Chimp Logic - Composer / Sound Designer - Blog

Time Flies When You Are...

2007-12-06T18:11:00.000-05:00

Well now. I blinked and months have passed by.

Just wanted to update the blog 1 more time before I redesign my site.

I have been busy working on new music (dance scores, remixes, albums, etc.). I have been DJ'ing regularly at the lovely Ackland Art Museum. Keeping myself busy doing freelance design work. Finding a full-time job (finally!) as the new Web Services Manager for the University of North Carolina. And much more...

Most recently I have begun working on a score for a new dance on film project involving my long-time artistic collaborators Stephen Aubuchon, David Colagiovanni, and Kate Kyle Baker. This independent film will run approx. 7 minutes. We'll be submitting it for multiple grants and film festivals across the globe. Details as they become available.

Thanks for reading. Keep in touch. And Happy Holidays!

Peace

Music, Music, Everywhere.

2007-04-19T14:25:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Every time I was preparing to make a post, something new would come up. I apologize for the delay in entries, but I have a ton of news (and music) to share. So, let's get to it...

I recently finished a remix for a good friend, Resynthesize. Last year sometime, over at Experimedia, Resynthesize released the very excellent Heart and Soul Direct LP. Described as, a trip through beautifully written melodic beat driven IDM Electronica, Resynthesize quickly became a favorite within the netlabel world. Now, to build upon this classic, Resynthesize has gathered some of the best up-and-coming electronic artists to remix the original and we are glad to present it to you here. Heart and Soul Direct Remixed [mp3.062] features a remix of every track by such talents as Secret Decoder, Phortran, Q U One, Mrs Jynx, Yoko Solo, Audiovoid, Seventh Swami, [myself], Headphone Science, Dissolved and Mercury Effect. Check it out, another instant classic.

Here's a direct link to my contribution.

Download: Singluar Event (Chimp Logic's Suspension Remix).mp3

Next, the lovely and talented Mrs Jynx recently completed a remix for me of one of my dance scores, called Minor Down. Please stop by to pay her a visit and listen to her other songs. They are fantastic.

Download: Minor Down (Mrs Jynx Remix) . mp3
** Link removed pending release on Planet Mu Records early next year

I have also decided to open up my vault of dance scores to many other amazing artists for remixing and will be compiling the results into a release. Expect some excellent work from the likes of nq, adcbicycle, sAMsKi, Drexon Field, talkingmakesnosense, Resynthesize, and others! Thanks to everyone who expressed interest in this project. I will be posting the remixes as they become available, so check back often!

Next, I was invited to dj the annual UNC Chapel Hill MFA Graduate exhibition reception this past Friday at the Ackland Art Museum. I created a mini-site over at my personal space that features the mix in its entirety, all available for your downloading pleasure. Please, stop by and check it out:

Art After Dark Mixset - Mini-Site

Last, I have begun working on a new dance score for dancer/choreographer Kate Kyle Baker. This is an honor and I will be providing more details for this project as they become available as well.

Thanks again everyone for stopping by and reading. Please be sure to subscribe to the feed and keep in touch!

Peace

Identity Upgrade (Slight Return)

2007-03-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

I have some exciting news to share on several fronts.

First up, you may notice I upgraded my identiy a touch. My last iteration, bright orange curly font on a blue globe, served me well over the last year plus. I decided to clean it up a bit and make it minimal - much like the music I have been writing lately. Hope you like the new look.

On the music front I have several announcements to make. I have recently finished work on my third collaboration with Scotland-based musician talkingmakesnosense. We are working our way (albeit a tad slowly given distance/etc.) towards an E.P. of these tracks. For those of you keeping score, we have completed work already on Arise and Dreaming. This newest track is entitled Opiate and can be previewed in my streaming audio player right now.

Opiate . mp3

I have also begun working with my good friend Stephen Asma towards an album as well. If you recall, I employed Stephen's magnificent talents while working on a recent blues score for a modern dance company. As we progress I will be posting details and previews to the tracks here so stay tuned.

Next, I have set to work on completing 6 tracks loosely based around a series of dreams. I began writing the music for them about a year ago and have been revisiting them off and on. They will feature the lovely poet Michelle Magdalen. I will have some previews available shortly for these as well. Also, we will be further collaborating with video sculptor David Colagiovanni and photographer Stephen Aubuchon on a multimedia/interdisciplinary project around the same series of dreams. This will be very exciting and feature some amazing artistry by all participants.

I found out recently that the netlabel responsible for releasing my free E.P. Cadence, Belladonna Records has closed its doors. I wish them well and hope they return at some point. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of this E.P. just send me a shout and I'll hook you up.

More stuff on the way soon....

Thanks everyone for reading. Keep in touch. Peace.

New Song & Other News

2007-02-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

Cheers everyone!

