analog

Pitta of the Mind, Red Thread, and Pet the Tiger at Turquoise Yantra Grotto

Today we look at back at the show “Noisy with a Chance of TEXT” that took place at the Turquoise Yantra Grotto in San Francisco earlier this month. The program of experimental music with textual elements intended to “break the ultimate taboo in noise: meaning” and featured performances by Pitta of the Mind (my duo with Maw Shein Win), Red Thread (CJ Borosque and Laurie Amat), and Pet the Tiger (David Samas and Peter Bonos). A secondary theme of the night was cats – with abundant animal print in the setting and attire of the participants.

The concert opened with an introductory set by Pet the Tiger, combining David Samas’ vocals and custom musical instruments with instrumental performance by Peter Bonos.

David Samas and Peter Bonos

Their performance combined a wide variety of sounds into a short period of time, with experimental voice, instrumentation and electronics. It set the tone for the evening of sometimes complex music but also warm and inviting at the same time.

Next up was Red Thread, a duo of CJ Borosque and Laurie Amat.

CJ Borosque and Laurie Amat

The set started (and ended) with extended-technique trumpet and voice, but in between it was a very sparse and captivating presentation of CJ Borosque’s poetry. Throughout, there was a counterpoint between the straight recitation of the text and Laurie Amat’s virtuosic vocal techniques.

Then it was time for Pitta of the Mind to take the stage.

Pitta of the Mind

We took the animal-print theme quite seriously with our costumes, and Maw Shein Win read a selection of animal-themed poems while I performed music on a variety of iPad synthesizer apps. You can see our full performance in this video:

Pitta of the Mind at the Turquoise Yanta Grotto, April 5, 2013 from CatSynth on Vimeo.

I particularly liked how well timed and structured the performance turned out, including the “cat piano” interludes. It was also great to see how much the audience got into the theme, meowing back at us. Afterwards, I was joined on stage by David Samas in an impromptu duo where he combined his extended vocal techniques with my improvisation on an analog modular synthesizer. It’s amazing how much Samas was able to “sound like a synth” with his voice. Again, you can see the full performance in the video below:

Amar Chaudhary and David Samas at Turquoise Yantra Grotto, April 5, 2013 from CatSynth on Vimeo.

Overall, this was one of the most fun experimental-music shows I have participated in for a while. Not only was it strong musically, but we had a large and appreciative audience that packed the intimate space of the Turquoise Yantra Grotto. I certainly hope for more shows like this in the near future.

CatSynth video: Serge modular * Dubstep

From TQDOQ on YouTube, via matrxsynth. See if you can spot the cat.

This is the way we do it in Japan. Dubstep music using TRAKTOR and a
vintage design Serge Modular synthesizer.
Syncing is accomplished over Wi-Fi MIDI clock, with TRAKTOR as the
master and Ableton Live as slave. Latency is compensated “on the
fudge”.

This set up is being ported to local clubs in Tokyo, where the DJ
lives. The cat “nyamu” lives in a tower, inside the studio…

CatSynth pic: Mandarina and modules

From Travis Johns via the CatSynth Facebook page.

Mandarina “assisting” with some modules – March is the hottest month in Costa Rica and my studio is on the second floor of a building with a metal roof so daytime temperatures render it unusable – so I’ve been bringing work home with me in order to work at night when the temp’s a little more bearable. Unfortunately, there’s usually a certain orange snag to that plan. The modules themselves are from a class I’m teaching called TicoTronics – teaching basic electronics and circuit design via open source synth schematics, modified to use only components common to Costa Rica. For more info – www.vauxflores.com

You can see an example of Travis Johns’ creations and here.