AOM announces a special concert of two world premiere compositions. The performance features Jeremy Owen Turner's XAANADRuuL, dedicated to the memory of Karlheinz Stockhausen, who died last year and Pauline Oliveros' Heart of Tones, dedicated to the memory of trombonist Toyoji Tomita, who passed away April 17, 2008. The performance takes place on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 2 PM Pacific/SLT on Second Life (stay tuned for SL audience url) and at the 4th annual Open Space Voice++ Festival in Victoria, BC, Canada. The concert will also be streamed for listening at
Shoutcast server 1
http://d-oo-b.cc:8034
Listening url server 1
http://d-oo-b.cc:8034/listen
Shoutcast server 2
http://d-oo-b.cc:8036
Listening url server 2
http://d-oo-b.cc:8036/listen
Shoutcast server 3 (reserve)
http://d-oo-b.cc:8038
Listening url server 3
http://d-oo-b.cc:8038/listen
Saturday May 10 2 PM PDT; 5 PM EDT (NYC, Toronto); 9 PM GMT; 10 PM UK; 11 PM CEDT
Web Streaming: Loop Luo (Loopland), Regensburg, Germany
Web Stream Host: Eifachfilm Vacirca Films, Basil, Switzerland
PROGRAM
(Times are approximate. Due to the nature of the technology of the virtual reality platform, there may be slight delays experienced in the audio stream)
2:00
XAANADRuuL
Stockhausen's Pleasuredome 4 Sirius Business (2007/2008)
by Wirxli Flimflam (Jeremy Owen Turner)
--short break for set change--
--(there may be a pause in the audio stream)--
2:30
The Heart of Tones (mixed reality version)
by Free Noyes (Pauline Oliveros)
PROGRAM NOTES
XAANADRuuL
Stockhausen's Pleasuredome 4 Sirius Business (2007/2008)
by Wirxli Flimflam (Jeremy Owen Turner)
dedicated to the memory of Karlheinz Stockhausen
XANADRuuL is a Second Life composition in 3 sections created for the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. One can see this composition as an official elegy/tribute to the Modernist music pioneer, Karlheinz Stockhausen. XAANADRuuL was created from samples that were solely derived from the composer's (Wirxli's) own digitally manipulated voice. This composition was inspired by Stockhausen's claim of being an alien from Sirius and so the 3 sections of this composition correspond to Sirius A, B and C stars. In addition, there are also many references to Xanadu (including the movie with Olivia Newton John). The Opening Ceremonies take place on Sirius A where angels sing along with the selected voice samples from heavenly heights on the ceiling of a pentagonal geodesic dome and also on Sirius B where meandering avatars vainly attempt to communicate with these alien angelic muses using only pre-recorded samples. Sirius C is a "meta-composition" and is performed by the public throughout Second Life.
PERFORMERS
Virtual Instruments (Second Life):
Avatar Orchestra Metaverse
Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg, Germany
BlaiseDeLaFrance Voom (Biagio Francia), Agropoli, Italy
Goodwind Seiling (Sachiko Hayashi), Stockholm, Sweden
Gumnosophistai Nurmi (Leif Inge), Oslo, Norway
Ida Abe (Nathalie Fougeras), Brussels
Miulew Takahe (Bjorn Eriksson), Solleftea, Sweden
Paco Mariani (Chris Wittkowsky), Regensburg, Germany
Vocalists via Second Life:
Aurel Miles (Stephani Farrington), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Liz Solo (Liz Solo) St.John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Zonzo Spyker (Viv Corringham), Minneapolis, USA, London, UK
Vocalists on site at Open Space Victoria:
Bowlerhat Tranchcoat (Christopher Reiche), Victoria, BC, Canada
Fernsing Llewelyn (Cathy Lewis), Victoria, BC, Canada
Humming Pera (Tina Pearson), Victoria, BC, Canada
_____
The Heart of Tones (mixed reality version)
by Free Noyes (Pauline Oliveros)
dedicated to the memory of Toyoji Tomita
This piece was originally composed for trombone and two oscillators, and commissioned by Abbie Conant and her Wired Goddess Project during her residency at Mills College in the Fall of 1999. This is an ensemble version of the piece adapted for the mixed realities of Second Life and Real Life, combining virtual instruments with live trombones and voices. The Heart of Tones: A tone, in this instance D4, is minutely explored in the smallest possible increments on, above and below the prescribed pitch, through the smallest timbre variations and spatial locations by performers on virtual and RL instruments. The pitch variations are never more than a half step away from the given pitch. The resultant beats, timbral shifts and audio illusions create rhythms, transformations and textures of depth. The focus is on listening to the beat frequencies and the overtones that result. The musicians decide independently and intuitively on the variations.
