Handmade Music is back on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with an epic lineup spanning digital synths to monomes to interactive installations to chip music. It’s a bit like stepping into the music tech world described on the Web. (For the vast majority of you outside NYC, hoping to have good documentation of recent events edited and available shortly.)
We’re moving to Saturday night and doing a proper party. Hack, ask, meet, geek, eat, drink, listen, watch, dance…
Full event details for New York, and plenty to watch and hear online for those of you in NYC and everywhere in the world:
OPEN LAB
3p – 6p, FREE
Come early to get a close look at what people are making, and expect some surprises.
- MeeBlip user gathering for new MeeBlip owners (or those curious) in the NYC area. Check out our open source, affordable, hackable synth, or get help and ask questions.
- mlrv2: Meet the latest-and-greatest from the monome world, the free software that turns grids from MPCs to Launchpads to monomes into live performance sampling instruments. Get a look up close and ask questions before the performance later in the evening. (See our coverage of the news.)
- Bring your project! Building a synth? Got a Max for Live / Pd / Csound creation of which you’re proud? Circuit-bent project? Handmade CD case, band t-shirt, percussion made out of shells and wood? Bring them by, show them off, and share ideas with fellow DIY music inventors!
PARTY + LIVE MUSIC
7p – 2a; NO COVER!
Free entry for cash bar and brilliant food menu. Or a $20 ticket buys you two hours of open bar (7-9p) including beers brewed here in New York State and wine selections… and a full night of music either way.
Enjoy a wine and New York-brewed beer list celebrated by Frank Bruni with The New York Times, order from Culturefix’s excellent small plate menu, and stick around for a packed evening of music.
- Diptych: Ben Black and Aiwen Wang-Huddleston’s elegant, sail-like sculptural live digital performance instrument.
- Dissonics: Michael Cohen’s array of pylons form an alien, proximity-based performance.
- monome music: Christopher Gilroy + Philippe ‘Flippy’ LeSaux, Galapagoose, and % tap out live grooves on the monome grid.
- Chip music: Note! and Kris Keyser make infectious 8-bit music on Game Boys, some of the best virtuosos of the form.
- Electronic music: Pulsing soundscapes by Ganucheau on laptop and myself on MeeBlip.
Hear and see the artists…
I’ve never been a fan of chip music for the sake of it; I really like to hear stuff that’s well-produced, compositionally interesting, and can stand alongside stuff that isn’t chip music. And I really like Note! (Christophe Richard) and Kris Keyser; there’s some great stuff, and it’s easy to point people who think they don’t like chip music or music made with Game Boys to this. Have a listen to Christophe’s most recent album, the free 12345:
And Kris’ music:
We also have videos to give you an idea of the installation/interactive performance creations and monome music. First, premiering at NYU’s NIME (new instruments in musical expression) course:
Galapagoose plays live:
Some terrific audio and (with dementoid) visuals) from “owner/operator” (%) — “album” art for these electronic releases below, as I’m really digging it:
Music from actv / Christopher Gilroy (CC-licensed, too):
03 Watching Records Spin by actv
Check his free EP, too:
A collection of four songs of various types, most were performed in the fall/winter of 2010. Made using Ableton, Arduinome 64, NI Maschine, and various synths. Mixed in Harrison Mixbus. Ella made it look pretty.
http://cargocollective.com/active#927812/Failed-Houdini-ep
And here’s the last time Ganucheau and I played together, with the Grant Sisters for Diana Eng’s fashion show.
Open Lab 3-6p
Party 7p-late with 7-9p open bar
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Presented by Culturefix NY
9 Clinton Street
New York, New York 10002