Live From The Multiverse
The Sonic Arts Ensemble
Ravello Records and The Sonic Arts Ensemble present LIVE FROM THE MULTIVERSE, an album leveraging the possibilities of online performance and expanding the boundaries of contemporary music. Musicians from three different continents connect through the internet on low latency, high quality audio networks to perform repertoire ranging from composed, notated scores to freely structured pieces born from masterfully executed ensemble improvisation. With the utilization of extended techniques, singing bowls, and imaginative sound design, the ensemble develops and thrives in an enticing and innovative soundscape.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Into the Multiverse | Marc Ainger | Jacob Kopcienski, extended saxophone; Madeleine Shapiro, cello and vocal sounds; Marc Ainger, laptop | 4:00 |
| 02 | Quintet / Trio | Collective comprovisation | Ann Stimson, flute (C and Alto) and extended flutes; Marc Ainger, laptop; Se-Lien Chuang, yangqin, voice, mouth organ, bass recorder; Andreas Weixler, laptop, guitar, singing bowl (introductory sound); Scott Deal, percussion | 9:01 |
| 03 | A Rising Tide of Light | Collective comprovisation; Text by Norah Zuniga Shaw | Norah Zuniga-Shaw, voice; Oded Huberman, laptop; James Croson, keyboards; Fede Cámara Halac, thornblower; Berenice Llorens, guitar; Ann Stimson, flute and extended flute; Marc Ainger, laptop, temple bell | 6:00 |
| 04 | Octet / Sextet | Collective comprovisation | James Croson, keyboards; Samuel Gardner, keyboards; Jacob Kopcienski, extended saxophone; Fede Cámara Halac, thornblower; Berenice Llorens, guitar; Joseph Sferra, clarinet; Ann Stimson, flute and extended flute; Marc Ainger, laptop | 9:54 |
| 05 | Two Worlds | Collective comprovisation | Ann Stimson, flute (C and alto) and extended flutes; Marc Ainger, laptop; Se-Lien Chuang, yangqin, voice, mouth organ; Andreas Weixler, laptop, guitar, singing bowl (introductory sound) | 8:10 |
Members of the Sonic Arts Ensemble and Guest Performers:
Marc Ainger laptop, guitar sonicarts.squarespace.com
Ann Stimson flutes and extended flutes sonicarts.squarespace.com
Fede Cámara Halac thornblower fdch.github.io
Madeleine Shapiro cello madeleineshapiro.com
Jacob Kopcienski extended saxophone jacobkopcienski.com
Norah Zuniga Shaw voice nzshaw.art
Oded Huberman laptop
Se-Lien Chuang yangqin, voice, mouth organ, bass recorder avant.mur.at
Andreas Weixler laptop, guitar, singing bowl avant.mur.at
Scott Deal percussion scottdeal.net
James Croson keyboards
Berenice Llorens guitar berenicellorens.github.io
Joe Sferra clarinet
Sammy Gardner electric piano
Harshit Chaubey streaming and technical and musical assistance
Recorded May 2020 – April 2021
Session Producer, Mixing, and Editing Marc Ainger
All performers set up their own recording (or broadcasting) spaces and equipment themselves, acting as their own engineers. These individual feeds were then transmitted to a central hub that was located at the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) in Columbus, Ohio, USA, and the recordings were made from the central hub.
The exceptions to this hub recording are (1) Into the Multiverse and (3) Rising Tide of Light, where the individual feeds were distributed peer-to peer on Aoo software and recorded on Marc Ainger’s peer connection.
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
A&R Danielle Lewis
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
Mastering Shaun Michaud
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland, Aidan Curran
Content Manager Sara Warner
Artist Information
The Sonic Arts Ensemble
The Sonic Arts Ensemble, founded by Marc Ainger and Ann Stimson (with Federico Cámara Halac as occasional co-director for this recording), is interested in sound and music as a multi-modal, embodied phenomenon. Their repertoire ranges from composed, notated scores to freely-structured co-improvisations. During the pandemic, the ensemble became a truly international group, leveraging the online environment to contribute to the emergent medium of networked performance, with members and guests joining together from the United States, Argentina, and Austria. Using software such as Jacktrip (Chris Chafe et al), and the elegantly titled Netty McNetFace (Puckette), the ensemble created audio networks using low-latency, high quality, uncompressed audio, facilitating real-time collaboration over “a long, thin wire” (hat tip to composer Alvin Lucier). The tracks here represent the ensemble’s live performances across the internet during this time.
Notes
In a group performance, there’s an interesting zone between self and other-focused play, between soloistic playing — what the late J.K. Randall used to call “radical multitracking” — and listening/responding. The collaborations on this disc explore that interstitial place; improvised gestures and ideas coexist here with pre-planned components, and with the circuitry that enables the collaboration (an instrument or collaborator in its own right). In each of these five tracks, musicians on three continents use breath, gesture, text, and technology together to shape single spans of time, turning each into something spatial as much as temporal.
— Jeffrey Perry