistic and cultural research, an investigation of the natural landscape with its acoustic and language peculiarities. The project consists of individual field recording sessions, as well as workshops, panels and debates for and with the artists involved. The works realized during the residency will be gathered on a promotional CD.

Rokolectiv Soundcamp is the follow up of European Sound Delta, a broader sound art project co-organized by Rokolectiv in summer 2008, when international artists took part in a mobile residency navigating upstream on the Rhine and Danube. 

If you wish to say hi you are invited to join us at Rucar between July 27th and August 2nd. The access to the Romanian mountain resort can be done by public buses which leave daily from Bucharest or by train to Brasov, and then by local shuttles to Rucar.

For further info feel free to contact us at: info@rokolectiv.ro

Significant Other

An Estonian friend joked with me once that while some people carry around photos of their girlfriends, I have photos of my synthesizers. In keeping with that thought...after my almost completely disastrous weekend in Copenhagen (even the moon let me down), I decided to focus on something real this week. So this is a preview of a new case I'm working on--a clone of the Buchla 200e. Still some things left to do, as you can see, before I start putting the modules in. Big thanks to Ingo Fröhlich for help with the woodwork!



Now Playing

cabaret voltaire-2x45[1982 rough trade]
emeralds-allegory of allergies[2007 gods of tundra]
hive mind-a feast within cs[2009 gods of tundra]
jarboe-mahakali[2008 the end]
mircea eliade-shamanism: archaic techniques of ecstasy book[1964]
mrtyu!-ornate shroud[2009 fauna sabbatha]
nadja & black boned angel-nadja & black boned angel[2009 20 buck spin]
neurosis & jarboe-neurosis & jarboe[2003 neurot]
swans-children of god+world of skin[1997 young god]
swans-filth+body to body, job to job[2000 young god]
yellow swans-mort aux vaches[2009 staalplaat]
12:48 
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Sunday, July 05, 2009 

Category: Dreams and the Supernatural
Friday 3 July, Copenhagen: The trip that defied planning. Waiting for money which has not been paid, unable to find the keys to the flat where I'm supposed to stay, phone on it's last legs, friends far away and not sure I know anything about love any more. But somehow, I woke up here:



(yes, you can click to enlarge it...)

Another place which I expect to be sleeping in the near future:



For the curious, some upcoming events:

27 Jul-03 Aug: Symposium, Star Dome, Rucăr, Romania
10-16 Aug: Sommercampworkstation, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
17-22 Aug: AVAMAA, Moks, Mooste, Estonia
07-08 Sep: Oscillations Festival, Belfast, North Ireland
15:15 
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 

Category: Music
I have a new instrument-building workshop coming up 10-16 August 2009 at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin. See details below. Co-conspirators in the Sommercamp Workstation project include Martin Howse, Carsten Stabenow and Medialab Prado (Madrid).

Please also check out Martin Howse's upcoming Breakthrough event, 27 June also here in Berlin.



Sommercamp Workstation workshop cluster B
Re:Discovering Sound — an Instrument-building Workshop

The process of instrument creation sits in direct opposition to the that of instrument virtuosity. Rather than bend one’s artistic expression around the rigid, predefined form of a traditional music instrument, imagination takes flight and new possibilities are created. Like Neanderthals or small children, we are astounded that the sounds we have invented are actually our own.

This collection of three simultaneous workshop nodes–DEERHORNS, HALLDOROPHONES and ACOUSTIC LAPTOPS–explores the use of radio waves, the electromagnetism of the human body, strings under tension, the resonance of hollow structures and various found objects to invent new types of sound instruments. Each of these deeply personal creations is free to live in ignorance of any musical theories, thus having the potential for both sonic and visual excitement.

Participants may choose which node of the workshop they would like to start with, however cross-talk and collaboration between these nodes is encouraged. The workshop will end with a presentation/performance on the final Saturday of the summercamp, and an “open day” on the Sunday where the general public is invited to hands-on exploration of the instruments which have been created.