PERFORMERS
Virtual Instruments (Second Life):
Avatar Orchestra Metaverse
Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg, Germany
BlaiseDeLaFrance Voom (Biagio Francia), Agropoli, Italy
Fernsing Llewelyn (Cathy Lewis), Victoria, BC, Canada
Free Noyse (Pauline Oliveros), Kingston, New York, USA
Goodwind Seiling (Sachiko Hayashi), Stockholm, Sweden
Gumnosophistai Nurmi (Leif Inge), Oslo, Norway
Humming Pera (Tina Pearson), Victoria, BC, Canada
Liz Solo (Liz Solo) St.John’s, Newfoundland
Miulew Takahe (Bjorn Eriksson), Solleftea, Sweden
Paco Mariani (Chris Wittkowsky), Regensburg, Germany
Zonzo Spyker (Viv Corringham), Minneapolis, USA, London, UK
Vocalist via Second Life:
Zonzo Spyker (Viv Corringham), Minneapolis, USA, London, UK
Vocalists on site at Open Space Victoria:
Fernsing Llewelyn (Cathy Lewis), Victoria, BC, Canada
Humming Pera (Tina Pearson), Victoria, BC, Canada
Trombonists via Second Life:
Sum Noyes (Monique Buzzarté), New York
Trombonejen Wigglesworth (Jen Baker), Oakland, California, USA
Weave Noyes (Sarah Weaver), New York
Seattle Toyoji Band via Second Life:
StuArtnoise Sass (Thomasa Eckert, voice; Janice Giteck, cello; Roger Nelson, keyboard/voice; Paul Taub, flute; Renko Ishida Dempster, koto; Stuart Dempster, trombone), Seattle, Washington, USA
Statement from Pauline Oliveros:
“In my career of half a century I have used new technologies as they come about. I was excited by the new sounds I could make with electronics in the 50s and 60s. I was excited by performing with electronics in the 70s and 80s and by using computers for more powerful controls in the 90s and 2000s. My excitement with Second Life (SL) is the entry into the computer or virtual world where many things are possible that are not possible in Real Life (RL). In the virtual world many people come together from any part of the connected world (the planet) to collaborate on mutual interests. In this case music. The Heart of Tones is a RL piece that I have revised for SL/RL performance. The premiere will involve RL musicians performing for both RL and SL audiences. I am excited because there is a transition going on between the reality we know and the virtual reality to come. The Heart of Tones is an early venture in bridging both worlds.”
About Avatar Orchestra Metaverse
Virtual instruments and performance practice:
AOM compositions are created solely on the virtual reality platform that is Second Life. Some performances occur only on the Second Life platform, while many others are screened into Real Life concert and multi media presentations in centers in Europe and North America. In the case of Real Life performances, one or more onsite AOM members coordinates the internet linking and technical set up at the Real Life venue, and the virtual performance is projected live with amplified sound. The common way of presenting live music in Second Life is to stream sound. That is, somebody sits in a studio with mic or line connected to a computer running Second Life, and the sound is streamed to the Second Life listeners (avatars) who are at the same Second Life location. There might be a few avatars holding props looking like a musical instrument guitar, and the avatars might be animated to look like they are playing the
‘instruments’. The effect of this is very much like listening to live radio, even if it is a radio with a sophisticated user interface. The sound generated has no three-dimensional impact on the Second Life listener. This is very much a way the orchestra opposes.