So a short while ago I decided to unplug myself from the Inter(web) and actually write a song for myself. I am pleased to announce that I was successful and am offering it for preview here:

Fall Water - Solo Bass w/Percussion

This song represents the beginning of my work towards an E.P. of similar tracks - all centered around my electric 4, 6, and 7 string basses. I hope to present a side of my composition that not everyone gets to see/hear very often. Under the name Chimp Logic I primarily focus on the electro/experimental side of music. These songs will retain a sense of intimacy and warmth. Or so I intend! Anyway, take a listen and if you enjoy please give me a shout.

I have been busy working with California-based musician Resynthesize on several exciting projects. We have a collaboration tracking coming out shortly as well as a couple of remix projects to be released soon. As things develop you will be the first ones to know. In the meantime, stop by and pay him a visit. Oh yeah, and be sure to download his album!

I am also working on some new scores as well as beginning rehearsals for Immediate Theatre again. We are ramping up for a busy performance schedule this coming Spring. Sign up for my mailing list to be among the first to know of these dates as they come available.

Last month I showcased a recent collaboration with visual artist David Colagiovanni and this month I would like to turn your attention to an incredible photographer I am working with on some upcoming projects: Stephen Aubuchon. Both David and I work with Stephen in Immediate Theatre and are developing an inter-media company which we hope to share more on very soon. In the meantime, please pay them both visits to see what they are up to.

Okay. That is enough for now. More coming soon. Thanks everyone for reading. Keep in touch!

Peace

Two Thousand and Seven

2007-01-03T08:42:00.000-05:00

I blinked and suddenly another year has gone by.

Crazy.

I think I did a lot of cool stuff over the last year - collaborating with some great people here in the states and abroad, scoring a good number of dance pieces, joining the Immediate Theatre Collective and pushing myself improvisationally performance-wise, invited to join the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Dance Alliance, starting my freelance/small design business, et al.

I have some more plans for this upcoming year which will include creating a new promo package for my dance scoring work so I can approach a broader range of companies/choreographers, finishing up an album of electro-acoustic music based around a series of dreams, working on some more collaborative material with other artists interested in teaming up with me, increasing my design business, incubating an inter/multi-media company with a photographer and video sculptor I have been working with recently, taking piano lessons, taking trumpet lessons (see below), to keep coming here and exchanging such good dialogue with you fine people, and much more ...

So, (from above) my lovely girl bought me a trumpet for my birfday. How cool is that? I used to play trumpet (for 10 years when I was a wee lad) and have missed it ever since I sold it (a long story, but funny, and ironic considering I sold my trumpet back then to buy a bass - Ha Ha). So I am looking forward to getting my chops back up in that regard and pushing my musical output to another level/place.

I also intend on blogging more frequently. Once a month just doesn't seem right anymore. I'll try my best to keep the posts interesting and enlightening. As they say, I'll try to share 'something you DON'T know'. :-)

Oh yeah, if anyone is interested, here is a web painting I did recently with a great friend of mine David Colagiovanni - the video sculptor I spoke of earlier. We are creating more of these web paintings and will share them here as they are completed.

V E R V E

Yeah. It should be a fun year I think.

Thanks everyone for reading. Keep in touch and here is to another great year!

Fundraiser - Buy Some Pie. Fight Cancer.

2006-11-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

I posted this on my front page too but wanted to cover all my bases.

A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with cancer. He is in the throes of the chemotherapy treatments and has been racking up medical bills as a result (being an artist rarely provides proper Health Insurance). Some of you may know him, John McCaig of PanicStudios in Seattle, WA. He was the one responsible for mastering my music for my New York SOHO debut last month.

At any rate, he and his wife own a small bakery called Sugar Delights, and from now until this Sunday, November 19th, they are having a fundraiser to help offset the medical expenses and to help John afford the required medications/treatments so he can beat this thing. If you do not live in the Seattle area (they do not deliver across the country - yet (wink wink, you listening John?) - you can also just donate to the cause. Please, if you can, pay them a visit, take a look around, and buy some pies/donate. Also, spread this link around too if you will. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Reflections

2006-11-03T10:31:00.000-05:00

So, once again my favorite season has arrived - Fall.

This is always a reflective time for me as things typically begin to slow down a touch. Over these last 11 months I have delved deep into the world of design, met some amazing artists, made some incredible collaborative art, taken on a wealth of new responsibilities both personally and professionally, and yet, through it all, I feel like I need to be doing more. How does that work?

I thought I might spend a little time now simply sharing some of these details...

My brain has been thoroughly wrapped around standards-based web design for a while now. However, I am trying to cut my teeth more in the realm of print design and hope to be taking some private lessons w/a local print artist. Learning some of the 'old school' methods of putting/layering compositions on paper via machines and hand techniques. Hopefully this will encourage new ideas that I can attempt to transfer to the digital domain for myself and clients. I have been thinking more and more lately that I'd actually like to go back to school w/the intention of teaching at a university (I currently teach for my Alma Mater Columbia College Chicago but through distance-learning methods - I miss the classroom interaction). So, I'm seeking design programs that would allow me a full, or near full, ride via scholarships and other sources of funding. I hope my CV and experience will afford me this. Fingers crossed. I'll be taking some meetings with Deans and such in the very near future.