Each workshop node is limited to 10 places, so please pre-register! (see below)

Workshop nodes:

1] DEERHORNS with Ciat Lonbarde/Peter Blasser
Without musical intention, there is still your body intention, and how you place it in space. Firmness reflects, and so do all your other movements. The Deerhorn project, created by electro-mystic Ciat Lonbarde/Peter Blasser, is aimed at creating new instruments out of the original radio Theremin concept. Participants will collaborate in the construction of a playable, site-specific installation in the large hall of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
http://www.ciat-lonbarde.net/
http://www.ciat-lonbarde.net/deerhorn/index.html
http://www.ciat-lonbarde.net/deerhornprovidence.mov

2] HALLDOROPHONES with Halldor Ulfarsson
Halldorophones are electro-acoustic string instruments which send the sound from their pickups back into it’s body. When the sound has traveled full-circle, it vibrates the strings again and creates an infinite sustain which the player can affect in different ways. Participants in this workshop will use found or constructed hollow forms along with simple pickups, amps and loudspeakers to create their own resonant instruments.
http://www.myspace.com/halldorophone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKMkTSENTIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPfGKaqCwRs

3] ACOUSTIC LAPTOPS with Tore Honoré Bøe
For many years, Tore “Origami Boe” has been creating, playing and passing on his “acoustic laptops”: a selection of wood boxes with various tiny objects attached; springs, stones, metal, rubber, string, needles, memorabilia - amplified by old-school contact mikes and pick-ups. Participants with & without musical interests will be invited to create their own unique acoustic laptop to start touching the sounds and drawing pictures in free air.
http://kunst.no/origami/boe/2.3-010.html
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011575&id=1591068802&l=c8e56f53b0

Facilitation by Derek Holzer
Derek Holzer’s interest in new forms of sound creation and performance have led him from computer programming in Pure Data to Theremins, “Neanderthal electronics”, long-string instruments and the possibilities of visual or drawn opto-electronic sound. For this workshop, his main concern will be the synthesis of the different approaches to instrument creation being presented.
http://www.myspace.com/macumbista
http://www.umatic.nl/tonewheels.html
http://www.vimeo.com/album/64426

Each workshop node is limited to 10 places, so please pre-register! This registration is a first indication or preference, cross-talk and collaboration between these nodes is encouraged.

The workshop fee is 50 Euro for the week.

Registration Form >>>>

Now Playing

l'Acephale - Malefeasance [2009 Aurora Borealis]
Ash Ra Temple - New Age of Earth [1976]
Burmese - Burmese is Dead [1998 Death Wish]
Burmese & Cadaver Eyes - Split [2008 Heart & Crossbone]
Carlos Reygadas - Silent Light [2007](film)
C.G. Jung - The Portable Jung (edited by Joseph Campbell)(book)
Drudkh - Microcosmos [2009 Season of Mist]
Gnaw Their Tongues & Lunar Miasma & Mrtyu! & Xela - Split CDR [2009 Insult]
Group Doueh - live at Sublime Frequencies tour (Rotterdam & Berlin)
Hail/l'Acephale & Fauna - live recordings from Northwest Folklife Festival
Herman Hesse - Narcissus and Goldmund [1930](book)
Hildur Gudnadottir - Without Sinking [2009 Touch]
Kevin Drumm - Sheer Hellish Miasma [2007 reissue Editions Mego]
Mircea Eliade - Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy [1964](book)
Mudboy - Music for Any Speed 7" [2009 Lexi]
Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time [1988](book)
10:53 
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Sunday, May 24, 2009 

Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

Midnight Sun?

At 6am this morning, with about two hours sleep the night before, I left Malmö and the Art of the Overhead event and flew to Bergen, Norway. After a quick nap and yet again the price shock (EUR 8 for a beer!), I realized that it was 11 at night and the sun hadn't really gone down yet. Crazy...

I will post some videos and reviews of the Overheads event later on, but first I must repeat the mantra I learned--quite painfully--during my time in Sweden:

I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again. I will not tour without my own mixer ever again.
Three days lost and a one performance ended after 5 minutes due to stupid technical problems with borrowed mixers. Luckily I borrowed yet another mixer and managed to make it up to the very patient audience on the second night of the festival.

Up and Coming!



Next Life
Snöras
Derek Holzer and John Hegre
21.00, 30 May 2009
Landmark
Bergen Norway

Can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this one. John Hegre (of Jazkammer) has been one of my favorite people and favorite experimental musicians for years now, so playing a duo with him could end up being the highlight of this tour! Thanks again to Piksel & Ny Musikk for organizing both this and the Neanderthal Electronics workshop I'm doing here this week.




fOO_bar!
w/ macumbista (us/de)
column one (de)
'Systems Crash'
NEANDERTHAL ELECTRONICS PARTY!!!
21.00, 5 June 2009
WORM
Rotterdam, the Netherlands

'fOO_bar' is the public interface of WORM's medialab moddr_ >> a combination of presentation, installation and performance of digital art and music, showing current interests from the lab without excessive 2.0_fluff - enjoy true interactivity and have a drink while you're at it...

