Work

Musica (2008)

Max/MSP programmer for a large-scale, permanent public installation in Orton Square, Leicester. Designed and built by Greyworld, Musica was commissioned by Leicester City Council in 2008.

The installation comprises thirty specially designed bollards each decorated with 49 LED lights. When the built-in PIR sensors are triggered, the bollards come to life, rotating whilst displaying changing visual patterns and playing music-box inspired generative music through a speaker mounted inside.

As Max/MSP programmer, the responsibility was for the software control of the entire installation. This included handling all scheduling, data input and output, and sound design as well as the real-time musical pattern generation algorithms. Technically this presented a great challenge as a single Windows PC was responsible for all data handling as well as a 300 voice polyphonic synthesiser utilising 30 audio channels.

more details here

spit (2008)

A piece written for the sudophone, spit (2008) is to be included in the forthcoming book, Nine Easy Pieces for Sudophone, written by the instrument’s creator, John Richards. Other contributers include composer Howard Skempton and musicians Nic Bullen and Gabriel Prokofiev.

copy of the score here

Dirty Electronics Ensemble perform Stockhausen (2008)

To celebrate what would have been Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 80th birthday, the Dirty Electronics Ensemble were given the opportunity to perform pieces by the composer. With guidance from Ralf Gerhart, an original member of Stockhausen’s performance ensemble, a smaller group from the Ensemble rehearsed Kurzwellen, a fiendishly difficult graphic score-based improvisation piece, and performed at the Stockhausen Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank.

video of performance in DMU’s PACE studio here

Wounded Furniture (2008)

A piece based on Alison Knowles’ original performance art piece, involving the onstage destructionof household furniture using hammers, nails, saws and knives, with live sound processing. With Danny Dursley.

Other performers included Nic Bullen (ex-Napalm Death) and John Richards, performing pieces for baked beans, and hairdryer with wig. The Dirty Electronics Ensemble also performed Alison Knowles’ Nivea Cream amongst others.

original text scores here

Dirty Electronics Ensemble with Merzbow (2008)

For two performances in April of 2008, John Richards commissioned Japanese noise-musician Merzbow (Masami Akita) to write a piece for a specially designed sudophone (the ’sudofuzz’) to perform with the Dirty Electronics Ensemble both at DMU and a speical one off gig at a Birmingham venue. The thirty-strong ensemble each played amplified and overdriven sudofuzz instruments, and accompanied John Richards on his Kreepback instrument and Merzbow playing laptops.

xmtr_4(1.0) (2007)

Performance installation for the opening event of the PACE building at DeMontfort University. Documented online at the MTI Jukebox here