Plan of the evening:
1. Group Improvisation – Response to Marcin’s Exhibition
2. Chris Haworth – 2x Fixed Medium Pieces – Correlation Number One (8:32)
A<<<>>>B (10:59)
3. Milad Mardakheh – Modulating the Modular
This improvised performance utilizes the MakeNoise Modular Synthesizer, in combination with custom-made Max/MSP patches which send out to it data-driven control voltages and concatenative synthesis audio. The piece itself can be summarized as an exploration of balance in improvised performance between data-driven and performer-driven control. The used datasets in this performance are high-throughput protein fold-change data, derived from Mass-spectrometry analysis experiments conducted on cancer cells
4. Simon Smith – Exploring embodied granular synthesis
This piece works with MYO EMG bracelets that measure muscle activity and spatial position. These are connected to Kyma sound design hardware through a bespoke Max/MSP interface. He conjures granular sound processes with muscle and gestural movement.
5. Nikki and Emma Ambient Responses to hystera exhibition)
6. Group Improvisation (Finale)
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Bios:
Zach Dawson is a composer-performer based in Shropshire. His practice centres on working with lo-fi material, analogue and digital means, and appropriating software not idiomatic to the creation of music, within an electronic and conceptual music context. He releases music under the experimental electronic duo 7balcony and co-curates experimental concerts for Post-Paradise Series.
He has self-produced several records and the majority of his music, and performed his work at many festivals and concerts nationally and internationally. Recently his music has been presented at NIME 2021 (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) and BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) FEaST 2021, and his debut album with 7Balcony is soon to be released by Birmingham Record Label and NMC Records.
He is currently undertaking his PhD at the University of Birmingham and De Montfort University, supported by AHRC’s Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership.
Milad K. Mardakheh (b.1991) is an Iranian composer, sound-artist and programmer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering (B.E) and a Master’s in Music Composition from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (MMus). Milad is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at the University of Birmingham (BEAST), UK. His research can be placed at the intersection of science and art (ScienceArt). In collaboration with scientists at the Barts Cancer Institute in London, UK, Milad has been focused on the sonification of protein data, derived from the bio-molecular research of cancer cells, and utilizing the produced sonic material to create Electroacoustic/Computer-Music compositions, reflecting cancer as a disease.
Bangkok-born, Pongtorn Techaboonakho (b.1996) is a young generation Thai composer and audio engineer. He studied guitar with Chairat Pornamnuay and entered the Pre-College Program at College of Music, Mahidol University in 2012 majoring in classical guitar. In 2018, he obtained a Bachelor’s of Music at Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music (PGVIM) with a full scholarship where he studied classical guitar with Padet Netpakdee, and music composition with Anothai Nitibhon, Jean-David Caillouët and Jiradej Setabundhu.
His compositions are exploring possibilities of using acoustic instruments with digital technology. He had collaborated with many ensembles such as Ensemble TIMF (South Korea), SETTS (Singapore), BCMG (Birmingham Contemporary Music Group) and Tacet(i) (Thailand). He was a founding member and composer at Ensemble Laboratory [EnLab]. He was a recipient of Young Thai Artist Award 2020, with his recent composition, Under Pressure (2020) for ensemble. Recently, he was commissioned by Tacet(i) as a part of British Council Project 2021: UK-SEA Connections Through Culture.
Currently, he is pursuing his Master’s Degree in mixed composition at the University of Birmingham (England) under the supervision of Dr. Scott Wilson. He is also studying with a Thai composer, Piyawat Louilarpprasert.
Bio – Simon Smith is currently a technician at the University of Birmingham. In addition, he is a composer, sound artist, live electronics performer and a DJ of outsider novelty music.
Emma Margetson (1993) is an acousmatic composer and sound artist based in the Midlands, UK. She has extensive experience in multichannel composition, sound diffusion and interpretation to create highly immersive 2D & 3D sound worlds. She has recently completed a PhD in Musical Composition from the University of Birmingham funded by the AHRC Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership titled ‘Sonic Immersion: Reaching New Audiences through Sound’. Emma has collaborated with a variety of organisations including the IKON Gallery, Birmingham Hippodrome, Sampad and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, and has received a variety of awards and special mentions including, first prize in the prestigious L’Espace du Son International Spatialisation Competition by INFLUX (Musiques & Recherches), klingt gut! Young Artist Award in 2018 and Ars Electronica Forum Wallis 2019. Emma is currently a Lecturer in Sound Design at the University of Greenwich and a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Nikki Sheth is a sound artist based in Birmingham, UK. She uses field recordings to produce site-specific soundscape works that encourage a wider awareness of environmental sound. Her practice involves field recording, multi-channel soundscape composition, multimedia installations and soundwalking. She has been on field recording residencies around the world and her installation and sound works have been presented internationally. In 2020 she was awarded a Sound and Music award, nominated for the Phonurgia Nova Awards in the ‘Field Recording: Soundscape’ category and was an Honourable Mention for the Sound of the Year Awards in the ‘Composed with Sound’ category. She is a member of sound collective SOUNDkitchen.
My scholarly interests lie in the broad areas of electronic music and sound art, which I research using a mixture of historiographic, philosophical, and ethnographic research methods. In addition to my musicological work, I’m also a composer with interests in computer music, cybernetics and systems art, psychoacoustics and audio spatialisation. Earlier in my career I published widely on psychoacoustic matters in computer music, including the use of ‘auditory distortion products’ as musical material.
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We want to ensure a safe experience for everyone, and these are our safety guidelines:
– Admission is free but all visitors are politely asked to book online – we follow the booking system to secure space, but we will be accepting the drop ins if capacity allows it
– All visitors are requested to wear a face covering except those who are exempt.
– Please observe social distancing and follow one way routes.
– Hand sanitisers are available, please use them.
– If you have a high temperature, persistent cough or change in taste or smell, please visit another time.
Our staff are here to help if you have any questions and we look forward to welcoming you!
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And if you fancy making an evening of it a number of the other Digbeth based organisations will also be open late:
Eastside Projects, 86 Heath Mill Lane Birmingham, B9 4AR
Harun Morrison: Eagle & Tun Darts Night
Anyone of any ability and experience who is up for stepping up to the oche for a game of darts is welcome at the Eagle and Tun darts night. The event is hosted in the context of Harun Morrison’s exhibition Experiments with Everyday Objects, which includes items from the former pub The Eagle and Tun (including its darts board and cabinet) which were salvaged prior to its demolition last year. Walk-ins welcome
Black Hole Club alumni Michael Lightborne presents ‘Extraction: A Psycho-geological Report’ – a set of short audio-visual pieces incorporating sounds and images sampled from rocks, minerals and soil in South Birmingham. Developed during a period of semi-isolation during the 2020 lockdowns, these experiments form part of Michael’s current interest in ‘psychetecture’; a concept used in the 1980s comic Mister X to describe the psychological effects of architecture and urban forms.
Bookings can be made in advance here for those who would prefer to pre-arrange their visit.
In a closing celebration of their current exhibition, A Simultaneity of Stories-so-far, Grand Union are hosting a live performance of A Feminist Chorus / A Tender Map by artist Lucy Reynolds. They invite you to join them and A Tender Map’scontributors, to hear and create the chorus at Grand Union for the first time. The performance will take place outside at Minerva Works Garden.
This solo show is the culmination of Asuf’s artist’s residency that took place earlier this year at Stryx.