This is an excerpt of a concert by Shackle at the Ephémère music series at LOOS Den Haag on January 12 2012.

This is footage from a rehearsal by Shackle. Pretty much like a concert set.

This is a recording of a short set by Shackle at a Splendor (location KHL, Amsterdam) on January 17 2012.

The CD came out in 2009 on Creative Sources Recordings. Better late than never. And he seems to like it ;) More info on the band here.

Whistle Pig Saloon are Robert van Heumen on laptop and controllers and John Ferguson on guitar and effects. Their music deals with drastically misshapen textures, instigated at first by Ferguson’s axe; at times they sound processed in advance and already unrecognisable per se, or else the cure applied by Van Heumen alters – make that “devastates” – whatever original trait is left of the six-stringed apparatus. It goes without saying that the large part of this record is frantically running from an inner space to the other, its whimsicality dictated by systematic changes in timbre and dynamics. There were occasions, during a headphone sitting, in which your correspondent was continually decreasing the volume to evade membrane stabbing. Essentially, a sense of explosive fluency underlines the skilled building of a 43-minute textural citadel, presenting the project as an interactive 2-head unit that knows what to do at any given moment. Scrambling across a multitude of dangers, the couple manages to remain unscathed by the redundant garbles that frequently classify several brands of feather-brained computer-fuelled gobbledygook. Starting from semi-agnosticism in terms of related genres, these gentlemen ended up creating a form of their own.

Massimo Ricci - Touching Extremes

More info: hardhatarea.com/stranger.

If it is true that nothing prepares you for the birth of your first child, it is equally true that nothing prepares you for the coming of the second. You think you know it all, but what you didn't take into account was the effect of the new baby on your oldest one, and the juggling of two kids (not literally ;), each their own desires and usually not in sync. So musically I feel I went into hybernation for a couple of months, now slowly emerging from it. Sure, I've been doing some things, presenting my work at Cineac Sonore during November Music, performing the Disklavier piece twice, performing two SKIF++ concerts in Germany. But I feel I need to catch up. The boys seem to be asleep for the moment.

With the funding system in NL going into stone age mode, I count myself lucky to have received a grant from the Performing Arts Fund to continue our (Anne LaBerge and myself) work on the Shackle Affair project. We've already started preliminary tests, and it is exciting to expand our system into new territory. We're also preparing a tour to Australia and New Zealand for Sept 2012.

Another (rather daunting) task I've set myself, is to rebuild my LiSa setup in SuperCollider. LiSa is the STEIM software that I grew up with as an improvising musician, but the chances are slim that it will be supported into the next (and actually current) Mac OS X release. This is not an easy task, as LiSa is very good at what it does, and although SuperCollider is infinitely more flexible, it will be hard to exactly duplicate the functionality of LiSa. But I guess it is also healthy to every now and then reconsider your working methods.

Aside from these research-type things, there are also quite some improv concerts coming up. I will be happy to play again. For a complete listing see the events page. These concerts include three performances of a derived version of the soundwalk Like Harry. With Simone de Jong I will present a version of this soundwalk in a cozy lounge atmosphere.

In composing mode, I will start to work on a big electronic composition for the Call and Response collective in London. It will be a multichannel composition of about 40 minutes based upon the theme 'Interpretations of Sacred Music'. This theme was proposed by myself, and together with C&R we're looking for other sound artists to invite to make a work around this theme. The details about when and where are as yet unclear, but this will happen sometime in 2012.

Now, how the f*** do I implement LiSa's patterns in SuperCollider?!?! Over and out.

O, and if from the title of this post you were expecting a solution, you'll have to get back to me in a couple of years ;)

Here are all 5 previews for you listening pleasure:

During the Gaudeamus Muziekweek Simone de Jong and myself were interviewed by Aad van Nieuwkerk for the streaming radio program Eigentijds by the VPRO. You can hear the interview here (starting about 35 minutes in the stream).

