Nick's blog

April 2020 newsletter

Nick — Sun, 19 Apr 2020 18:09:42 +0000

We are pleased to announce the artists accepted to soundpedro 2020 (in alphabetical order):

Victor Acevedo, Memo Akten, Michael Arata, Augmented Medium, Phoebe Barnum & Turdmeister, The Box of Boom, Alex Braidwood, Clowns and Fetuses, Daniel Corral, Erin Demastes, Cruel Diagonals, Inouk Demers, Rachel Dickey, divinebrick (Julia Hays & Rain Lucien Matheke), Electric Sound Bath (Brian Griffith & Angela Wilson), Martin Espino, Jorge Espinosa, Tim Feeney, Fouskou, Jeremy Harbin, i.a.bericochea, Henry Krusoe, LA Electroacoustic Ensemble, Chad Leaf, Leather Circuit, Reb Limerick, C. Matthew Luther, Madu.Chino, Andrew Mandinach, Karena Massengill, Vedran Mehinovic, Michael Mersereau, Miser, Bonnie Mitchell & Elainie Lillios, Alea Olivas + Llyn Stransky, On Shore Flow, Ashton S. Phillips, Pile of Wires, Michael Raco-Rands + audipoeta, Gary Raymond, Constantino Rizzuti, Mizz Sanford, Scar3city, The Silverduckling, Sound Scientists, soundShoppe, SSWIII, Steven Speciale and his Loyola HIgh School Students, SynthLab, the2vvo, Ellen Warkentine and Michael Wysong, wikigong.com (Dave Ayer & Jacob Dickinson), Angela Willcocks, Andre Woodward, WTCHCVLT, Young-Tseng

In the wake of COVID-19 restrictions, these are the options we are considering for soundpedro 2020:

Postponement
On-site asynchronous live streaming/documentation with no audience in response to travel restrictions.
Virtual soundpedro 2020 entitled Schizophonia

In consultation with Angels Gate, we anticipate making an official announcement in May 2020.

We approached artists to explain how they might reimagine an onsite installation into either a virtual experience or as a virtual performance sample:

Things we like:

“Remixing the world, one sound at a time”

April 2019 newsletter

Nick — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 04:42:29 +0000

We have a Q & A with artist and R. Murray Schafer scholar Nicholle Andrews, who will lead, during the soundpedro event, an "ear cleaning" exercise to enhance your experience. Nicholle will host two sessions: for children and families at 6:30pm and for everyone at 7:30pm.

Creative Networking and Exposure: Long Beach area sound artists, please consider joining the artist registry at artslb.org.

The next soundpedro is June 1st, 2019 at 6pm to 10pm. You can RSVP on Facebook.

Ear Cleaning

Ear Cleaning with artist Nicholle Andrews, from the school of Music at the University of Redlands, who will lead the Ear Cleaning session at soundpedro for children and families 6:30pm and for everyone at 7:30pm.

FLOOD: What is Ear Cleaning and does it involve Q Tips?

Nicholle Andrews: Ear Cleaning does not involve Q-Tips, at least, not the ear cleaning that will be presented at soundpedro. Ear Cleaning is a phrase coined by Canadian composer and pedagogue, R. Murray Schafer. The common themes that run through Schafer’s books include music education in and out of the classroom, environmental concerns, and pedagogical exercises. Beyond the Music Room (1986), The Composer in the Classroom (1976), and When Words Sing (1970) discuss experiences with teaching both children and adults in the classroom and in community ensembles. He experiments with something he calls "descriptive music" where he has students imitate various sounds from their environment with their voices or instruments.

Schafer also encourages students to improvise and aurally create the pictures that he provides in his scores. Ear Cleaning (1967), HearSing (2005) and A Sound Education (1992) present a variety of pedagogical exercises. The title Ear Cleaning comes from his belief that before one can begin ear training, they must experience ear cleaning. He wrote, "I have tried always to induce students to notice sounds they have never really listened to before, listen like mad to the sounds of their own environment and the sounds they themselves inject into their environments."

