Ji Youn Kang (aka KANG) searches for set-ups that combine acoustic, analogue and digital instruments and devices. Her works with the Korean gong kkwaenggwari and self-built bamboo instruments are intriguing examples of such amalgams. The kkwaenggwari is a small, hand-held gong … read more
acoustic resonators by Jeff Snyder
The musical instruments invented by Jeff Snyder are inspired by age-old techniques of instrument building. Combining this inherited knowledge of luthiers with compositional ideas based on intonation alone, it might not be surprising that the work of composer and instrument … read more
Transduction and Acoustic Radiator by Kristen Roos
Not only does Kristen Roos work with the frequency range audible for human beings, but also many other frequencies and vibrational phenomena are of high importance in his work. He makes different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum perceivable for human beings … read more
Vestiges of Discomposition and other works by Simon Whetham
Before Simon Whetham begins his performance, he asks you to close your eyes. However, I could not help but open my eyes briefly a few times. I saw Simon walking around slowly, holding a cymbal in his hands. A tactile … read more
Touche Nature by I-lly Cheng
Vibrations of loudspeaker membranes cause air pressure waves, which our hearing system perceives as sound. As long as they are travelling through the air, these sound waves remain invisible to human … read more
Small Movements by Adam Basanta
In his set-up for Small Movements (2016), Adam Basanta uses two microphones and seven loudspeakers in different combinations to create acoustic feedback. The sound of the feedback is surprisingly “clean”: it contains not much noise, but focuses essentially on a … read more
Sound in a Jar by Ronald Boersen
In Sound in a Jar (2016) by Ronald Boersen three performers— Ronald Boersen himself, Dganit Elyakim and Hadas Pe’ery—move three different microphones back and forwards to a very small loudspeaker placed in a jar. As Ronald explained me, this piece … read more
Transducer by Robin Fox and Eugene Ughetti
In Transducer (2013), you may easily recognise all kinds of “classical” playing techniques for microphones and loudspeakers, twisted in surprising and clever ways. This results in a performance which reinvents and expands known pieces such as Steve Reich’s Pendulum Music… read more
Fifty years of loudspeakers and ping pong balls
Some objects seem particularly suitable for use in preparing loudspeakers. Perhaps ping pong balls were favored objects for this due to their lightness and characteristic sound. Comparing several of these set-ups reveals that—fortunately!—using a similar technology can still result in … read more
Doppelbelichtung by Carola Bauckholt
Carola Bauckholt has written several pieces in which the imitation of bird sounds plays an important role. Examples are Lichtung (2011), for string quartet, and Zugvögel (2011/2012), for five wind instruments. In her piece Doppelbelichtung (2016), for the first time, … read more