Thursday, February 28, 2013

30th meeting report

thanks to everyone who joined us for our contact microphone-making session yesterday. everyone managed to leave with their own functioning mic, and we even had some time to try them out and make some initial experiments - pretty good going for only two hours. here are a few images and some extracts from the recordings we made. at the bottom you will also find, as promised, details of the playlist of recordings we listened to during our meeting, with links for more information on each artist. for those of you who were with us: please don't hesitate to contact any of these artists if you have any questions of comments about what you heard, i'm sure they would all be more than happy to hear from you!



these are extracts from recordings made on the handful of audio recorders we had at our disposal. these ranged from hard disk recorders to digital dictaphones to even one microcassette recorder. you can listen through, or try creating your own mix. this first recording was made with the microcassette recorder, and the strangeness of its sound comes not only from the medium but also from the compression as the sound was transferred from cassette to computer.


of course one of the most attractive things in a room full of people with contact microphones is a piano.


although we also had some percussion on the room's ventilation covers.


these are the sounds inside the sound system's amplifier.


and the sound of a chair being rolled across the floor.


and at least one person made it out of the room to record the bathroom sink.


and of course the toilet.


and the playlist:
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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

30th meeting, Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Patrick McGinley
Wednesday, February 27th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu



RSVP via the facebook event here!

This month, after January's concentration on microphone specifications, polar patterns, and usage techniques,  we will continue our explorations with the construction of our own simple contact microphones.

A contact microphone is a microphone that records audio vibration passing through solid objects, rather that passing through air, as with a conventional microphone. Contact microphones can be used to explore hidden or unheard sound in any resonant structure (such as wire fences, walls, support cables, ventilation...) or can simply be used to directly amplify musical instruments (as a pickup for an acoustic guitar, for example). In our short meeting we will have the materials for each participant to construct a simple functioning mono contact microphone with minijack output, for use with any recording device. We will also discuss further more advanced construction options that can be continued at home, make some initial recordings with our new microphones, and listen to a playlist of recordings from the international field recording community made with such microphones.

Participation is free, and participants will be able to keep their microphones. Materials and space are limited, and will be allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis, so please come early. Please bring your own sound recorder and headphones if you have them.

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms.  The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback.  Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum and Tartu Linnavalitsus.

http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

29th meeting, Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Patrick McGinley
Wednesday, January 30th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu


Welcome to the first meeting of helikoosolek:tartu for 2013! We have great plans for the new year, so we hope you haven't forgotten about us.

Our January meeting will feature an introduction to microphones and microphone techniques by your regular host, Patrick McGinley. This will be the first step towards constructing our own microphones, a long-requested activity that we will finally be getting to in the coming months.

We will discuss and explore different types of microphones (condenser, dynamic, electret, ribbon, contact, hydrophone, geophone), their polar patterns (cardioid, hypercardioid, omnidirectional, figure 8, directional), and the recording techniques for which they are used (AB, XY, ORTF, SASS, binaural, mid-side, jecklin disc). we will have first-hand experience of many of these as we try out different mics while listening directly through headphones to the differences between them and the various techniques. we will experiment with the various techniques and explore placement of microphones on objects, instruments, and bodies. Using these techniques we will make a first series of collective field recordings in and around ERM.

If you have microphones of your own, a sound recorder, and/or headphones for listening, please bring them along! If you are a musician you are also welcome to bring your acoustic instrument.

Patrick McGinley is an American-born sound, performance, and radio artist who has been based in Europe since 1996, and in Estonia since 2009. In 2005, he began working closely with the artist-run organisation MoKS, and has been organising helikoosolek:tartu since its beginning in 2010. Most recently McGinley has been giving presentations, workshops, and performances based on the exploration of site-specific sound and sound as definition of space. In live performance his interest in field recording has developed into an attempt to integrate and resonate found sounds, found objects, specific spaces, and moments in time, in order to create a direct and visceral link with an audience and location. For more information on his work see http://www.murmerings.com.

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms. The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback. Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum and Tartu Linnavalitsus.

http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee/
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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

28th meeting, Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Veljo Runnel
Wednesday, November 28th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

This month's helikoosolek features a return visit from biologist and nature recordist Veljo Runnel, who will present to us the revival and redesign of the online portal for Estonian animal sounds, Kõrv loodusesse (Ear into Nature).

The portal was launched in 2000, with as its main purpose the offering of online multimedia resources to schools. But as feedback has shown, the website has been used not just for educational purposes, but by many general listeners seeking a connection to nature when time or opportunity does not permit them to go there themselves. The website has had the same design and build more than ten years and with all the advances in web technologies it became apparent that it was time to modernize the Kõrv loodusesse portal.

In helikoosolek we will look at what has been done and why:
  • scientific database
  • quiz module
  • new look and feel

Plus a general discussion on topics such as:
  • nature sound databases - concepts and functions.
  • How to use amateur nature recording for scientific purposes.

Veljo Runnel is a biologist, but also studied psychology at the University of Tartu. He started sound recording in 1999, with as his main interests the sounds of animals and natural soundscapes, but also auditory perception in general and the interpretation of  the sonic world. He has been running workshops for teachers and nature interpreters for learning about biodiversity in nature, and also workshops in nature photography and sound recording.