F: How will ear cleaning heighten the soundpedro experience?

NA: Ear Cleaning will heighten the soundpedro experience as it will encourage participants to listen sounds they have never noticed before. It will create a new soundscape in what may be a familiar space to many.

F: How does ear cleaning enhance everyday living (music listening)?

NA: In my personal experience, students who have studied Ear Cleaning share that it changes the way they listen as musicians. What was once simply notes on a page becomes so much more. It can also change the way the general population perceives their world as a new palette of sounds can be found.

F: How might it relate (or not) to palate cleansing, sensory deprivation, 4'33?

NA: If anything palette tuning. I draw; cleansing would be erasure. In ear cleaning, we don’t remove; we sort, we delineate, we arrange, we bring into focus.

F: Mindfulness?

NA: When one becomes more aware of their soundscape, they are living in the moment. It's not about what you have hear, or you think you will heard, but rather, what you are hearing and experiencing in real time.

Ear Cleaning sessions at soundpedro for children and families at 6:30pm and for everyone at 7:30pm.

Arts LB Artist Directory

The Arts Council for Long Beach has one of the best artist registries around. Many Long Beach and even LA arts organizations are using the registry to find artists because it is well organized, user friendly, and looks great. If you are an artist who works in or around the Long Beach area, you should register. It's free. Register here.

as loud as...

When FLOOD asked soundpedro artists to describe volume levels for their proposed projects, we received a series of responses that are just too good not to share.

As loud as…

"As loud as an idle pickup truck."
- Pile of Wires

"As loud as a few people tapping hands on a table firmly."
- Dillon Bastan

"Immersive but not ear-shattering."
- Jeff Jacoby

"As loud as a bursting balloon."
- Michael Arata

"As loud as someone crumpling paper"
- Conchi Sanford

"Two people, speaking across a small table"
- Young-Tseng

"As loud as a cello being plucked inside a tin can."
- Hilary Norcliffe

"Voice level amplified by a bath tub"
- Brian & Ryan

"Loud enough to be heard outside, not ear splitting."
- M. Couronne and Leah Shane Dixon

"As loud as the bleat of fog horns."
- Susan Rawcliffe

"Unsure, but not quiet! ~Alarm clock level?"
- Dillon Bastan

"As loud as necessary."
- Vedran Mehinovic

"As loud as a washer/dryer. (louder if outdoors)"
- Henry Krusoe

"As loud as two big pieces of wood hitting each other."
- Hilary Norcliffe

"As loud as the cacophony of crows"
- Susan Rawcliffe

Follow us on Instagram

Watch for the #visualsound series of still images on our Instagram feed, expanding upon the phenomenon psychologist Chris Fassnidge calls vEAR, or "visually evoked auditory response."

December 2018 News

Nick — Sun, 16 Dec 2018 17:27:26 +0000

Submit your video and digital works for “Earmaginations,” a curated project that adds greater conceptual breadth to soundpedro by moving beyond sound to “ear orientation.”

Submit all sound-oriented works to the General Call.

The “Earmaginations” event will add greater conceptual breadth to soundpedro by moving beyond sound to “ear orientation.” Taking place at Angels Gate Cultural Center, soundpedro is an annual event, produced by the Long Beach artist group, FLOOD.

Here are a few more highlights from soundpedro 2018.

Francene Kaplan noted there is something primal, starting in infancy, about hitting an object to create a sound—cause and effect with input sonic instead of visual. She also noted that there are lots of guidelines and parameters regarding painting or sculpture, but participants at sound art events have no prior expectations as to what may be good or bad as in other art media shows. This allows sound artists more freedom and less fear of judgment.

