A DREAM IS A HOUSE for remembering the future, created in collaboration by Biba Bell (Dance) and Joo Won Park (Music), is an hour-long immersive performance created for twenty-one Wayne State University (WSU) dancers and the WSU Electronic Music Ensemble in Minoru Yamasaki’s McGregor Conference Center atrium. A DREAM IS A HOUSE brings together sound, light, movement, embodiment, and storytelling together in the cathedral-esque modernism of Yamasaki’s architecture, evoking creative research driven by memory palaces, buildings as bodies, dream scenes, dancing with ghosts, and personal and collective ritual making. – from Vimeo site
My ensemble (EMEWS) and I worked with Biba and her Dance Class to make a site-specific, multi-channel piece over the Winter 2022 semester. The above is an excerpt of a 60-min piece. McGregor Hall’s architecture and acoustics were ideal for music and movement. I am happy about the result. The in-person experience was something unique, but Noah Eliott Morrison‘s team documented the essential experience of the piece in the video.
Although EMEWS has worked on the piece since March, I started working on it in August 2021. Biba and I spent Fall 2021 trying ideas and finding voices. The video below is a shorter version of A DREAM… presented at an end-of-semester showcase.
The Fall version’s 15min stereo audio expanded to a 60-min piece for a laptop ensemble and a guitarist, each emitting sounds from a portable amp. The music evolved and adjusted every week as the choreography changed, and the ensemble ended up performing based on the score below.
I think music can have an altered life. I plan to perform an audio-only ensemble version in an upcoming show. Let’s see how it goes.
I write notes and comments in books, journals, and PDFs. Underlines and scribbles of my thoughts do not change the work, but they help me remember what I liked most about the work and the artist. The four tracks in this album are the sonic equivalent of notes and comments. I highlighted the most memorable characteristics while trying my best to preserve the intent of the original piece. The last track is not a remix, but it is my way to document a few good things about the summer of 2020.
* All tracks were used with the permission of the composers/publishers. Profits made from the sale will be distributed to the remixed artists. * Overall mix of the EP is relatively low and uncompressed for quiet listening.
credits
released February 2, 2022
Molly Jones, Alex Koi, Michael Malis, & Jienan Yuan, composers Joo Won Park, composer & remixer
I am sharing eleven old pieces in reverse chronological order. I don’t consider them as my best of’s, but they are more like excuses to “what happened?” and “why did I do that?” Excuses are rarely correct answers to the questions, but they are somewhat related and much more entertaining. I invite you to listen to my incoherent explanation of why I play drum machine solo instead of recording soothing summer rain sound.
Curated by Joo Won @joowonmusic himself, “Works 2019-2009” is an outstanding showcase of his development as a sound artist, in reverse. Joo Won’s music sits precisely at the intersection of sound, technology, and innovation – communicated both in his compositional processes and choice of hardware. There is no passive engagement with his music – by choice or chance, Joo Won’s music demands active listening – there are so many disparate elements to focus on, so many new sounds, that it’s always a thrill to listen to one of his pieces.
Having “Works 2019-2009” as the 20th 1473 release is perfect, really – by providing an overview of an artist’s journey, it serves as the perfect way to mark this milestone for the label. Starting with release 21, the look and mission of 1473 will shift and open up even more – I’m incredibly excited and I hope you are too!
Quite importantly, and as addressed in previous posts, today is Bandcamp Friday when Bandcamp ensures that 100% of income is passed directly to artists and labels by waiving their transaction fees. Joo Won and I are happily passing this income towards raising funds for Spread Art in Detroit, a vital independent art space, run by the formidable Shiva @shivoid
Please help support Spread Art’s mission by purchasing Joo Won’s album today. I promise you’ll be excited by all of the new sounds you hear.
Sum and Difference is a collaborative composition guideline for music technologists. Each member of the ensemble joins in an online meeting platform to process audio files according to the score. The result is new sample-based compositions that share similar characteristics. The pieces are also different due to the variety of the original samples and the ensemble member’s improvised parameter changes. For participants, Sum and Difference is more about the process of making it than the result. In the pandemic-influenced time, the joy of creating music together, the joy of creating something from nothing in an ensemble, is severely limited. But the current situation forces music technologists to experiment with collaborative methods best suited for online interaction. Sum and Difference works best when each member is on the Internet, physically alienated from the rest of the world.
by Joo Won Park
Performers
Number of performers: 4-10
Needed technology
A web folder accessible by all performers
An audio editor or DAW for each performer
Needed skills
Experience and knowledge in digital audio editing and processing
Data organization and management skills
Preparation
Make a sharable web folder
Upload recordings of non-musical sound with the file names shown in the score (A0.wav, B0.wav, etc.)
The number of uploaded audio files should equal the number of performers
Each audio file should be 2-5 seconds long
Each audio file should be distinct from the others
Each performer should plan a processing or editing technique to change an audio file
Use any DAWs or apps
Establish a short and repeatable process. The performer should be able to execute it within 5-10 minutes
Execution
Step 0. Gather using a remote meeting platform such as Zoom or Google Meet. Assign one performer to one Processor.
Step 1. Download, process, and upload the audio file from the web folder according to the score.
Each cell in the score has ▼FileName-P-▲FileName. Here’s an example of how to interpret it
If the cell has ▼A0-P-▲B1
Download file named A0.wav from the web folder
Process the sound according to the plan
Export the sound with file name B1.wav, and upload it to the web folder
Step 2-10. After 10 minutes, repeat the download-process-upload procedure described in Step 1.
Vary the processing parameters (i.e., move knobs, use different settings)
Strive to add a few more seconds of sounds
Edit and polish the sound if possible (i.e., delete the silence at the beginning, normalize, etc.)
Be consistent with the file format. Use a format readable by all platforms, such as .wav and .aif
Last Step. Share and listen to the resulting sounds. The number of final tracks should equal the number of performers.
Made by Electronic Music Ensemble of Wayne State (EMEWS) on Jan 20, 2021
Matthew Banka, Maxwel Bourgeois, Garrison Briggs, Daniel Kozlowski, Logan Macka, Benjamin Schornack, Alec Segel, Mark Whalen, Daniel Yates, Michael Younger
