The Microphone Becomes the Instrument in Experimental Music Performance TRANSDUCER, 8/1-2

In a rare immersive performance, with the audience seated on stage of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, new media artist Robin Fox and Speak Percussion will perform experimental music work Transducer where the microphone and loudspeaker take centre stage in a Melbourne premiere on at 7.30pm, 1-2 August, 2014 at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Arts Centre Melbourne.

Using the microphone as an expressive musical instrument, in their first collaboration, musician, composer and new media artist Robin Fox and Speak Percussion's percussionist and composer Eugene Ughetti redefine the microphone's function in this virtuosic and conceptual Australian work.

Composed and developed in 2013, the work uncovers the often ignored characteristics of the microphone and to elevate its role in the process of music making. Microphones and loudspeakers are both transducers and the piece is inspired by how sound energy is captured, transformed and ultimately reproduced between these 'almost-the-same' ends of the transduction chain.

Using kinetic sculptures (new instruments that move when set in motion) and unorthodox modes of transduction (where electromagnetic microphones are used to pick up the electromagnetic energy which turn into music), the spatialised performance work explores the relationship between percussion and the microphone, space and kinetics and acoustic and processed sounds.

Transducer uses amplified sound that is played back through eight independent speakers (loud-speaker/PA) placed around the audience. This gives the piece an electric feel where the sounds moves freely around the space, the sound can be moved from behind you then immediately to the left and then circle around the audience.

Almost entirely bypassing the need for traditional musical instruments altogether, Transducer also questions the role of the musician, performer and their instrumental craft or technique. It is a work for performers whose roles blur between that of technicians, operators and percussionists.

As a double-bill event, Transducer is coupled with a rare performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen's seminal work MIKROPHONIE I (1964) for giant tam-tam with two percussionists, two microphonists and two filterists. As a historical point of departure and inspiration for Transducer, Stockhausen's work incorporates live-processing and microphone manipulation that remains at the vanguard of contemporary performance even today.

Robin Fox is an audio-visual artist working across live performance, exhibitions, public art projects and dance. This year he has performed His work 'Laser Show' which synchronizes sound and visual electricity in hyper-amplified 3D space has been performed in over 50 cities worldwide with recent highlights including the Yokohama Triennial, Musica Genera Festival (Warsaw), MUTEK Montreal, the Donau festival (Krems), MONA FOMA (Hobart) and Festival Nemo (Paris) among many others. His new work 'RGB laser show' takes this audio-visual performance to the next level premiering at Mona Foma 2014 it has just toured to Vivid festival Sydney, Tramway Glasgow and the Barbican London. He is also well known for designing and building a Giant Theremin for the City of Melbourne, a seven-metre tall interactive musical sculpture and the White Beam project commissioned by Dark Mofo which shot a high powered white laser beam through the trees on Salamanca lawns. He also holds a PhD in composition from Monash University and an MA in musicology which documents the history of experimental music in Melbourne 1975-1979.

Speak Percussion is a flexible line-up of Australia's finest creative percussionists that has a 13-year history of commissioning, performing and creating innovative new work. Ranging from solo concerts to massed sound events, Speak Percussion's work is presented throughout the world in concert halls, bars, galleries and site-specific locations. Speak Percussion's recent performances have included appearances at MONA FOMA (Hobart), Adelaide Festival, MaerzMusik (Berlin), SPOR Festival (Denmark), Batteries Festival IV (Geneva), Red Gate Gallery (China), Roulette (New York), ODC Dance Commons (San Francisco), Melbourne Festival, Metropolis New Music Festival, Next Wave Festival and the Totally Huge New Music Festival (Perth). Speak Percussion works with many of the world's leading composers, including Steve Reich (USA), Liza Lim (AUS), Anthony Pateras (AUS), Richard Barrett (UK) Thomas Meadowcroft (AUS) and Fritz Hauser (CH). The group also champions Australian music with over 80 works commissioned by Australian composers. Speak Percussion's "breathtakingly impressive" (The West Australian) work has won them several accolades including APRA/AMCOS & AMC Victorian Award for Excellence by an Organisation for its annual program and the 2012 Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Music Award for its AUTOMATION project.

Transducer was made possible through the support of the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Victoria.

In addition to the Transducer and MIKROPHONE I performance, there will be a Transducer Workshop for interested music makers. The lecture and demonstration will take participants through the new instruments designed for Transducer. It will feature a broad ranging discussion of the historical context of electro-acoustic and percussion music and provide a rationale for the Transducer project in connection with Stockhausen's MIKROPHONIE I (1964). It will detail the challenges faced when approaching the composition of new mixed media musical works and demonstrate the physicality of the instruments themselves.

Details:

Arts Centre Melbourne presents Transducer by Robin Fox and Eugene Ughetti

Arts Centre Melbourne, Sidney Myer Music Bowl (audience seated on stage)

Transducer, 1-2 August, 7.30pm, 2014

Transducer Workshop - August 2 5pm 2014

Tickets from $35.40.

For more information about Arts Centre Melbourne visit artscentremelbourne.com.au or phone

1300 182 183. Become a fan of Arts Centre Melbourne on facebook or follow @artscentremelb on Twitter.

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