Montgomery began composing electronic music for multiple speakers after spending time in Berlin with the late pioneer of German electronics, Conrad Schnitzler. Harvestworks will present a rare opportunity to hear 24 octophonic concerts composed between 1985 and the present, all live mixed by Montgomery.
[May 10-12] Immersive Sound Works by Ken Montgomery 1985-2013
25 + years of concerts composed for an octophoninc sound system
Ken Montgomery
Fri, May 10 2013, 4-10pm: Opening Reception
Sat, May 11 2013, 3 – 7pm: Installation open
Sun, May 12 2013, 2 – 6pm: Installation open
Admission: FREE
Location:
Harvestworks – www.harvestworks.org
596 Broadway, #602 | New York, NY 10012 | Phone: 212-431-1130
Subway: F/M/D/B Broadway/Lafayette, R Prince, 6 Bleeker
Montgomery began composing electronic music for multiple speakers after spending time in Berlin with the late pioneer of German electronics, Conrad Schnitzler. Harvestworks will present a rare opportunity to hear 24 octophonic concerts composed between 1985 and the present, all live mixed by Montgomery.
Montgomery has been working with sculptural and spatial dimensions of sound since the early 80s. This exhibition will feature Icebreaker, an octophonic work composed during an Artist Residency at Harvestworks in 1991; multi-channel works composed during a residency at the Spritzenhaus in Hamburg, Germany, in 1999; as well as recent multi-channel compositions featuring sounds recorded in Italy and India. Several of the audio works presented in this program will be New York City premieres. The artist will be present all three days to introduce his work and answer questions about his compositional process.
Montgomery’s multi-channel work began with improvising analog synthesizer parts onto individual cassettes and designing groupings of cassettes to be played back simultaneously through independent loudspeakers. Working from the center of a space, Montgomery would play instruments and/or perform a mix of the cassettes paying particular attention to the placement and movement of the sounds in the room. For Icebreaker, Montgomery featured an amplified electric ice-crushing machine in the center of the space surrounded by eight speakers. Concerts were often presented in total darkness, or the audience was given blindfolds to enhance the audio-only attention to the sounds and to enhance attentive listening.
For Immersive Sound Works at Harvestworks Montgomery will perform with a laptop using Ppooll, a software program for diffusion of sound. Field recordings, manipulated recordings of everyday appliances, voices, sound effects and electronic instruments will be routed through eight speakers creating an octophonic listening environment. Most concerts are 30 minutes in length, although some audio works composed as audio installations can be any length.
Montgomery (www.Generatorsoundart.org) has published numerous sets of CDs designed for others to play and mix to create infinite variations of his compositions.
Bio
Montgomery studied electronic music at Studio Pass when he arrived in New York in 1978. He was active in the international Cassette Culture in the 80s, and through that postal correspondence became involved with Berlin composer Conrad Schnitzler, who introduced Montgomery to composing and performing electronic music for multiple speaker formations surrounding the audience.
In 1989 Montgomery open the first sound art gallery in New York City where he regularly presented immersive listening experiences. Montgomery has lived and worked in New York City since 1978. In addition to composing, performing music, and working with sound, Montgomery produces visual art, is actively involved in Mail Art, and maintains The Ministry of Lamination, a project for transforming ephemera into official permanence while listening to the sound of lamination.
This project is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts’Electronic Media and Film Presentation Funds grant program, administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (www.NYSCA.org www.eARTS.org).