This Friday Sept. 8th: Across Reality - Mixed Reality Musical Instrument in Design and Ensemble

Rob Chafer and Anna Xambó would like to invite all interested to the following seminar on Friday 8th September 2023, 14:00 – 15:00 in PACE (PA0.01a), DMU PACE Building:

Title: Across Reality: Mixed Reality Musical Instrument in Design and Ensemble
Day: Friday 8th September 2023
Time: 2 pm – 3 pm (UK time)
Venue: PACE (PA0.01a), DMU PACE Building
FREE ENTRANCE 

Abstract:
Recent commercial mixed-reality computers present opportunities for natural gestural control in three dimensions, particularly when using hand-tracking in a creative interface. Existing musical interfaces with head-mounted displays often depend on dedicated input devices that are not designed specifically for musical gestures and may not support appropriate interactions. We are yet to see widespread adoption of freehand-enabled mixed reality musical instruments. Furthermore, a significant constraint of this type of instrument is the visibility issue within digital music ensembles, which can limit their ability to collaborate effectively.
In this talk, I’ll first present an authentic mixed reality musical instrument designed through a first-person autobiographical approach. I’ll then share an ongoing work aimed at supporting electronic musicians in a digital musical ensemble mediated by a mixed reality interface. 

Bio: 
Yichen Wang (she/her) is a PhD researcher in the Sound, Music and Creative Computing lab at the Australian National University. Her research combines augmented reality and human-computer interaction with artistic practice in new musical interface and expression design and collaboration. Yichen has been performing with her mixed reality musical instrument isometric-sen since 2022, including at Electronique Canberra, OzCHI2022 and NIME2023 music track. 

Personal website: https://yichenwangs.github.io  

Note: This session will not be video streamed/video recorded. 

Battey to masterclass, screening and installation at PyR Lisbon, October

Prof Bret Battey will be presenting a masterclass on Tue, October 10, as part of the Punto y Raya Festival in Lisbon. The festival will be the eighth edition of Punto y Raya, which describes itself as "The Most Abstract Festival in the World"— "a feast of pure form, colour, motion and sound". Battey's film Estuaries 4 will also be screened as part of the festival. The masterclass, entitled 'Six Works, Seven Years, Millions of Dots', will focus on audiovisual composition and algorithms in Battey's "Estuaries" series and recent installation works.

The festival will also screen Battey's audiovisual composition 'Estuaries 4' and will include his installation work 'Traces, Molten'.

 

Interview with Battey in new book on Visual Music

Prof Bret Battey is amongst the artists profiled and interviewed for a new book by David Payling, Electronic Visual Music: The Elements of Audovisual Creativity, to be released September 12, 2023. It aims to provide "insight into contemporary working methods and gives a snapshot of the state of the art in this ever-evolving creative discipline."

Luigi Russolo Competition Finals Concert @ DMU / Talk @ Phoenix

On 26 September, DMU will host a free concert of electroacoustic music featuring the finalist pieces in the 2023 Luigi Russolo Competition for Electroacoustic Music.  Former winner and current director of the Russolo competition, Philippe Blanchard, will give a talk on the father of noise music, Luigi Russolo, at 6pm at the Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre (Phoenix Square, 4 Midland St, Leicester).  This talk will explore Russolo’s work and his influence on the Italian Futurist movement. It will also explore the role of evolving technology in the acousmatic repertoire—from Russolo’s intonarumori (noise makers) to the present day. The talk will be of interest to anyone interested in the history of electronic music and alternative performance. 

The concert, in surround audio, will follow at 7.30pm in PACE Studio 1, Richmond Street, DMU Admission is free for both events.

 

Postdoc in Sound and Music Computing (23 months, 0.5FTE)

We are hiring! A part-time (50% FTE), 23-month Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available to work at the forefront of Sound and Music Computing as part of the AHRC-funded project “Sensing the Forest - Let the Forest Speak using the Internet of Things, Acoustic Ecology and Creative AI” at De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester, UK. The project is led by Anna Xambó Sedó (PI, DMU), Peter Batchelor (Co-I, DMU), Matthew Wilkinson (Co-I, Forest Research), and Georgios Xenakis (Co-I, Forest Research).

The proposed project aims to raise awareness among forest visitors/aficionados, artists, scientists, and the general public about the connection between forests and climate change. Community building will centre on looking at a better understanding of forest behaviour using complex scientific data in creative and artistic ways.

• Application link: https://dmuhub.dmu.ac.uk
• Application deadline: 13 August 2023
• Interviews: 24-25 August 2023
• Job start: 1 October 2023

For informal enquiries about the position, please contact Dr Anna Xambó Sedó, PI. E-mail: anna dot xambo at dmu dot ac dot uk

 

Disruptive Frequencies: Album Release

 

 

 

Sound artist and researcher Dr Amit Dinesh Patel who has a PhD in Music, “Studio Bench: the DIY nomad and Noise Selector” (2019), from the Music, Technology and Innovation Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, now works at the Sound/Image Research Centre, University of Greenwich, and is leading the AHRC Research Grant "Exploring Cultural Diversity in Experimental Sound" (2021-23), which has recently resulted in the release of a new compilation on London label Nonclassical. Amit who compiled and features on the album positions the project in response to the "distinct lack of visibility for Black and Brown artists within the field of experimental music & sound”.  The album entitled Disruptive Frequencies features music from six Black and South Asian producers. The artwork has been designed by Antonio Roberts.

 
There’s a launch party at London’s Kings Place on July 15th. You can sample two of the pieces featured on the album and order on limited edition vinyl or digital at Nonclassical's Bandcamp webpage.

The launch party will be an evening of experimental sounds by Black and South Asian artists NikNak, Dhangsha, Nikki Sheth, Poulomi Desai, Gary Stewart and Dushume. You can find more info at the Kings Place's website. Don't miss it!

Leigh Landy @ RiSME digitali, Italian Musicological Society

On June 8th 2023, MTI²'s Prof. Leigh Landy presented an invited talk on his recent book chapter ‘It’s Not (Just) about History and, by the Way, Which History?’ as part of an event organised by RiSME digitali, the study group on electronic music which forms part of SldM, the Italian Musicological Society.