This night we host the closing event of our 'Neanderthal Electronics' workshop by Derek Holzer, with a presentation of the projects created during the week and a Stone-Age style group noise performance. Live on stage we have COLUMN_ONE and Macumbista, and we start the evening with "Systems Crash" - a new series of public lectures jointly organized by Piet Zwart Institute Media Design and WORM.

Plus earlier in the week I get to see Mudboy open for Lightning Bolt, and on the weekend I go play with the analog synths at the WORM studio. Who says life on the road is all that rough?

Now Playing

Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers - The Power of Myth (TV)
Emeralds - What Happened [2009 No Fun]
Jana Winderen - Heated [2009 Touch]
Jana Winderen - Surface Runoff 7" [2009 Touch]
Jason Crumer - Ottoman Black [2008 Hospital Productions]
Mika Vainio & Lucio Capece - Trahnie [2009 Editions Mego]
Minsk - With Echoes in the Movement of Stone [2009 Relapse]
Nate Young - Regression [2009 Ideal Recordings]
Natural Snow Buildings - Daughter of Darkness 5XCS [2009 Blackest Rainbow]
Nicholas Szczepanik - The Chiasmus [2009 Basses Frequences]
Our Love Will Destroy the World - Stillborn Plague Angels vinyl [2009 Dekorder]
Pärson Sound - Pärson Sound [1968]
Peter Wright - Snow Blind [2009 Install]
Prurient - And Still, Wanting [2008 Hospital Productions]
Prurient - The Black Post Society [2008 Cold Spring]
Stephan Mathieu - The Key to the Kingdom 7" [2009 Dekorder]
Stephen O'Malley - Keep an Eye Out [2009 Table of Elements]
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions [2009 Southern Lord] (bit of a dud, really...they are overcome by their own artiness...)
Swans - Omniscience [1992 Young God]
Unknown 1970s Thai psychedelic orchestra
Wolf Eyes - Always Wrong [2009 Hospital Productions]
17:45 
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 

Category: Music

Neanderthal Electronics workshop Derek Holzer



Slideshow from the Neanderthal Electronics workshop last week in Berlin, photos by Farahnaz Hatam/NK. There are still places for the Norway and Netherlands workshops open!

BERGEN, NO

***DATES: Monday 25 May - Friday 29 May 2009 10.00-16.00 daily
***LOCATION: Lydgalleriet, Østre Skostredet 3, Bergen, Norway
***COST: 500 NOK (approx 56 EUR)
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Friday 29 May, 19.00, Lydgallerie
***REGISTRATION: post@lydgalleriet.no +47 48 23 78 88
This workshop is a collaboration with Piksel.no

ROTTERDAM, NL

***DATES: Monday 1 June - Friday 5 June 2009 11.00-18.00 daily
***LOCATION: WORM, Achterhaven 148, Rotterdam
***COST: 50 EUR
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Friday 5 June, 21.00, WORM, 5 EUR entry
***REGISTRATION: workshop@moddr.net

TONEWHEELS at The Art of the Overhead, Malmö



I will be in Malmö, Sweden next week to perform the TONEWHEELS set at the Art of the Overhead festival...an event dedicated entirely to sonic and visual arts with the overhead projector!

http://www.overheads.org/

S C H E D U L E

S E M I N A R
MONDAY May 22
10.00 - 12.00 Home Made Media Archaeology at Stapelbäddsparken with prof dr. Verena Kuni (de)
The seminar is presented in collaboration with MEDEA, Collaborative Media Initiative, Malmö University.

