The Unsound Festival is an annual music festival about advanced music, and takes every place in Krakow, Poland. Last month, 12th of October 2011, the 9th edition of the festival took place.

During the 9th edition of the Unsound Festival, Zeb Schulz and Lawrence English gave a presentation concerning “Disability Art, Performance and Professional Musicians with Varying Abilities“.

They talked about recent developments in musical interfaces, and the possibilities they create for people with disabilities to compose music and to perform live. While traditional instruments such as keyboards and a computer mouse are hard for them to use, these new interfaces offer a wealth of possibilities for them.

As an example, they showed the video of Tralala blip’s live performance at the Liquid Architecture festival.

Tralala Blip at Liquid Architecture 12 (Brisbane, Australia)

The AudioCubes are one of the electronic musical instruments Tralala Blip is using to compose their music and perform live.

The audioCubes can help disabled artists overcome barriers, as Jeremy from Cascade Services, an organization that helps artists with disabilities, explains in one of our blog posts from last year.

“The audiocubes are an amazing piece of hardware! The great thing about it is that its enabling people who can’t use conventional controllers to add depth and dimension to their recordings themselves.”

Thanks Randolf for sharing this information with us!

A couple of weeks ago we reported about the Electro-Music 2011 conference in New York. Mark Mosher as well as Paul Harriman and his son, Ian, performed live using the AudioCubes and Eigenharp. We already shared some great pictures taking during their performances, but we haven’t shared any videos about the performances at electro-music with you guys. The performance of Paul Harriman and his son was recorded by Mark Mosher.

While Paul Harriman is playing on the eigenharp alpha, his son is using the AudioCubes and our latest application, IMPROVISOR.

Paul Harriman explains the setup:

“Our performance was ultimately a combination of flow arts and evolving themes, accompanied by solo EWI, Eigenharp and Ian’s processed trombone. The two Macbooks shared clock through networked MIDI, and Ian played the IMPROVISOR using a couple of TAL AU plugins and Madrona Labs Aalto, which is a sort of Buchla-esque plugin (and a lot of fun to modulate using the AudioCubes). We bridged some of the thematic changes with my iPhone running Mixtikl, also a generative environment, and backed with some environmental loops using Resonance and some of our own environmental loops. The Eigenharp was configured using 10 of the 13 internal host instruments, including some sequencing with the Arrangers. Sounds were supplied via Omnisphere, Aalto, and a couple of the TAL AU plugins, along with a custom impulse file for the Eigenharp cello model. Ian’s laptop uses a MOTU Microbook, which we then mixed to my Ultralite Mk3 to get the house mix. Our performance was about 27 minutes, and went through 5 separate vignettes including Ian using his contact balls instead of the AudioCubes, and switching back to identically coloured AudioCubes, just to contrast the differences between the two performance modes. Although one can let IMPROVISOR loose, we elected to limit the generative aspects to keep it more or less in 2 keys, which made the live performance a bit more predictable. The set was well received and we spent much of the weekend discussing various visual and interactive performance techniques with other artists who were there. A high point for Ian was attending Mark Mosher’s AudioCubes Jam where the 9-box (times 2) method was used.”

About Paul and Ian Harriman

“I have been playing electronic music instruments since the early 1970s, and I have long had a fascination with alternatives to keyboards as controllers, despite being a fairly well trained (and practiced) keyboardist. My son Ian, also a musician, is keen on flow arts (contact juggling, fire-staff spinning) and we have a wide circle of acquaintances who are either musicians, kinetic and flow artists, or both. In addition, I have associated myself with the web community centred around electro-music.com, where I help administer the site, the Internet streaming radio, and the interactive chat room. I also produce two radio shows on the electro-music.com radio, one to showcase interesting and new experimental electronic music, and one to experiment with my own music online. My association with electro-music.com has additionally brought me in touch with many more experimental electronic and electro-acoustic performers, and Ian and I enthusiastically attend, play at (and volunteer our time to help with) these festivals.

