Category Archives: Music

Video: Rhodonea II at SEAMUS

Posted on by
Reply

This video is a new interpretation of Rhodonea (Rhodonea II) that I performed for SEAMUS (the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the US) at Purdue University on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Attending and performing at the conference was a fantastic experience. I’ll share more about the event in future post.

The animated, generative, graphic score developed with Processing.org sends corresponding MIDI data to one of my favorite electronic instruments of late, the Dirtywave M8. Previously I performed the piece in Ireland at the inaugural Radical Futures conference.

The piece serves as a model of how we might collaborate with near future synthetic entities. Software feeds automated, algorithmic, projected visual cues, tempi, and low frequency oscillations to improvising electronic musicians. The visuals, based on Maurer Roses, suggest melodic, harmonic, and percussive gestures that are modulated by data streaming from the generative animations. Throughout the piece the artist adapts to the familiar yet unpredictable graphic scores and corresponding signals.

Note: please watch in full screen with the lights off and listen on headphones or high fidelity stereo speakers

SYNTAX Blu-Ray Disc from Æther Sound

Posted on by
Reply

Our generative, animated, graphic score, performance project SYNTAX in collaboration with Mike Hodnick (aka Kindohm) is now available from Æther Sound as a Blu-Ray disc. The Disc contains all eight of our compositions as well as two bonus videos. One from Mike titled n ciom 4 and another from me titled Rhodonea. It all adds up to a total of one hour and fifteen minutes of music with animation.

After performing SYNTAX at The International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Limerick, Ireland; New Interfaces for Musical Expression or NIME; The Performing Media Festival, South Bend, IN; The Int. Digital Media Arts conference, Winona, MN; and venues in Minneapolis and Kalamazoo I’m excited that we can share these works on physical media. Video excerpts are available on YouTube (see below), but the Blu-Ray disc is the only way to experience high-fidelity, full-length studio versions of this project. Learn more about SYNTAX here or buy the Blu-Ray from Æther Sound here.

The Tower Project by David Means with Anthony Cox, George Cartwright & JCS Keston

Posted on by
Reply

David Means with his Tower Project sculptural graphic score (2024)

I am delighted to announce a concert of work by David Means on September 27, 2024 at the brand new performance hall in the recently opened Schoenecker Center at the University of St Thomas. The upcoming concert and recording session was made possible by a grant for the UST College of Arts and Sciences with support from the Emerging Media and Music departments.

David Means was a professor, advisor, and mentor of mine while I was getting my undergrad in music technology. He also served on my masters thesis committee and over the years he has been a gracious reference helping me land a teaching position, performances, and grants, and been an amazing friend and collaborator. All the while David has tirelessly composed work of his own and performed it in a spectrum of countries and venues around the world.

The Tower Project is a sculptural, graphic score by David and the grant provides funding for the performance, an exhibition of the score, a recording session, and speaking engagements. I’m excited to perform David’s piece with him, Anthony Cox on cello, and George Cartwright on guitar. I’ll be playing the new Steinway in the performance hall and running it through my electroacoustic modular skiff.

Me, Anthony, and George will each do short solo pieces to start the event followed by a UST student ensemble performing the Tower Project and closing with a quartet of me, David, Anthony and George interpreting the piece. The concert is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Doors open at 6:30pm. Please join us at the University of St Thomas, Schoenecker Center, Performance Hall SCC 106, 2210 Summit Ave, St Paul, MN 55105. A full program is available at bit.ly/TheTowerProject.

Electroacoustic Piano Concert via Modular Synthesis

Posted on by
2

The last time I performed a series of electroacoustic piano pieces was November of 2016 (click the link for an audio example). However, I am always imagining interesting ways that the piano, one of the most ancient of all synthesizers ;-), can be processed, resampled, or re-synthesized. To that end I was recently offered an opportunity to play at Berlin, Not the city in Germany but the music venue in Minneapolis, on April 15, 2024.

In my previous performance I had used a Korg KP3+ and a Minifooger delay to simply sample and process the piano. While that simplicity allowed me to focus more on composing, this time I wanted to take a more flexible and unique approach to the electronics. Modular allows for this so I pillaged some modules from my main system and purchased a Happy Nerding FX AID XL to make an electroacoustic skiff designed for sampling, resampling, filtering, and processing incoming acoustic piano signals. From right to left the system includes Bela.io Gliss, Make Noise Morphagene, ALM Pamela’s Pro Workout, Make Noise Maths, Shakmat Dual Dagger, Electrosmith patch.init(), Happy Nerding FX AID XL, and Intellijel Outs. Continue reading →

Places Above the Air Debut Release

Posted on by
Reply

Places Above the Air is a collaboration between myself and Jesse Whitney. Out today, the album features eight tracks of “a surreal blend of IDM, ambient techno, and Berlin School work, with the song titles encapsulating a passage from the Egyptian Book Of The Dead” (as translated by Normandi Ellis). Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Pick it up on Bandcamp or give it a listen below.

Jesse also produced this video for the second track, yet I see with the eye of the sun as if it came to rest on my forehead.