Shortstuff
1993
fixed medium - stereo
9’44”
Awards:
Special Prize, Music Nova, Czech Republic, 1994
I wanted to make a piece consisting of material which would immediately draw the attention of the listener in to the sound world which I was creating. It is for this reason that the piece is deliberately uncluttered. There is not much counterpoint, or layering of material and the piece is deliberately "up front" with little middle or background, conceived as the development of a single line. Also, throughout the piece, there are sections where gestures are separated by periods of silence or limited sonic activity, which allow the listener to take stock of what has already happened and to anticipate what might be about to happen.
Shortstuff is made almost entirely from very short sounds amassed over twelve months. Some of these were like this in their original state, but most were created by selecting tiny sections of much longer sounds. After long periods of improvising with this material, I would take small sections of recordings of these first improvisations and re-improvise with that material which would yield new sound groupings as well as new sound objects.
The nature of the material being used determines the character of the piece as very "staccato", but drones and longer sounds appear through extremely fast repetitions of short sounds.
Shortstuff was realised in the Electroacoustic Music Studio at Northern College, Aberdeen in 1993.
Shortstuff appears on Un Son Peut En Cacher Un Autre available from bandcamp
Shortstuff also appears on…
Sonic Art from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Huddersfield and Newcastle.
Other links:
Performances
1994
May 17 - Debating Hall, University of Edinburgh - BEAST
Oct 21- The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen - Aberdeen Alternative Festival
Dec 6 - Janáckova sín, Prague, Czech Republic - Musica Nova
1995
Jan 24 - Czech Radio Channel “Vltava”
Feb 4 - University of Wales, Bangor
Feb 9 - Swedish National Radio Channel 2
Mar 31 - University of Florida, Gainsville, USA - 4th Florida Festival of Electroacoustic Music
Apr 7 - LAFORIA, Université de Paris VII/VIII, France - Journées d’Informatique Musicale
Apr 13 - Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, USA - ARTWORKS
May 20 - Institute for Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia - ACMA Conference
May 29 - Institut für Elektroakustik an der Hochschule für Musik, Vienna, Austria
Aug 1 - Teatro do Laje de Pedra, Canela, Brazil - II Brazilian Computer Music Symposium
Sep15 - University of Edinburgh - International Conference on Music and Artificial Intelligence
Oct12 - Planetarium Artis, Musiekcentrum De Ijsbreker, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1996
Jan 15 - Wired for Sound, London, Ontario, Canada
Apr 26 - Teatro Laura Abrahão, São Paulo, Brazil - I BIMESP
Jul 24 - 220 Volts, De Conzertzender, The Netherlands
Oct21 - Délire Actuel, CFLX, Québec, Canada
Dec 17 - Audio Daze, Sydney, Australia
1997
Feb - Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, London - State of the Nation
Apr - Temporary Nice Place, CIUT-FM, Toronto
1998
Jun - Musica Nova, CFRO-FM, Vancouver
1999
Aug - Radio Cultura FM, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2000
Sep - The Sonic Stratosphere, KSER 90.7 FM, Seattle, USA
Oct - University of Florida, Gainesville, USA - Unbalanced Connection 12
2002
Jan - Melbourne Possible Musics 2002
Mar - Millennium Galleries, Sheffield Xhbt B
Jun - Elphinstone Hall, Aberdeen - The Intellectual Frontiers of Music
Sep - CKCU-FM 93.1, Ottawa, Canada - Acoustic Frontiers
Oct - Resonance104.4FM, UK - Up Country
Dec - La Nuit des Sauriens, 90.1 FM, France
2003
Apr 11 - Powis Hall, University of Wales, Bangor - Bangor New Music Festival; A Portrait of Pete Stollery
Jun 15 - Martian Gardens, WMUA 91.1 FM, USA
2004
Oct 31 - Reid Hall, Edinburgh - Soundings
Nov 11 - Student Union, University of Aberdeen
2006
Nov 12 - Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, Aberdeen - soundfestival
Dec 9 - Radio Circulo 100.4FM - Onda Sonora Radio
2007
Mar 24 - It’s Too Damn Early, WDBX, Carbondale, Illinois, USA ITDE
2009
Feb 6 - Reid Concert Hall, University of Edinburgh - Soundings
Dec/Jan 2010 - DEGEM/ZKM Web Radio - DEGEM/ZKM
2010
Mar 1 - Frederick Loewe Theatre, New York - NYU New Music Ensemble Series
May 4 - Frederick Loewe Theatre, New York - NYU New Music Ensemble Series
Oct 31 - Left Bank Gallery, Tarland - soundfestival
2011
Feb 11 - Adam Smith College, Glenrothes
2012
Oct 28 - Theatre Marni, Brussels - Espace du Son
2017
May 4 - WMUA 91.1 FM, Amherst, USA - Martian Gardens
2019
Nov 27 - PACE Building, Leicester