P E R F O R M A N C E W E E K E N D
FRIDAY May 22
18.30 Exhibition Opening
20.00-00.00
Junichi Okuyama (jp)
Kunst & Musik mit dem Tageslichtprojektor (de)
Derek Holzer (us/de)
170 cm (fr)
Reassemble (uk)

SATURDAY May 23
14 – 17.00
Rune Søchting & Zeenath Hasan (dk)
Maria Karagianni (gr)
Alistair Gentry (uk)
Eva Elander (nl)
Jan Holmberg (se) 

20.00-01.00
Goodiepal (dk)
Loud Objects (us)
Katrin Bethge & für diesen abend (de)
Milk Milk Lemonade (de)
Raumzeitpiraten (de)
Martin Haussmann (de) & Desinformation (se)

P S Y C H E D E L I C C L O S I N G P A R T Y
SATURDAY May 30
20.00 Finissage
Ohpia with Mickey Guitar (jp)
Kristian Nihlén (se)
John Wentworth (se)
VJ Mako Ishizuka & DJ (jp/se)
"OH-istory! A Genealogy of The Art of the Overhead" by Kristoffer Gansing & Linda Hilfling

O H P e n S u r f a c e W o r k s h o p
17-21 May
The Ohpen Surface workshop is an artist driven workshop. It works as an artist-knowledge-exchange where participating artists are developing their own projects for the festival, but also with the possibility of artists showing a specific technique to others. The workshop is co-organized and supervised by "Kunst und Musik mit den Tageslichts-projektor".

ADDRESS:
Stapelbäddsparken - the large concrete building along Stora Varvsgatan, West Harbour, Malmö.

Now Playing

Hecker - Acid in the Style of David Tudor [2009 Editions Mego]
Peter Rehberg - Work for GV 2004-2008 [2008 Editions Mego]
Pita - Get Out [2008 Editions Mego version]
Whitehouse - Erector [1981 Susan Lawley]
jgrzinich - Time's Arrow Landing [1998/2009 Maaheli Editions]
Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus [1984 S.S.T.]
Earth - Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars Live [2006 No Quarter]

11:12 
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Sunday, May 03, 2009 

Category: Travel and Places


Northern Ireland, 26 April 2009

A long time ago, I promised myself that for every week I spend traveling to do workshops or gigs behind the computer or in front of electronics, I would give myself one day in nature. This was one of those rare times where it actually worked out. Thanks to Richard Davis from Queen Street Digital Studios in Belfast for the opportunity!

The show last Wednesday with Column One and Burial Hex went down well. Thanks to everyone who came out! Unfortunately for me, a cable crapped out on my recorder, so I only have my set in mono... The gig on the 10th with Pure and Habsyll at Raum 18 should be great too. Don't let the new venue throw you...the only neighbors are a Turkish wedding hall, which means noise will never be an issue! But first, I have to survive the Neanderthal Electronics workshop at NK next week.

I'm looking for someone to sublet my flat in Berlin while I'm away from 20 May to approx 15 June. Rent is EUR 10 a night, minimum one week. Also, I'll be passing through Paris on 8 June and would love to do a workshop or a gig. Get in touch if you can help either way!

Now Playing
Bodychoke - Cold River Songs CD [1996/2009 Relapse reissue]
Calcination - Calcination CD [2009 Utech] (Thx Antoine!!!)
Antoine Chessex - Terra Incognita amazing gatefold 12" [2009 Amphissa] (Thx Antoine!!!)
House of Low Culture - Live from the House of Low Temperature one-sided, screen-printed 12" [2008 2XHNI] (Thx Aaron!!!)
Merzbow & Pan Sonic - V CD (live at Victoriaville, 2002) [2003 Victo]
Merzbow - Karasu (13 Japanese Birds Part 4) CD [2009 Important]
Moss - Tombs of the Blind Drugged CD [2009 Rise Above]
Mudboy - Mudmux Volume One 7'' [2008 DNT]
Haunted Castle - Sagging Skull and Street Beast CS [2006/2007 Self Released]
Einstürzende Neubauten/Sogo Ishii - Halber Mensch film [1986]
Victor Pelevin - Babylon post-Soviet Buddhist critique of New Russian advertising culture novel (???)
Vince Collins - Malice in Wonderland unbelievably twisted/perversely surreal animation [1982]

17:56 
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Friday, April 17, 2009 

Category: Music


Upcoming Berlin gigs!




Now Playing

Josh Lay - Heirophant (Sentient Recognition Archive)
Nicholas Szczepanik - Mi Otra Mitad 3" CD (Basses Frequences)
Monno - Ghosts 12" (Conspiracy)
Herman Hesse - Steppenwolf (book)
Carl Gustav Jung - Man and His Symbols (book)
Robin Hardy - The Wicker Man (1973)(film)
Daniel Higgs - Hymnprovisations for Banjo by the A.I.U. with Piano and Raindrops (iDEAL)
The Bastard Noise - Rogue Astronaut (Gravity)
Xasthur - All Reflections Drained (Hydra Head)

18:14 
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Friday, April 10, 2009 

Category: Dreams and the Supernatural



New TONEWHEELS macro-videos by Eyes_For_Ears
cuT 31[RGB]-TONEWHEELS filmed by Eyes_For_Ears from macumbista on Vimeo.