He has released several nature sound CDs with The Estonian Fund for Nature.

http://www.loodusheli.ee
http://naturesoundscapes.eu
http://estlander.soundcloud.com

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms.  The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback.  Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

 http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee
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Friday, October 26, 2012

27th meeting, Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Martins Rokis
Wednesday, October 31st
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu


Martins Rokis works with sound in different contexts/forms combining interests in so-called computer music and sound art. His work is a blend of generative strategies and improvisation exploring digital sound synthesis, spatiality and multimodality of human perception. In 2012 he founded duh-noh, an small-scale independent platform for digital and physical releases. He mostly works with open source software and operating systems, programming his own tools, using his computer not as a cheap and easy solution for simulation of already existing musical practices, but rather as a tool for modeling physically impossible situations and exploring the ways that this medium and working conditions changes, influences or even controls ones aesthetic choices, and perhaps let’s one think about sound in ways that aren't possible using other existing methods. Often by means of processes that intensify perception, he is specifically interested in constructing situations in which the audience is not just passively hearing some kind of fixed “audio reality” but also actively participating in it's creation through the act of hearing.

http://www.martinsrokis.com
http://duh-noh.com

For helikoosolek we will be exploring themes such as:

  • software as artistic medium
  • how software can enable (or disable) ways of generating form and translating ideas
  • role of tools we use in our creative process or why technological objects are never neutral
  • core differences between physical and digital instruments
  • live coding, performance and different notions of “liveness”

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms. The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback. Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/helikoosolek
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

26th meeting, Wednesday, September 26th, 2012

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
open listening session
Wednesday, September 26th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu



Less talking and more listening this week, as helikoosolek organiser Patrick McGinley selects a playlist of sound and video featuring field recording, acoustic experimentation, spatial exploration, and composition. McGinley will delve into the collection of sounds that have come his way as the purveyor for over 10 years of framework radio, and that have come to his attention through the worldwide network of sound artists of which he has been a part for just as long. We will explore durational listening and how it affects perception, and discuss and describe our experiences of non-musical listening.

Likewise, participants are able and encouraged to bring along their favorite non-musical recording to share with the group, as an experiment with the first "open-mic" segment of helikoosolek.

 Patrick McGinley is an American-born sound, performance, and radio artist based in Europe since 1996. In 2002 he founded framework, an organisation that produces a weekly field recording-themed radio show, broad- and podcasting around the world. In 2005, he began working closely with the artist-run organisation MoKS in southeast Estonia, relocating there permanently in 2009. Most recently McGinley has been giving presentations, workshops, and performances based on the exploration of site-specific sound and sound as definition of space. McGinley's work is about small discoveries and concentrated attention; it focuses on the framing of sounds around us which normally pass through our ears unnoticed and unremarked, but which out of context become unrecognisable, alien and extraordinary: crackling charcoal, a squeaking escalator, a buzzing insect, or one's own breath. He works equally with spaces, objects, resonances, and people, in composition, performance, or simply collective action and experience, in exploration of perception via attentive listening.

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms. The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback. Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/helikoosolek
http://www.moks.ee
http://www.erm.ee
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Friday, August 24, 2012

25th meeting, Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Uwe Wüst
Wednesday, August 29th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu


helikoosolek:tartu is back! we've been on summer break for the last few months, but we're back with new fall programming now, beginning very soon, in 5 days in fact, with our August edition. We thought we'd start the new season off with some physics, so this month's helikoosolek features a visit from Austrian sound engineer and acoustician Uwe Wüst.

Uwe describes himself thusly:

- born 14.2.1964 germany
- interest in sound since 1976
- drummer since 1977
- built first speakers in 1980
- built first studio in 1984
- speaker installations for cinemas, etc

Interests:

- ethnological music from all ages & regions
- natural sounds made by machines & things
- Professional sound engineer since 1999:
- chief sound engineer at Joe Zawinul's Birdland, Townhall Vienna, Planet Music (all in Vienna)
- more than 1000 live shows & recordings (music, readings, theater, television, etc.)
- many soundsystems installed Townhall Vienna, etc.)
- live mixes of The Bulgarian Voices, Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate, Joe Sample & Randy Crawford, The Temptations, Louis Hayes, George Duke & Stanley Clarke, Scott Henderson Trio, etc.
- experiments with mics & pick-ups

For helikoosolek we will be exploring:

- perceiving sound & how human beings handle it
- mics + how to deal with them
- installed soundsystems
- theory + practical examples

helikoosolek:tartu is a regular gathering for the exploration of sound in all forms. The meetings comprise presentations, concerts, workshops, discussions, and field trips pertaining to sound and its consideration in art, music, architecture, ecology, philosophy, social and cultural interaction, and any other context that presents itself. Participants are encouraged to propose activities or discussions on topics of their interest, or to present projects of their own for feedback. Sessions take place on the last Wednesday of each month, from 6-8pm at the Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

helikoosolek:tartu is organised by MoKS and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum.

http://helikoosolek.blogspot.com/
http://www.moks.ee/
http://www.erm.ee/
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