Michael J. Schumacher

Room Piece Udine 2011

“Room Piece Udine 2011” is a computer-based, multi-channel, generative sound installation that uses a wide range of material, from instruments both acoustic and electric, to field recordings, to “found” (i.e. pilfered) sounds, articulating them through algorithmic processes that create shifting relationships between disparate sonic events. The essential structural device is the juxtaposition of reiterated fragments (less than 100 ms.) of recordings, mostly field recordings and improvising musicians, that define points in space. The computer decides on a particular range within a given recording, where to place the sound, and the interval of repetition. Several similar processes may occur simultaneously.

Additional sounds placed around the room fill out the piece, turning on and off under the control of various timing algorithms that create shifting contexts for their presentation.

Listeners are encouraged to stay for at least 45 minutes. The large variety of sounds occurring apparently at random may be disorienting at first; over time, listeners may become familiar with some of the sounds and relate them to past occurrences forming a kind of “grid” of relationships both spatial and temporal.

Michael J. Schumacher is a composer, performer and installation artist based in New York City.

He works predominantly with electronic and digital media, making computer generated sound environments that evolve continuously for long time periods. In their realization, Schumacher uses multiple speaker configurations that relate the sounds of the installation to the architecture of the exhibition space. Architectural and acoustical considerations thereby become basic structural elements.
His sound installations have been heard at festivals and venues in North America, Europe and Asia. XI Records has published a DVD set of five sound installations as computer applications, playable on up to eight speakers, which may be installed on a computer to create sound environments in the home. Schumacher’s composition “Grid”, a computer generated score that unfolds in real time, has been in exhibitions in New York, Barcelona and Houston. His CD “Room Pieces”, also on XI Records, was rated best of 2003 for “modern composition” by The Wire magazine.Schumacher is founder and director of Diapason, a gallery devoted to sound art located in Brooklyn, NY. Since 2001, Diapason has presented the work of over 300 sound and media artists, including premiers by David Behrman, Jacob Kirkegaard, Stephen Vitiello, Leif Inge, and others.www.michaeljschumacher.com www.diapasongallery.org

sabato 28 Maggio 2011 / venerdì 10 Giugno 2011 ore 18:00

Michael J. Schumacher

Room Piece Udine 2011

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