new project confirmed!

i just received word that my application for funding the first incarnation of the 24 hour project, he sat on the glittering precipice, was successful. this version will use the photos and audio i recorded over a 24 hour period in my father’s room a month before he passed away. an auspicious beginning to my shift in focus to new media art projects. thanks to the ontario arts council for granting funds.

on board are yesim tosuner, who will help me to compile the video and design the website, and the incredible david travers-smith who has agreed to help me with the more delicate end of audio matters.

in other good timing news, previews start tonight for theatre gargantua’s ambitious show e-dentity, presented by the mirvishes at the beautiful royal alexandra theatre. the show runs to may 20 and i will playing most of them—from home. i will be monitoring the show via online chat, and playing beats in a number of scenes and streaming the audio to them to play in the theatre. i always wanted to do a theatre show, and this is a good way to do it! you can get more info and tix at the link above. its quite a spectacle, and worth seeing. and hearing.

as an aside, the internet business end of this show was a huge hassle. how come stuff never works like the marketing guys say when they sell you the stuff?

finally, i have been listening to the soundtracks to salaam-e-ishq and kabhi alvida naa kehna. they are awesome!!!!!!! i can’t wait to get my hands on some more bollywood stuff, i have to say.

well. over and out.

back

i’m back.  even though i landed about a week ago.  keeping up and getting back into the groove is taking up a certain amount of time.

lots of great news on the work front, including a new myspace page to highlight composition and sound design work, shows with arabic singer maryem tollar, getting accepted to the 2nd round of the fresh ground commissioning selection process, and beginning the process of scoring a TV doc (more news later).

i have also been working on making some short films based on my experiences in india and created from lo res footage i shot there.  the preliminary work is proving to be very inspiring and i am really looking forward to the process of creating video works and scoring.

waiting on a few grants to see what i will be concentrating on next.

happy new year.

thinking

i’ve been thinking about improvising. and trying it out. technique is one thing. commitment another. i have trouble with the second. i think in improvising commitment comes first and only then can technique flow.

i’ll keep trying.

online

just found out the interview project for the soundLAB project is online here.  the sound pieces will be launched oct 20 here.  and of course i forgot to mention that the piece i created for deepwireless 2006 is available for listening here.

drum nation post

drum nation concert has passed.  after many crazy hours of prep and rehearsal it went off quite well.  we played a number of traditional and contemporary compositions and everyone fit on stage….i was especially pleased at the warm response we got to the more contemporary pieces we played with traditional instruments.  my contention is upheld—audiences are quite happy out of their element.

the encore was reich’s clapping music, with the audience playing part 1 (the unchanging one).   my fiendish mission continues.

drum nation

we are in rehearsals for the smallworldmusic project drum nation. myself, rick lazar, kiyoshi nagata, patrick graham, ravi naimpally, mark duggan, and kwasi dunyo. lots of material to learn, and write. i am trying to craft a show that really spans the gamut of the possibilities of percussion music. i think its working….

if you are in toronto, come check out the show. weds, sept 27 @ lula lounge, dundas w and brock streets (between dufferin and lansdowne).

we are also having a workshop, where we explore some of the instruments and talk about composing percussion music, and its free! @ the now lounge monday sept 25 @ 7pm (church st just south of dundas).