Earlier this year I was invited to join an amazing collaborative project called Immediate Theatre. This is an improvisational modern dance/theatre/performance group who, over the last many months, has performed a great deal and made some great work. Each of the members is extremely talented and it has been fantastic getting to know and work alongside them. Several other projects have sprung up as a result of this creative energy and I hope to be sharing some of this exciting news soon.

Along the way I was busy working with Scotland-based artist talkingmakesnosense and East Coast-based artist Drexon Field on some great musical projects as well. We have many more tracks in store for you over the coming months so be sure to keep your eyes on this site.

I worked closely with the New York-based Mariana Bekerman Dance Company on an immensely successful project called TARO. I made several Blog entries regarding this work should you need to learn more (some of them are probably still on the same page as this Blog post - depending on when you read it). The world premiere of this evening-length performance was recently reviewed in the stellar Dance Magazine. Please stop by and take a read.

I worked closely with Artistic Director/Choreographer, Joan Nicholas-Walker and Choreographer, Nancy Simpson-Carter on several new pieces that debuted this year, and I hope to be working with them again over the next year. Currently I am composing a new score for Joan Nicholas-Walker which will debut on December 2nd as part of the North Carolina Dance Alliance Annual Showcase Concert. For it, I am collaborating with a long-time friend, and extremely talented musician, Stephen Asma. More details on this track as it progresses along.

I have recently spent a good deal of time trying to update my Archives section so if you would like to read a partial retrospective on what I have been up to as of late, please stop by and check it out. Admittedly there are still some collaboration/performance gaps but I hope to have those filled in shortly.

Also over the Summer, I was invited to join the North Carolina Dance Alliance Board of Directors. This is truly an honor and I have taken on many new responsibilities to help further the art of dance across the state. This upcoming year will be their Silver Anniversary (25 Year) and I will be redesigning their identity/brand and communications strategies. Very challenging. Very exciting.

Whew! I had no idea I had been doing so much over these last many months. And yet I still have that sense of wanting to be doing more. Do you ever get that feeling? I'd love to hear from you. Thank you for reading all the way down here if you have.

And, as always, thank you for your support. Don't forget to Subscribe to My Feed!

Peace

Whirlwind of a Weekend

2006-10-01T17:35:00.000-04:00

Hey again everyone...

I am back from my whirlwind weekend up in Manhattan for the premiere of the dance TARO by the Mariana Bekerman Dance Company I blogged about recently. Thought I'd share some highlights of the weekend for anyone interested.

This was the culmination of months of collaboration with the choreographer (started work back in February/March) so it was fantastic to finally see the work in full - 55 minutes, 4 parts, 3 original composers and 1 prerecorded piece (Max Richter), 2 videographers (1 segment performed/mixed live), 3 choreographers, 7 dancers, 1 glorious evening at the Joyce SOHO.

Was rather surreal walking to the theatre in Soho from our hotel in Chelsea...crowded streets...lights...sold-out crowd...dance critics and reviewers...nervous to see the complete work for the first time...knowing that my music was opening and closing the performance...

Everything tricked off amazingly well. Thanks again to Mr. Master himself, John McCaig, my compositions hit with a hugeness that I can only imagine put a tad of stress on the excellent sound system there. Big ups JDG. Thank you.

The show ran for 4 nights and were sold out each night. At Saturday and Sunday's shows they had to turn a lot of people away. Woot! Now we wait for the reviews to come in. Thankfully her PR lady worked it big time and got us listed in all the major publications - NYTimes, New Yorker, Village Voice, etc. A reviewer from Dance Magazine was there as were others from smaller dance publications.

While there I also took a meeting with another choreographer with whom I hope to eventually work with. Very modern. Very forward-thinking. Very nice. Again, a surreal lunch meeting on the 5th floor, outdoor, balcony cafe at the Museum of Modern Art. Fingers crossed his company receives the grant.

Speaking of the Moma, and art...that was the other impetus for traveling to NYC for the weekend...my girl and I wanted to soak up as much contemporary art as we could possibly handle without reaching sensory overload (which we came close to! ha ha). We saw some great video work by Bill Viola and an artist named Pipilotti Rist. We also spent nearly an entire day wandering the gallery district in Chelsea (many of the best galleries from Soho relocated here) and came across a great gallery called bitforms where they had a fantastic installation by an artist named Rafael Lozano Hemmer. The whole room tracked you via hidden cameras and the 'art' was large flat screen tv's whereon your body shapes were being presented as scrolling text, changing kaleidoscopic mosaics of those who came through the room before - pardon my lack of accurate description, you really had to be there to experience it - but the eeriest part of the installation was an arrangement of leather belts suspended at waist level that rotated to face you as you moved throughout the room. Kind of like small invisible army tracking you...

