Volume 5 Issue 9 - June 2000

Wholenote 's Hear & Now

Wholenote 's Hear & Now usually ·serves as a gentle prod to our more classically inclined readers to vehture into more unfamiliar musical waters. But now, with the tum of the century, yesterday's "new" music is suddenly "the music of the last century." In this issue's Hear & Now the challenge, by guest columnist, Darren Copeland, is not so much to devotees of the "old" music of the nineteenth century, · but to devqtees of the "old" new music of the tyventieth. On the evening of June 17 and afternoon of June 18, audiences will take a walk from Centre Island down to Gibraltar Point to experience the orchestration of recorded sounds ll).oving within an octaphonic outdoor space. They wiil be attending Sound Travels, a weekend of electroacoustic concerts at tlie new Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts ~ These concerts, because of the infrequency of electroacoustic music in Toronto, seem like an utter novelty. But that is not the case if you view electroacoustics from a wider_ international and historical perspective. The practice of electroacoustics, although low in profile, spreads across the , enti{e world, possessed of a history that is as old as the post-war music that is generically termed 'new music'. Toronto itself contributed to the beginnings of this art form through the formation of pioneering studios at the Rqyal Conservatory of Music, and the University of Toronto and once helped to preserve its early beginnings by at one time housing the inventions of Hugh Lecaine, which in fact pre-date -commercial synthesizers designed by people like Robert Moog by more than a decade. Since the seventies however Toronto has had little to celebrate in the area of electroacoustics apart from the enduring hard work of a small handful of isolated. composers. The new music organizations in this city have also paid marginal service to a The O.R.M.T .A. is an association requiring high academic qualifications and proven record of teaching success among its teachers. Hear and No.w Toronto's· contemporary music calendar Sound travels '. BY DARREN COPELAND Composer David-Eagle plays his aXIO field (whereas many as 30 concerts can take place 5 1/2 hours away in Montreal in the span of 30 bone chilling winter nights). Sound Travels got its start in November 1998 when I and music curator DB Boyko invited six electroacoustic composers to participate in a month long residency at the Western Front in Vancouver for the sole purpose of ~reating multi-layered choreographies of sounds in space, or what is more dryly called Multi-Channel Diffusion. The success of this endeavour has led to the construction of a repertoire of such works through residencies collaboratively organized in Montreal, Banff, Gent (Belgium) and Arhus (Denmark). The repertoire created through these residencies· is what will be showcased at the concerts on June 17 and 18. THE ONTARIO REGISTERED MUSIC TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION Founded 1885 . ' QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT MUSIC TEACHERS For professional instruction in piano • voice • theory • all other Instruments For a qualified music instructor in the Metro area call 416-694-0296 In other areas of Ontario, call the Provincial Office voice/fax 705-267·1224 For membership iiaformatlon call the Provincial Office voice/fax For those intrigued but not familiar with electroacoustic mu'sic allow me to describe the artform in more general terms. Electroacoustic composers tend to interact with their material not from the abstract distance of notation, but directly with the sound material itself. Listening is an intrinsic part of the creative process, making electroacoustics a hands-on oral artform: sculptural in its· material interaction, photographic iii its observational powers. Describing the interaction with acoustic material as sculptural is of course a metaphor for using computers or other electronic devices to re-shape and draw out sounds that are an indirect by-product of acoustic properties which were there in the physical· make-up of the sound, but were never heard previously until such transformational processes were undertaken. At Sound Travels one example where the sculptural notion is more than just metaphorical is 'L'eau Imposture' by Chantal Dumas. Purely through the physical manner in which Chantal handles jugs and various containers of water in the recording process she draws out resonances and rhythms that would not be known to one when handling water with similar obj_ects in everyday si,tuations. She even coaxes out a few techno-like grooves. Earlier I mentioned the photograp~ic properties of electroacoustic music. This is when the transformations and examinations conducted are played out in relation to recognizable sounds from the environment, so that the photographic or associative properties, of electroacoustic music become the most evident characteristic. Such instances are commonly encountered with works of a soundscape nature. The Sunday afternoon _of Sound Travels is devoted to . soundscape compositions. When heard at Gibraltar Point the external playback context and the material of the compositions dialogue with each other and unveil a latent musicality in the location that would not otherwise be apparent. For example the Thriving Suzuki School. Offers lessons in violin, piano, cello, recorder, flute and guitar for children age 4 and up. Infant & Toddler classes for younger tots. Friendly family atmosphere for learning & loving music. (416) 222-5315

