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Circus of Objects

I don't think I have ever been on stage by myself doing a solo act quite like this. I talked Grant into letting me do it. It was the unveiling of a brand new project. I stumbled over some words, I switched up what I was going to say only minutes before I went on, I made a couple mistakes, I drew blood, the audience laughed, I laughed, the tunes sounded good to my ears. I have a lot more work to do.

more info here----> Jaw Harp Project

My set list.

Shortnin Bread pure Americana
Birthday Song for Art my own tune
Uncontrollable Urge, by Devo

Leif Norman took some pictures. Here's some more. ----> The Circus of Objects .

Labels: Adhere and Deny, jaw harp, Leif Norman, The Circus of Objects

Jaw Harp project

Tonight I go out on a limb with a brand new project. I'll be performing some music/sound pieces on the jaw harp at The Circus of Objects. A production of an experimental theatre and performance art group Adhere and Deny.

I've been working on this for about three years. I was introduced to the idea of exploring this ancient musical instrument while working on some music and sound for a short film by Danishka Esterhazy. The Red Hood had a Ukrainian theme weaved into the story line. We shot some scenes at Lower Fort Garry which has a cabin much like many Ukrainian immigrants lived in back in the early 20th Century. One of the artifacts on display was an old jaw harp, a drymba in the Ukrainan language. They wouldn't let me touch it but I jumped into research and found some workable instruments from Austria at the local music stores. A year later I started purchasing instruments over the webbernet and started to look for them where ever I go. I have a doromb from Hungary, several vargan from Krygzstan, several morchanga's from Nepal, and a dan moi from Vietnam.

You can find an example of my playing here------> Birthday Song for Art .

Labels: Adhere and Deny, jaw harp, The Circus of Objects

Art's Birthday 2011 a few pics

My hat for the Hat making contest! I was an organizer so couldn't officially win but as an instigator of the idea I had to make a hat. The skull is animated by a couple servos and a microcontroller. The head moves around and bobbles on a spring. The jaw moves up and down and there is one LED eye.