Zzyzxzyzz's performance of a synchronized visual and sonic environment was created in an intimate print shop setting. It contrasted the extremes of minimal and maximal, light and dark, loud and quiet, rhythmic and arrhythmic in order to explore the variety of ways in which participants listened. Their set used electromagnetic sensors that recorded battery chargers, a Microsoft Zune, hard drives, bike lights, portable phone chargers and a CD player. These everyday objects, that are often unheard, provided a sonic landscape in this post-industrial world.

Dillon Bastan's "fluctuations" was an interactive sound installation that centered on the viewer’s experience with motion, sound and setting without a communicated theme or narrative via text. The swings’ hinges had contact microphones on them which were amplified and sent through speakers. The various amplified rhythms of the swings created a dynamic and trance-like sonic experience.

Thank you, to all participants and visitors, for a well received soundpedro 2018!

Nick — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 22:57:00 +0000

We look forward to next year. A bigger and more diverse event that will include new programming is already in the planning stages. Be on the look out for announcements.

A special thanks to Amy Eriksen and the Angels Gate Cultural Center team.

See you and hear you in 2019!

RSVP for soundpedro 2019! and subscribe to our mailing list.

Here are some highlights from soundpedro 2018.

Radio Machine Magazine

Each member of Radio Machine Magazine constructed his own sound station that consisted of sound effects pedals, home made pedals, tapes, tape loops, synths, various amps, speakers, amplified metal scrapes that were fed into light organs. They improvised to create a texture of sound that amplified the spirit of the surroundings. Performing on a old military bunker in front of a sacred Native American burial site with a view of the ocean provided energy that powered these artists.

Steven Speciale and Loyola High School

Steven Speciale's Loyola High School Music Appreciation students' presentation of Automaton Bricolage Cogitating at the 2018 soundpedro was the culmination of a year-long project. Starting with a free Craigslist piano, they performed George Maciunas' Piano Piece #13 in which they nailed down the keys of the piano. Then, after covering the instrument in a dada-inspired collage, they wrote Musique Concrete from the original piano sounds and broadcast them into the original instrument. They recorded the sympathetic vibrations inside the piano paired with reactive visuals to underscore the music. The piano was wired with solenoids to create the automaton they brought to soundpedro. It was so satisfying for him to see his students receive such wonderful validation from family, friends and participants at the festival. The gratitude from the parents and compliments from participants has inspires Speciale and his students and has motivated them to create something special for next year. Speciale was named to the new cohort of Art21 Educator for 2018-2019.

WikiGong

This year Dave and Jacob of wikiGong with their piece Aeolus Woke invoked the Greek keeper of the winds with six electric wind-harps and a ritual painting after dark. Fixed on a derelict fence overlooking the Korean Bell of Friendship, each harp swiveled like a weather-vane, funneling the Pacific wind over eight tuned nylon strings to give it voice. The resulting songs were combined, looped, and amplified throughout the evening using a conventional sound system. The twenty-four foot red circle at the center of the installation became the focus of live action late in the evening. A fanciful likeness of Aeolus emerged in black over the course of forty minutes. Interestingly, visitors by daylight had treated the otherwise-blank red canvas as a no-step zone; yet once a deity's face appeared, many chose instead to walk on, dance across, or even sit on the circle and dangle their legs into space. It may be that inhibitions dissolved as the evening wore on...but perhaps old gods are just so fated.

Brian and Ryan

soundpedro 2018 was Brian and Ryan's first time participating in a FLOOD sound art event. "We really enjoyed being a part of this sound-art event, and Angels Gate is an amazing space-perfect for this type of performance exhibit," said Brian and Ryan. They reported that the audience was eager to interact with them. They collected some incredible stories about San Pedro and the surrounding communities. The ocean wind also provided a unique ambient background sound to all the interviews. They ended up collecting about 20 stories in the short duration of the show.

This was their third recording of a cityscape for the "Sound Collection Helmets" in what will become an anthology of several cities across America. They plan to have the oral stories up on their web site at www.brianandryan.com this fall and they are looking forward to next year's event.

