Works
Discography
Mark Olson – “Magdalen Accepts the Invitation”, 2020: bass, drums and bass and drum recording engineer
Mark Olson – “Spokeswoman of the Bright Sun”, 2017: bass and bass recording
Lissie – “My Wild West”, 2016: bass, songwriting and production
Nowcloud – “OVO/ASTRA”, 2015: composition, instruments and production
Mark Olson – “Goodbye Gizelle”, 2014: bass
Lissie – “Cryin’ to You”, 2014: bass, foot drums, co-production
Nowcould – “Harp”, 2013: instruments and production
Lissie – “Back to Forever”, 2013: bass, percussion and organ
Mad Gregs – “Relatives”, 2012: drums, vocals, songwriting and production
Lissie – “Covered Up With Flowers”, 2011: bass
Lissie – “Live at Shephards Bush”, 2011: bass and vocals
Learning Music – “LMM 3.1 – Left Right”, 2010: bass
Vosotros – “Rhoda”, 2010: robotic percussion
Learning Music – “LMM 2.2 – Matchstick Monument”, 2009: electronics
Mad Gregs – “Big Nun”, 2009: drums, vocals, songwriting and production
Red Maids – “Andalucia”, 2009: drums
David Leikam – “David B. Leikam : A Splic _ Ing”, 2007: electronics
Learning Music – “LMM 1.7 – In My Livingroom on a Thursday Night”, 2007: percussion, guitar and songwriting
Learning Music – “LMM 1.5 – No Fingers, Hands”, 2007: drums
Lewis Keller – “Tune into Jupiter”, 2006: electronic solo album
Sons of Armageddon – “The Softest Touch”, 2004: electronics, turntable, theremin, guitar, melodica, drums, song writing and production
Sons of Armageddon – “Sons of Armageddon”, 2003: electronics, turntable, theremin, song writing and production
The Biscuit – “The Biscuit”, 1997: guitar, vocals, theremin, song writing and production
Stephen Scott – “Vikings of the Sunrise”, 1996: bowed piano
Electroacoustic Compositions
“Four Piece Five” – 2017 for drumset and electronics
“RR44G” – 2017 for 4 guitars with scordatura
“Untitled solo work” – 2013 for prepared electric guitar and electronics
“Coincidence Lapse II” – 2013 for unspecified quartet and electronics
“RR44U” – 2013 for 4 ukuleles with scordatura
“RR48G” – 2009 for 8 electric guitars with scordatura
“Snow Holes” – 2009 for field recordings and live electronics
“Shards of String” – 2007 for nylon string guitar and electronics
“Synapse to Lapse” – 2006 for viola and electronics
“Coincidence Lapse” – 2006 for bass clarinet, viola, double bass, melodica and electronics
“Radiators” – 2005 for electromagnetic radiation and electromechanical piano
“Animated Score” – 2004 for viola, cello and electronics
Installations
“Upcycle” – a collaboration with Jane Rigler at Colorado College’s Idea space. This piece was commissioned as a companion to photographer JoAnn Verburg’s solo show “After Before”. Sounds of Venice, Italy and electronic soundscapes were played into the foyer of the gallery. When passers by dropped something into the waste receptacle IR break beam sensors triggered changes to the soundscape. Recycling, composting and refuse all triggered different processes to bring the viewer’s awareness to their actions.
“The Intensity and Beauty of Shadows” – The L.A. art incubator Machine Project took over the Los Angeles CountyMuseum of Art (LACMA)for a day and I was invited to create a sound installation in a room fully of Renaissance paintings. The room sits below the HVAC equipment for the museum and exhibits many deep overlapping humming noises.I spent a few days making field recordings of spaces throughout the museum and used these as the beginning ofmy piece. I measured the room and the sound of the HVAC equipment to find resonant frequencies present in both. I then created a 4-channel Max/MSP patch which used sine tones tuned to those frequencies as well as the field recordings I’d captured to turn visitors attention to the acoustic ecology of the space. My hope was the piece would invite visitors to listen with new attention by highlighting otherwise hidden or ignored sounds, by sonifying the spatial dimensions of the room, and by juxtaposing the presence of high-tech sound art in the midst of old-tech oil paintings. I also created a companion CD of the same title from the field recordings which was available in the museum store for months after the event.
“The Blackest Spot” – A collaboration with LA artist Jody Zellen for Fringe gallery. Jody commissioned me to create the interactive electronics for the piece. She created images and animations of crowds and sound fragments of famous speeches. The sounds and images were projected from 4 sources on each wall of the gallery. Metal plates covered with pieces of the imagery on the ground served as interactive triggers to alter the images and sounds. I created the switching system as well as Max/MSP/Jitter software to facilitate the interactivity. Read more about the project here.
