Travel
Wordless Wednesday: 7 (Flushing) Elevated, Long Island City
Preparing for Omega Sound Fix
The Omega Sound Fix gets underway tonight at the Alfa Art Gallery in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I am planning to be present tonight as well as tomorrow and as with other larger music and events I will be probably be live tweeting @catsynth.
I have been busily preparing for the performance (along with everything else one does for a long-distance trip). The basic setup features the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, monome, DSI Evolver and Korg Kaoss Pad.
[Click to enlarge.]
The iPhone will primarily be running Smule Ocarina, while the iPad will be used for the new Smule Magic Fiddle, the Korg iMS-20 (pictured) above, the Bebot, and sundry other instruments.
One thing I have noticed is that although the main musical items have shrunk in size, the entire rig remains large, primarily because of the ancillary elements such as cables, stands, etc., so it ends up still being quite cumbersome and heavy, especially when loading it into airline-friendly suitcases. I ran into similar challenges with previous performances in New York as well as the one in Shanghai last year.
Musically, I will be doing three pieces. I will reprise the music-plus-video piece featuring Luna that I did at the Quickening Moon concert in February, but using the iPad with Magic Fiddle and the iMS-20 to replace the Octave CAT (which I will not take on the road). I will also perform a couple of the other current standard solo pieces, such as the prayer bowl with Evolver plus Smule Ocarina, and the live-sampling piece featuring the monome and a variety of Indian and Chinese folk instruments. I have two new Indian instruments to use tomorrow:
The first is a dotara. Although the name implies two strings, this instrument actually has five. I have not played it before, so we will see what happens. The second is a new gophichand. My other gopichands are fine, but it’s nice to have a few (if only as spares, as they are quite delicate). I will be freely mixing them with Chinese percussion instruments as well as my iPad-based model of a Chinese guzheng that I first used at the Luggage Store Gallery in September. I like the idea of mixing elements from different traditions together into something new.
For those interested in attending for following, here is the full info on the Omega Sound Fix festval:
Sonic Architecture Unveiled by Electronic Composers and Human-Robot Band at Underground Music Venue
Electronic Music Festival resonates in New Brunswick art gallery
Over twenty innovative international and local musicians will perform at the bleeding edge of sound on Nov. 20 & 21 at Omega Sound Fix. Headlining performers have performed with the likes of John Cage, David Tudor, Steve Reich, Lydia Lunch, Faust, and Throbbing Gristle and are exploring new territory this fall.
Richard Lainhart is an award-winning composer, author, and filmmaker renowned for his individual work and collaborations with John Cage, David Tudor, and Steve Reich. His compositions have been performed worldwide with his earliest sonic forays predating Brian Eno’s ventures into ambience.
Philippe Petit of Marseilles, France is an innovative composer, who considers himself a “musical travel agent,” and assembles “sound-images” with turn tables and digital wizardry. He has performed across Europe and the Americas with Lydia Lunch, Faust, and Throbbing Gristle.
Octant, a one-man and multi-robot band, will plumb the depths of cybernetic accompaniment on Sunday, Nov. 21. Mathew Steinke serves as the band’s Gepetto and sole human member. “I would go out of my way to see an Octant show…” writes CMJ magazine.
Tickets are $6 for one day, $10 for a two-day pass. Doors open at 6 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.
About Omega Sound Fix:
Local musicians, Mike Durek and Mark Weinberg, spawned the idea of an innovative and eclectic music festival during a mini-golf match last summer. Durek and Weinberg expressed frustration with the lack of a new music scene in New Brunswick and sought to fill the void with innovative sounds and talented performers. Click here for more info.
UPDATED List of Performers:
Day 1: Saturday 11.20.10 @ 6:30pm
Brendan Byrne
Zilmrah
Richard Lainhart
Philippe Petit
PAS
Pots and Powercells
Day 2: Sunday 11.21.10 @ 4:30 pm
Blithe (doll)
Borne
Octant
Ezekiel Honig
Trinitron
Amar Chaudhary (Catsynth)
Omega Sound Fix, Alfa Art Gallery, New Brunswick NJ, November 20-21
On Sunday, November 21, I will be performing a solo set at the Omega Sound Fix festival at the Alfa Art Gallery in New Jersey.
“What is the Omega Sound Fix? It’s a new music festival in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It features 12 bands over two days, some international acts, and some local. It will showcase the underground explorers, the Magellans of the music world…foregoing the known in search of new lands and new sounds. They are all on the bill because they offer something unique to the music world.”
Click on the digital dinosaur picture above to see the flyer featuring the full festival line-up. I am excited to be a part of this event. To help us fully fund the festival and make it a success, we have launched a Kickstarter campaign. Check out this video from festival organizers Mike Durek and Mark Weinberg, and donate something if you can. We have discounted tickets, CDs, DVDs, and other neat things to offer as rewards (I wouldn’t mind the housecleaning myself).
Wordless Wednesday: Portal
The Forbidden City
The first stop on my weekend trip to Beijing was the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial seat of power from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. It is really is a “city” rather than a palace. It is huge and contains hundreds of buildings, and in three hours I was only able to cover part of it. This article presents only a small sampling of what I saw.
