Author: catsynth

Outsound New Music Summit: Cheryl Leonard and Machine Shop

The opening concert of the 2015 Outsound New Music Summit open with a very elemental program based on music from wood, stone, earth and metal.

First up was Cheryl Leonard performing compositions for natural objects, including shells, stones, wood, and water. Each of the pieces was accompanied by a video created from other artists.

Cheryl Leonard
[Photo: PeterBKaars.com]

Water and extreme weather were major themes of her set. The first piece was based on field recordings of melting ice on lakes in Yosemite National Park. As an ominous sign for the chronic drought we are facing here in California and climate change worldwide, the ice was thawing an crackling without a snow cover in mid January. Nonetheless, the music Leonard created from this was beautiful, the thumps and crackles formed a surprisingly strong rhythm with changing meter. Another piece focused on a storm while in open waters of the Arctic ocean as seen through the porthole of a ship, with video by artist Genevieve Swift. This piece was more turbulent compared to the more mesmerizing nature of the melting ice.

Cheryl Leonard playing dried kelp

Leonard also employs quite a variety of musical techniques for her natural objects, not simply percussive techniques. In the photo above, we see her playing dried kelp as a wind instrument.

Next up was Machine Shop, a duo featuring Karen Stockpole on gongs and Drew Webster on electronics. The dominant element in this set was metal, but not simply metal as found objects, but forged into strong and beautiful instruments.

Karen Stackpole, Machine Shop
[Photo: PeterBKaars.com]

Gongs can of course be loud and chaotic, but the rich harmonics and interplay among them can be brought out for subtle musical phrasing with a master artist like Karen Stockpole. The sounds ranged from loud booming drones to individual nearly pure tones and beats among harmonics from different instruments. There were also more abrupt staccato notes that she played with a mobile gong while walking around the stage. The overall effect was hypnotic, but nonetheless very musical with phrasing and a subtle form of rhythm.

Karen Stackpole
[Photo: PeterBKaars.com]

It was often difficult to tell where the acoustic sounds of the gongs ended and where the electronic processing began, which is not a bad thing, as I think electro-acoustic ensembles should often blend these elements. In the last two pieces, however, Webster’s electronics were more apparent, and one could here the processing as well as his synthesizer contributions to the sound which complemented the amplified gongs.

Machine Shop

Overall, it was a strong start to this years summit. Both sets were very well received by the full house in attendance; and it was refreshing to see that the artists received support for their recordings for sale (at least one of the new releases is now in the CatSynth collection).

Most photographs for this article are from Peter B. Kaars, who was featured earlier in the week with an exhibit and reception. You can read our report from that event here.

An Update on Luna

Luna and laptop on bed

I want to share an update on Luna’s condition with everyone.

On Wednesday, Luna and I visited the oncologist to discuss her situation and the next steps. He pretty much confirmed what we already knew from the diagnosis: that this is a very aggressive mammary cancer and that one of the tumors had compromised a blood vessel. The latter is particularly concerning because it may indicate spreading. It is a pretty dire prognosis, but not one without steps to take. A “cure” is unfortunately very unlikely at this point, but there are things we can do give her a longer life and better quality of life than letting the disease run its course, which would be fatal.

It’s particularly hard to comprehend for me, as Luna is still young, and so full of life. Since we were cleared to remove the cone she is back to her normal self, with normal “senior kitty” energy but her exceptional affection. Indeed, she continues to be the one who comforts me with purrs and love as I process what has been an emotionally crushing experience.

Luna being snuggly and affectionate

Right now, the best thing I can do is focus on the next steps and not look beyond that. The next step, and indeed most important one for treating her, is surgery. In all likelihood, that will happen this Saturday as the sooner we do this the better. Then it’s some time to heal, and then evaluation on the next steps, most likely two rounds of chemo. From there, the path is uncertain, and it’s best for me not to dwell on it (no small task). In this instance, I do envy the ability of cats like Luna to live in the moment and focus on the love and happiness they are feeling in that moment. For my end, all I can do is promise to get her the best care and give her the best quality of life I can for as long as we can have.

Thank you to everyone who has provided purrs, healing vibes, prayers and good wishes! It means a great deal to us.

Outsound Music Summit: Peter B Kaars Photography and Tim Perkis’ Noisy People

If you have followed our past coverage of the annual Outsound New Music Summit you have encountered the photography of Peter B. Kaars. Indeed, his photos appear on many of our reviews of Outsound events and beyond. This year, his work was the subject of an evening of the summit, with a gallery installation and reception.

Peter B Kaars Photography
[Image by Rent Romus, Outsound Presents]

For this event, Kaars selected images that were single portraits, each capturing an aspect of the performers’ musical personality.

Peter B Kaars photography

I was particularly happy and honored to be the subject of one of his selections: a close-up of my hand on a modular synth.

Peter B Kaars photo of Amanda Chaudhary on modular synth

The exhibition was a chance to see Kaars’ work as an artistic endeavor independent of the performances being documented. Or as Executive Director Rent Romus put it: “an artist making art of artists making art.”

The evening also featured a screening of Tim Perkis’ film Noisy People, which documented the Bay Area new-music and free-improvisation scene in the period 2002-2007 by following a collection of familiar artists.

Tim Perkis' Noisy People

Indeed, all of the artists featured in the film are people and I know and in many cases played with, either during the period chronicled or through countless events after I moved to San Francisco in 2008. It was fun to see some folks I know now in an earlier incarnation, and how their music has collaborations have changed. Of course, seeing it in an audience comprised of members of scene made the experience that much more fun.

You can find out about the concerts for this year’s Summit at the official website.

An Update on Luna

Dear friends, it is time to bring you all up to date on what has been happening with Luna. It’s not the best of news, but she is most definitely still with us and still the same cat we know and love.

Luna the cat and iPad

A little over a week ago at Luna’s annual checkup, our vet found some rather concerning lumps on Luna’s belly, essentially on her nipples/mammary organs. It was pretty clear that was some sort of tumor, mammary cancer being fairly common for cats. But it wasn’t clear exactly what kind, what it’s status was, and what would be the best course of action. So last Wednesday, we went back for a biopsy, which is itself quite an ordeal. An preliminary X-ray suggested no obvious growths in her chest or lungs, which was a huge relief. So the focus stayed on the two original lumps. The biopsy procedure went well, and Luna came home that evening, albeit with a “cone of shame.”

Luna with cone / bonnet.

Cone aside, she remained in relatively good spirits, and has been as sweet and affectionate as ever – she knows I need her comfort as much as she needs mine. The cone has been a source of distress for her, and she hasn’t been eating much. And she is staying near the bed, sofa or other places that we use for resting or cuddling. I have been removing the periodically and bringing her food over the resting areas, which she devours with aplomb.

Luna eating without cone.

We anxiously awaited results from he biopsy. And on Friday evening, we received them, and it wasn’t good. Not the worst, but not good. Basically, they are an aggressive form of feline breast cancer. They can easily be removed with surgery, but one of them may have already attacked a blood vessel, which puts lymph nodes at risk. So at this point, the situation is quite serious.

Our next step is to see the cancer specialist this next week and decide what is the appropriate course of treatment. Regular readers of this site know just how precious Luna is, and have promised both her and myself that she will get the best care I can provide and will do what it takes to give her a good quality of life. There isn’t much to do until the appointment next Wednesday except wait, spend time together, and continue with the myriad other things that are happening in my world right now. Wednesday isn’t that far away when life is so busy, but it seems like an eternity at the moment.

Please keep Luna in your thoughts and purrs.

Wordless Wednesday: Modular Synthesizer

Modular Synthesizer