90 Fall 2004
MAGAZINE CONTENTS
commentary - in and out of the studio
By Lisa Gasior and Andra McCartney
An ambitious new study examines issues related to the low incidence of women sound artists and producers
ARTICLE SUMMARY: In and Out of the Studio is a collaborative multimedia project which aims to examine and document the working methods of several female sound producers, from a variety of media (such as radio, film, television, hypermedia, and performance art) and in different institutional contexts. The authors, who are conducting the In and Out of the Studio Project, invite Musicworks’ readers who are sound artists, producers, composers or enthusiasts, male or female, to contribute to this project by continuing the discussion. They would like readers to contribute ideas by responding to some of their questions and concerns, or by suggesting others.
nownotes - project SYMPHOSIUM: against ignorance
By Udo Kasemets
ARTICLE SUMMARY: The anarchist, social activist, fighter for the rights of the suppressed, Emma Goldman has been quoted as saying, “The most violent element in society is ignorance.” In today’s society ignorance is cultivated by the promoters of corporate marketplace capitalism. The metaphorical cancer cells of marketplace capitalism have invaded virtually every part of the musical body, and have in some areas become life-threatening. Is there any possible cure in sight? Only if the studies of music, on every level from grade school to conservatory and university, are profoundly rethought and revised. Only if the definition of music and the critical assessments of its realizations are removed from music’s present cubbyholes and placed in a context which recognizes its universality and humanity. Only if the public or private institutions in charge of financing and promoting musical events and organizations will proceed to base their assessment of music on its purely cultural values, rather than monetary profitability and popular appeal.
the curious contrasts of les mouches
By Jonathan Bunce
ARTICLE SUMMARY: Toronto trio Les Mouches’ music is a jarring yet effective collision between acoustic pop and free improvisation—one that places them in a prestigious and currently rather robust tradition of using avant-garde practices within the pop realm.
your computer as instrument - part 1: hardware
By Stuart Clark
ARTICLE SUMMARY: This article is intended as a beginner’s guide to setting up a computer for music composition, recording, and performance.
in tune with co-creation - the musical practice of Wende Bartley with Darren Copeland
The female voice, both literally and metaphorically, plays a central
role in this electroacoustic composer’s work
ARTICLE SUMMARY: Through a dialogue with colleague Darren Copeland, composer Wende Bartley explains the philosophical motivations and inspirations behind her work, which is largely motivated by a desire to deepen her awareness of the female voice both literally as a sounding instrument and metaphorically as a body situated within a patriarchal culture. One of the tools she has developed for doing this includes facilitating a creative partnership with nature, listening to the energy of her surroundings and her inner spirit to guide her decision-making process.
panning for gold
the rewards of processual composition
Paul Steenhuisen in conversation with Christopher Butterfield
Christopher Butterfield is a Canadian composer who likes taking chances
in more than one sense of the phrase
ARTICLE SUMMARY: Paul Steenhuisen and Christopher Butterfield begin their conversation with antiphonal readings from separate texts, a reflection on their first topic, Butterfield’s installation piece Pavilion of Heavenly Trousers. In the two composers’ subsequent conversation Butterfield elaborates on text-based works, including his recording of Kurt Schwitter’s Ursonate (1922–32). Through that topic, Butterfield reveals his interest in process (“It’s like panning for gold”), the ramifications and potentials of different materials, and the transformative effect of laboriously articulating a chosen process or artistic regimen. Steenhuisen’s assertion that the sea (and travel) plays an important role in the composer’s oeuvre is discussed with reference to the work of Walter Benjamin, and his pieces Port Bou, and Convoy PQ-17, among others. The interview concludes with Butterfield’s views, the question of taste, the suspension of it in making art, and action against pre-conceived notions of taste.
gamelan and beyond
I Wayan Gde Yudane’s dedication to the new - an interview by Jack Body
He s shaking up the balinese music world with his brash innovations -
and making waves in other cultures too
ARTICLE SUMMARY: I Wayan Gde Yudane is a leading talent among the new generation of Balinese composers. He has produced works for concert performance, theatre, sound installations, and film. His work has been presented nationally and internationally. In this interview with Jack Body, Yudane talks about his cultural background, including his childhood and his development as a musician and composer, and the vibrant and ever-changing musical scene in Bali, particularly the history of the gong kebyar style. The process for the creation of new compositions for Balinese gamelan is contextualised as a community activity, as part of an annual competition for gamelan ensembles. Outside of traditional gamelan activity, the composer also explores electroacoustic composition. Collaborative projects with non-Balinese musicians and composers, and the challenges it produces, are also discussed.
