With improvisations matching traditional instruments with electronic manipulations now commonplace, Cork-based guitarist Han-earl Park personifying Dr. Frankenstein, has created a non-human artificial musician from ad-hoc components including speakers, kitchenware and missile switches. This CD is a literal record of how the non-human, prosaically named io 0. 0. 1 beta++, sounds in concert with flesh-and-blood counterparts….

For a start, Park, who regularly plays with trumpeter Ian Smith and drummer Charles Hayward; alto and sopranino saxophonist Bruce Coates, co-founder of the Birmingham Improvisers Orchestra; and soprano saxophonist Franziska Schroeder, a lecturer at Belfast’s School of Music and Sonic Arts, all have long histories of working with advanced, experimental musicians. These include live-electronics stylist Richard Barrett and accordionist Pauline Oliveros. Moreover io 0. 0. 1 beta++ is unobtrusive and egoless enough—no surprise—to warble its staccato particle contributions without trying to engulf or show up the humans. Its contributions are unique enough on their own.

For instance on the initial ‘Pioneer: Variance’ and ‘Pioneer: Dance’ contrasting alto and soprano saxophone trills and squeaks are put into bolder relief as the otherworldly flutters, oscillated tones and flanged rotations of the machine are kept in a straight line by Park’s legato picking. The thoughtful pauses audible in the guitar playing confirms Park’s human-ness, especially when compared to the grainy whistles and juddering vibrations that arise from io 0. 0. 1 beta++. Additionally, while the machine’s gradually swelling splutters and harsh quivers demonstrate broken octave counterpoint to the saxophonists’ multiphonic oscillations, its hissing abrasions retreat into the background as Park’s spidery licks become more rhythmic.

Nonetheless the machine further demonstrates its versatility on the 59-second ‘4G’, with metallic muted trombone-like snores and even raises the question as to whether io 0. 0. 1 beta++ or extended saxophone techniques are creating the air pops and abrasive tongue flutters on subsequent tracks. In the main crackling reductionist resonations are attributed to its properties, while any legato or lyrical intermezzos are, more likely than not, propelled from the instruments and imaginations of full-fledged Homo sapiens.

Succinctly as the three demonstrate on ‘Return Trajectory’, during which io 0. 0. 1 beta++ appears to have taken five, an additional voice—human or otherwise—is necessary to create a pleasing sound picture. The guitarist’s connective down strokes plus the swelling layers of contrapuntal reed timbres are distinctive and solipsistic enough on their own.

Notable in demonstrating what artificial intelligent can contribute to an improv session, this CD also confirms that the very artificiality of AI confirms that robotic players won’t be taking all the musicians’ jobs any time soon. [Read the rest…]

[More info on the recording…] [All reviews…]

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Planetariums are cathedrals

I’m moved by the planetarium: I travel to the stars I cannot see, struggle with the scale of what I cannot fathom. Modern planetariums demonstrate the grandeur of God’s creation, but in a secular scientific context. They bring the distant close; make visible the imperceptible; make manifest the abstract.

They are also, like the panoramas of old, playgrounds made of technics.

Visualizing the artificial and the far away

A favorite moment: our tour-guide and pilot of the planetarium refers to the image of the Earth suspended in the dome as a ‘data set.’ Isn’t the discipline of data visualization one of the most impressive of recent human enterprises? It changes everything—science, politics, culture. It affects the way we study and think about music. It affects how we make decisions about war.

I imagine that Bruno Latour’s Janus would point out that data visualization is technoscientific rhetoric. I imagine that Donna J. Harraway’s cyborg would remind us that (imperfect) high-resolution imaging lubricates the military-industrial complex.

Are we still Victorians?

The forgery is as old as the dream of the artificial and the simulated. In the museum, surrounded by simulated environments of reptiles and amphibians, I’m again reminded of the panoramas and dioramas (also technologies for bringing the distant close) of old colonial exhibitions. In the bad old days, scientists didn’t exist as a discreet class or occupation; science was a hobby of the economically comfortable. And here we are, glasses of wine in hand, costumed in geek wear.

Is culture more durable than technoscience?

Fritz Lang’s (blond) Woman in the Moon reappears eighty years later as a (blond) Woman in Mars.

