All day
Place: ICFO Auditorium
Eli Fieldsteel
Lecture-Concert “LightMatrix: A Light-Sensitive Musical Control Interface”
New interfaces for musical expression have proliferated in recent years, ushering in a period of experimentation centered on creating a more unique and intimate connection between performer and sound. Electrical sensors, in particular, have proven to be useful for their ability to detect minute environmental changes, enabling the design of responsive and customizable musical instruments.
Yet, many such interfaces feature low-resolution data or a relatively small number of sensors, limiting the depth of musical expression. These limitations are the basis of LightMatrix, a custom light-sensitive control surface containing a high-density array of 256 photoresistors. The data from these sensors is digitized and transmitted to a computer, where it can be arbitrarily mapped onto musical parameters, enabling broad or precise gestural control over sound.
LightMatrix has been deployed as an instrument for musical performance on the concert stage, and also as an installation piece in gallery settings.
BIO:
Eli Fieldsteel is a composer specializing in music technology with a diverse history of interdisciplinary collaboration. He is the recipient of the 2014 James E. Croft Grant for Young and Emerging Wind Band Composers, first prize in the 2012 ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Competition, as well as awards and recognition from other organizations, including the Bandmasters Academic Society of Japan and the Frank Ticheli Competition. His music has been performed nationally and internationally by ensembles such as the Dallas Wind Symphony, the North Texas Symphony Orchestra, the Kawagoe Sohwa Wind Ensemble of Tokyo, and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Wind Ensemble. His music is published under Lovebird Music, and has been recorded on SEAMUS and Aerocade Music record labels. He has studied composition with Cindy McTee, Jon Christopher Nelson, Bruce Pennycook, Russell Pinkston, and Gerald Shapiro.
Fieldsteel’s music and research engages with the intersection between music technology and performance, focusing on human-computer improvisation, interactivity, and sensor-driven music. Utilizing new technologies and real-time environments, his works are highly gestural, expressive, and richly detailed. As an active collaborator, he has worked closely with dancers, choreographers, lighting designers, architects, and video artists, resulting in a variety of unique instruments and site-specific installations and performances. He is fluent in several music programming languages, and maintains an active teaching presence online through a well-trafficked series of SuperCollider tutorials.
All day
Place: ICFO Auditorium
Eli Fieldsteel
Lecture-Concert “LightMatrix: A Light-Sensitive Musical Control Interface”
New interfaces for musical expression have proliferated in recent years, ushering in a period of experimentation centered on creating a more unique and intimate connection between performer and sound. Electrical sensors, in particular, have proven to be useful for their ability to detect minute environmental changes, enabling the design of responsive and customizable musical instruments.
Yet, many such interfaces feature low-resolution data or a relatively small number of sensors, limiting the depth of musical expression. These limitations are the basis of LightMatrix, a custom light-sensitive control surface containing a high-density array of 256 photoresistors. The data from these sensors is digitized and transmitted to a computer, where it can be arbitrarily mapped onto musical parameters, enabling broad or precise gestural control over sound.
LightMatrix has been deployed as an instrument for musical performance on the concert stage, and also as an installation piece in gallery settings.
BIO:
Eli Fieldsteel is a composer specializing in music technology with a diverse history of interdisciplinary collaboration. He is the recipient of the 2014 James E. Croft Grant for Young and Emerging Wind Band Composers, first prize in the 2012 ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Competition, as well as awards and recognition from other organizations, including the Bandmasters Academic Society of Japan and the Frank Ticheli Competition. His music has been performed nationally and internationally by ensembles such as the Dallas Wind Symphony, the North Texas Symphony Orchestra, the Kawagoe Sohwa Wind Ensemble of Tokyo, and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Wind Ensemble. His music is published under Lovebird Music, and has been recorded on SEAMUS and Aerocade Music record labels. He has studied composition with Cindy McTee, Jon Christopher Nelson, Bruce Pennycook, Russell Pinkston, and Gerald Shapiro.
Fieldsteel’s music and research engages with the intersection between music technology and performance, focusing on human-computer improvisation, interactivity, and sensor-driven music. Utilizing new technologies and real-time environments, his works are highly gestural, expressive, and richly detailed. As an active collaborator, he has worked closely with dancers, choreographers, lighting designers, architects, and video artists, resulting in a variety of unique instruments and site-specific installations and performances. He is fluent in several music programming languages, and maintains an active teaching presence online through a well-trafficked series of SuperCollider tutorials.