A FRIENDLY REMINDER

Just a note to my followers and subscribers, I am no longer blogging at this location. If you would like to continue to subscribe to my posts (and I hope that you do), please do so via this RSS feed: feed://kristiner.com/blog/feed/

Or, you can always head to http://kristiner.com to see what's new. And don't forget to leave a comment, so I'll know you were there...!

GREENER PASTURES

It's been a long time coming, but I am finally making the switch to WordPress.

As anybody who is still using this platform knows, Blogger blows. Aside from the inherent limitations and generic-ness of the template, my main issue with Blogger has to do with the lack of a way to integrate (in terms of design, searchability, ownership, and location) the content that I post here with my artist website, kristiner.com.

I've had a simple HTML-based website for ten years (since GeoCities-RIP!) and I've had this blog, though the name has changed a couple of times, for well over four years. Simply put, managing two separate (and increasingly anachronistic) formats has become very tedious and confining. Especially considering that Facebook and Twitter have emerged as far more efficient methods of dealing with certain things that I used to use the blog for - things of the "what are you doing now?" variety along with the usual self-promotional chatter that precedes any kind of gig or upcoming event.

For everything else, WordPress offers an extremely flexible, artist-friendly solution, and I recommend it heartily. I've found a great template by Graph Paper Press that is elegant, functional, and easily adaptable, allowing me to string together posts that feature writings, compositions, tour journals, news, reviews, etc., and best of all, everything will remain in one place.

So from now on you can keep up with me at kristiner.com.

When you get there, navigate to the Welcome page for an explanation of how everything works.

You can continue to subscribe to my blog posts at my new RSS feed: feed://kristiner.com/blog/feed/

Thanks, as always, for reading, and thanks for the continued support. Exciting things are coming down the pipe, and I hope you will stick around...

SLOW SOUND

SoCal people take note: tonight begins the Slow Sound Festival, a two week-long celebration of quiet music:

"Slow Sound is the mindful practice of experimental sound and music," says festival curator Glenn Bach, "and with the festival we hope to showcase musicians and composers who specialize in quiet, sparse, or otherwise low impact music. The festival will also give 'louder' artists an opportunity to experiment with quieter material."

Slow Sound descends from a long tradition of contemplative music and sound, from John Cage and Morton Feldman to Brian Eno and Steve Roden, and incorporates similar practices such as lowercase, EAI (electroacoustic improvisation), Reductionism, Onkyo, and other activities worldwide. Inspired by Bill Rieflin's Slow Music Project and ideas articulated by the Slow Food movement, Slow Sound provides experimental musicians and sound artists a framework with which to introduce more stillness in their compositions and live improvisations.

"Slow Sound is not an either/or proposition," Bach says, "but functions simply as an alternative practice. While crescendo and density are not strictly forbidden, Slow Sound's emphasis on the quieter end of the dynamic range allows for a more intimate, thoughtful, and meditative space in which to listen."

Slow Sound is partnering with Soundwalk 2009, CSULB's Music Department, and CSULB's University Art Museum in conjunction with the exhibition of "Brian Eno: 77 Million Paintings."

My own contribution to the festival will be a solo trumpet performance at Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall at CSU Long Beach on Friday night, on a bill with Tom Recchion and Mitchell Brown.

Find out more on Facebook. Also check out Greggory Moore's festival preview in The District Weekly, Tim Grobaty's column in the Press-Telegram, and Sander Wolff's excellent interview with festival founder Glenn Bach at LBPOST.com

CHUNG KING CORPSED

What a day, what a great event!

Full audio/video/photo documentation will eventually be posted at the SASSAS website, but here are some quick mobile pics (courtesy of Cindy Bernard) of Alicia Mangan and I:

The finale - Wadada Leo Smith, Vinny Golia, and William Roper on Sousaphone:

And a couple more from my phone - try to find the musicians among the masses... Dan Clucas (trumpet) + Lynn Johnston (bari sax) + Eric Sbar (euphonium) + William Roper (Sousaphone):

And Roper/Smith/Golia again:

SASSAS TURNS TEN

Happening this Saturday:

MAPPING sound. – The SASSAS (Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound) 10th Anniversary Concert utilizes sites in 8 Los Angeles neighborhoods located along an east/west corridor and features more than 30 musicians drawn from the 10 year history of sound. for a day of concerts, presented free of charge! Concerts are from 11am - 11pm starting at the Sylvan Amphitheater in Eagle Rock and concluding at Beyond Baroque in Venice, with stops on Chung King Road in Chinatown, Amoeba Music in Hollywood and the Schindler House in West Hollywood among others!

I will be part of the musical Exquisite Corpse featuring a succession of improvised horn duos along Chung King Road. I'm paired up with saxophonist Alicia Mangan, with whom I've only played once before (long ago, in a very large ensemble) so this should be fun. The other duos are Bruce Fowler + Phil Teele, Dan Clucas + Lynn Johnston, Eric Sbar + William Roper, and Wadada Leo Smith + Vinny Golia.

Chung King Corpse starts at 2pm, and there will be plenty of great music featuring a host of SoCal creative musicians happening throughout the day. Come out if you're down...

Mapping sound. on Facebook.

