News

The Sound of the World Cup

Richard Thomas — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:18:58 +0100

Something which has been pointed about this year's football World Cup has been the sound at matches. Many fans in South Africa have been bringing Vuvuzelas- long fixed-pitch horns and playing them in the crowd.

Somalia bans music on the radio

Becca Laurence — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:38:21 +0100

Wow. A sinister superseeding of sound over music in Somalia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/world/africa/14somalia.html?hp

Kormucopia - Korm Plastics celebrates 25 years and a cassette culture resurgence.

David Cotner — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:40:15 +0100

Home taping killed music. It unspooled its tape loop around a metaphorical neck and gave it a metaphysical squeeze. Cassette culture - that currently flash and zombified byproduct of the format death whose early reports were so greatly exagerrated - celebrates one particularly vivid milestone with the quartocentennial of Korm Plastics, the Dutch label run by Frans de Waard.

Aural Computer Game

David Rogerson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:43:18 +0000

Papa Sangre is a new video gama that doesn't use image but sound to immerse the player.

"It’s a first-person thriller, done entirely in audio by an award-winning team of game designers, musicians, sound designers and developers. We’ve created an entire world using the first ever real-time 3D audio engine implemented on a handheld device."

Cosey Complex at the ICA

David Rogerson — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:06:02 +0000

27 March
ICA, London

Singing rewires a damaged brain

Liz Beatty — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:44:56 +0000

Interesting article...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8526699.stm

UbuWeb Radio Stream

David Rogerson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:40:29 +0000

Wading through all the amazing stuff on UbuWeb oftens seems like insumountable task. Well WFMU are hosting a streaming radio station of content found on UbuWeb. Always makes for good office listening..

UbuWeb Radio

UbuWeb Site

Unmixing sound

Richard Thomas — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:56:13 +0000

Something which seems to be happening occasionally now is musicians releasing project files or stems (partial mixes) of recordings. Even illegal versions are also appearing, meaning you can change music to sound like you want it to, or take it apart, rather than the producer and engineer.

Bidoun Curates Middle-Eastern Experimental music and film on Ubu Web

David Rogerson — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:08:28 +0000

Bidoun magazine has been one of my favourite art mags for the past few years and this months issue centres around Noise and containes The Indian Whistlers’ Association, Alan Bishop, FM 20-30, Jace Clayton and Kelefa Sanneh, Yto Barrada, Sophia Al-Maria, Kuwaiti Kar Krash, Cevdet Erek, Serhat Köksal, William E.

Vintage Synth Top Trumps

Becca Laurence — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:22:44 +0000

Anyone short of a birthday present for that special someone who has nerdish tendencies?... Look no further! Hours of fun with Vintage Synth Trumps! http://www.gforcesoftware.com/cards.php

Bird on Wire

David Rogerson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:01:31 +0000

Soon the Barbican's Curve gallery will take the form of a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches.

British Composer Award for Elizabeth Winters

Becca Laurence — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:08:26 +0000

Elizabeth Winters has won the Making Music category at this year's British Composer Awards! Elizabeth composed The Serious Side of Madness for Kensington Chamber Orchestra as part of last year's Adaopt a Composer project. Sound and Music delivers Adopt a Composer in partnership with Making Music and PRS Foundation, who also support the project financially.

Geoff Smith's revolutionary 'Fluid Piano'

Shoel Stadlen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:41:34 +0000

Brighton-based pianist, dulcimer player and composer, Geoff Smith, has invented the world's first fully fluid, acoustic microtonal piano, which you can hear in action in the video below.

The second death of Victor Jara.

David Cotner — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:52:47 +0000

One of the most visible victims of the 1973 Pinochet coup in Chile was leftist Victor Jara, a folk singer, poet, theatre director and activist. That's a rather handy shorthand way of saying nothing about a big something. These blogs are most useful when they naturally reference the usual Wikipedia and BBC and YouTube articles and videos.

Your chance to get involved with INTO magazine

Shoel Stadlen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:28:35 +0000

We've posted some calls on the Opportunities section of the website relating to INTO, Sound and Music's online members' magazine, with two ongoing ways you can get involved:

Reinventing The Dial

Frances Morgan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:43:59 +0000

Recordings of the presentations given at Reinventing The Dial: Explorations In Experimental Radio Practice are now online at www.reinventingthedial.blogspot.com, for those who missed the day-long symposium at Canterbury Christ Church University last week.

Emily Howell, composer?

Richard Thomas — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:12:01 +0100

I've just come across an article describing the work of the composer Emily Howell, which is- in fact a computer program, creasted by composer and computer scientist David Cope which searches databases for musi

Quay Brothers Direct Leeds Canvas Project Centre Around the 'Dark Arches'

David Rogerson — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:44:37 +0100

Leeds Canvas will present a citywide collaboration between artists and arts organisations which will use the buildings, streets, and people of Leeds as the ‘canvas’ of the project. Leeds Canvas has invited internationally acclaimed artists the Quay Brothers to be artistic directors of the project.

British Composer Awards Shortlist 2009

Richard Thomas — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:46:31 +0100

This year's shortlist for the BASCA British Composer Awards has been announced, with a number of pieces by composers associated with Sound and Music:

Voices composers:

Patrick Nunn - Prism (Instrumental Solo or Duo), available through Sound and Music

Robert Kusmirowski's Bunker

David Rogerson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:45:59 +0100

Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski is currently installing a replica of a giant bunker in the middle of London's Barbican arts centre.The installation features a full-gague railway track, replica machines, smells and sounds - conjuring real and imagined memories of the cold and second world war.