39th meeting, Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

helikoosolek:tartu
with Antti Tolvi
Wednesday, January 29th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

Well folks, i'm very excited to announce the plans for our first helikoosolek of 2014!

Helikoosolek regulars will be familiar with a certain beautifully out of tune piano in the corner of the lecture hall at ERM where we meet. Over the years it has been used, purposefully and spontaneously, for various gatherings and activities, and i've always dreamed of using it more thoroughly.

So imagine my excitement when a new double LP of stunningly beautiful piano music, by Finnish musician and good friend Antti Tolvi, arrived in my mailbox.

Antti has accepted our invitation to join us for our january helikoosolek and perform on our wonderful ERM piano. It will be a relaxed, intimate, hypnotic acoustic performance, not one to be missed. Below you'll find a link to an extract from the aforementioned album, and you'll see what i mean. And for those of you in Tallinn who can't make it down, he'll also be playing a few days later (on the 31st) at Ptarmigan, so you won't miss out. Better yet, come to both!

What's more, not only is Antti a great musician, but he is also a student of Tao and Zen, and is a professional Tai Chi teacher.He will begin our meeting with a few breathing and stretching exercises (Qigong) to focus on how physical movement and meditation can lead to deeper listening and heightened perception. This will prepare us for his piano performance.

You can here a sample of Antti's pianowork here:


And another from Fonal Records here:


And here's some text from the Fonal Records site, about Antti and his piano-work:

Antti Tolvi is a self-taught, multi-talented musician. He has played in numerous bands including Lau Nau, Rauhan Orkesteri, and Lauhkeat Lampaat. Born in ’77 in Panelia on the west coast of Finland, he began making music with his brothers, untutored. From 2000-2001 he studied classical Indian music in Varanasi, and this marked a turning point in his perception of music. On returning to his native Finland, he became embroiled in Free Jazz for a number of years, until a recent relocation to the countryside pushed him ever more towards solo improvisation – deriving inspiration from, in Antti’s own words, “harmonies, overtones, going into sound, no ends, no starts, from nothing comes something, just perfect, peace”. 

‘Pianoketo’ can be seen as a culmination of Antti’s musical experiences to date. Featuring three extended meditations on a theme, all played on solo piano, it is a sound that defies categorisation, with nods towards classical, avant-garde, improvisation, psych, free jazz and Indian music. A shimmering flux of tones and harmonies, each of Pianoketo’s pieces seem to collect notes as they gather momentum, expanding and shifting form as Antti breathes life into them. At times, it is almost as if there are two instruments, the overtones working like feedback, playing counter-melodies as notes weave through each other. Antti’s technique combines neatly with the personality of the instrument to convey an evocative, psychedelic nostalgia. 

He expands: “This record was recorded with binaural microphones, attached to the players ears. While playing, as you move your body or head, there is a ‘flanger’ effect - that's why the overtones are really flying. There’s no overdubs, effects or EQ. 

My main instruments have been saxophones, clarinets, flutes and all kind of wind instruments. In Pianoketo I play piano as I play saxophone. Just using 11 notes. Because I don't have to blow, I can focus more on other things. And actually soon I don't have to focus on anything, just listen to what my fingers are doing. It's amazing to find new melodies, harmonies, drones, rhythms or whatever. And then I can follow that for a while, and then just let go and wait for a new direction. 

This piano had not been played for more than 40 years, so the tuning had dropped “a little”. I tuned some notes, to get more overtones. Most of the notes have found their own resting place over the years, just resonating in sounds and vibes at Grandma’s.

So spread the word, and put Wednesday, January 29th, 6pm at ERM on your calendar for our 2014 opening meeting/performance with Antti Tolvi! Oh, and lest i forget to mention, as always it's FREE!

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 Patrick McGinley and supported by Eesti Rahva Muuseum and Tartu Linnavalitsus.

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

38th meeting, Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Madis Vasser and Pilootkaste
Wednesday, November 27th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

Helikoosolek: Bring your own instrument that isn't an instrument!

For the final helikoosolek of 2013 we look closer to home for sonic inspiration, with a visit from longtime (I believe even from the very first meeting!) helikoosolek regular participant Madis Vasser and the fellow members of his Tartu-based experimental band, Pilootkaste.

Madis Vasser and his fellow psychology students have been dabbling in amateur student folk music in Tartu for the past few years. This October, the group won the newly created title of Experimental Band 2013 after a performance at the AHHAA Science Centre, through a willingness to try new things, a lack of conventional musical expertise, and a conviction that interesting sounds can be created from almost anything, by anyone. This is something they would like to share at this month's helikoosolek.

This time around the session will be quite down-to-earth and hands-on: after a short presentation of footage from the Experimental Band 2013 contest and a talk about the experience, the group will demo some of the solutions they used to make different sounds before inviting all attendees to join in for some interactive experimentation. The keywords are contact microphones and everyday objects - everyone is encouraged to bring their own "instruments", whether they be things that you think make interesting sounds on their own or things you believe might be interesting to hook up to contact microphones. We might end up creating interesting sound sets for experimental bands to come!