The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat and walls, with towers at the corners:
Inside the walls are a patchwork of courts and buildings, of which Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest and most iconic:
The people in the crowd (which is relatively modest for China) should provide some sense of scale for the size of the buildings and the courtyard. At this scale, the architecture seems relatively streamlined and spare, but a closer look reveals intricate details in the buildings, as well as the networks of stairways and paths.
The above architectural details are more intense, in terms of color and complexity, than those I had seen previously in the other cities. Other imperial and religious buildings in Beijing share a similar style.
Views such as this may be recognizable to some readers who have seen documentaries, or films like The Last Emperor. Another image I did recall from seeing film many years ago was the imperial throne:
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It was actually a challenge to get a good look at the throne or other significant building interiors, much less attempt to photograph them, because of the ubiquitous crowds:
One could escape from the crowds for a bit by staying out in the middle of the courtyards, or venturing into the maze of side buildings. Wandering the side areas was quite interesting, around a narrow corridor one could easily find another whole court and buildings, “palaces within palaces”, such as Palace of Heavenly Purity with it’s golden lions in front:
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Tucked inside the warren of side courts were numerous gardens, similar to those I saw in Suzhou and Wuxi. Some were similarly small an intimate, and seemed like pleasant oases. There was also the imperial garden, which contained this rather large rockery topped by a pavilion (closed to the public), which like it could be at home in a Lord of the Rings movie as much as a Chinese imperial palace.
Scattered throughout the complex were numerous statues, such as the lions protecting palace, entrances and dragons, and other artifacts from the imperial courts:
[click to enlarge]
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I would have liked to try out those bells.
At the southern entrance is Tiananmen Gate, which now bears the portrait of Chairman Mao:
I of course could not resist having Zip pose for a “Mao and mao” photo (one of a few I have taken during my trips to China).
[click to enlarge]
Liang Shan Buddha
In the hills not far from Wuxi stands 88-meter tall Liang Shan Buddha:
To get a sense of just how immense this statue is, consider the people on the staircase in the photo.
Looking down from the base of the Buddha, one can see the expanse of the valley and temple complex below:
In the temple courtyard, there is a scale replica, which one can view in alignment:
There is also a full-size copy of the Buddha’s hand. One is supposed to walk a full circuit while remaining in contact with the hand for good luck, and the wear from countless visitors is clearly visible.
I did the full circuit around the hand, and we’ll see how that works out…
The Liang Shan Buddha is not an ancient construction, but rather recent project sponsored by the Chinese government with some private donations. There is a certain over-the-top feel to the entire complex, almost like a Buddhist amusement park, with a huge parking lot, busses, etc. They have also built a large “palace” with rather gaudy devotional art. The huge circular meditation hall in the center was less ornate, with it’s arrangement of seats and geometric design, though they did have a constantly changing light show in the domed ceiling:
Not being a Buddhist, I don’t really have much interpretation of these aspects of the center. But certainly, the giant Buddha itself is impressive.
CatSynth in China Part 3, plus Japan!
Well, my third trip to China in less than half a year begins and the end this week. So for the next couple of weeks, expect fewer cats and synths, and more photos and thoughts from China. Even if it is the latest in a string of work-related trips, there are still plenty of things to explore in such a vast and complex country. And as a bonus, I will also be spending a couple of days in Tokyo! I expect Japan to be a different experience altogether. Expect high technology, modernism, crazy highways and urban landscapes, and of course cats.
During this trip, Luna will be boarding at the same place she stayed during our CatSynth HQ construction adventure. It’s always a bit sad to leave, but good to know that she will be well cared for.
CatSynth in China II
Well, for the second time in only two months, I will be visiting China. More opportunities to explore and hopefully build on the experience of the previous trip.
And this time, I will be performing a show in Shanghai at an electronic music event. Stay tuned for more details.
The unfortunate part is of course leaving Luna behind. This time, we’re past the construction, so things should be more peaceful for her, albeit a bit lonely.
Suzhou Humble Adminstrator’s Garden and Tiger Hill
In addition to its many canals, Suzhou is famous as one of the major centers of classical Chinese gardens. Perhaps the largest and best known is the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
The garden is about 13 acres and about 500 years old (at least one site suggests it is exactly 500 years old, having been built in 1509). The “humble administrator” was a government official Wang Xianchen, who clearly could not have been that humble with a spread like this. It is interesting to note that gardens such as these were almost always private, and the idea of maintaining them is relatively recent.
The elements of the garden include the plants, water, architecture (much of it the more minimalist and geometric Ming Dynasty style) and rocks, such as the lakebed rocks in the photo above. The natural and geometric elements fuse in a way that seems very fresh and modern, and one can see where many twentieth century artists, architects and designers may have gotten their inspiration.
This is the sort of place where I could easily get lost in the visual elements for a long time.
But of course we had to move on. We next visited one of Suzhou’s other well-known landmarks, Tiger Hill. The highest point in the city, Tiger Hill was originally the site of a king’s tomb, and later a Buddhist monastery and temple.
Although this photo makes the pagoda at the top of the hill look perfectly straight, it is actually leaning quite strongly to one side:
Supposedly, it is the many attempts over the years to locate and excavate the tomb in the hill that has led to the weakening of the ground below the tower and its severe tilt. The entrance to the tomb was finally discovered in the 1960s in pool lower on the hillside during a sever drought. However, it has remained unexcavated, lest the tower tilt even further.
The top of the hill supposedly provides a spectacular view of Suzhou, but with the dense winter fog I was not able to see very much.