sounds of wind and water are a theme shared by many of the works and these are also the dominant sounds of the performance location, resulting in an ambiguity between reality and artifice that casts a new perspective on features of an environment noniially taken for granted. Another key electroacoustic element is the practise of moving sounds around an ' audience -- in the language of electroacoustic music, the potential for a musical .sonority to be expressed not only tr.rough the transformation ·of a timbre but by its articulation in space. At Sound Travels we provide composers with a ten to fourteen day working period to automate the static and dynamic • distribution of up to 8 independent sound sources to 8 loudspeaker positions situated around a circle. As a result '!udiences are enveloped in a musical landscape that is multi-dimensional, life-like( dynamic, and enveloping. This creative · treatment of space allows the, experience to transcend the · hierarchical spatial confines of conventional western music practice (classical and popular) and the surround sound nqw associated with cinema. In short, sounds .familiar and unfamiliar will over the course of two days dance and glide around an outdoor park setting, inviting people to listen, dream, and take flight in a world of new possibilities unfettered by imposing expectations and strict inhibitions. Electroacoustic music is a boundless habitat that will stretch audiences' ,ears beyond the shores' of Gibraltar Point. Darren Copeland is a soundscape composer.. For programming details ·visit www. inu;rlog. com! - cansound or call 977-3546. FinesT Q_ualny Hand Crurrced Violins Violas & Cellos Tel/Fax 416-533-5844 Email: sarabton@interlog.mm. http//www.interlog./-sarabton MUSIC AT ROSEDALE 2000-2001 Season Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m. Sept. 24 D. Bodle, organ· Oct. 29 L. Cana, soprano Nov. 26 Dance/Oremus/Danse Dec. 17 Carol Service Jan. 28 Piano Trio Feb. 25 Choral Concert Mar. 25 Brass Quintet Apr. 29 Easter Cantata · Admission is free; donations gratefully received , ROSEDALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 129 Mt. Pleasant Rd. (416) 921-193.t TRACEY WILKINS JAZZ VOCALIST AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE FUNCTIONS Join Tracey and her Little Big Band (10 piece) at The Montreal Bistro July 12, 2000 Featuring Tracey's new CD "I WISH I KNEW" Contact ABSOLUTE SOUNDS Phone: (416) 767-9:i5t email: absolutesound~@sympatico.,ca C}(1/l m . .. U S I C f fiH§§ c ,JUNE 2000 the Friday & Saturday June 2 & 3 CEE and Lina Cruz· / Sunday June 4 6:30 PM Jim Tenney & Lauren Pratt Farewell Concert & party Free Wednesday June 7 Miscellany of Poetry· anc;I Music • $TBA Saturday and Sunday June 10 & 11 Words or Music? Which comes first? • Donation Wednesday June 14 Sam Andreyev • Thursday June l 5 Joshthorpe: Alarm #1 / Friday June 16 Continuum • 5/ 0 Thursday June 22 J. David Lindsay • 0/$ 7 Saturday June 24 The Glass Orchestra - Greatest Hits • / 0 Sunday June 25 8:30 PM PHHIK • / Tuesday & Wednesday June 27 & 28 JVC Jazz Fest: The Composer Now • $TBA www.musicgallery.org 179 Ri~hmond Street West • West of University Avenue • All performances begin at 8 PM unless indicated otherwise • For tickets and information call 416.204.1080 c:/lll.auu:e~mith c:/lll.uj_fo ~tudio ADULT EVENING COURSES The Musician's Way to Health and Fr""dom Music Medicine for Musician's and all Performing Artists. Learn how to deal :.Vith RSI, numbness , neck, voice, I T.MJ, b.ack .• kne. e and muscular skeletal problems. Rediscover healthier ways of making music to prevent further injury through awareness. mov