Even as our scientific understanding of the universe changes—demonstrating admirable and jaw-dropping mutability—does our culture stubbornly lag behind? I ask this as, although theories of the origin of the universe, the nature of intelligence, or the treatment of disease has changed radically in my lifetime (sometimes between issues of my favorite science magazine), our dreams are not keeping-up. Can we not apply this mutability to our culture? or are our cultural imaginations still those of cave men (that we recognize in the male, square-jawed astro-hero of George Pal’s films).

How does our culture shape our view of Out There?

Does George Pal’s free-market enterprise of Destination Moon inform Richard Branson’s dream? Does that pulp/Hollywood context make Virgin Galactic culturally intelligible? Traveling Out There stands-in for dreams of expansion. We are still territorial animals reaching for higher ground.

Is Out There Frontier Myth one of White Flight?

George Pal replayed the Pioneer myth; transposing Out West and Back Then to Out There and Way Out When. Sometimes the dreams of the future, however apocalyptic, played out fantasies of racial purging—let’s dream of starting again without the impurities of the Right Here and Right Now. For all the secular humanist transcendence and technology (and war machines) as poetry, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke couldn’t help but portray a future as white as the space station interior. Lightness—a glow that eventually engulfing the innocent, pure, embryonic übermensch—contrasting with the unknowable, perfect, inscrutability of the monolith, the blackness of space, and the darkness of our fur-covered savage ancestors.

Twitter transcript: @hanearlpark+#amnhsciam

modern planetariums are like old cathedrals: demonstrate the grandeur of god’s creation… but w/in a secular scientific context #amnhsciam

Thanks to @amnh and @sciam for an eye opening, questions raising event (and food for a future article or two). #amnhsciam

final one for Charles Ives fans #amnhsciam #charlesives pic.twitter.com/sbWgSP9L

how much do our enterprises—scientific, curatorial, social—owe to older dreams of imperialism and empire? #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/axRoxVJC

inexplicable need to hear a maniacle laugh #amnhsciam

blond woman on mars? are we still in Fritz Lang’s pre-WW II dream? #retrofuture #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/fT72O80C

artful robotics for fans of io 0.0.1 beta++ #amnhsciam #robotics #automata pic.twitter.com/P15HTGSW

so what is the gender/race make up of a mission to mars? #wearestillchildrenofgeorgepal #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/vh1cI3wq

overheard: “I want to blow something up!” #michaelbayhasalottoanswerfor

public service announcement to fans of Mathilde 253 #amnhsciam #charleshayward #iansmith pic.twitter.com/fumpcnrp

snapshot #theselfreflexivetweetup #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/Ccd0ceCd

update on uniform at tweetup. women wear cardigans, men wear beards #amateuranthropology #amnhsciam

is this just a rerun of George Pal’s capitalist imperialism in space? #amnhsciam #capitalism #wevebeenherebefore pic.twitter.com/jYl2GJbc

iPhone camera, meet Hubble CCD; Hubble, meet iPhone. #cyborgencounters #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/1VIdaRrE

you really were flying in a tin can #davidbowie #astronautics #amnhsciam pic.twitter.com/2avRrAGZ

you really were flying in a tin can #davidbowie #amnhsciam #astronautics

you guys have got to come down. Iggy Pop doing a presentation! #notreally #amnhsciam

“the universe is a much more interconnected thing” #thingsscientistssay #amnhsciam

musicologists need to say things like “if a bacterium ate Manhattan” to get the public excited @drmelmarshall #musicology #amnhsciam

possible reaction to goat’s cheese? #amphibian #cheese #amnhsciam #blugh pic.twitter.com/8etXDA91

favorite use of language: (image of) earth referred to as a data set. #language #dreamsoftheartificial #simulacrum #amnhsciam

in among exotic animals, post planetarium, I am reminded of old panoramas and colonial exhibitions. we are still Victorians… #amnhsciam

science as a bourgeois pastime? in many ways we are still Victorians. #wineandcheese #amnhsciam

what’s the opposite of emergent behavior? combine free food with circular tables #emergence #amnhsciam

Lunar flyby. #socool #amnhsciam

those same astronaut archetypes #amnhsciam

Dark Star. Carpenter’s vietnam era social satire. Our propensity for mindless violence transposed into space. #retrofuture #amnhsciam

