Quadraphonic Concert

Schneider Museum of Art

Friday, July 24 at Noon. Free and open to the public.

Our special guest is Michael Vannice, whose playing is influenced by experimental music, free jazz, and avant-garde classical music. He will be playing a Eurorack modular synthesis system with a WX-5 wind controller. Todd and I will both be playing Buchla Electronic Easels.

While this music is electronic in nature, it is not computer music. The instruments are analog synthesizers, and in the case of the two Easels, each has a hard-wired circuit board designed by Todd that creates a very expressive setting we use as our starting point. It allows us to modulate the sound with touch, and it also adds random elements into the mix. It becomes a very interactive process between musician and instrument. In a similar way, Michael uses a wind controller to trigger and modify sound events through breath.

The spacial and acoustical characteristics of the Schneider Museum make for a unique listening experience. A speaker is placed in each of the four galleries, and sound can be directed to each discreetly. In this way, space plays a huge compositional role in the creation of the music.