The Laptop Collective

The Laptop Collective presented "A Poem is a City of Poets," a sound/video installation performed by the ensemble with laptop interaction, live processing, electric guitar, and electric bass. Audiences witnessed the ensemble's creative encounter with 2 San Pedro artists: Charles Bukowski and the Minutemen. With spectacular vistas towards the Pacific horizon to the west and within earshot of the installations and performances to its south and east, the venue proved to be ideal for the work both sonically and visually.

"A Poem is a City of Poets" turned out to be a compelling encounter and treatment of materials by both Bukowski and the Minutemen within the broader idea of a collaborative artistic exploration of the geographies these artists inhabited, both physical (around San Pedro) and metaphysical. Audience members especially appreciated the level of sophistication and the multidisciplinarity demonstrated by the work and the performers.

SASSAS

Because the soundShoppe performance was one continuous piece that ran the entire length of the event, it was difficult for the performers to visit the other artists' installations. But Don Lewis reports he did take a break and walked around outside to clear his head. Along the way, he met a friend, had some good conversations conversation, then returned to the soundShoppe to continue the piece.

Synth Lab

SynthLab had some great performances. It was their first time in the Artillery Theater, and the quad PA system sounded great and they met so many interesting artists, and had lots of great conversations! Univac provided the wonderful lighting. You can watch videos of their soundpedro 2018 performances here. SynthLab will be putting a concert of drone music in surround, at CSULB, in the Danial Recital Hall on October 19th at 8:00 PM. The show is free, but there will be a fee for parking. They are looking forward to next year.

phog-masheeen

phog masheeen is playing at and producing their own event, Phogust, which will also be at Angels Gate Cultural Center in the Battery (round cement area) on August 18th. It features performers that Build, Bend or Appropriate the instruments that they perform with.

They will also be at the Norcal Noisefest in Sacramento on On October 5th and Wonder Valley Experimental #11 on March 30th 2019 at the Palms in Wonder Valley.

Other Related Events

While you are here we wanted to tell you about some other sound art events happening in Southern California

Michael Masaru Flora & RM Francis at OCCCA

Michael Masaru Flora & RM Francis West Coast Tour will stop at Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) on August 24th, 2018 at 8pm.

Michael Flora is a Minneapolis-based sound artist. His interest is in the exploration of sound via research and artistic practice. Working within the intersections of art, science, music, and mathematics, he creates pieces that examine sonic morphology, spatialization, and human perception. Composition is realized through a combination of various digital synthesis methods and processing of recorded sounds. Work is often presented in site-specific multi-channel installations and performances which reveal the unique sonic footprint of the space and allows for the choreography of sound through speaker placement and animation of movement. Flora’s practice has included recording, performance, installation, video, choreography, and curatorial projects. His work has been presented at Stanford University ’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), St Cloud State University (Minnesota) as well as clubs, galleries, theaters, warehouses, and universities throughout North America. His latest recording “X i ” w as published by Minnesota-based label Sympathy Limited. michaelmasaruflora.com

RM Francis is an artist based in Seattle working with computer-generated sound via recordings, installations, and performances. His work is primarily informed by historical electroacoustic practices and posthumanist philosophy. He has presented his work at numerous festivals in the US, including Debacle in Seattle, 2 Day in Portland, Diffusion in Baltimore, and Human Festival in Philadelphia. His work has been released on DRAFT, Agents of Chaos, and atrium. His 2017 release Hyperplastic Other, a multimedia work utilizing chocolate and sound, is published by nada. Francis is also a member of Mesh Collaborative, a computer music ensemble employing network architecture to explore novel modes of collective authorship and human-machine interaction.
rmfrancis.net

Soundwave Fest

Soundwave Fest brings the audio component to the Santa Ana Artwalk in the Historic District on October 6th, 2018, from 6pm to 10pm. This one-night experimental sound event re-visions the concept of the legendary Long Beach SoundWalk, infusing the Santa Ana Artwalk with sound art, video projections and installations in expected and unexpected areas.