In 2010 I met Mark Mosher at the electro-music 2010 festival. Mark was performing with these little cubes that were fascinating, and within a couple of months I had acquired 4 for myself. The idea I had at the time was to attempt to integrate flow and dance art interactively with my music. Over the course of 2011 I experimented with the AudioCubes, occasionally collecting kinetic artists together and putting together these sort of dance/music jams to explore what is possible using the AudioCubes. My son Ian was most interested – contact juggling and object isolation turns out to be a compatible performance art form, and Ian quickly started forming performance ideas for the AudioCubes. As we were already booked to go to EM11, we worked together to compose and produce a set which drew together the AudioCubes, Eigenharp and ambient environmental sounds. We settled on the IMPROVISOR software ultimately as the control interface for the AudioCubes, using Ian’s Macbook Pro as mine gets pretty loaded down running EigenD and the AUs.”

More information about Paul and Ian Harriman:
Website: http://www.harriman4.com/
Music: http://electro-music.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paul.harriman

Last weekend was a busy weekend for Mark Mosher: He did three concerts in 2 days. Check out: Mark Mosher Halloween 2011 Concerts for more information.

We’re happy to share some audio/video material made during Mark Mosher’s Halloween Concerts Below you can listen to his performance which was recorded at electro-music.radio:

Mark Mosher’s live performance at electro-music.radio is available on soundcloud and download mp3. A detailed overview of all the songs he played can be found on Mark Mosher’s blog.

Next to performing at electro-music radio, Mark also did an audio/video broadcast from Boulder to the Pacific Northwest Synth Fest. Matrixsynth was able to record the last 15 minutes of Mark Mosher’s skype session to Synth Fest, while he was using and explaining the AudioCubes. You can watch the video below. Of course, many thanks to Matrixsynth

Mark Mosher also made a couple of soundcheck videos as preparation for the Synth Fest and uploaded them to ustream. Check out one of the videos he made of his soundcheck using AudioCubes.

Don’t forget to sign up for Mark Mosher’s newsletter, if you like to get notified about his upcoming live performances

More information about Mark Mosher:
Website: http://markmoshermusic.com
Blog: http://modulatethis.com
9box: http://9box.modulatethis.com

Tralala Blip at Liquid Architecture 12 (Brisbane, Australia)

Liquid Architecture is an annual festival which celebrates several methods of sound making and sound theory. Tralala Blip was invited to do a live performance at this annual event. Check out the video made of their performance “If You Love Me I’ll Love You Back” by Callum Wheeler and Nicholas Rowan below:

More information about Tralala blip:
Homepage: http://www.tralalablip.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tralalablip

Kim Pedersen is a visual artist as well as a composer and performer from Copenhagen, Denmark. Dreamhub is his main electronic project where he composes and performs ambient, space music and chillout. He was invited to perform live on TV at the Official climate conference COP15 Ecumenical service in the Cathedral of Copenhagen in December 2009.

Click here to read the interview with Kim Pedersen.

Kim bought a set of 2 AudioCubes a couple of years ago, and recently got funding to buy 12 new AudioCubes for building an interactive light and sound installation (Lysets lyd).

The interactive light and sound installation has a duration of 4 hours and will take place at the 21st of October, 17th of November, and 3th of February 2012 in a Church (Vor Frue Kirke, Copenhagen).

The music is composed by Kim Pedersen, and Nick Rothwell is programming the Max/Msp patch between the Audiocubes and Ableton Live. Each cube can trigger four notes in a Sample – instrument in Live – and corresponding clips will send CC-information to the cubes and control the lighting. Also, a random device in Ableton Live and some clever follow-action clips will ensure some uncertainty as regards to the sounds being triggered and the color of the cubes. Audio from the installation will be recorded and made available as a free download.

Lysets Lyd: Interactive Light and Sound installation with 12 AudioCubes (by Kim Pedersen)

Have a look at this preview video

Kim Pedersen is more than happy to make this interactive light and sound installation happen in other venues across Europe upon request.

We’ll definitely keep you updated about Kim’s project.