I think some of our favorite moments though were spent in the early morning hours at this small French Cafe called Le Gamin (I think this is a 'chain' of sorts throughout Manhattan) - sipping dark French coffee, eating fruit filled crepes, wathing the millions pass us by just 10 feet away. Lovely girl. Lovely coffee. Lovely accents. Just lovely.

Got to meet my i n k w i r e business partner in person for the first time where we shared some excellent Spanish tapas and discussed our plans for building the business. Cheers.

Spent a few hours in Central Park enjoying the sites and sounds of greener area of town within the town. Avoided all other touristy things though. He he

Will very much look forward to making it back...hopefully sooner than later...and hopefully for more of my art being presented there. I've got more things on the plate for the near future - 2 new scores for modern dance and 1 film score (collaboration with the ubercool and talented 11t1) to name just a few. So stay tuned if you are interested!

Oh yeah, one more thing...if you have not done so, Subscribe to my Feed and keep up to date on all the happenings around here!

Peace

TARO - World Premiere in NYC

2006-09-02T12:21:00.000-04:00

Cheers everyone!

Okay, so you already know that I've been very busy working on modern dance scores lately.

I'm very excited to announce that the New York-based Mariana Bekerman Dance Company, for whom I just finished scoring, will be debuting her newest work, TARO, September 21st through 24th at the Joyce SoHo Theatre.

In her words, "TARO is a dance collaboration eventually combined with architectural design that seeks to identify what exactly is the 'evil eye' and how does it physically create troubled thoughts, intensify fears and chaos, and social problems and illnesses claimed by others. By combining the two art forms together with music, TARO will bring forth this ideology of negative energy into the open, allowing the audience to then question themselves about their own demons and diseases."

The 411:

Thursday, September 21st - 8PM
Friday, September 22nd - 8PM
Saturday, September 23rd - 8PM
Sunday, September 24th - 8PM

Reservations Recommended - (212) 334 - 7479

View the postcard front/back here: TARO Promo

This hour-long performance will feature original compositions by myself, Andy Cohen, and Alon Nechushtan.

I've created a short edit of several of my sections for you to preview here:

TARO Preview Edit . mp3

My sections have been lovingly Mastered by none other than the esteemable John McCaig of panicStudios. Many thanks to him for doing such a great job!

Alright, thank you so much for reading all the way down here. I have more announcements to make in the very near future. Stay tuned!

Peace

Just Around the Corner

2006-08-15T09:11:00.000-04:00

Another month has passed.

It's almost September. Where has the year gone? It seems like yesterday it was only January. Fall is just around the corner.

Well last month was a busy one with Immediate Theatre performances and work on scores for upcoming dances.

I began a new score for the NickWalk dance project whose piece will debut this coming October as part of a performance called Hybridance. Details for this show will be forthcoming as the time nears. I also finalized the second part of my score for the New York-based Mariana Bekerman Dance Company whose piece will debut late September. A dedicated post for this show will be forthcoming as well. The music is being mastered by John McCaig at Panic Studios.

I have also been doing more collaborative work with talkingmakesnosense and Drexon Field on some new tracks. I hope to have some samples to offer for download shortly.

Behind the scenes I am brainstorming the development of a private Choreographer's section of my website for previewing works and soliciting collaboration. To that end I hope to feature small video samples as well as musical tracks availabe for streaming and possibly download.

If you have not already read about it on my front page, I have a track available on the new Belladonna Records Summer Compilation. There are so many great tracks on this album and it's available for sale right now at their website for only Twelve Dollars! I will be making it available for sale through my website shortly as well. Please give it a listen and support these great up and coming artists from all over the world.

Alright. Enough for now. I have work to do :-)

More goodies and updates coming soon. Thanks everyone for taking the time to stop by and read.

Peace

Coming Up

2006-07-16T13:38:00.000-04:00

Time flies when you are having fun.

Over the last month I have been immersed in many creative projects. Some of them involved professional development, some of them were performance related, some of them were composition related...regardless, all of them have been extremely rewarding and fun.

To recap some of the happenings and to update you on some of what's coming up...

My partner Arphaus and I are in the midst of launching our new creative firm, i n k w i r e. We have thus far met with a great reception from our clients and friends. Please stop by, take a look at our portfolio, and if you need some creative work done, please get in touch! While visiting Arphaus, please support him by checking out his new exclusive EP on Beatport . com!

I am finalizing a score for New York-based choreographer, Mariana Bekerman that will debut September 21st - 24th at Joyce SOHO. I will be coming to New York for these performances and would love some recommendations on affordable yet nice places to stay near the SOHO neighborhood (Chelsea, Washington Square...). If anyone has thoughts to share, either post your comment here or get in touch with me directly. Thanks in advance for any help!

I have also begun work on a new original score for Joan Nicholas-Walker. The piece will be debuting this October 14th and 15th as part of a collaborative performance entitled Hybridance. Details for this show are forthcoming. Please stay tuned.