from mixing boards to museums - Diane Leboeuf, sound designer
By Lisa Gasior and Andra McCartney
A lover of different tones and frequencies since birth, Diane LeBoeuf
has successfully channelled this passion into award-winning museum sound
design
Article Summary: Diane Leboeuf is president and artistic director of her own company, Sono design, which specializes in sound design, mastering, video, multimedia and, most recently, DVD creation. Since 1987, Leboeuf has done sound design for museum installations, and has collaborated on over one-hundred and fifty such productions. Listening has always been important to Leboeuf as it has guided her through life. Throughout her professional career she has encountered incidents of sexual discrimination and she has struggled to find her place in the world of sound production. Leboeuf’s work features collaboration and a sense of cohesion among the various soundscapes. Some of her projects discussed in detail in this article are the Varna exhibit at the Pointe-à-Callière musuem in Montreal, an installation for the national historic site of Grosse Île in Quebec, and Urban Life Through Two Lenses, an online exhibit for the McCord Museum of Montreal. This profile is one of three being published in Musicworks.
CD CONTENTS
artist: Les Mouches
Cities Become Less Important (3:47)
artist: Wende Bartley
DreamSpin (a solo electroacoustic work in 8 channels) (excerpt) (7:45)
Dreaming uncovers memory, juxtaposing images, history, and archetypal symbols, while spinning an ever-unfolding story each time we slip into the soft caress of the unseen world. At every moment, all of life is dreaming, weaving tales that reveal an internal knowing to those with ears to hear. DreamSpin is an electroacoustic composition which explores the world of "sound dreaming" through the medium of the recorded and
processed human voice.
Panagia (an electroacoustic choral work) (excerpt) (7:43)
Panagia is a sonic journey through the essential themes of the ancient Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, the story at the heart of the Eleusinian Mystery traditions. The myth marries the experience of the human soul with the natural earth cycles, moving through the stages of birth, loss, death, compassion, reunion, transformation, and rebirth.
The libretto is comprised of names for the various aspects of Demeter; syllabic chant phrases written by the composer; and the names of various letters from the Ogham alphabet, which was used in the inscriptions on stone circle formations found in Great Britain.
Priestess Aria from The girl with no door on her mouth (5:30)
The girl with no door on her mouth is a forty-minute music driven theatre work for mezzo-soprano and eight-channel spatialized electroacoustics based on texts by Anne Carson. The piece journeys through the sensual world of the female psyche, beginning with the dry, contained, and bounded space of the patriarchy that the character Emily Dickinson finds herself in and culminating with the raw and visceral explosion of the "sound priestess." In the Priestess Aria, the character moves into a vocal dialogue with the ancient feminine archetypal energy through which she is able to regenerate her psyche and soul. Exploring the connection between body, desire, and voice, she is led into the sonic terrain of the Ololyga, a ritual cry of both extreme pain or pleasure practised by women during classical Greek times.
artist: Christopher Butterfield
Pavilion of Heavenly Trousers (excerpt) (3:09)
Spoken and recorded by Christopher Butterfield, December 2003. Excerpt of spoken text for installation shown as part of the Lab series at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, February / March 2004. The complete recorded text of Pavilion of Heavenly Trousers, taken from Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck, and The Maker of Heavenly Trousers, by Daniele
Varé, runs to thirty hours. It was played on continuous repeat in the Lab during the six weeks the installation was up.
Clinamen (for violin solo/ violon solo) (excerpt) (6:38)
Performed by Julie-Anne Derome, violin. Clinamen consists of brief fragments of music, written on eighty cards, which can be organized by the player as they desire. All fragments must be played once.
Port Bou (excerpt) (10:33)
The second in a series of three pieces written for different combinations of violin, guitar, harmonium, and contrabass.
artist: I Wayan Gde Yudane
Journey (electroacoustic) (excerpt) (4:15)
Radadara (Balinese gamelan) (excerpt) (6:50)
Terraincognata (electroacoustic) (3:33)
Lebur Saketi (Balinese gamelan) (excerpt) (2:29)
artist: Diane LeBoeuf
Varna (drone and vocals/ bourdon et voix) (excerpt / extrait) (6:05)
Produced by Diane LebSuf. Sound design for drone: Gaétan LebSuf. Arrangement by Karen Young. Recorded at Sono design in Montreal. Recording Engineer: Steve Bellamy. Singers: Karen Young and Coral Egan.
