The museum as aural space

JIEM 2011. 18th Conference on Computer and Electronic Music

Detail of Untitled # 223, sound installation
by Francisco López at Museo Reina Sofía, 2010.

Type of activity: Courses, workshops, conversations and concerts
Organised by: LIEM-CTE (Computer and Electronic Music Laboratory – Centre for Performing Arts Technology, Madrid) and Museo Reina Sofía
Dates: 2 - 6 July 2011
Place: Study Centre, Auditorium 200 and Auditorium 400
Registration: Complete information at liem.cdmc@inaem.mcu.es. Free admission to concerts and round table; the other activities require registration in advance.

Once again the Conference on Computer and Electronic Music offers a series of workshops on sound production and post-production, concerts dedicated to the aural perception of space and to live improvisation and sound projection, as well as a series of reflections, in a conversation and round table, about the artistic possibilities of radio and a fresh look at the Museum Collection from a new perspective, the auditory sphere.

Program

Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 of July

Workshop Live electronic music with acoustic instruments
Professor: Juan Andrés Beato
Length: 10 hours
Times: from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 400
Various concert configurations for mixed electronic music with an orchestra of loudspeakers, amplification, live processing, computer interaction and multichannel dissemination are the topics addressed in this workshop. A selection of works are presented at the concert on Wednesday, July 6th.

Monday 4 of July

Conversation and workshop: From the Collection to the radio, a sound itinerary through the Museum
Professor: José Iges
Length: 4 and ½ hours.
Times: from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 200
The proposal made by the artist José Iges for this workshop is an analysis of radio as artistic discourse and format, examining some historical works and the potential that this medium offers. Its transformations on Internet will also be examined, from radio-web to podcast to radioartnet. The students must propose, for discussion in groups, ideas for radiophonic projects about aural and sound aspects of the Museum Collection, with a duration of between 2 and 5 minutes.

Conversation – round table: Radio-web, between production space and exhibition space
Participants: Miguel Álvarez-Fernández, José Luis Espejo, Eduardo Polonio and Anna Ramos. Moderated by: José Iges.
Times: from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 200
Access: free of charge, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
The program Ars Sonora is turning 25 years old and MACBA's radiophonic program is now five, while Museo Reina Sofía has just inaugurated RRS, its new radio-web with four channels. This round table analyses the institutional initiatives that allow radio and its formats to find their place on the web in a new space devoted to both discursive and artistic production. The limitations, potential and transformations of this medium are analysed.

Concert: Cinema for your ears
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 200
Access: free of charge, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
Works involving creation for the radio, by Lewin-Richter, Climent, Luque, Iges, Benedetti and González Arroyo.

Tuesday 5 of July

Workshop: Post-production. Audio formats and spatialisation
Professor: Emiliano del Cerro
Length: 5 hours
Time: from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Study Centre
Workshop about techniques for storing, recording and reproducing audio archives. Compressed formats and export formats (MP3, ogg vorbis, FLAC, Wav, Aiff, 5-1, DVD). Stereo files, multichannel, new systems for mobiles, headphones. DVD and Blue-Ray as audio files. Spatialisation systems: Ambisonics, HRTF, WFS, Virtual Reality, Acousmonium, etc.

Concert. Laboratory of space
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 400
Access: free of charge, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
Program to be selected from the multitrack works presented at the Laboratory of Space (see below).

Wednesday 6 of July

Workshop. Introduction to Supercollider: applications for algorithmic composition and net composing
Professor: Sergio Luque
Length: 5 hours
Time: from 12 noon to 3 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Study Centre
Supercollider is a programming language for algorithmic composition and real-time audio synthesizing. Stochastic procedures will be used to compose and to synthesize sounds. The workshop ends with the connection of laptop computers to a local network for sound interaction.
Requirements: It is recommended, but not required, that participants bring their computer.

Concert. Students of live electronic music with acoustic instruments workshop
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Nouvel Building, Auditorium 400. Admission free of charge, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
Program yet to be determined.