TONEWHEELS Macro-video recorded by Jérôme Fino/Eyes_For_Ears at Styx Project Space Berlin, Nov 2008. Eyes_For_Ears released a high-contrast, black and white version this video on his own Vimeo page (vimeo.com/jrm).


cuT 30[draft]-TONEWHEELS filmed by Eyes_For_Ears from macumbista on Vimeo.

TONEWHEELS Macro-video recorded by Jérôme Fino/Eyes_For_Ears at Styx Project Space Berlin, Nov 2008. Eyes_For_Ears decided not to release this video on his own Vimeo page (vimeo.com/jrm), so cuT_30 on his site is by Jean-François Blanquet. Thumbnail image by Vincent Schenck (www.eretsua.com).

International Noise Conference, Berlin 14 April 2009

19.30-01.00
Galerie Wallywoods
Berliner Allee 125
13088 Berlin-Weißensee
http://www.wallywoods.com

I'll be playing a short set with all the other wackos at this massive noise event coming up next week. The rules are simple: 15 minutes max, no drones, no laptops. This conference is taking place all over the goddamned world this spring (or at least in Europe, the States and Korea).  See squelchers.net/inc.htm for details.



Now Playing

Pure - Ification (Crónica)
Cem Güney - Praxis (Crónica)
Tomoko Sauvage - Ombrophilia (to be released on and/OAR)
Yannick Dauby, Olivier Feraud, John Grzinich, Hitoshi Kojo, Patrick McGinley - Revenant : Topolò (Prele)
Bone Awl - Night's Middle 7" (Klaxon/Nuclear War Now)
Armanenschaft - Psychedelic Winter (Primitive Reaction)
Ancestortooth - Elephant Boneyard (Woodsmoke)
Heavy Winged - Spreading Center (1Way)
Unearthly Trance & Minsk - Split 7"(Parasitic Records)





19:22 
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Thursday, April 02, 2009 

Category: Music
Neanderthals Electronics workshops on tour April-June 2009!


Neanderthal Electronics workshop, Tartu Estonia from macumbista on Vimeo.

.:::DATES + CITIES:::.

20-24 Apr: Queen St. Studios, Belfast UK
04-09 May: eNKa, Berlin DE
25-29 May: Lydgalleriet, Bergen NO
01-05 Jun: WORM, Rotterdam NL

.:::NEANDERTHAL ELECTRONICS:::.

More than 40,000 years ago, our Neanderthal predecessors invented the first music instruments from simple objects around them (bones and stones, sticks and skins...), without reference to any existing music history, and primarily for their own pleasure rather than that of others.

Nowadays, we use complex audio hardware and software which make it "easier" to make music, so long as we channel our creativity into such socially acceptable avenues as Western Classical or Minimal Techno. As with any established genre, the results are often completely predictable, and therefore quite boring.
 
But some of us, deep in our wild hearts, still long for the Stone Age simplicity of pure noise!

This 5 day workshop is designed for 8-10 people, possibly with a background in sound, but with no previous electronics experience. They are shown how to use simple objects from our modern environment (resistors, capacitors, transistors, LEDs, integrated circuit chips...) to design and build their own personal, customized primitive noise synthesizers. Each is a tiny world of its own, using primitive analog computers in combination with feedback, sensors and audio inputs to create a unique sound. Even from the same plan, no two are alike!

Participants are encouraged to use found materials for the construction of their personal instrument. The workshop concludes with a group performance and an invitation to the audience to experiment with each of the instruments which have been created.

.:::VIDEOS FROM PREVIOUS WORKSHOPS::::.

http://www.vimeo.com/album/64426 

.:::ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:::.

Derek Holzer (1972) is an American sound artist living in Berlin, whose current interests include DIY analog electronics, sound art, field recording and the meeting points of electroacoustic, noise, improv and heavy metal music. He has played live experimental sound as Macumbista or Derek Holzer--as well as taught workshops in Pure Data and electronics--across Europe, North America, Brazil and New Zealand.
http://blog.myspace.com/macumbista 
http://www.vimeo.com/macumbista 
http://www.umatic.nl/info_derek.html 

.:::REGISTRATION INFO:::.