“Photonsemble” – An ensemble of mini robot musicians for New Town Arts’ Hugely Tiny Festival inspired by the BEAM robot community and Ralf Schreiber. By laying bare the electrical components hidden in most electronic devices and using their function as a jumping off point for form, Phontonsemble makes us aware of our own human form as function. Taking another cue from nature, these autonomous sound makers are powered by the sun. The slow progress of the sun across the sky and the rapid shifts of clouds and tree branches blown by the wind filters light onto the ensemble creating subtly shifting patterns of repeating loops of insect like melodies and rhythms. You can see a video of the bots here.
“Sun Chimes” – Sun Chimes is a four note, solar powered, solenoid activated robot chime. As more light filtered through leaves and branches falls on the solar panels more notes per minute are heard. The ecology of the space controls and is complimented by the sounds. Installed as part of New Town Arts’ SoniTrek show. You can see a short video shot by Clay Chaplin here.
“Drips” – Created for Soundwalk in Long Beach, CA, for this installation I looked for a way to get away from electronics and computers. I hung various containers of water from stands, poked holes in the containers and put metal objects below them. Simple but beautiful stochastic rhythms.
“Stream Oscillator” – This piece uses a hex inverting schmidt trigger based feedback oscillator as a sound source. Wires from the circuit dangle into a passing stream to use the water flow as variable resistors. The sound of the brook and the sound of the synth commingle in synchronicity. Installed as part of New Town Arts’ SoniTrek show. View a video shot by Clay Chaplin here.
“Raining Partials” – An installation created for SoundWalk2007. Raining Partials uses 6 homebrew drumming robots controlled by Max/MSP via an Arduino micro controller. Each robot pounds out a steady rhythm and emits a sine tone from its internal speaker. The rhythms and sine tones correspond to the first 21 partials of the harmonic series and can be selected by the viewer via a small knob on each robot. The sine tone emitted is a power of two (therefore an octave equivalent) of the rhythm being played. For example, if the robot is pounding out 1 beat every 2 seconds (i.e. at .5 hertz) its sine tone is tuned to 512 Hz (0.5Hz x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 512Hz), if it is pounding out 1 beat every 3 seconds (i.e. at .3333Hz) its sine tone is tuned to 341.33 Hz and so on. The difference between a pitched sound and a steady rhythm sound is only a function of our perception and Raining Partials allows the viewer to bridge this perceptual gap. A clicking rhythm is “sped up” to the point where we no longer perceive it as a click but instead perceive it as a steady tone. Raining Partials allows the viewer to explore the natural phenomenon of the harmonic series in a visceral way that equates the (slow) passage of time with the (fast) perception of a pitch. The robots also have a clumsy, handmade aesthetic which draws in the viewer highlighting the dichotomy of the high-tech computer control of scientifically observed properties of sound with the low-tech and immediately graspable phenomenon of a steel can being struck while emitting a pure tone. Click here for a short video of the piece.
“Ohm” – Av collaborative installation with Phil Stearns for Soundwalk2008 in long beach. The symbol used to indicate resistance in electronics circuits, Ω (pronounced “ohm”), encourages close listening and draws the viewer into a mesmerizing dance of tension and release. Many hours of discussing the mess our planet is in, the way humans relate to the planet, the impending energy crisis, technology, geologic time, power struggles, rocks and robots – sometimes over tea and sometimes over beer – resulted in Ω. See it in action here.
“Adjacent Frequencies” – A collaborative installation with Phil Stearns. Guests are greeted by a silent collection of black boxes on pedestals and a headphone amplifier by which to explore the hidden sounds within. Phil designed slowly changing oscillator and motor circuits which leak electromagnetic radiation which can be picked up by a phone-tap pickup. Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting interactee, their headphone amplifier also contains a FM Transmitter whose transmission is broadcast over loud speakers hidden in the ceiling outside of the installation room. The piece addresses social and cultural ways of simultaneously interfacing with versions of the same experience while still remaining in isolation (television, movies, radio, etc.), techno-fetishization (as exemplified by the ever present Black Box), as well as domestic spying and right-to-privacy issues. See a video here.
“Fish Oscillator” – This started as a not so funny, not so clever idea inspired by Nic Collins, Paul DeMarinis and Alvin Lucier to get fish to make music. Flashlights shine through an aquarium focused onto photo resistors controlling different parameters of two oscillator circuits. As the fish swim through the light, the sound changes. The piece ended up being about animal cruelty, captivity and my society’s tendency to (not) confront those issues rather than fish as musicians. People typically don’t think twice about fish being stuck in an aquarium. However, if you make a high pitched sound which annoys the humans emanate from the fish’s general direction, suddenly everyone is worried about the fish’s feelings. You can watch a very low res video here.