Chameleon Christmas 2007

This year has seen the gradual evolution of PMusic from experimental, unreleased pieces (with the exception of Singles) into gallery works, planned downloads, online pieces and the Consemble project. It's heartening that I've finally got to this situation as Chameleon Lectra was initially formed as a means of distributing and promoting this new, original musical system. I am planning, scheming and plotting to continue to use this forward momentum to give PMusic the airing it deserves.

There is now a Newsletters' index page on the CL site which links, naturally enough, to previous emailed communications and the CL Newsletter 12/12/07 details the upcoming projects and aspirations for 2008 as well as providing a link to a PMusic Christmas card.


This composition also awaits anyone who read this blog before Jan 1st 2008 - just click on the moon above.


Next entry will outline Chameleon Lectra's plans for the new year, including the release (whisper it) of 'Inlets' Daughter'.

'Works Of Friction' - Setting Up & Private View

Images from the Private View - 1st September 2007

The Works Of Friction show is now live until September 16th.

ART TERRACINA GALLERY, HAVEN BANKS, EXETER QUAY, DEVON EX2 8GR - UK
Private View: 1st September 2007 4 - 8pm
Open: 2nd - 16th September 2007 Thursday to Sunday 11am - 5pm
tel: 01392 412313
email: cristina@artterracina.co.uk

Thorpe/Ramsay: 'Works Of Friction'

Upcoming:
Works Of Friction gallery show at Art Terracina, Exeter Quay, Devon UK - 1st to 16th September 2007
featuring: 'Rock Works' - visual/sculptural pieces by Steve Thorpe and a sound installation 'Frictional Account' by Paul Ramsay.

The show will also feature other collaborative piece between these two artists.


Recording the Sons for 'Frictional Account'.

Consemble: 'Let's Build An Album'

After the positive experience of working on 'The Sound Of The Field', I realised that an ongoing project, in which people submitted sounds to be placed within indeterminate compositions, would be a very interesting proposition - not least because it fulfills some of the aspirations around at the moment for music to be constructed communally.

The success of what is currently termed Web 2.0 - sites such as YouTube, MySpace, Flickr - points to the idea that clusters of people can assemble material drawing on the resources of what may be understood as a group mind. My thinking on this has been further influenced by the notion of open source, the practice of mail art and ideas of the global village.

I find the phrase 'Let's Build an Album' a particularly delicious one as it suggest a music venture akin to an architectural project.

www.chameleonlectra.co.uk/Consemble.html


And I'll return to this again...

Consemble: Open Compositions PMusic Project

The open compositions 'Consemble' project was launched on July 14th 2007 after my paper 'Parallel Music – Towards a Utopian Compositional Form' was given on the final day of the Utopia 2007 conference.

The inspiration for open compositions comes from the idea of open source and how this has been applied to various arenas, including music. Consemble, in particular, has also been informed by the success of The Sound Of The Field project which allowed me to see the potential of opening up PMusic to participation from a wider audience (in fact audience is too passive a term - participants are just that i.e. active contributors).

The description of Consemble on the CL website is as follows:

'Consemble is a new Open Compositions venture launched by Chameleon Lectra on the 14th July 2007.

To take part, you are invited to listen to the current open Consembles and then email your own sounds - the ones you think ought to be included in the project - to build ongoing, indeterminate PMusic compositions. Every contributor will be credited and the work will be available, for free, from this site. Anyone may take part - amateurs, professional composers, sound artists, non-musicians etc. - there is no age limit. You may, of course, just want to listen to the pieces as they progress.

There are a series of project licences (Consemble: A, Consemble: B etc.) - each with its own brief and specifications to guide you; the intention however is to be broad, welcoming and inclusive. Consemble can be understood as a sound art or music project.

Please bear in mind that this work will be available for free to all, including children (so no pornographic sounds etc.) and no copyrighted material. Email details are provided on each Consemble page.

The project will last for at least 1 year and may well continue beyond.

Consemble is a licence for you to be a composer.'


Open Consembles:
Consemble: A
Consemble: B
Consemble: C
Consemble: D


If you would like to take part, please visit Consemble.

Sounds of an Imagined New Arts Building

'In September 2007 the University of Plymouth's Fine Art course will be moving from Exeter to Plymouth. One of the new locations to be used by the course will be the New Cooperage Building, Royal William Yard - also the venue for the Sonic Arts Network's Expo 2007 (22nd - 25th June).

To inaugurate the move, Chameleon Lectra has created a special licence within its Consemble 'Open Compositions' project'.

The above description is taken from the 'Consemble: Plymouth' page on the CL website and is the first manifestation of my soon to be launched 'Consemble' project (which I shall be writing about in more detail soon).

'Consemble: Plymouth' was exhibited online for the Sonic Arts Network's EXPO 2007 in Plymouth (22nd - 25th June), as part of the 'Distributed City' strand.

   

This indeterminate sound work features 60 sounds contributed by the Fine Art team at Exeter (University of Plymouth) guided by the theme: 'Plymouth New Build - Building the Sounds of the Art School We Want to Live In'. (I chose this theme to provide an opportunity to create a building in sound to represent an aspiration, a critique, a refuge etc.)

The audience experience this piece through an interactive player - they have the opportunity to both hear the work in its entirety (as much as an indeterminate piece allows) and to select particular sounds for inclusion in a 'mix area' (see image below).



'Consemble: Plymouth' premiered 22nd June 2007 and is now live.

Technorati

I've just discovered Technorati: Technorati Profile - and stake my claim ;-)

Dawnmobile

I have a new PMusic sound art installation: 'Mobile Dawn In An Old World Garden' part of the Anti-Parallel show at Egenis Building, University of Exeter, Byrne House, St German's Road,
Exeter, Devon UK - March 16th - April 5th 2007.


Notes on Mobile Dawn are also provided on the CL website.

Field Notes 2007

My, how time flies. This purpose of this post is to describe Chameleon Lectra's plans for 2007 and to announce the launch of 'The Sound of the Field' sound art mail art project. Twenty eight people - ranging from composers to non-musicians - responded to TSOTF, sending sounds by post (as CDs), email or phone. Initially a small-scale endeavour, offered as a contribution to Field Study's 'Field Report', I realised the potential of such a project and in April 2007 I shall be launching 'Consemble' - an ongoing series of invitations to make PMusic tracks as part of an 'Open Compositions' initiative.

Consequently, with PMusic releases coming to the fore, some of my planned RMusic projects will be developed later in the year but are still very much present in my thinking. One idea is to do a Motile page with Robert Jarvis on the topic of 'sound ecology'. Robert recently appeared on a BBC Radio 4 programme 'Endangered Sounds' in which he spoke about this aspect of his work.