Please register early for all workshops, as they are limited to 10 places each! All workshop fees include electronic components + use of tools.

BELFAST

***DATES: Monday 20 April - Friday 24 April 2009 10.00-16.00 daily
***LOCATION: Digital Arts Studios, 37-39 Queen Street Belfast BT1 6EA
***COST: This workshop is FREE!
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Saturday, 25 April 2009 9pm til late. Catalyst Arts, 5 College Court Belfast BT1 6BX. £5 donation welcome.
***REGISTRATION: events@digitalartsstudios.com or phone 02890312900

BERLIN

***DATES: Monday 4 May - Saturday 9 May 2009 12.00-18.00 daily
***LOCATION: eNKa / ElsenStr. 52 (2.Hof) Berlin, Germany
***COST: 120 EUR
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Saturday 9 May, 19.00, eNKa
***REGISTRATION: eNKa_NK@gmx.de www.myspace.com/enka52 +49 (0)176 20626386

BERGEN

***DATES: Monday 25 May - Friday 29 May 2009 10.00-16.00 daily
***LOCATION: Lydgalleriet, Østre Skostredet 3, Bergen, Norway
***COST: 500 NOK (approx 56 EUR)
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Friday 29 May, 19.00, Lydgallerie
***REGISTRATION: post@lydgalleriet.no +47 48 23 78 88
This workshop is a collaboration with Piksel.no

ROTTERDAM

***DATES: Monday 1 June - Friday 5 June 2009 11.00-18.00 daily
***LOCATION: WORM, Achterhaven 148, Rotterdam
***COST: 50 EUR
***FINAL PRESENTATION: Friday 5 June, 21.00, WORM, 5 EUR entry
***REGISTRATION: workshop@moddr.net
12:35 
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Sunday, March 29, 2009 

Category: Parties and Nightlife



Noise=Noise, Goldsmiths London, 18 March 2009 from macumbista on Vimeo.

Live AV noise performance "Noise=Noise" at Goldsmiths University, London. Hacked hardware, screaming circuits, hypnotic digital flickers. Video features Mick Grierson (video performance), John Bowers (GEM video + noise), Julien Ottavi (kung-fu wii), John Richards (cracklewig + light&sound) and Derek Holzer (optoelectronic tonewheels). Organized by Ryan Jordan. No thanks to the wanker tools at the Student Union who forced us to change venues midway through...

Side note: I've been having a bitch of a time getting videos to play right with Vimeo. They stutter like mad. If anyone has any advice for me on how to encode stuff so that you don't need the latest dual-core to watch a simple video, let me know...

Now Playing
Victor Pelevin - The Sacred Book of the Werewolf (novel)
Barn Owl - From Our Mouths a Perpetual Light [2009 Digitalis]
Habsyll - MMVIII [2009 PsycheDOOMelic]
Isis - Wavering Radiant [2009 Ipecac]
Kevin Drumm - Malaise [2009 Hospital Productions]
Merzbow - Suzume (13 Japanese Birds Part 1) [2009 Important]
Merzbow - Fukurou (13 Japanese Birds Part 2) [2009 Important]
Merzbow - Yurikamome (13 Japanese Birds Part 3) [2009 Important]
Roman Polanski - Rosemary's Baby (film)




16:00 
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Friday, March 06, 2009 

Category: Travel and Places


18 MAR: NOISE=NOISE, Goldsmiths, London UK


6pm-9pm Wednesday 18 March 2009 FREE
Small Cinema, Goldsmiths University
FREE

John Bowers
Disinformation
Mick Grierson
Derek Holzer
Ryan Jordan
Martin L
Julien Ottavi
John Richards

19 MAR: TONEWHEELS lecture+performance, Thursday Club @ Goldmsiths, London UK



6pm Thursday 19 March 2009
Seminar Roooms, Ben Pimlott Building, Goldsmiths University
FREE

20 MAR: Blinking Ears presents Electroacoustic Performances, E:Vent Gallery, London UK



8:30pm-1am Friday 20 March 2009
E:vent, 96 Teesdale Street
5 POUNDS

Derek Holzer
Joel Cahen
Leafcutter John
Lina Lapelyte
Peter Cusak
+ DJ Alex Czinczel

24 MAR: Future of Sound/Future of Light, Goldsmiths, London UK



Symposium: Media Resources Building, Screen 1, 2pm-6pm, Free  

Andrey Smirnov  (keynote speaker) http://asmir.theremin.ru/
Jo Hutton myspace.com/johuttonmusic
Derek Holzer www.umatic.nl/tonewheels_historical.html
Rob Mullender      http://silentlight.blogspot.com/
Dr. Mick Grierson mickgrierson.co.uk/
 
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Monday, March 02, 2009 

Category: Music

Derek Holzer Live @ Die Remise, Berlin 1 Mar 2009 from macumbista on Vimeo.