Musicians: Nicola, Vassil, and Peter Markov.
This piece is an excerpt from one of the loops that could be heard in the Varna exhibit at the
Pointe-à-Callière Museum in Montreal. In this section, the background drone carries the listener through different musical sections, including different traditional vocal pieces and instrumental ones.
" Réalisé par Diane LebSuf. Conception sonore pour le bourdon : Gaétan LebSuf. Arrangement : Karen Young. Enregistré au studio Sono Design à Montréal. Ingénieur : Steve Bellamy. Chanteurs : Karen Young et Coral Egan. Musiciens : Nicola, Vassil et Peter Markov. Cette pièce est un extrait d une des boucles que l on pouvait entendre lors de l exposition Varna au Musée Pointe-à-Callière de Montréal. Dans cet extrait, le bourdon entraîne l auditeur à travers différentes sections musicales comprenant des pièces vocales et instrumentales traditionnelles.
Grosse Île exhibit audioguide (excerpt / extrait) (2:55)
Sound designer and producer: Diane LebSuf. Recorded at Sono design in Montreal, Grosse-Île and Rideau Vert Theatre rehearsal hall. In this excerpt, the visitor to the museum would be preparing to enter the disinfectant shower room but before they do so, they get to hear about the wonderful living conditions for Canada from a person who tries to
sell the country to potential European immigrants. As soon as he is done, the visitor enters the showers. In the closing excerpt, the visitor is walking through the men s and women s waiting areas and can hear testimonies from men, women, and children about personal
experiences, frustrations, and hardships.
" Conception sonore et réalisation : Diane LebSuf. Enregistré au studio Sono Design à Montréal, Grosse-Île et dans la salle de répétition du Théâtre du Rideau Vert. Lors de cet extrait, le visiteur du musée se préparait à entrer dans la salle de désinfection mais entendait auparavant la présentation des conditions de vie merveilleuses au Canada
par une personne tentant de « vendre » le pays aux immigrants européens potentiels. Après cette présentation, le visiteur entrait dans la salle de douche. Le dernier extrait accompagnait le visiteur dans les salles d attente des hommes et des femmes. Le visiteur pouvait y entendre des témoignages d hommes, de femmes et d enfants à propos de leurs expériences personnelles, leurs frustrations et leurs difficultés.
Varna (sax, waves, and drone) (excerpt / extrait) (2:23)
Produced by Diane LebSuf. Sound design for drone: Gaétan LebSuf. Sound
design for wave drone: Karen Young. Recorded at Sono design in Montreal.
Recording Engineer: Steve Bellamy.
This piece is one element of a loop that could be heard while walking through ancient Bulgaria at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum s Varna exhibit. Here, a non-traditional saxophone plays on ancient melody over the haunting drone and waves that could be heard through the exhibit.
" Réalisé par Diane LebSuf. Conception sonore : Gaétan LebSuf et Karen Young. Enregistré au studio Sono Design à Montréal. Ingénieur : Steve Bellamy.Cette pièce est un extrait d une boucle que l on pouvait entendre alors que l on marchait à travers l ancienne Bulgarie dans le cadre de l exposition Varna au musée Pointe-à-Callière de Montréal. On entend ici un saxophone non-traditionnel jouant une mélodie par-dessus un bourdon
que l on pouvait entendre tout au long de l exposition.
REVIEWS
Events:
Barry Truax: Powers of Two, modern baroque opera
Asian Heritage Month: Grace Lee, Mark McGregor
John Oliver: Up Wind
L.A. in May
Upwardly Mobile? New Music, New York
Other Minds Festival 10
Recordings:
Cornelius Cardew by AMM-Formanex
Eric Barber, John Butcher
Christian Calon and Chantal Dumas
Chainworks, Day & Taxi, Rhodri Davies
Michael Doneda, Urs Leimgruber, and Keith Rowe
Kuwayama - Kijima, Brett Larner, Joëlle Léandre, and Kazuhisa Uchihashi
Larval, Lionel Marchetti
Pauline Oliveros & Reynols
Sarah Peebles
Steve Roden & Tu m
Gamelan Madu Sari
Book:
Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo by Bart Platenga
Visions of Sound Exploration: Christopher DeLaurenti
