High Reflections #10

Atau Tanaka bridges the fields of media art, experimental music, and research. Atau creates sensor-based musical instruments for performance, and is known for his work with biosignal interfaces. He seeks to harness collective musical creativity in mobile environments, seeking out the continued place of the artist in democratized digital forms.

New York born and raised, Nicolas Collins studied composition with Alvin Lucier at Wesleyan University, worked for many years with David Tudor, and has collaborated with numerous soloist and ensembles around the world. The second edition of his book, Handmade Electronic Music – The Art of Hardware Hacking, was published by Routledge in 2009. Collins has the dubious distinction of having played at both CBGBs and the Concertgebouw.

Black Math is a collection of devices for divining the musical potential of sacred and diabolical geometries. An atheist and skeptic conducts ritual magic, using a pentagram inscribed in the topology of a feedback network of FM radio transmitters. Recordings may be downloaded from the futuristic virtual netlabel, Crypt Designers Guild.

Atau Tanaka and Nicolas Collins are in Australia courtesy of NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) International Conference. NIME have a fantastic program of events and concerts.

High Reflections is a monthly series of experimental music produced by Caleb Kelly and Alex White.

High Reflections is supported by Arts NSW and Music NSW.