This final podcast of 2018 seems like a nice way to close out the year. It’s from a field recording of a Sound/Peace performance (the fourth in an ongoing series) that took place at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on November 18, 2018.
photos: Nathan Yeager
Here’s some information about the event from the press release:
SOUND/PEACE (Seeking Harmony in Dissonant Times)
An immersive sonic experience accompanied by the changing light of the setting sun.
This performance features pianist/accordionist Andy Rinehart and bass clarinetist/percussionist J Why, along with members of the Beacon Rising Women’s Choir: Clara Masters, Danielle Andretta, Lisa Mayer and Olga Burger led in the Sound Painting tradition by conductor Gina Samardge, all supported by the ambient guitar soundscapes of Craig Chin. A performance rooted in improvisation, Sound Peace explores the evolving realms of ambient music, minimal music, modern soundscape, and earth music.
Sound/Peace aims to create a serene, contemplative atmosphere for deep listening where one can decompress and relax. The musicians occupy the edges of the space, surrounding listeners in sound. Audience members are free to move about the space, creating their own mix of the performance, and are encouraged to bring pillows or mats.
The performance will take place over approximately one and a half hours as the sun sets with the space illuminated only by natural light. The performance will end as darkness falls.
Learn more about Sound/Peace here. And listen to a podcast from the first Sound/Peace here.
Robert and Jessie of Pas Musique came by the studio to record with me before their performance at the Second Wednesdays: Electronic/Experimental Music series in June 2018. Robert played a table full of synths, samplers, drum machines and effects, along with a gdrum and processed vocals. Jessie played some sort of boat paddle run through guitar effects…
Pas Musique in action. Turns out that paddle is a travel guitar.
We explored a lot of sonic terrain, and the resulting podcast feels like a journey across worlds in some strange universe.
This month’s podcast is from a 4 Airports performance at a house concert in March 2018.
4 Airports is an ongoing collaboration between myself and synthesist Nathan Yeager of Campfire’s Edge. Our first collaboration was for episode 29 of this podcast. After that we played a bunch of shows together and decided to make it an official project: 4 Airports.
You can listen to more of our music on Bandcamp.
BONUS: here’s a video of a 4 Airports performance in Brooklyn, NY.
This month’s podcast is a field recording from the first Sound/Peace (Seeking Harmony in Dissonant Times) performance. The performance took place on November 19, 2017 at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY and featured Brad Hubbard (baritone sax and flute), Andy Rinehart (accordion and piano), Nathan Yeager (synthesizers) and me (Craig) (guitar and loops).
The Sound/Peace concept takes several performers playing a mix of acoustic and electronic instruments and places them around the perimeter of a space surrounding the audience who are encouraged to bring pillows, lie down, read, draw, meditate etc. The event takes place in natural light as the sun sets, ending as darkness falls. It is an immersive sonic experience accompanied by the changing light of the setting sun.
Here is a time lapse from the first part of this performance:
I’ve wanted to do a podcast with a singer for a long time, but finding a vocalist comfortable with improvised soundscapes is not so easy. Ella turned out to be a great improvisor, who uses her voice in beautiful and unexpected ways, and I find the results of our collaboration sublimely serene. Be careful with this one, it can knock you right out.
This month’s podcast takes a look back at some of the past year’s live performances. I played with some great musicians in a variety of settings in 2017, and could probably fill several podcasts with those recordings. But here are four that represent the range of sonic experiences I had this year.
It starts with a solo performance at Beste Studios in October (thanks to Samantha Beste for the drawing at the top of this post!)
At around 11:17 there’s a duo performance with Dean Sharp on guitar, beats and loops, recorded at Newburgh Open Movement in August.
Then at 26:06 it’s a quartet performance with Al Margolis playing wind instruments, including alto clarinet, recorder and trumpet, Andy Rinehart on accordion, and Steve Roe on the Straddlevarious! This was recorded at a contact improvisation workshop in November.
This month’s podcast features the modular synths of Okkoto. I met Okkoto at a synth meet put on by the Hudson Valley Machine Appreciation Society, where he performed a beautifully minimal set. I was very pleased that he was interested in recording a podcast, and our collaboration produced some deep, textured electronic soundscapes.
Okkoto in the studio. What’s in that box?Many, many things in the box!
This month’s podcast has more modular synths! courtesy of Campfire’s Edge.
Our collaboration produced some super-spacy, soundscapes – they have a sci-fi flavor that I really like, and hopefully you will too (mmm… sci-fi….).
Campfire’s Edge at work.
If you want to hear more from Campfire’s Edge, I highly recommend that you check out his EP, The Last Lighthouse. Its a beautifully textured collection of electronic compositions sure to please any fan of this podcast.
This month’s podcast is a return to some more mellow soundscapes. Taken from a couple of solo performances in May 2017 at the Howland Cultural Center. Listen quietly in a dark room for maximum effect.
This final podcast of 2018 seems like a nice way to close out the year. It’s from a field recording of a Sound/Peace performance (the fourth in an ongoing series) that took place at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY on November 18, 2018.
This month’s podcast is from a 
This month’s podcast is a field recording from the first 