HAL 9000 cultural shaper our expectations of machine intelligence #amnhsciam #retrofuture #AI

thus far, space travel is reserved for white folk #amnhsciam #retrofuture #scifi #race

all hail Doug Trumbull! #amnhsciam #retrofuture

when worlds collide: revisiting my childhood #amnhsciam #retrofuture

do we still expect our astronauts to be square jawed heros, good hearted comic sidekicks, or elderly scientists? #amnhsciam #archetypes

In so many ways Fritz Lang was the Michael Bay his time #amnhsciam #retrofuture

echoes of George Pal’s irony-free, free-market rhetoric in Richard Branson’s enterprise? #amnhsciam #culturalcapitalism #retrofuure

where’s Steve Mirsky? #amnhsciam

amphibians are beyond beyond planet earth #amnhsciam #itmakessensereally

exit under a artificial blue sky #amnhsciam #dreamsoftheartificial #simulacrum #panorama pic.twitter.com/Uad1087x

smart casual? metrosexual? slackerwear? Informal initial survey of the (male) dress code at #amnhsciam. #amateuranthropology

sitting in the planetarium within a sea of glowing smart phones. #amnhsciam #dailydada

participating in the @sciam @AMNH tweetup at 6pm EST today. #planetology #space #robotics

image © 2011 NASA/JPL-Caltech

Nothing directly to do with io 0.0.1 beta++, but I will be participating in the Scientific American / American Museum of Natural History Beyond Planet Earth Tweetup on January 18, 2012, starting at 6:00 pm (EST). [More info…]

What does this, however indirectly, have to do with improvisation, semi-autonomous machine musicians, and real-time interactive musical automata? The answer lies between one of the most artful robotics projects, and the relationship between io’s generative innards and the harmony of the planets….

Here are the relevant twitter handles: @hanearlpark, @AMNH and @SciAm.

Han-earl Park

Leaving Cork in the summer of 2011, Han-earl Park was resident in California for six months during which time he performed with Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, John Shiurba, Matt Ingalls, Scott R. Looney, Ted Byrnes and Kris Tiner, and as a guest of Gargantius Effect (Murray Campbell and Randy McKean). In December, Vicmod Records released Han-earl Park and Richard Scott’s ‘artillery’ (VMDL11).

Relocating to Brooklyn in December 2011, Park made his New York debut at the Roulette as part of the Silver Orchestra for Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith’s 70th birthday event presented by Interpretations. His first performances in 2012 was a duo with saxophonist-scholar Tracy McMullen at the Downtown Music Gallery, and with saxophonist-composer Catherine Sikora at The Brecht Forum.

2012 will see the release of Richard Barrett and Han-earl Park’s ‘Numbers’ (CS 201 cd) by Creative Sources Recordings. In addition to what he hopes will be a creative time in NY, he will be back in Europe in April/May performing as part of Numbers and Mathilde 253 (with Charles Hayward and Ian Smith), and, in October, Numbers will be performing across North America.

Bruce Coates

Mutt: Jonny Marks, Bruce Coates and Walt Shaw (photo © 2012 Claire Coates)

In addition to his continuing work with FrImp and Improvisation Birmingham, in April 2012, Bruce Coates performs/conducts as part of Birmingham Improvisers’ Orchestra: Migrations at Déda (Derby):

Using film, dance and performance art, Migration is created in response to the orchestra’s improvised soundtrack. The piece explores ideas about the movement and displacement of people—not only the political, economic and ecological factors, but also the human desire to find a place to belong.

More info…

Franziska Schroeder

In 2011, Franziska Schroeder, the theorist-practitioner, presented at Digital Resources in the Humanities and Arts conference (Ningbo) and performed at the International Computer Music Conference (Huddersfield).

In 2012, Schroeder will be taking on the Artistic Direction for the Sonorities Festival (Belfast), premiering a new work by Evan Parker commissioned by the PRS, running the Sonic Arts Research Centre’s Public Engagement Training for PhD students (‘Big Ears’), performing as part of Noise Quartet Concert (April), premiere of five new works by SARC PhD composers (May).

Forthcoming articles will include a book chapter, ‘Shifting Listening Identities—Towards a Fluidity of Form in Digital Music’, in Identity, Performance and Technology: Practices of empowerment, embodiment and technicity edited by S. Broadhurst and J. Machon (Palgrave Macmillan), and ‘Network[ed] Listening—Towards a de-centering of beings’ in Contemporary Music Review (Routledge).

