Sarah Peebles: Composer/Performer, Studio Excelo

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Max, Sample Cell, ABControl images (archive)

2001

Friday August 17 to Sunday August 19
Sound Travels (Toronto)
http://www.interlog.com/~darcope

Saturday, September 1, 2001
8:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Improvisation in a multi-channel universe
West Lawns, Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts, Toronto Island
(SW end of Centre Island near Filtration Plant on Hanlans Point)

Francis Dhomont - Mtores (12')
Tim Brady - Music Box Bell Curves ("Hello Paris!") (14')
Jürgen Teller - Ridser (11')
Jürgen Teller & Tim Brady - Improvisation (10')
Hildegard Westerkamp - Into the Labyrinth - (15')
Anne Bourne and David Gamper - improvisation (15')
Sarah Peebles & David Toop - White Powder/The Spiders (7')
Mike Hansen - Itch (30')

Sarah Peebles, music;
David Toop, text and spoken word:
"White Powder/The Spiders" (6:50/octaphonic version, April '01).

Strange creatures mingle with unlikely suspects in the dark, as David Toop tells us about the Goddes of Light, neon haiku, shapeshifters who swing bullroarers in the night, spider robots, and unpredictable insects. Peebles evocatively sets this surreal short story with multi-layered choreographies of sound in space, drawing upon the sustained tones of the shô (Japanese mouth-organ) and a variety of processed, sampled sounds. With octaphonic diffusion, between one and eight discreet chanels of sound move through any combination of eight loudspeakers at the same time. The audience will be seated in a large area outdoors, surrounded by poplar trees, just beyond the beach, the 8 loudspeakers in a circle around the perimeter. Remember - it's outside, in the dark, full moon!
Sun set, 7:53 p.m. Moon rise (almost full moon) 8:14 p.m.
Updated schedule:
http://www.interlog.com/~darcope/sched01.html

In setting this for octophonic diffusion, I used a feature of ABControl software which allows me to generate multiple discreet and stereo spacial movements such as counter-rotations, crossfades, and quasi-random movements in real time, as I record. I've used this in conjunction with pre-programmed spacial movements. This allowed me to guide sound by my perception of multiple events moving around me in space which I ammended on the fly, "performing" both spacial movement of sound and the sound sources themselves (2 separate computers), mostly in real time, as I recorded the piece.

"White Poweder/The Spiders" is available on "Insect Groove" (Studio Excelo CD-R), on sale at the concert. "White Powder/The Spiders" was originally created in stereo for David Toop's "Hot Pants Idol" CD (Barooni, 1999).

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Sunday 15th July 2001
8.00pm Admission
The 12 Bar Club, Denmark Place, Denmark Street, London WC2
Tel- 020 7916 6989 Audio and Visual Webcast - www.12barclub.com

London's Monthly Post-Improv/Neo-pop/Electronica club, BAGGAGE RECLAIM (a 22 Point Cultural Recovery Programme) This Month Featuring - MINDLOBSTER, VIC TWENTY, JULIEN OTTAVI, DOG HEADS, SARAH PEEBLES, RICHARD SANDERSON

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Saturday, June 16, 9:30 p.m. (3 sets)
NOW Lounge, 189 Church St.
www.glenhall.com

SMASH AND TEENY

Smashteeporch Nilan Perera - altered electric guitar and effects
Sarah Peebles - computer-assisted performance & shô (mouth-organ)

2nd and 3rd sets:
Colin Fisher - guitar; Paul Dutton - voice;
Geordie McDonald - drums; Michael Morse - bass
Christine Duncan, Fides Krucker, Nobuo Kubota - voices
Jason Hammer - bass, prepared bass



"Initially something like elevator music for Malaysian skyscrapers... This is beautifully rendered electroacoustic music, as the natural tones are manipulated sensitively and the sound and image emerge from the same conditions. This constitutes the most unique and fascinating show we saw all year." (- Eye Weekly)

Smash and Teeny expand the frontiers of improvisation and sound art through their innovative use of electroacoustics, prepared electric guitar, everyday widgets, and the sublime, illusive tones of the shô. Among "Canada's more original musical voices" (Eye Weekly), they create a musical expression rich in timbre, lyricism and subtlety. "Perera's interests in Sri Lankan folk music and Harry Partch nicely match Peebles' own electricism and revision of the primitive. The duo... mix tidal undulations of tone with the ability to pick out sharp flecks of texture in complex aural environments" (- The Wire).
Perera and Peebles have worked together as a duo and with the trio "Cinnamon Sphere" (with Chung Gong Ha, calligrapher) since 1995, performing in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, and collaborating with such exceptional artists as Jin Hi Kim (komungo), Kô Ishikawa (shô), Sumihisa Arima (computer), Tomomi Adachi (voice) and Kazuko Furuya (storytelling). They have performed at the Kobe International Festival of Modern Music, Space Alta, Plan B (Yokohama, Tokyo), Strange Attractors Festival (Minnesota), and come fresh from workshopping in New Mexico and a well-received performance at The Outpost in Albuquerque. Their music is available on CD and video, and is fully catalogued on the web at
[www.sarahpeebles.net].

