The Nunnery
Note: We’ve switched sets since the original posting of this article, and are now on at 3pm.
We’re very excited to be part of the new series at The Nunnery, the recently-launched SF new music venue of instrument inventor Tom Nunn, specializing in experimental and invented instruments (additional show preview at http://www.examiner.com/article/tom-nunn-opens-his-research-lab-to-the-public).
Part of the Invented Instrument orchestra @ The Nunnery
The series takes place in the depths of his secret new-instrument research lab, and the performance space is surrounded by Tom’s latest creations. Twice a month he opens the lab up for performances on a Sunday afternoon and a Monday evening, and we look forward to a matinée performance there at 3pm, Sun 17 Nov (3016 25th St., San Francisco, CA 94110, between Florida and Alabama Streets, map)
A flock of skatchboxes fly by at The Nunnery
Tom Nunn (Bold Italic interview, bio), has designed, built and performed with original musical instruments since 1976, and has built over 200 instruments, including his latest obsession, the visually arresting Skatchbox.
Tom Nunn playing his invented instrument, The Crab
His instruments typically utilize commonly available materials, are sculptural in appearance, utilize contact microphones for amplification, and are designed specifically for improvisation with elements of ambiguity, unpredictability and nonlinearity. Tom has performed extensively throughout the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years, as well as in other parts of the U.S., Canada, Europe, and New Zealand, both as soloist and with other musicians. Tom also performs with T.D. Skatchit, RTD3, Ghost in the House, Music for Hard Times (duo with Paul Winstanley) and has appeared on a number of recordings, including his solo CD, Identity (2007), T.D. Skatchit & Company (2009) and Skatch Migration (2010) (Edgetone Records). In 1998, he published Wisdom of the Impulse: On the Nature of Musical Free Improvisation.
¾ of the Half-Human Quartet - (L → R): Joe Lasqo, Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী) & Maxxareddu, 25 Jul 2013 @ Outsound New Music Summit (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http://www.peterbkaars.com)
Following on our debut at the recent 12th Outsound New Music Summit festival, I’m excited to once again play as a member of the Half-Human Quartet — AI improvising agents Maxine & Maxxareddu, as channeled by Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী) of Berkeley’s CNMAT & myself.
Ritwik Banerji (ঋত্বিক ব্যানার্জী, L) & Rob Frye (R) @ the Ivy Room, 26 Jan 2011
One inspiration for what we and our non-human colleagues are going to do sonically is the following video from the Cornell AI lab showing two chatbots kitted out in machinima avatars going at it. They have quite an interesting discussion:
Conversation is perhaps the most universal joint improvisatory activity, and what our musicbot routines do is something similar to what these chatbots do linguistically, in the musical sphere.
Joe Lasqo @ Meridian Gallery, 11 Jan 2012 (Photo: PeterBKaars.com, http://www.peterbkaars.com)
I raided a cupboard of techniques ranging from blackboard architectures and, especially, computational grammars, from my old work in expert systems development and natural language processing, to create Maxxareddu.
Improv Grammar Diagram from "The WIsdom of the Impulse", by Tom Nunn
Ritwik brought his own insights into heuristics techniques, machine/human learning, and astromusicology to create Maxine.
Ritwik and I will join Maxine and Maxxareddu’s conversation from time to time with our physical instruments (sax + RD-300NX keyboard).
Tom Bickley
Set 1 at 2pm will be the sublime Tom Bickley, playing contrabass recorder, recorder, EWI wind synth, radios, and laptop.
Tom Bickley (bio / site) composes electro-acoustic music, plays and teaches recorder, performs with Three Trapped Tigers (with recorder players David Barnett and Judy Linsenberg), Gusty Winds May Exist (with shakuhachist Nancy Beckman), co-founded and directs the Cornelius Cardew Choir, is a curator emeritus of the Meridian Gallery music series, and is on the Library Faculty (music, philosophy and political science) at CSU East Bay. His education includes degrees in music, theology, and library and information science and the Certificate in Deep Listening.
Tom Bickley and friend (photo by Nancy Beckman)
As a special treat, Tom will bring his new stonking big contrabass recorder.
Day of the Contrabass Recorders….?
Unholy spawn of a Lust ohne Tabu between a massive wood organ pipe and a periscope, this unique instrument amazed me when I saw Anna Petrini play it at a recent Other Minds festival, and I can’t wait to hear what Tom does with it.
…Or Day of the Triffids…?
Just as a bass clarinet or a contrabass clarinet is a very different instrument to a normal clarinet, the contrabass recorder opens up a completely new wind universe, and its “finger holes” are so far apart that a special system of hole-stopping flaps is needed, providing unique percussive possibilities.
Among the other pieces which Tom will perform is a special quadrophonic version of his Coincidence of Birds, Insects and Weather for EWI wind synth, digital samples and NOAA weather radio, a fantastically evocative piece which I had the pleasure of hearing recently at its Berkeley Arts Festival premier.
Tom will also be joined by Nancy Beckman for one piece, The Tip of the Iceberg, for shakuhachi and electronics.
Nancy Beckman
Nancy Beckman creates performance pieces, plays and teaches the shakuhachi, and performs with the Cornelius Cardew Choir. Her education includes an undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University, a master’s in interarts from SFSU and ordination to teach shakuhachi from Myōan-ji (明暗寺, the famous “Temple of Light & Darkness” of shakuhachi history) in Kyoto.
The Gate of Light & Darkness at Myōan-ji (明暗寺門)
Walk through the gate-less gate and join us for a Sunday afternoon of sonic adventure at one of SF’s most unique new venues — The Nunnery!
Denizens of The Nunnery welcome you...
Look forward to see you there…
Joe