Over the last month, Immediate Theatre has been performing quite a bit. We have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with many talented individuals and groups at venues like the Bickett Gallery and American Dance Festival. Thank you to everyone who performed with us and showed support. We greatly appreciate it. Aside from performing quite a bit, we have also been given a monthly modern dance show on local television station Channel 10. We have a new taping coming up next month. Please visit my shows section to learn the details of time/etc.

Also, I was just invited to join the North Carolina Dance Alliance Board of Directors. I am deeply honored to have been considered and will be sharing much more information about my involvement and upcoming projects very soon. In the meantime, please stop by their site to learn more.

Lastly, before I go, here is some free music for your time. I recently finished up a track with talkingmakesnosense as we work towards an EP's worth of material. The track is called Arise. Please tell us what you think after you have listened:

Arise . mp3

Thanks again everyone for your time and support. Check back often as things continue to come up!

Peace

Benefits, Residencies, Goodies & More!

2006-06-02T09:05:00.000-04:00

Alright.

So a lot more time has passed than I had anticipated before writing another entry. Lots of great news to report, some upcoming performances to announce, some music to give away, and more...

Immediate Theatre has been picking up steam these last few months with a number of great performances and most recently a residency at Bickett Gallery! To celebrate this residency, we are going to be holding a huge benefit gala on Sunday, June 11th, from 3PM to 9PM. This all-day event will include a community workshop where you, that's right YOU, can come and experience first hand what we do, how we do it, why we do it...and then at 5PM perform with us! So, invite your family and friends and tell them to come see you create improvisational art for them. Oh, and we are also going to have a slient auction featuring items such as: yoga and massage sessions, a website development by my new company I n k w i r e, custom prints by Stephen Aubuchon, collaged furniture, music by yours truly, and much, much more! There will also be a raffle for an improvisational art quilt, free food, drinks, and fun. Please pay us a visit to learn all the details:

Immediate Theatre Benefit Party / Performance

As I mentioned last time, there are few more performances I'm involved with coming up as well. The 1st performance will be with Immediate Theatre as part of Choreo Collective's annual Third Show. Also, coming up on June 24th and July 1st, two choreographers I have recently scored for have been invited to perform as part of the American Dance Festival | Acts to Follow.

Get all the performance details : See Me.

I have been busy collaborating with some great artists recently and hope to have some preview tracks uploaded sometime soon. I have been working with Drexon Field and talkingmakesnosense on some very exciting material. More details as we near completion of some releasable work.

In the meantime, here is a new track I recorded live recently using the program Plogue Bidule. It is a slow building ambient piece inspired by the music I have been listening to a lot recently: Slowdive, Labradford, Coastal, Kepler and Mogwai. I hope some of you enjoy it. If so, please give me a shout.

Recorded live in 1 take : Sympatico . mp3

Until next time...thank you all for your support and I hope to see some of you at some upcoming performances!

One last obligatory statement : if you have not done so, Subscribe to my Feed and keep up to date on all the happenings around here!

Thanks for reading. Peace.

Dance, Dance, Dance!

2006-04-18T19:33:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay everyone. I have been busy, as usual, working on scores for dance companies near and far. Lot of exciting news to report though, so sit back and relax...

I have some upcoming performance dates to announce. Joan Nicholas-Walker / NickWalk dance project will be performing at the NCDances event in Cary, NC on April 30th, at 7:30 PM. This event is free and will be held at the Cary Academy. This performance will feature an original composition of mine entitled Minor Down. You can preview this song over in the music section. Stop by, give it a listen, and let me know what you think.

I have finished working on a new composition for the New York-based Mariana Bekerman Dance Company. They will be debuting the work as part of the National Dance Week at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, NJ. Show times are as follows: Sat. May 6 at 7:30pm and Sun. May 7 at 4:00pm. This piece will further develop into a full 45 minute performance which will then debut in September. More details on that as they become available.

Remember when I last spoke of joining the Immediate Theatre Collective? Well, I have been rehearsing with them for the last month and we now have some great performances lined up over the next couple of months. We will be performing as part of the SoundScape Movement Fest this year at the Arts Center in Carrborro, NC. Show starts at 8 PM. There will be a lot of experimental, multimedia artistry taking place so please pay us a visit.

Immediate Theatre Collective will then perform at the Choreo Third Show on June 3rd. Again, there will be a lot of interesting musicianship and movement taking place at this event. There will be two showings that night, and they begin at 7 and 9:40 PM. I hope to see some of you there.

Wait! There's more! Then, in July, 2 dancers I have scored for recently will be presenting works at this year's annual American Dance Festival. This is very exciting to have pieces of mine back there again this year. Joan Nicholas-Walker / NickWalk dance project will be performing their work Mental Picture which features my original composition called Satiate while Nancy Simpson Carter will be performing her recent work Gameplay which features an original score of mine called Gridiron. Dates for those performances will be forthcoming shortly.