More information about Kim Pedersen’s work:
Website: http://www.dreamhub.dk/
Music: http://dreamhub.bandcamp.com/
Facebook Lysets Lyd: http://www.facebook.com/lysetslyd

Related blog posts:
Interview with Kim from Dreamhub

After Mark Mosher’s live performance with the AudioCubes at the Electro-Music 2011 festival, Mark Mosher also organised an AudioCubes Jam at Electro-Music 2011 festival.

During the AudioCubes Jam people could learn how to use the 9Box method created by mark Mosher. Have a look at the picture below taken during the jam.

AudioCube Jam using the 9 Box Method at Electro-Music 2011, organised by Mark Mosher

More information about 9B0X can be found on the 9BOX blog of Mark Mosher

Mark Mosher was not the only artist using the AudioCubes during his performance at the Electro-music 2011 festival. Ian and Paul Harriman did also a live performance using the AudioCubes and the Eigenharp. Have a look at these nice photos below taken by Mark Mosher and Andrew Koenig.

Ian Harriman using AudioCubes during Live Performance at Electro-Music 2011 festival (picture taken by Mark Mosher, visuals by Project Rouri)

Ian and Paul Harriman using AudioCubes and Eigenharp at Electro-Music 2011 festival (picture taken by Andrew Koenig)

Paul and Ian Harriman on AudioCubes and Eigenharp at Electro-Music 2011 festival (picture taken by Mark Mosher), visuals by Project Rouri

More information about Paul Harriman’s work:
Website: http://www.harriman4.com/
Music: http://www.harriman4.net/PHMusic.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paul.harriman

Last week, Mark Mosher did a live performance at the Electro-Music festival in New York. For the second time in a row, Mark was invited for a live performance at the electro-music festival.

Mark Mosher when playing his song "I can see them" at Electro-Music 2011 (picture by Hong Waltzer, visuals by Project Rouri who are processing a live camera feed)

Mark’s performance was a great success and all concerts were broadcoast as real-time audio feeds on the radio of electro-music. Below, you can listen to his entire set played at electro-music.

This live broadcast was made possible by Damon Mar (live mix), Adam Holquist (live stream mix), Project Rouri (Visuals) and Paul Harriman (leading force behind the electro-music radio).

John Morley, an electronic musician who’s also using the AudioCubes, took some awesome pictures during Mark’s performance.

Mark is currently busy editing the video made during his performance. We’ll definitely let you know when the video is ready.

More information about Mark Mosher’s work:
website: http://www.markmoshermusic.com
blog: http://www.modulatethis.com
9box blog: http://9box.modulatethis.com

Poster of Electro-Music 2011 Festival

During his performance he’ll be playing songs from his album I hear your signals as well as his next album. The performance will take place at the “theater” on Friday 9th of September at 11.30 pm.

The next day, Saturday 10th, he’ll do a seminar at 4pm: Ableton Live Real-Time Performance Tips

Mark will also do an AudioCubes Jam on Sunday 11th, at 5:00pm. For all of you who want to see Mark Mosher’s 9box social instrument, you defintely have to attend Mark Mosher’s Audiocubes jam.

Also, Mark Mosher’s song Dark Signals is selected for the Elektro-music 2011 sampler CD. Congratulations Mark!

For more information about all the other performances and seminars which are going to take place at Electro-Music festival, you can find more information on the home page of electro-music.

Poster of Electro-Music 2011 Festival

Two weeks ago, the poster for the upcoming Electro-Music 2011 festival was released.

An overview of all the performing artists at the electro-music 2011 festival is available on the poster as well as on the homepage of the electro-music festival.

The Electro-Music 2011 festival is the world’s premiere event for experimental electronic music. This year, the event takes place in NY (9-11 September). It’s already the seventh edition of the electro-music festival.

During the festival Mark Mosher and Paul Harriman will do a live performance using the AudioCubes.

About electro-music.com

The electro-music festival is an annual festival organized by electro-music.com. Electro-music.com is a “ kind of cooperative community where artists and enthusiasts participate and benefit together” as described on their website.

The electro-music.com website consists of several parts such as a shop where independent artists can sell CDs and other products on-line, a forum, and articles/reviews from forum members.