Research Project Websites and Other Initiatives
http://icebreaker.opositive.ca
“The Icebreaker” is a new musical instrument, sound installation and performance piece derived from frozen water. Its most notable feature is the incorporation of small microphones into pieces of ice–allowing for the broadcast of a broad palette of sounds derived from this unstable medium. These range from clicks and tones created through tapping the instrument�s various surfaces, to subtle drips as the ice begins to melt. Different sizes of ice are used, as well as different objects with which to strike the ice, resulting in a sophisticated percussive instrument. The frozen microphones are also sensitive to static charges delivered through touching the ice with skin or metal. Elements of “The Icebreaker” are modular and easily located in close proximity and/or at a distance from one another, allowing for different possibilities in terms of how the installation inhabits material and sonic architectures. This work is funded by the Canada Council and the Concordia Faculty of Arts and Science.
http://collectingdust.org (under construction)
-Site for my FQRSC-funded research-creation project: "From Audion Tubes to ‘The Girl Who Never Finished Her Music Lessons’: a genealogical history of the Theremin, Ondes Martenot and Hammond Organ"
This research-creation project is focused on the interlinked histories of three early electronic musical instruments: the Theremin, Ondes Martenot and Hammond Organ–invented in 1919, 1928 and 1935, respectively. Contemporary electronic sound production owes much to these historically-significant, but understudied technologies. “Obsolete” by digital standards, they are still used around the world in many different contexts. Little scholarly work has been published about each instrument individually and nothing exists that discusses them together. The initiative employs archival and interview-based research. We are also seeking-out, playing and recording examples of our key instruments. These recordings are subsequently being used as source material for studio-based audio compositions that reflexively engage this research with our own production practices as sound artists. This work is funded by the Concordia Faculty of Arts and Science and the FQRSC’s Programme d’établissement de nouveaux professeurs-chercheurs-créateurs.
http://novachord.mobilemedialab.ca
-Site for my Hammond Novachord Restoration Project. Under Construction
http://mobilemediagallery.org
-The Mobile Media Gallery – a new and highly active initiative within the Comm. Studies Department.
Other Artists You Should Check Out
Tagny Duff - http://coms.concordia.ca/faculty/duff.html
Anna Friz - http://nicelittlestatic.com/
Andra McCartney - http://andrasound.org
Tara Rodgers - http://pinknoises.com