I was once told by my Butoh teacher, Joan Laage, that there is much more life in darkness than we take for granted. Turn over any stone in the garden and you will find a million living things twisting about, crawling over one another and skittering across the earth--all driven by the basest instinct to escape the light.

An improvised exploration of self-modulating synthesizer feedback. During the soundcheck, one of my Doepfer modules actually caught fire. The first thing which the audience encountered when descending into the small basement of Die Remise was the smell of burnt plastic.



Burned Doepfer A-136 Distortion/Waveshaper module

To those in Berlin: if you haven't had the chance to enjoy an evening of dinner+concert at Die Remise, I can highly recommend it. Excellent food and great atmosphere. A nice change from the usual smelly bars and squats or sterile white cube galleries.

Video: Pippa Buchanan/Edits: DH

My apologies for the poor audio recording quality. If someone has a small video camera with a proper line/mic input they would like to give up, please let me know!

ps...pls let me know if you get crappy framerate with this clip, I'm still working out my settings for Vimeo...
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Friday, February 20, 2009 

Category: Dreams and the Supernatural



"It's not that I don't like people. I just feel better when they're not around."
--Mickey Rourke as Charles Bukowski, Barfly

I'm at the end of a pretty heavy load: five workshops in four different cities in five weeks. That must have left me pretty groggy, because I managed to miss my cheap flight home from the final workshop in Estonia last weekend. So I'm currently engaged in a sort of accidental residency at MOKS in Mooste until next week when the tickets become affordable again.



It was many degrees below zero outside when I began to write this Tuesday night, and even the deepest footprints got buried by snow within an hour. My first action was to crank up the heat in the smallest room of the building, pile every mattress I could find on the floor, throw four or five blankets on top of that and bunker myself in.



I am completely alone here. There was a shy local boy once. He showed me how to light the fire, and then I never saw him again. If I want company, there are three busses a day to the next village where Evelyn Muursepp, the organizer of MOKS and my kind benefactor this week, lives. The local grocery store is also quite an experience, resulting in my current diet of bread, cheese, pickles and vodka. Every night I throw wood into the fire at 30 minute intervals until I'm too tired to continue. Then I fill up a couple 2L Coke bottles with hot water and climb into bed with them.



Is it all worth it? Hell yes. Almost every day I spend a couple hours navigating the quiet, frozen forests of the Estonian countryside, everything covered in white and the dead black arms of the trees reaching for the gray-blue sky. I've never seen a national flag so appropriate:



Image: .Janne.

So still, with some kind of Black Metal soundtrack playing in my head..."Eternal winterrrrrrrrrr..." And Thursday afternoon--snowblind! Unimaginably intense white light, coming from all directions. I retreat into shadows of the woods until I can no longer see straight lines, right angles, Euclidean geometry, any evidence of the work of human hands...



I've started to wonder why people live in cities at all, until I remember the awful reality: there's just too damned many of them to do otherwise!
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Thursday, February 19, 2009 

Category: Music



Neanderthal Electronics: an instrument-building workshop by Derek Holzer

More than 40,000 years ago, our Neanderthal ancestors invented the first music instruments from simple objects around them (bones and stones, sticks and skins...), without reference to any existing music history, and primarily for their own pleasure rather than that of others.

Nowadays, we use complex audio hardware and software which make it "easier" to create music, so long as we channel our creativity into such socially acceptable avenues as Western Classical or Minimal Techno. As with any established genre, the results are often completely predictable, and therefore quite boring.

But some of us, deep in our wild hearts, still long for the Stone Age simplicity of pure noise!

The Neanderthal Electronics workshops are designed for approximately 8-10 people, possibly with a background in sound, but with no previous electronics experience. Over 5 days, they are shown how to use simple objects from our modern environment (resistors, capacitors, transistors, LEDs, integrated circuit chips...) to design and build their own personal, customized primitive noise synthesizers.

A final presentation allows the participants to demonstrate and play their creations, as well as allows the audience to make their own experiments with the newly built instruments.