What the critics say about "Hover" (Studio Excelo CDR/2000):

"Sounds seem to blossom effortlessly out of the electrified instruments and the Mac patches as it meditated into presence, but this is not insipid music. There is a poise and tautness and silveriness to its glide that comes perhaps from the terseness of Japanese ritual music. But the temple is also bent into hallucinatory four-dimensional shape, the clarity strung out in tones that wobble, drift, twang and scintillate." ( - Matt Ffytche, The Wire)

"The music is startling, always absorbing. The mixing of environmental and electronic sound is really potent." (- Brent Clough, ABC Radio National)

"I like the deep archaic soundclimate very much, the fine resolution, the langsamkeit, which is not slow speed alone, the same time reduced, or simple, but complex perception" (- Hans-Ulrich Werner, WDR 3)

"It made the toronto airport a lot cooler " (- Ronda Rindoni)

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Saturday, May 12, 8 PM
Sarah Peebles & Nilan Perera perform a concert of new music for computer,
Shô, & prepared electric guitar

Outpost Performance Space,
210 Yale SE, Albuquerque, NM, USA
$8 General Admission, $6 Outpost Members
Tel.(505) 268-0044
For more info, call Steve Peters at Nonsequitur: 224-9483

Sarah Peebles and Nilan Perera expand the frontiers of improvisation and sound art through their innovative use of electroacoustics, prepared electric guitar and ancient acoustic instruments. Among Canada's more original musical voices (Eye Weekly), they create a musical expression rich in timbre, lyricism and subtlety. Peebles and Perera have worked together since 1995 as a duo and with the trio Cinnamon Sphere (with Korean calligrapher Chung Gong Ha), and collaborating with such artists as Jin Hi Kim (komungo), Kô Ishikawa (shô), Sumihisa Arima (computer), Tomomi Adachi and Kazuko Furuya (voice). Their music is available on CD and video, and is fully catalogued on the web at [www.sarahpeebles.net].

This event is presented by Nonsequitur, Inc. in partnership with Outpost Productions. Nonsequitur is a non-profit organization producing recordings and concerts of experimental music and intermedia arts in New Mexico since 1989.

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Sunday, March 18th, 9.30 PM - 11.30 PM
Le Navire "Night", Chane Culture radio broadcast (Radio-Canada)

Sarah Peebles' real-time performances of "Where the Wild Things Went" and "Drillbit Skiploop" (computer-assisted performance) and "Round One" (exerpt; for computer-assisted performance and shô/mouth-organ). Super MicMac festival, November 7, 2000, at Maison de la culture Plateau-Mont-Royal.

Deux artistes enregistres lors de l'vénement Super MicMac de novembre 2000 : Diane LANDRY, lutherie artisanale, pour son oeuvre-installation "LA MORUE". Sarah PEEBLES, ordinateur et shô. Une rencontre avec I8U, artiste montréalaise de musique lectronique, et diffusion de son travail. Aussi une marche sonore dans un lieu d'installations, lors du Festival INTERFÉRENCES de Belfort (France) en décembre 2000.

Radio-Canada frequencies:
Montreal: 100,7 FM - Québec: 95,3 FM
Moncton: 98,3 FM
Ottawa: 102,5 FM
Sudbury: 90,9 FM - Toronto: 90,3 FM
EASTERN TIME: Sunday 21H30
PACIFIC TIME: Sunday 6H30 PM
HEURE DE PARIS: Lundi 3 H 30 AM
HEURE DE TOKYO: Lundi / Monday 10H30 AM
REAL AUDIO:
http://radio-canada.ca/util/endirect/culturelle.ram

"Le Navire "Night" lists (listing regional frequencies): www.radio-canada.ca/radio/navire

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The Wire - Adventures in Modern Music:
issue 205, March 2001 (Talvin Singh, journal cover)
www.thewire.co.uk - Click here to read the article.

Full-page, in-depth reviews of Peebles' new CD release "Insect Groove" and Cinnamon Sphere's (Peebles-Perera-Gong) "Hover". Now here's a review you can truly sink your teeth into. An informative and eloquent bit of writing by Matt Ffyche, and a nice big picture to boot. Available now in Toronto at The Record Peddler, and soon to be at Pages book store and other locations about town. Page 54. Many exceptional figures in new music reviewed and interviewed as well - a terrific issue all around.