This week will be a big one. Two compositions by my hand premiere at Gaudeamus Muziekweek. You can walk Like Harry, an individual theatrical soundwalk that can be experienced on September 7, 10 and 11. On September 8 Shackle will be performing my composition Geluid van de Machine, for Disklavier (a computer controlled grand piano), flute with electronics and laptop-instrument. All this takes place in the beautiful city of Utrecht.

Het Geluid van de Machine

A composition for Disklavier, laptop-instrument and flute with electronics by Robert van Heumen
Performed by Shackle (Anne LaBerge & Robert van Heumen)

The sound of machines is fascinating. They scream, growl, grind, buzz, hum, sing, roar, whistle, thunder. The Disklavier is a machine to make music with. But it’s not only the strings that make sound. This composition exposes the Disklavier’s mechanism and produces freshly squeezed music.

Date: September 8, 2011
Time: 17:00h
Location: Museum Speelklok, Utrecht
More information: http://www.muziekweek.nl/muziekweek2011/programma/index.php?Dag=08

Het Geluid van de Machine will be presented in a program with compositions by Danny de Graan, Daniel Schorno and Julian Scordato.

Commissioned by the Conlon Foundation. Many thanks to the Performing Arts Fund NL and STEIM.

A test:

Like Harry, een muziek-theatrale geluidswandeling tijdens de Gaudeamus Muziekweek

Simone de Jong – concept, tekst en stem
Robert van Heumen – compositie en muziek

(English summary below)

Er is een man die niet kan stoppen met lopen. Hij doorkruist stad, land, wal. Je wordt uitgenodigd hem achterna te lopen met koptelefoon op, de sporen te zoeken van zijn snelle voeten. Intussen hoor je een muzikaal verhaal over denken en de verleidingen en valkuilen van het hoofd. We doen een poging in andere hoofden te kijken. Met een verhaal over een merkwaardig instituut en met muziek erbij leidt dit tot een fascinerende, licht filosofische muziektrip door het hoofd. Je kunt je hoofd niet delen, je bent er alleen. Are you like Harry?

 
Datum: 7, 10 en 11 september 2011
Start tijd: elk kwartier tussen 11:00-12:00, 13:30-14:30, 16:00-17:00 (het laatste blok niet op zondag!)
Start locatie: Museum Speelklok, Utrecht
Duur: 75 min.

Like Harry is een individuele geluidswandeling die start en eindigt bij Museum Speelklok. Je ontvangt daar een koptelefoon en een geluidsspeler. Tickets kun je telefonisch reserveren vanaf 29 augustus of bij de festivalbalie kopen. http://muziekweek.nl/muziekweek2011/programma/

Tijdens de wandeling zijn opnames te horen van Gareth Davis (basklarinet), Rozemarie Heggen (contrabas) en Chris Saris (percussie), en interviews met Lorena, Sjoerd, Juliëtte, Joop, Dik, Maartje, Ditte, Alette, Julien, Lieve, Hester, Ruud, Hugo, Abdelkarim, James en Sarah.

Met dank aan Dirk Groeneveld voor dramaturgisch advies, David Dramm voor muzikaal advies, het SNS Reaal Fonds, het Fonds Podiumkunsten voor de compositie-werkbeurs, STEIM voor het ter beschikking stellen van studio en apparatuur, Soundtrackcities voor het ter beschikking stellen van de afspeelapparatuur en Thomas van Schaik voor het maken van de foto.
 
Luister fragmenten op Soundcloud en like Harry op Facebook.

English summary:
There is a man who can't stop walking. He is passing through cities, fields, hills. You are invited to follow him, with headphones on, searching for clues. Meanwhile you hear a musical story about thinking and the traps and seductions of the mind. We try to look into people's thoughts. Combined with a strange institute and the hypnotizing music, this is a fascinating, lightly philosophical road-trip through the human mind. You can't share your mind. In it, you are alone. Are you like Harry?

http://www.hethoofd.nl
http://hardhatarea.com