This workshop has been realized so far at:

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark (Feb 2009)
Tartu Art Month, Tartu, Estonia (Feb 2009)

with future workshops under discussion to take place in Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia and the UK. The workshop is currently available for booking in Europe during Spring and Summer 2009.


Neanderthal Electronics workshop, Tartu Estonia from macumbista on Vimeo.


Copenhagen Noise Workshop from macumbista on Vimeo.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009 

Category: School, College, Greek



Pure Data Basics: a Project-Oriented Workshop with Derek Holzer

Wednesday 11 March - Sunday 15 March 2009
11.00-19.00 daily with one hour lunch break
Final presentation Sunday 15 March, 19.00

Location: eNKa /  ElsenStr. 52 (2.Hof) Berlin, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)176 20626386

Course Participation fee: 100 euros
Registration is required for this workshop and can only be done via email to: eNKa_NK@gmx.de
Please register early to ensure a place. Places are limited to 12. Participants should indicate ahead of time what their background and areas of interest are (sound, video, sensors, etc) as well as give a short description of any project they might want to develop during the workshop.


Pure Data is a powerful, free and open-source software environment for producing and manipulating sound, image, data and connections to sensors, motors and other "physical computing" functions, all in real time. Because the programming is done visually, many artists find it a more intuitive tool than traditional text-oriented programming languages. This 5 day workshop will cover the basic "grammar" and "vocabulary" of the Pure Data language through a mix of lecture and demonstration in the mornings and project-based mentoring in the afternoons. This workshop is open to those with no previous computer programming experience, however basic computer literacy is assumed as well as a working familiarity with either digital audio or video. A manual-in-progress for Pure Data by Derek Holzer can be found here:

http://flossmanuals.net/puredata

5 DAY CURRICULUM

DAY ONE:
1) Meeting PD: the interface and how to play with it
2) Basic PD: participants learn to make a simple synthesizer, and learn basic PD grammar in the process
3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY TWO:
1) PD audio: more on oscillators, noise, delays, feedback, filters and signal analysis for all your sonic needs
2) Events in PD: participants explore the timing of events with sequencers, delays, messages
3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY THREE:
1) Working with soundfiles: loading audio for use in samplers, granulators and other file-based sound manipulation systems
2) Basic GEM: how to create simple 3D objects, play videos and get camera input
3) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY FOUR:
1) Physical PD: an introduction to physical computing using Pure Data alongside a microcontroller-based board such as the Arduino or xxxxxAVR/HID--or even a hacked USB gamepad--to work with sensors, motors, lights, etc.
2) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects

DAY FIVE:
1) Workshop: discussions of examples and work on student projects
2) The Wrap Up: public presentation of student works + closing party.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SHOULD BRING

Essential:

1) Laptop running Linux, OS X or Windows
2) Pure Data Extended installed from: http://puredata.info/downloads (please make sure it is Extended package!)
3) Soundcard
4) Headphones

Recommended/Suggested:

1) MIDI controller/keyboard
2) Microphone/piezoelectric contact microphone
3) USB Joystick/Gamepad
4) Sensors or other input devices (please bring your own sensors if you are interested in working with them, as only a few light sensors will be provided at the workshop)
5) Small motors or motor-driven objects
6) USB webcam/Firewire camera
7) Arduino boards (Available from Segor in Berlin: www.segor.de) and/or the xxxxxAVR/HID board (http://www.1010.co.uk/avrhid.html, please inquire via the xxxxx webpage about preordering!)
8) Your own projects and ideas to realize!

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

BIOGRAPHY
Derek Holzer [USA 1972] is a sound artist with a background in radio, webstreaming and environmental recording. His work focuses on capturing and transforming small, unnoticed sounds from various natural and urban locations, networked collaboration strategies, experiments in improvisational sound and the use of free software such as Pure-Data. He has released tracks under the Nexsound, Sirr, and/OAR, Frozen Elephants Music, Mandorla and Gruenrekorder labels, and has co-initiated several internet projects for field recording and collaborative soundscapes including Soundtransit.nl. His recent projects include the opto-electronic audiovisual performance TONEWHEELS, solo performances for analog synthesizer and a manual for Pure Data. He was also co-curator of the Tuned City event for sound and architecture, which took place in Berlin during July 2008.

umatic.nl/info_derek.html
myspace.com/macumbista

20:59 
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