Back East

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TONIGHT Saturday Dec 29 - Mahasamatman (me, Chris Eubank, Shannon Morrow) have been added last-minute to the Nightlight benefit show lineup. Des Ark and Max Indian are playing too.

NEXT SATURDAY Jan 5 - Pykrete (plus Robert Biggers ) along with Phil Blank, Dom Flemons and lots more:

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And while I’m self-promoting, I should mention a couple of upcoming shows in New York:

January 7 - Suzanne Thorpe, Betsey Biggs, Ayako Kataoka, Chuck Johnson (flute, steel guitar, electronics, video) - ParisLondonWestNile at 285 Kent Ave, in Williamsburg.

January 11 - Pauline Oliveros and Miya Masaoka with CC Three (Oliveros, Suzanne Thorpe, Chuck Johnson) - Renee Weiler Concert Hall at 46 Barrow St in Manhattan.

Semester roundup

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Fall 2007 at Mills is now a thing of the past. Here’s a sampling of how I’ve spent my time over the past five months.

Fluvial Cortex - for trombone and electronics. This is a recording from the finale concert for the composition seminar taught by Roscoe Mitchell. I wrote a patch in pure data that consists of a bank of sine wave oscillators tuned to a 7-limit just intonation D minor scale. I wanted to utilize Lisser Hall’s acoustic character, trombonist Andy Strain’s skill with multiphonics, and the microtonal possibilities of his instrument. The score instructs him to move through the space, playing intervals derived from a tintinnabulist, just D minor triad, then playing glissandi between closely tuned intervals in the scale. The trombone is unamplified and Andy is essentially playing from inside the electronically generated sound creating beat patterns against the sine waves. The final three minutes feature samples from Cortex Trigger, a small ensemble piece I composed for another project in the seminar.

The Pacer - A mix created from home environment recordings made by myself and other students in Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening Seminar. The title refers to the labrador retriever who would run laps every night in the parking lot under my window.

Here are a couple of recordings from the Thursday Night Special series at Mills:

An improvised piece with me on prepared steel guitar and Jordan Glenn on drums.

A performance by the Pykrete Choir - Jason Hoopes on electronics, Amanda Schoofs on vocals and me on analog electronics and feedback loops.

Concert

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