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, Tartu Linnavalitsus, and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

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

37th meeting, Wednesday, October 30th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Nele & Taavi Suisalu
Wednesday, October 30th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

This month's helikoosolek features a visit from Estonian artists, sister and brother Nele & Taavi Suisalu. They will be presenting some of the experiments conducted as artists-in-residence at Püha Vaimu Saal in October:

"We arrived at the residency with the intention of using the human body as a potential sound generator and manipulator. We were also interested in the communicative aspects of sound: considering voice as a link between inner selves and outer space. Some documentation of our process and public showings are available on the residency's blog." - Taavi Suisalu

Taavi Suisalu is currently finishing his MA in New Media department of Estonian Academy of Arts, primarily working in the context of technology, sound and performance. He is primarily concerned with dealing, revealing and/or intervening in socio-cultural constructs and researching how these shape and influence the behavior, perception and thinking of social beings. He is a member of the performative sound art collective Postinstrumentum. For more information see http://taavisuisalu.com/.

Nele Suisalu is an artist working mainly in contemporary dance, being also interested in vocal/sound experimentations. She is a member of collective Nomad'act that aims to dodge categorization by mixing media, multiplying means, manipulating the modes of creation and production, and the access to the audience. Since 2007 living and working mainly in France. For more information see http://nomadact.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, Tartu Linnavalitsus, and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

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

36th meeting, Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
with Jörg Piringer
Wednesday, September 25th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

This month's helikoosolek features a visit from current MoKS artist-in-residence, Jörg Piringer. Piringer, born 1974 and currently living in Vienna, is a member of The Institute for Transacoustic Reseach and The Vegetable Orchestra. He holds a master's degree in computer science, and works as a freelance artist and researcher in the fields of electronic music, radio art, sound and visual electronic poetry, interactive collaborative systems, online communities, live performance, sound installation, computer games and video art.

For our meeting, Piringer will show and perform a selection of new and older finished and unfinished performances, installations and sound collections . He says: "This will be no fancy artsy talk but rather showing, hearing and experimentation for me as well as for the audience. less theory more action."

To find out what to expect, have a look here:
http://joerg.piringer.net

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, Tartu Linnavalitsus, and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

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

35th meeting, Wednesday, August 28th, 2013

MoKS presents:
helikoosolek:tartu
Wednesday, August 28th
6-8pm
Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Tartu

July 18th, 2013 was recognised as the 4th annual World Listening Day, a global project co-organised  by the World Listening Project (WLP) and the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology (MSAE). The purposes of World Listening Day (as stated on the WLP website) are:

• to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology;
• to raise awareness about issues related to the World Soundscape Project, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, World Listening Project, and individual and group efforts to creatively explore phonography;
• and to design and implement educational initiatives which explore these concepts and practices.

July 18 was chosen as the date because it is the birthday of the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year. Schafer is one of the founders of the Acoustic Ecology movement; the World Soundscape Project, which Schafer founded in 1971, is an important organization which has inspired a lot of activity in this field. The culmination of the World Soundscape Project’s pioneering research into the sound environment is described in his seminal book, The Tuning of the World. Published in 1977, it gained international attention and defined many new terms and concepts in sound and ecology popularly used to this day.

For this month's helikoosolek, we will be exploring a selection of the exercises in one of Shafer's later publications, 1991's A Sound Education: 100 Exercises in Listening and Sound-Making. An extract from the book's introduction:

The subject we are concerned with is sound, and the task is to suggest ways teachers might help students listen more effectively. [...] Obviously we listen in different ways to different things, and there is much evidence to suggest that not only individuals but societies listen differently. For instance, there is a difference between what we might call focused listening and peripheral listening. Why do we focus on certain sounds and merely overhear others? Are some sounds discriminated against culturally so that they are not heard at all? [...]  Are some sounds filtered out or rendered inconspicuous by others? And how does the changing acoustic environment affect the kinds of sounds we choose to listen to or ignore? [...]  I believe that the way to improve the world's soundscape is quite simple. we must learn how to listen. it seems to be a habit we have forgotten. we must sensitize the ear to the miraculous world of sound around us. [...]  How could I put all this in the most cogent manner for teachers and individuals who might be interested in such a program? I decided the simplest form would be the best: a collection of exercises - I would call them Ear Cleaning Exercises. [...]  I have gathered them loosely so that those at the beginning are concerned with aural perception and imagination, while those in the middle deal with the making of sounds, and those at the end deal with sound in society. [...] Take them: they're yours.

R Murray Shafer
Indian River, August 1991.

We will explore these exercises in or around our usual base at ERM. Please come prepared to spend some time outdoors, and bring pens/pencils and paper. An initial selection of the exercises in the book will be made, but participants are also very welcome (and encouraged) to suggest their own choices if they have access to the book.

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, Tartu Linnavalitsus, and Eesti Kultuurkapital.

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

33rd meeting report

photo by jaak kikas

a little late coming, but we're finally getting around to posting a recording from may's helikoosolek, which featured an extended group improvisation using old radios. we think it sounds great, and we though you might like to hear it.

34th meeting report

many thanks to all who came out to the 34th meeting of helikoosolek:tartu, where we explored field recording without technology. it was a rainy evening, so we sought a location with some cover, and choose the newly-renovated tartu train station. we only managed to snatcha  few minutes in the waiting area before they closed for the evening, but the covered train platforms provided the perfect environment (loud with the falling rain on metal roofing) for the rest of our meeting.

our outcome included drawing, writing, and paper-folding, all inspired and in response too the immediate sonic environment. here is a selection of what was produced. a few more contributions should be coming soon.