Make experimental music using adaptive technologies with the CE community
Untitled by Claus Groeger, ca. 2014-15, mixed media and found object sculpture, 3 x 7 x 4 inches, available here
In celebration of SONG and inspired by the weekly music hour in the studio, Creativity Explored is teaming up with musician and composer Matt Robidoux and Mission Synths for an interactive music-making workshop using adaptive technologies and instruments.
During the event, participants are invited to map their gestures and movements to sounds and musical phrases using Deep Listening Institute's Adaptive Use Musical Instrument (AUMI). This accessible technology, originally created by composer Pauline Oliveros, is a software interface that allows anyone to create music with movement – for example, by moving one’s hands or blinking an eye.
Interpreting sheet music drawings by Walter Kresnik and other artworks on view in SONG, together the group will play and record an original SONGscape. We can’t wait to see and hear what we create together!
The event is open to all ages and abilities. Registration is recommended with a suggested donation of $10.
Before the event stop by the CE gallery between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM to experience SONG in person.
Learn more about the exhibition, plan your visit, view online, and watch the curator tour ▸
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About Matt Robidoux
Matt Robidoux is a San Francisco-based composer, improviser, and community organizer interested in the interstices of movement and sound, accessibility within contemporary music, and the communicative capacities of sonic energy.
In 2017 they established the Adaptive Instrument Ensemble (AIE), a community-based practice focused on expanding the improvising community across abilities, demographics, and geographies. Beginning with a pilot workshop in 2019, Robidoux founded the Prepared Guitar Ensemble in collaboration with Creativity Explored.
Read more about the Prepared Guitar Ensemble project on the CE blog ▸
They hold a MA in music composition from Mills College, where they studied with Roscoe Mitchell, Zeena Parkins, Laetitia Sonami, John Bischoff, James Fei, David Bernstein, and Daniel Schmidt. Their scholarly work is scheduled to be published as a chapter in Improvising across Abilities: Pauline Oliveros and the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument via University of Michigan Press in 2022.
Matt has performed throughout North America and Europe and has work available on Already Dead Records and Tapes, Null Zone, Crash Symbols, Feeding Tube Records, Mystra, Exploding In Sound, Ydlmier, and Carpark Records.
About Mission Synths
Started in 2020 by Betsy de la Garza and Brian B. James, Mission Synths is an electronic music hardware and record shop based in SF's Mission District, specializing in modular synthesizers and providing a space for experimenting with the latest audio hardware.
Brian B. James is a San Francisco-based electronic music artist working in music technology, experimental music, dance music, and music education communities for over 20 years. Holding an MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College, Brian produces and performs under the Entropy Worship alias.
