ohrenhoch der Geräuschladen presents
two works by Maggi Payne:
On Sunday 1 August and Sunday 8 August 2010
2 pm - 9 pm:
on the ohrenhoch-loudspeaker-installation:
Glassy Metals (electroacoustic, 2009, German Premiere)
in the ohrenhoch-cellar:
System Test (fire and ice) (electroacoustic, Video, 2001, German Premiere)
by Maggi Payne
Maggi Payne on her sound work "Glassy Metals" [10:00]:
A continuation of my fascination with the sounds of metal objects, Glassy Metals explores the sounds of tungsten filaments in burned out incandescent light bulbs, magnetic (iron oxide) tape rushing across a head stack, small ball bearings, ball chains of various sizes, sheet metal, tiny gear motors, bikes, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit which permeates the sonic landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area), freight trains, and various other metal objects.
Some sounds are used in their raw state; others, such as the BART train, which now sounds like the wind, are transformed beyond recognition. Selecting only small portions of the spectrums of several sources and layering them results in new constructs with constantly fluctuating details. The ending exaggerates these perturbations, as sources emerge from the texture and fold back in as if they are fluttering insects hovering close to us briefly, then flitting away, only to return later. Although several sources are cyclic, none are precisely so, nor are they synchronous with other sources combined in the layers, so apparent synchronous relationships occur briefly, then drift apart.
Glassy Metals takes its title from non-crystalline (amorphous) metallic materials.
Maggi Payne
Composer, Recording Engineer, Flutist, Video Artist.
Maggi Payne is Co-Director (since 1992) of the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College, Oakland, CA, where she teaches recording engineering, composition, and electronic music. She also freelances as a recording engineer and editor and a historical remastering engineer.
Her electroacoustic works often include visual elements which she creates, including video, dance, transparencies, and film. She also enjoys collaborations with other artists and has worked with video artist Ed Tannenbaum for over twenty years. She is also a flutist, and has written several works for flute as well as other acoustic instruments.
She has had performances of her works throughout the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Australasia. She has received two Composer's Grants and an Interdisciplinary Arts Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and video grants from the Western States Regional Media Arts Fellowships Program and the Mellon Foundation. She has received four honorary mentions from Bourges, and one from Prix Ars Electronica.
Maggi Payne