Next up, 2 of my tracks have been added to the Reaktions webpage. This site is run by Rick Scott, formidable member of the Reaktor community, and features music by artists who use Reaktor as the primary source for sounds. Please pay him a visit, spend some time listening to music (don't forget about my two tracks!) and let us know what you think.

I am also busy working on starting a small design firm, called Inkwire. More on that as we near opening day. Very exciting. Very busy. Such is life! I wouldn't want it any other way.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for your support and readership. Please visit often, keep in touch, and be sure to sign up for my mailing list so you can be in the know and have access to things like 'mailing list only' tracks/albums.

Oh yeah, if you have not done so, Subscribe to my Feed and keep up to date on all the happenings around here!

Peace

March : In Like a Lion

2006-03-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

Lots of great news to share!

First up, I have been invited to join the Immediate Theatre Collective as musician / sound scultptor. This group of forward-thinking individuals explores the boundaries of improvised modern dance. This project will be very unique and exciting as each performance will be new and original, created in the moment. I am in the process of investing in some new gear that will help me take my ideas to the next level when it comes to improvised, live performance. I am nervous and excited to have been asked to join. More details and performance dates as they become available!

Next, during the last week of January (which in itself was very busy considering I had family in town and a dance performance to attend), I participated in something called Project 168. The concept was to create an EP in exactly a week (168 hours). Many fantastic artists participated in this so please take a moment and listen to their output. Each and every EP on the site is available for free! You can not beat that price. At any rate, my contribution to this project is this : Chimp Logic | 1ne 6ixty 8ight EP. Stop by. Download. Listen. And if you like what you hear, please leave me some feedback.

If you have not downloaded it yet, please head over to Belladonna Records and grab my free EP entitled Cadence. This EP contains a selection of tracks off my CDR release { movement 1 } which can be purchased through my website if you like what you hear.

Okay, still more good stuff here. I finished my work on a new score for director/choreographer Nancy Simpson Carter of the well known Choreo Collective. This performance is extremely high energy and explores the concepts of living in a wired world and the impact of video games on individuals. We have some upcoming performance dates which you can learn more about over in my shows section. Briefly, there are 2 dates right now: March 18 and 19. We are most likely going to get a showing this year at the American Dance Festival. Details for that as it becomes solidified.

Lastly, if you have not done so, Subscribe to my Feed and keep in touch with me.

Thanks again everyone. More soon!

Peace.

Back Up & Running

2006-02-16T10:05:00.000-05:00

Okay!

Sorry for the delay in posts for a while. I have been super busy working on the bugs with my new site redesign. The old Blog template I was using just wouldn't cooperate with it....nor would this new one, so I just scrapped the idea of making it 'unified' with my entire site. Instead, I decided to keep the feel of the blog a little different. I wanted it to feel open (hence the large amount of white (er, brown) space involved with this design.

Things have been busy, as usual, over here. In the last month I have: had a net release on Belladonna Records entitled Cadence; I have begun work with 3 choreographers on new, original soundscores for modern dance; have been busy working on finalizing an EP of ambient works; continuing work on an EP of electro-acoustic music; been further developing my portfolio of web design clients; teaching 3 online courses for my Alma Mater; (need me to go on?)...

Needless to say, it has been a great beginning to the new year and I'm looking forward to all that is in the pipeline.

Soon, my companion site chimplogic.em411.com will be vanishing without a trace of its existence. This will be unfortunate and sadly missed. But, the owner of the board has different plans for everyone I guess... So hopefully if any of you are surfing here from EM411, then you might check back often and keep in touch with me. I feel the board will be losing a bit of its lustre when everyone's empages vanish so I guess the burden is now on us to bulk up our personal bookmarks and keep in touch!

Before I go, I almost forgot something... hopefully by the end of this week I'll have a free, 3 song EP available for download. I participated in something called Project 168 where the purpose was to create an Ep in only a week. Due to scheduling constraints I was only able to produce 3 songs, but I think they are pretty fun and melodic.

So, enough reading. Subscribe to my Feed and keep in touch with me.

Thanks for stopping by! Peace.

Round Out Links

2005-12-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

So I thought I would round out the year with some intersting links to places around the [net].

Some of them are to places I frequent regularly. Some of them are places I only recently discovered.

All of them have inspired me in some way as to make them worth mentioning here! So, without further ado, the links:

EM411 . com : This is an online community with many, many wonderful musicians who share their creativity and feedback on an hourly basis.

Josh Rubin's Coolhunting : Purveyor of all things cool. Art. Culture. Technology. Music. Photography. Shoes.

Boing Boing : As it says, "A Directory of Wonderful Things".

Syle Gala, CSS Vault, CSS Beauty : These are just a few of the sites I frequent to stay inspired for standards web design.

Create Digital Music : Great place on the [net] to learn about cutting edge music technologies and creations.

Ableton : Purveyors of the most versatile music making software program, Live, which is the standard in my recording studio.