If io 0.0.1 beta++ could want, or express a desire, I imagine that it would want to wish all of you a happy arbitrary demarcation of time:

io, however, cannot want, or express, anything…
io, however, cannot want, or express, anything…but Happy New Year from me!

about the audio recording:

audio excerpts from SLAMCD 531:

Baroque and Renaissance (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)
impressive synergy (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)
standing alone (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Bruce Coates, Franziska Schroeder and io 0.0.1 beta++ (Ó Riada Hall, Cork, May 25, 2010)

Third audio clip (and final in the series) from ‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) below:

Excerpted from the track ‘Discovery: Decay’, the clip is taken from what is, for me, an uncharacteristic track on the CD, with its serene, careful and economical counterpoint between saxophonist Franziska Schroeder, me on guitar, and the interactive automaton io 0.0.1 beta++. Beppe Colli described this track as “‘Baroque’ and ‘Renaissance-like’, the whole sounding quite consonant, and so offering the most listener-friendly moment on the album” [read the review…] [in Italian…]. [More info on the recording…]

Thanks to George Haslam for his support. Audio clip courtesy of SLAM Productions.
Music by Han-earl Park, Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder.
Audio ℗ 2011 SLAM Productions. Please do not distribute audio file (you may share the link to this page).

Cannot play audio?

Try loading the original post, and playing back from there. Please contact me if you have further problems.

previous audio excerpts:

impressive synergy (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)
standing alone (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Il titolo da romanzo o di sigla di messaggio segreto è il nome della macchina sparamusica/rumori che fa bella mostra di sè sul palco e che senza alcun intervento dei musicisti intorno tira giù il suo catalogo di suoni con cui gli altri si trovano a confrontarsi. Un´idea che sarebbe piaciuta ai futuristi di omai un secolo fa, un inno totale alla modernità. Altro che strumenti acustici!

I tre musicisti coinvolti insieme alla macchina sono Han-earl Park alla chitarra, Bruce Coates al sax alto e sopranino e Franziska Schroeder al sax soprano. Non hanno nessuna paura per il confronto e così si avventano con passione sulla proposta dell´oggetto inanimato.

La session completamente improvvisata richiede molta attenzione da parte dell´ascoltatore, ripagata completamente da quello che è un esperimento riuscito. Non siamo qui in presenza di programmi che danno un risultato che il compositore/programmatore si aspetta già bensì di una macchina lasciata in balia di se stessa a proporre, rispondere, per quel che è la sua comprensione, rilanciare, su cui il trio dei musicisti umani crea interazione all´istante, improvvisazioni che a tratti acquistano atmosfere molto forti.

I tre non stanno solo a scoprire le possibilità intrinseche ai loro strumenti al di fuori delle tecniche ortodosse. Stanno anche ad esplorare, a farsi prendere dalle possibilità intrinseche al suono in quanto tale ed a volte sembra di ascoltare la lezione di uno Steve Lacy. È cosí che il tutto acquista una dimensione più terrestre e l´incontro/scontro con la macchina improvvisante regala paesaggi sonori inconsueti e densi di idee. [Original article…]

Translation:

The title of the romance or cypher of the secret message is the name of the sparamusica/noise machine that makes a fine show of itself on stage and without any intervention from musicians around, draws from its catalog of sounds with which the others find themselves confronted. An idea that would be pleasing to the Futurists of a century ago, a total hymn to modernity. Nothing but acoustic instruments!

The three musicians involved with the machine are Han-earl Park on guitar, Bruce Coates on alto and sopranino, and Franziska Schroeder on soprano sax. They have no fear for the confrontation, and they throw themselves with passion on the ideas from the inanimate object.

The completely improvised session requires a lot of attention from the listener, to be fully repaid by that which is a successful experiment. Here we are not in the presence of programs that give a result that the composer/programmer expects but of a machine left to propose, to answer without any help, for what it is its understanding, raise the stakes, on which the trio of human musicians create instant interactions, improvisations that at times acquires a very intense atmosphere.

The three do not only discover the intrinsic possibilities of their instruments outside orthodox techniques. They also explore, make themselves take from the intrinsic possibilities of the sound, and sometimes seems like listening to a lesson by Steve Lacy. So the whole acquires a more earthly dimension and the encounter/clash with the improvising machine presents unusual soundscapes full of ideas.