ALMOST LIKE BEING THERE

Some pictures below from our weekend romp through Zoey's in Ventura and Metro Galleries in Bakersfield. The pics of Chris and I were taken by Jeff Kaiser, pics of Kaiser and Liebig were taken by yours truly. Stay tuned for more commentary, audio, and if we're lucky, some of Kaiser's photos from the after-gig hang at the Crystal Palace...

Also, local musician/composer James Sproul just posted a nice review of the Bakersfield show. Thanks, James!

RETURN TO ELECTRIC TRUMPETLAND

For this weekend's duo gigs with Chris Schlarb I am firing up Electric Trumpet Rig v3.0, which is looking like this:

Trumpet > Shure Beta 57 Mic > ART Tube MP Preamp >
BBE Wah Pedal > Ernie Ball VP JR > PreSonus Firebox >
MacBook Pro/MaxMSP > Firebox > PA

It's true, I tried to put this stuff behind me some time ago, and I'm not going to say that I am 100% optimistic about getting into this again. It has been two years since I last performed with live electronics, but I think that I may have come up with a solution that solves some of the basic issues I had with my previous attempts, first with a table full of analog effects pedals and then with just a laptop and MaxMSP software.

As I wrote back then, my issue with the pedal-driven setup was:

"...carrying all this heavy luggage to gig after gig, winding and unwinding cables, setting up tables and boxes and in all that hassle hoping you don't patch a cable to the wrong jack, drop a speaker on your instrument (or someone else's), or hit the wrong switch and release a torrent of feedback noise into the audience."

Having to deal with the sheer bulk of all that equipment made it nearly impossible to concentrate on actually playing an instrument as well; after nine gigs and two recording sessions I became more than a little annoyed that I never had the chance to warm up or prepare myself for the trumpet side of things (which is demanding enough without the extra equipment). To all of that, the laptop-only solution seemed simple, elegant and clearly superior. But I remained conflicted about it for quite some time, mainly due to the fact that performing with one hand on a trumpet and one hand on a mouse tended to make me a bit neurotic.

So for the past two years I've mulled over a setup that might offer the best of both worlds - the tactile maneuverability of a few foot pedals (allowing me to stand and play without the need for any knob-twisting), and the streamlined simplicity of a software rig with presets to accommodate basic EQ, reverb and compression along with simple key commands (which I prefer over adding a MIDI controller) to toggle the more "destructive" effects plugins on and off, so there is minimal need for mousing around. Basically I have tried to build something that feels transparent and as hands-free as possible, an extension (rather than an obstruction) of the horn.

The MaxMSP software I am using now is based on a VST host and integrated four-channel looper designed by Jeff Kaiser, with a few mods and design tweaks of my own:

I am actually quite happy with this. The pull-down menus allow you to select up to six VST plugins, and slots 1-4 can be rearranged in any order by clicking one of the number sequences on the right. Slots 5 and 6 are typically for reverb and compression at the end of the chain. All six plugins can be toggled on and off by hitting number keys 1-6. The ten PRESET buttons along the bottom each load a different combination of VSTs, basically different points from which to start because the plugins can also be switched out individually. Key commands for the presets are Shift + number keys 1-0. Kaiser's four-channel looper comprises the boxes A-B-C-D, and there are settings for forward/reverse, half/double speed, panning, etc. There are a few more bells and whistles, like the catastrophic blast of distortion that happens when you hit letter D...

Last night at Zoey's went well, so so far so good. I will update shortly with pictures, commentary, maybe some audio.

BLOGGING WILL RESUME

...eventually.

For now, more gig spam. Playing two electroacoustic ambient improv duo sets this weekend with friend/guitarist/composer/producer Chris Schlarb, in Ventura on Friday and at my series in Bakersfield on Saturday. We double bill with Jeff Kaiser + Steuart Liebig both nights.

Info on both shows is here, propaganda for the Bakersfield show below:

FURTHER EVIDENCE

Video below from the Sun Ra Tribute show at the Pharaoh's Den in Riverside. The video projections behind us (courtesy of VJFranzK) are all live effects, i.e. the video fx parameters are being altered by the music in real time:

THE BAKERY SET

Some photo evidence here from last Monday's hit at the sadly-soon-to-close Jazz Bakery in LA, most of them shot by our friend Allen Glass (he's in the green plaid jacket in the third pic below).

Commentary soon.

WEEKEND TOUR RECAP

Some images below from the last two Empty Cage gigs. Tomorrow (Monday) night we wrap it up at The Jazz Bakery in LA. Get tickets here, or find more info on Facebook.

On Friday we were at Metro Galleries in Bakersfield, sharing the bill with saxophonist Santiago Latorre from Barcelona. Santiago had a nice set exploring very delicate, slowly evolving sax loops while Sara Paniagua provided video projections behind him. Afterward was the requisite late night truck stop diner food hang at Zingo's Cafe.

(Thanks to James Sproul for the pics from our set)

Last night we were at the Pharoah's Den in Riverside, taking part in their weekend-long tribute to Sun Ra, who arrived on Earth 95 years ago Friday. Great scene they have down there, and it was a special occasion, obviously, so we did something unprecedented - we performed our first cover in nearly seven years together as a group, jamming Ra's "Moon Dance" to kick off our set...