Archive . org : This is a direct link to the most recent 100 releases on the various netlabels strewn throughout the world. There is an amazing wealth of free music awaiting your download and listen. Get busy!

deviantART : Phenomenal source of visual inspiration. From graphic art to photography, this is the place to visit.

Engadget : An amazing source of information pertaining to the very latest in bleeding edge technology gadgets.

PARK(ing) : This is an amazing public art installation by the Rebar artist collective. This needs to happen in more cities. Awe inspiring.

I hope you all enjoy some of these links as much as I do. Thanks again for a wonderful year. Please subscribe to my feed to remain up to date on my ramblings.

Happy Holidays! See you in 2006!

Peace

Thanks & Updates

2005-11-27T13:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays to everyone and thank you all for your support thus far!

Also, thank you to everyone who made it out to the Meredith College Dance Theatre Concert performance. There was a lot of wonderful dance and choreography over the course of the 2 hours each night. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

It is time once again for another great showing of Joan Nicholas-Walker's dance piece, Mental Picture. The North Carolina Dance Festival goes to Wilmington, NC this month where Mental Picture, featuring my original score Satiate, will be performed Friday, December 9th, at 8 PM.

I am wrapping up with my latest project Trilogies which will be made available for sale closer to Christmas this year. It is a more ambient album with spoken recitation by Michelle Magdalen and vocals by Khoral. There are 6 songs total (actually 7 including the bonus/hidden track) and it will come packaged using the same system I used for my { movement 1 } albums. Pics and samples will come along shortly. Stay tuned!

If you have not checked out my latest track, please listen here :

Bear With Me . mp3

If you like what you hear, send me a shout. I would love to hear from you.

More goodies coming up over the next month. I am going to try and make more frequent posts so please subscribe to my feed to keep up to date.

As always, thanks for reading. Peace.

Meredith College Dance Theatre Concert

2005-11-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

Upcoming Performance Announcement

For the last couple of months I have been collaborating with a Modern Dance Repertory class at Meredith College.

This collaborative dance performance explores ideas including assimilation, manipulation, and boundaries - both physical and mental. This dance will be performed to an original score of mine entitled Affinity.

Event details : November 17th, 18th, & 19th | Meredith Dance Theatre - Jones Auditorium | 8 PM

Call (919) 760-8015 for information and (919) 760-2840 for ticket reservations. Tickets are $10 and $5.

Dancer Bios :

Alexis Price is a senior dance major at Meredith College working on various forms of dance. She danced with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble for 10 years, traveling with the group in and out of the country. She is currently teaching tap lessons in Raleigh and also taps in various clubs in the Raleigh area.

Diane Blackwell is a senior dance major at Meredith College who has been a member of Meredith Dance Theatre for 2 years.

Nikki Pilson is a senior dance major at Meredith College with a concentration in private studio teaching. She has been a member of the resident modern dance company, Meredith Dance Theatre, for 4 years and now serves as the company's president.

Courtney Patterson is a 20 year old sophomore dance major at Meredith College with a concentration in Performance and Choreography. She has been dancing since the age of 4 with aspirations to pursue a career as a professional dancer. Courtney has thoroughly enjoyed creating this piece and is looking forward to performing it in the Meredith Dance Theatre Concert.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by.

Peace

Busy, Busy, Busy

2005-10-24T09:32:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts of late.

Lots of things have been happening this past month. Lots of great things. Here's the lowdown...

I mixed and mastered the songs for my first EP and no sooner did I finish that up when a couple of NetLabels contacted me with interest in releasing an EP of my material with them! So, without naming any names yet, my first EP will actually be released on a fantastic NetLabel in the not-too-distant future. As soon as I can divulge more info I will.

Joan Nicholas-Walker had another successful showing of her dance Mental Picture as part of the ongoing North Carolina Dance Festival. This latest performance was held in Boone, NC. All of the dance companies get the next month off for resting so the next performance will be in Wilmington, NC in December. Please visit my See Me section for all times/dates/locations. I hope to see some of you there.

In the meantime, I was contacted last minute by choreographer Rachel Brooker, Artistic Director of Anima Dance Company. We had worked together this last summer on a dance project called Field Well which was based on the writings of Haruki Murakami. I created an original score for this piece called Askance. This past weekend she presented an adaptation of this original work, called Naoko's Dream with a brand new score from me called Murmur. I will post a sound byte momentarily for anyone interested. This performance will be presented several more times this Fall. You can expect I will post the dates as they become available.

I have been slowly retooling my website to be more interesting and intuitive. Please surf around, touch, feel, make notes and send suggestions to me of things you might like to see. I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time....Peace.

Blind Watchmaker & More

2005-09-28T17:39:00.000-04:00

Alright. So the last month has been a bit busy to say the least!