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Saturday, February 3, 10:45 p.m.,
BROADCAST PREMIER OVER RADIO-CANADA'S "L'ESPACE DU SON":

"108:Walking through Tokyo at the turn of the century" (50:00)
Soundscape by Sarah Peebles, Dec. 1999-Jan.2001.
Recorded, composed and edited by Peebles.
Commissioned and Mastered by Radio-Canada, "L'esapce du son" (Mario Gauthier, producer).

Montreal: 100,7 FM
Québec: 95,3 FM
Moncton: 98,3 FM
Ottawa: 102,5 FM
Sudbury: 90,9 FM
Toronto: 90,3 FM
WEB broadcast (Real audio):
http://www.radio-canada.ca

(Look for "Nos mÉdias en direct" (live media), in a small red and blue box just below the summary/menu. Once you're there, just click on "chaéne culturelle" (red indication inside the little box) - don't click on "premiére chaéne", it's not the same thing.)

"L'espace du son" web site : www.radio-canada.ca/espaceduson.
Programme will be announced on line by thursday with some images.


"108:Walking through Tokyo at the turn of the century" (50:00)

In creating this "sound walk" through Tokyo, I wanted to compose a sonic portrait which reflected everyday experiences in this city, yet which also included some special events. I planned to record new years eve, food vendors' cries at Tokyo's "Ame Yoko" (pronounced "ahmé yohkoh") and train station music ahead of time; the rest was spontaneous. Everything throughout the fifty minutes flows in the order in which it was recorded between December 26th, 1999 and January 3, 2000 (with the exception of the New Years' dawn kendo practice and subsequent street car ride, recorded Jan 3, 1986).

Back in Canada, when I assessed and contemplated the sonic environment within these recordings, I could not separate these sounds from my physical experience of having recorded them. But what I found (unconsciously) was a periodicity inherent in much of the material, and I could feel this periodicity in my body, via my memory and my intuition guided me towards the space between things. In Tokyo, this space catches my ear as much as does the character of the sounds around me, because the ambient environmnet of this megapolis is especially active and compelling, compared to my home, Toronto. The space between sounds in Tokyo can be (physically) spacial, periodic (having periodicity) or cyclical, or all of these. Music emanating from mini-speakers infront of shops comes into and out of focus as one walks toward the pre-recorded preacher on the way to Shinjuku station. Electronic wicket beeps float through the station, as do the wide variety of mini-tunes indicating train arrivals and departures which accompany one's daily commute from station to station. Even the pachinko (Japanese pinball) parlour's wall of sound reveals distinct songs, shapes, reoccuring themes and momentary spaces, when examined closely through the looking glass of digital signal processing. Winter evenings in Tokyo are graced by the distant looping song of the baked sweet potato vendor making his rounds, and the periodic strike of wooden clappers (clave) accompanying "Put out your fires!" as the neighborhood foot patrol winds through the streets a sound very nearly but not quite yet vanished from Japan's changing sound scape. And every year the new year is greeted with remarkable sounds in the stillness of night: all temple bells ring between 12:00-12:30 A.M., each struck 108 times (representing 108 human desires which may lead to sin, sort of like purging one of temptation for the year), music is played and bonfires blaze. At 5 A.M., martial arts enthusiasts gather for "kangeiko" (pronounced "kangaykoh") New Years' dawn practice, their kendo cries the only discernable sound during Tokyo's one truly quiet hour.

Sounds in Japan accompany the mundane and the milestones. These sounds and the space between them are rich in meaning and character.

(Much thanks to Tsutomu Sudo, Robert Cruickshand and Garnet Willis for technical assistance and consultation.)

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Monday, January 22, 2001, 8 p.m. $5
MUSIC GALLERY-MUSIQUE PASSE MURAILLE:
Improvisation with Phil Minton-Paul Dutton-Tomasz Krakowiak, and Sarah Peebles-Nilan Perera
Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave, Toronto

For music samples see www.musicgallery.org

Sarah Peebles, computer-assisted performance & shô (mouth-organ)
Nilan Perera, alterered electric guitar and effects

Sarah Peebles and Nilan Perera expand the frontiers of improvisation and sound art through their innovative use of electroacoustics, re-defined electric guitar and ancient acoustic instruments. Among "Canada's more original musical voices" (Eye Weekly), they create a musical expression rich in timbre, lyricism and subtlety. Peebles and Perera have worked together as a duo and with the trio "Cinnamon Sphere" (with Chung Gong Ha, calligrapher) since 1995, performing in Canada, the U.S. and Japan, and collaborating with such exceptional artists as Jin Hi Kim (komungo), Kô Ishikawa (shô), Sumihisa Arima (computer), Tomomi Adachi and Kazuko Furuya (voice). Their music is available on CD and video, and is fully catalogued on the web at [www.sarahpeebles.net/cinnamon.htm].