There are two other options: to upload samples or to input live directly into Second Life with a mic input. AOM primarily uses the option of uploading sound samples into Second Life, and then synthesizes instruments using those Samples for each composition. This instrument, accessed through a Heads Up Display on the computer screen of each avatar, looks similar to what video games use for individual player control. Each individual performer is thus able to trigger sounds independently from each other.
Visually, AOM uses ‘receivers’, which are animations built into the HUD controls that indicate that the avatar is making sound. The animations are usually in the form of objects attached to the avatar’s body (back, head or torso) that change colour and shape, and that sometimes animate the avatar to fly, hover, or dance.
BIOS AND CREDITS
PAULINE OLIVEROS (Kingston, New York): Oliveros’ life as a composer, performer and humanitarian is about opening her own and others' sensibilities it the many facets of sound. Since the 1960's she has influenced American Music profoundly through her work with improvisation, meditation, electronic music, myth and ritual. Many credit her with being the founder of present day meditative music. All of Oliveros' work emphasizes musicianship, attention strategies, and improvisational skills. Oliveros has been celebrated worldwide. During the 1960's John Rockwell named her work Bye Bye Butterfly as one of the most significant of that decade. In the 70's she represented the U.S. at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan; during the 80's she was honored with a retrospective at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.: the 1990's began with a letter of distinction from the American Music Center presented at Lincoln Center in New York: In 2000 the 50th anniversary of her work was celebrated with the commissioning and performance of her Lunar Opera:Deep Listening For_tunes. Oliveros work is available on numerous recordings produced by companies internationally. Sounding the Margins (as it was) - a forty year retrospective will be released soon in a six CD boxed set from the Deep Listening Institute www.deeplistening.org, which she founded with her creative partner IONE.
JEREMY OWEN TURNER (Vancouver) Jeremy Owen Turner (b. 1974, Victoria, B.C., Canada) is an inter-disciplinary artist, published writer, virtual performer and music (audio) composer currently based in Vancouver but exhibits, curates, performs and collaborates globally. As Wirxli Flimflam, he co-founded Second Front and also composes for the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. His degree is in Art-History from the University of Victoria where he has also studied music composition with John Celona, Christopher Butterfield and John Cole. Turner is also a co-producer for the pioneering avatar performance group called The Gates - www.techworlds.org/thegates.htm and the internet punk band, The Hotmails – www.thehotmails.com He has been published in many sound-related publications including Musicworks, Front Magazine and C-Theory.
Avatar Orchestra Instrument (HUD) and Receiver Builder:
Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg, Germany
ANDREAS MUELLER was declared to be insane by his mother when she caught him in the kitchen recording a chamber concerto for washing machine, breadcutter, tape-loop and metronome at the tender age of 12. He managed to convince her successfully that he was not and only tried out what he had read in a book about modern music he had picked up from the public library. Since then he has worked in many areas of visual and acoustic art/noise, both digital and analogue. He currently works with the media-art group Pomodoro Bolzano (Regensburg, Germany) and in several collaborations within Second Life. http://www.pbspace.de/ , http://www.myspace.com/transponderfish
Avatar Orchestra Set Design and Construction (XAANADRuuL):
Dethomas Dibou (Detlev Thomas), Regensburg, Germany
DETLEV THOMAS is an artist and architect uses virtual reality technology to design eco and energy efficient houses, as well as furniture, and interior and urban spaces. Since 1993, his projects have been realized in Spain, Germany and Austria. Since 2006, as his Second Life avatar Dethomas Dibou, Detlev has designed virtual art spaces and sets for artists in Germany, Italy and Canada as well as for projects of the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse.
Performance Platforms on Second Life courtesy of
Humlab, Umeå University, Sweden: James Barrett and Patrik Svensson