[More info on the recording…] [All reviews…]

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Este é um falso quarteto entre uma máquina de improvisar, o io 0.0.1 beta++, criada pelo guitarrista Han-earl Park, e três improvisadores humanos, o próprio Park e os saxofonistas Bruce Coates (alto e sopranino) e Franziska Schroeder (soprano). O autómato em questão tem um computador incorporado, mas foi construído com utensílios de cozinha. Os sons que produz são de espectro limitado, pois o propósito é ironizar as bandas sonoras dos filmes de ficção científica das décadas de 1950 e 60. Os músicos de carbono envolvidos ora trabalham na área do ‘avant-jazz’, ora na da electroacústica de fronteira com a música contemporânea: Park com Charles Hayward, Wadada Leo Smith e Paul Dunmall, Coates com Tony Oxley, Lol Coxhill e o compositor indeterminista Christian Wolff, e Schroeder ao lado do pianista português Pedro Rebelo e em colaborações com Pauline Oliveros e Evan Parker. Todas essas experiências se reflectem em temas como ‘Ground-Based Telemetry’ e ‘Laplace: Instability’, sempre com o io a reagir interactivamente ao que fazem e até a dar-lhes deixas. [Read original…]

Translation below by Felipe Hickman.

This is a fake quartet between an improvisation machine, io 0.0.1 beta++, created by guitarist Han-earl Park, and three human improvisors, Park himself and saxophonists Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano). The automaton in question has a computer attached, but was built with kitchen utensils. The sounds it produces have a limited spectrum, as the purpose is to mock the soundtracks of sci-fi movies from the 1950s and 60s. The carbon musicians involved sometimes work in the field of ‘avant-jazz’, sometimes on the electroacoustics’ border with contemporary music: Park with Charles Havward, Wadada Leo Smith and Paul Dunmall, Coates with Tony Oxley, Lol Coxhill and the indeterminacy composer Christian Wolff, and Schroeder besides the Portuguese pianist Pedro Rebelo and in collaborations with Pauline Oliveros and Evan Parker. All these experiences are reflected in themes such as ‘Ground-Based Telemetry’ and ‘Laplace: Instability’, always with io interactively reacting to what they do and even giving them cues.

This review apparently appeared in jazz.pt (#39, November 2011). Can anyone confirm this? Unfortunately I don’t have access to the print magazine.

[More info on the recording…] [All reviews…]

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Bruce Coates and io 0.0.1 beta++ (Ó Riada Hall, Cork, May 25, 2010). Photo © 2010 Franziska Schroeder.

Second audio clip from ‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) below:

Excerpted from the track ‘Discovery: Intermodulation’, the clip features Bruce Coates on sopranino saxophone in duet with the musical automaton io 0.0.1 beta++. One of my favorite moments from the CD, it’s a performance that demonstrates, to quote François Couture, “dismantled gestures, destabilizing timbres, and impressive synergy” [read the review…]. [More info on the recording…]

Thanks to George Haslam for his support. Audio clip courtesy of SLAM Productions.
Music by Han-earl Park, Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder.
Audio ℗ 2011 SLAM Productions. Please do not distribute audio file (you may share the link to this page).

Cannot play audio?

Try loading the original post, and playing back from there. Please contact me if you have further problems.

previous audio excerpts:

standing alone (audio clip: io 0.0.1 beta++)

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.

Han-earl Park and io 0.0.1 beta++ (Blackrock Castle Observatory, Cork, May 26, 2010). Photo © 2010 Franziska Schroeder.

Hear a short clip from ‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) below. The clip, taken from the track ‘Laplace: Perturbation’, features the last minute of the solo by machine improviser io 0.0.1 beta++, and fades out as guitarist Han-earl Park joins it in free play. [More info on the recording…]

Thanks to Corey Mwamba and Jonathan Deasy for helping select this first clip. Thanks also to George Haslam for his support. Audio clip courtesy of SLAM Productions.

Music by Han-earl Park, Bruce Coates and Franziska Schroeder.
Audio ℗ 2011 SLAM Productions. Please do not distribute audio file (you may share the link to this page).

Cannot play audio?

Try loading the original post, and playing back from there. Please contact me if you have further problems.

‘io 0.0.1 beta++’ (SLAMCD 531) is available from SLAM Productions. [Details…]

personnel: io 0.0.1 beta++ (itself), Han-earl Park (guitar), Bruce Coates (alto and sopranino saxophones) and Franziska Schroeder (soprano saxophone).

© 2011 Han-earl Park.
℗ 2011 SLAM Productions.