"Initially something like elevator music for Malaysian skyscrapers... This is beautifully rendered electroacoustic music, as the natural tones are manipulated sensitively, and the sound and image emerge from the same conditions. This constitutes the most unique and fascinating show we saw all year."
- Eye Weekly, Toronto

Renowned British vocal magician Phil Minton joins forces with Canadian oral acrobat Paul Dutton and Polish percussion wizard Tomasz Krakowiak in an evening of high-voltage free improvisation. All three players span the spectrum from subtle inflection to firebrand intensity, holding it all together with technical innovation and musical virtuosity.

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DEFORESTATION CRISIS IN CANADA: SAMPLE LETTERS
The Elaho Valley and other old growth BC regions targeted by Interfor and approved by the BC government, and The Main River Coalition, Newfoundland.

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Monday September 25th, 9 p.m.
"BED AND BREAKFAST" plays the BBC British Short Film Festival
Leicester Square, London.

"Bed and Breakfast" a Short film from the Paulus Film Group (Toronto, Canada).
Written and Directed by Aaron Woodley.
Music by Eric Woodley with Sarah Peebles; Sound Design by Eric Woodley.

"Bed and Breakfast" will be screened on Monday 25th of September, during a programme which begins at 9pm. The venue is the UCI Empire, Leicester Square, London. Tickets cost £4.50 and can be purchased on our credit card booking line from 1st September - 08705 888 955. For further details on The BBC British Short Film Festival please check out our web-site at [http://www.britishshortfilmfest.com].

"Bed and Breakfast" (24 min.) is an intense psychological drama involving a voyeuristic B&B owner, a family with disturbing secrets, some very bad dreams, and a young girl's vivid imagination. Superb acting, fantastic stop-motion and live-action animation, engaging music. The soundtrack features a combination of electroacoustic material and beautifully performed music for solo piano.
Featuring Peter Blais, Barclay Hope, Lindsay Collins, Jennifer Hall and Amanda Boksa. Awarded Best Cinematography and Best Direction for a Canadian Film from the Toronto International Short Film Festival and Best Short Film at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.

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JUNE 17 concert at 7 p.m. $10, Students/Seniors $8
SOUND TRAVELS a weekend of outdoor walks, discussions and electroacoustic concerts Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts, Toronto Island, SW end of Centre Island near Filtration Plant on Hanlans Point. Featuring works by Darren Copeland and Richard Windeyer, David Berezan, Sarah Peebles, Wende Bartley, David Eagle with the aXi (alternative expressive input object), and Kenneth Newby. (More composers on t he 18th.)

Sarah Peebles: "Where the Wild Things Went"
"Where the Wild Things Went" features the sounds of birds, insects and strange creatures which I've gathered in N. America and Japan over the years, and which I performed live, creating both the choreographies of sound and of multi-layered sound movement in space. The audience was surrounded by 8 loudspeakers in a large area outdoors.

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Notes on 8-channel surround sound diffusion

"Where the Wild Things Went" was originally created in stereo for "The Female of the Species" CD compilation, and was ammended for surround sound performance at the Banff Centre for Sound Travels in September, 1999. It is a "comprovisation" - a series of predetermined, memorized moves which allow for some improvisation by myself as well as for some chance operations within the computer. This piece features samples of birds, insects and strange creatures which I've gathered in N. America and Japan over the years (which are accessed from within my computer). It will be performed live and will incorporate multi-layered choreographies of sound in space: between one and eight discreet chanells of sound move through any combination of eight loudspeakers at the same time. These sounds are guided by my perceptions of multiple events moving around me in space which I ammended on the fly: using a mouse and keypad on my right (attached to ABControl and The Audio Box*), I choose when to stop, start and modify pre -set stereo spacial movements (e.g., counter-rotations, slow crossfades, quasi-random movements all pre-sets which I developed for the piece); at the same time, using a mouse and keypad on my left (attached to my Macintosh), I control volumes, choose gr oups of sampled materials, and select between one and five (simultaneous) "patches" from within a framework I have created using Max programming language* simple algorhythms which create cyclic, random walk, and multiple delay patterns.

*Max is an object-oriented programming environment which sends either MIDI or SMPTE information to other applications either within the computer or to an external source. ABControl software and The Richmond Audio Box work together as a sound spacializatio n system.

"Where the Wild Things Went" in surround sound was premiered in 1999 at the Banff Centre for the Arts and New Works Calgary (Alberta), and received additional performances at the Logos Foundation (Ghent), and City University (London) in Winter, 2000.

"The Female of the Species" CD compilation (law and auder records, 3/99)
email:
PEarle@compuserve.com
SOUND TRAVELS
tel. 416-977-3546
  www.interlog.com/~cansound  cansound@interlog.com

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Contact the artist at sarahpeebles @ gmail.com