Sunday 6 September 2015, 8pm, OTO Project Space
A concert introducing two exploratory music Orchestras incorporating DIY/handmade instrumentations. Performances will take place at the OTO Project Space after the same day circuit bending workshop. Workshop leader and sound artist Tasos Stamou will conduct Circuit Bending Orchestra, including participants of previous workshops and their self-made electronic instruments, as well as London based music research community ‘Hackoustic’. Stamou will apply his experience in conduction of free improvised music to lead the two orchestras towards organized structures, both electronic and acoustic. The project has been previously realized during the ‘Hack the Barbican’ DIY arts project in 2013 at the Barbican.
Electroacoustic music composer and performer, alternative electronic music instrument maker, tutor and sound technologist.
During a decade of sound performances and recordings, Tasos Stamou has developed a unique style of live electroacoustic composition. Long and continuous pieces are created on stage or in the studio using a “portable electroacoustic music studio”. His gear consists of acoustic (prepared zither, reeds, recorders, objects) and electronic instruments (handmade electronics, modular synthesizer systems and live processed feedback loops). Based on sustained tonal textures and free improvised instrumental solos, his live compositions create a particular and unique atmosphere of ritual noise.
Although mainly a solo performer and recording artist, he frequently collaborates with other sound artists, improvisers and experimentalists (such as Adam Bohman, Alan Wilkinson, London Improvisers Orchestra, Mike Cooper, Andrea Parkins, Kuupuu & Lau Nau, Terry Day, Adachi Tomomi, Ilan Manouach, Ignaz Schick, Magda Mayas, Arma Agharta, Thodoris Ziarkas, etc.) at various venues and festivals for innovative music.
He is currently leading a workshop series exploring circuit bending & hardware hacking for experimental sound production.
‘Hackoustic’ is a community group based at the London Hackspace – located at the heart of London’s East end. The objective is to explore the physicality of sound, using a wider scope of media and practices. We thrive to redefine the meaning of the traditional instrument, by integrating 21st century technologies, modern philosophy of design, an understanding of vibration and a realization of the timbre and tonal limitations of current traditional electronic and acoustic instruments.
‘Hackoustic’ project’s latest presentations include a performance at Turbine Festival at Tate Modern. The project opens opportunities for collaborative research, projects whilst learning through discovery. In such heavily mathematical and theory-based field, it is necessary to develop fundamental understanding through practical and hands-on experience with the help of others. It paves the way for a cross-disciplinary journey that is not solely constricted to the field of acoustics, but rather across a multitude of practices such as Art, Engineering, Philosophy and Design.
