Phil Thomson, ComposerPics from my May 3 show with Trautonia Capra et al.
Author Archives: Phil
A flattering review of an upcoming release
Filed under Music
Contantine Katsiris, producer and curator extraorinaire, (aka Scant Intone) just forwarded me this quite flattering review of an upcoming release on Panospria.
Here it is in poetically awkward English, via Google Translate, and here is the French original.
Among my preferred highlights of the review include the terms “groove épileptique” (“epileptic groove”), “beats en liberté” (lit. “beats in freedom”) and “programmations fugaces” (“flighty programming”). The last is certainly my favourite.
Show May 3
Filed under Linux, Music, SuperCollider, Updates
On May 3, 2013 VIVO Media Arts will be hosting an evening of experimental electronic music produced by VETO member Wynne Palmer. Featuring pieces from her new album, German vocalist/thereminist Trautonia Capra will be joined by the Vancouver Experimental Theremin Orchestra, local electronic quartet Spectrum Interview, Vancouver electronic composer phonal (that’s me!) and local sound/video feedback artist Merlyn Chipman in an evening of atmospheric vocals, rhythmic pulses, drone and noise compositions.
The works I will be presenting were created in SuperCollider; one of the works is brand new and has never been heard before (except through the floor by my neighbours).
Duet for Synth and Rail Cars
Filed under Music
Nice article on computer music and ‘free software’
Filed under Linux, Music, SuperCollider
Here is a nice article about the intertwined histories of computer music and “free (as in freedom) software”.
I have recently switched to Linux (specifically CRUX) for audio production. I have been a Mac user for many years, but increasingly find myself troubled by the growing tyranny that Apple exerts over their platform. That, plus the unreliability of Apple hardware, prompted a shift to a platform where I can have a greater degree of freedom and control, while also learning lots about programming and the internals of an operating system. I have started using SuperCollider in earnest, and am interested in trying out Common Music in combination with Csound. I have managed to put together a few pieces in SuperCollider and look forward to many more.
In using these tools, I feel good to be part of an software movement with such an interesting and storied history of technical innovation, and enjoy using a system which is so simple, elegant and powerful.
she…
Filed under Poetry
she grew wings
and flew
away
from all the things
that held her down
on the ground
without a sound
she sprouted fins
and she swims
deep into the treacherous trenches
of her ocean
in motion
she parted ways
with the things that he says
and the ways
in which he does her
from an insidious platform
above her
she went free
from the the things he
does not understand
about her
A poem!
Filed under Poetry
moist and
frantic
poems
gathered in my bones
without any heat
to haunt them
nobody wants them
these poems
that burrow into their carapacial homes
like tiny frightened crabs
small and sad
but never ever hopeless
they chatter
and scatter
seeking places
to belong to
they long to
be free
these wee
little writings
fighting
for the right
to take up spaces in the culture
fleeing vultures
of indifference
threatening to pick them apart
a prior art
of apathy
hiding them in poison clouds
of the loud
and quiet
thoughtlessness
of being slowly ignored
but still
opening doors of light
into the lightness
of having
somewhere to be
Music of the Spheres!
Filed under Music
I have always loved the idea of the music of the spheres. Many composers have based pieces on this idea, and today I came across this wonderful and somewhat rhapsodic orchestral work exploring the idea.