First, I finished up a new track with Khoral. The piece is called Blind Watchmaker and as the title suggests, it was an exploration in random variation. Various tone generators were given sets of parameters in which they could operate (key, scale, time, frequency, etc....) and then switched on and let run. The captured output was merely placed within a timeline. No other manipulation took place. Khoral had two roles in the making of the song: spoken recitation of passages from one of his books, and first take vocal improvisations (singing). If interested in hearing it, you can find it here:

Blind Watchmaker . mp3

For more information and to see what others are saying about this track head over to my companion site : chimplogic . em411 . com. There are a couple of other projects I'm working on that involve Khoral which I will be explaining in greater detail very soon. Stay tuned.

Next up, the debut of Joan Nicholas-Walker's modern dance performance, Mental Picture, went phenomenal. The auditorium in Greensboro was standing room only! This performance is now continuing its tour as part of the North Carolina Dance Festival. My original score Satiate provides the soundscape for this amazing performance. The next showing will take place here : Valborg Theater @ Appalachian State University | October 5 | Boone, NC.

Then, in hopes of releasing my first free EP next month, I have been busy creating high-res graphics for those who purchase CD quality download. I have also been learning more about the services that PayPal provides to merchants such as myself when dealing with downloads rather than physical merchandise. Oh yes, and let us not forget about the hours of research I have been doing on modern dance companies and independent labels to whom I can submit my work. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear from you : Send me an email.

Finally, in true geek form, I have been teaching myself better web design techniques. So, I rebooted both my Chimp Logic site and Joan Nicholas-Walker's site in full compliance with CSS and XHTML web standards rather than relying on table formatting. If all that sounds g(r)eek to you, I apologize, just know that our sites are now more consistent across browsers/platforms and have greater accessibility.

Well, that's about it for now. Rest assured I'll be busy with more fun stuff this upcoming month!

Thanks for reading.

Peace

North Carolina Dance Festival

2005-09-06T17:45:00.000-04:00

The North Carolina Dance Festival kicks off this week in Greensboro, NC.

Joan Nicholas-Walker's piece will debut on Saturday, September 10th. The performances will be held on the UNCG campus. Visit their site for details and directions/time/cost for the event.

I hope to see some of you there!

Talent

2005-08-23T16:08:00.000-04:00

I have not forgotten about the first EP which will be out soon, but I have been very busy as of late working with some very talented individuals.

Here's what I've been getting myself into lately :

1. Finishing the development of the website for the NickWalk Dance Project. Joan Nicholas-Walker has kindly enlisted me to do this job for her so I have been trying to make it as minimal and functional as my other sites. Give it a spin and let me know how you like it.

2. Collaborating with a wonderful artist from France named Khoral. He is multi-talented and busy working on a new EP. His first album, Animal Fraud, is available for sale through his own website and through CD Baby. On his website you can find many songs, some visual work, photography.... Please pay him a visit here : Khoral . net.

3. Releasing a couple of new tracks over at my companion site on em411. If you want to check them out, stop by : chimplogic . em411 . com. Don't forget to come back and post your thoughts.

So, among the other hats I wear, I am also an online instructor for my Alma Mater Columbia College Chicago. The new semester kicks in 2 weeks from now so I have been prepping my materials and what-not for those 3 courses.

Okay, enough talk. Back to work on those free EP's I keep talking up......

Peace

Electronic Music | Modern Dance

2005-08-07T21:41:00.000-04:00

Great news!

The dates for the upcoming North Carolina Dance Festival are now online. I have also posted them in the News section of my website.

I was fortunate enough to have worked with the talented choreographer, Joan Nicholas-Walker, Artistic Director of the NickWalk Dance Project (website forthcoming).

These performances will be touring as part of the festival beginning September 2005 and ending February 2006.

Please visit my site for more details and I hope to see some of you there.

Thanks for stopping by.

The { movement 1 } EP Story

2005-07-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

So after having spent a great deal of time working on this album, making it the highest quality possible, I have decided that buying my CD is now one way to obtain my work...

I'll explain.

I want to be able to get my music in as many people's hands (or ears as it were) as I possibly can. And I want to make it available in many flavors. Afterall, some of you may only want instant gratification by download, while others might appreciate higher quality audio. Therefore, listed below are three means by which to experience my work.

Now, for the flavor(s) part...

Free : 128 kbps bitrate, direct download of the EP tracks

$5 : 192 kbps bitrate, direct download of a collection of 13 songs

$15 : 320 kbps bitrate (full CD quality), 2 CD set with full packaging, liner notes, graphics, autograph, shipped to your door in the lower US 48 states

The first free EP should be out within the next week.......

Stay tuned!

The { movement 1 } Story

2005-07-20T16:16:00.000-04:00

I have been busy the last couple of days making my list and checking it twice (LIST = dance companies, record labels, publishing companies, licensing companies) and preparing to send them my music.

Building these albums from scratch has been a learning experience to say the least.

I chose to use Jewelboxing for my jewel cases/labels/j-card inserts, since they proved to have the most comprehensive solution I could find. The cases are built like tanks. The paper for the inserts is of superb quality. And the templates they provide for your graphics editing program are laid out nicely. I admit it was a bit of a hassle getting my printer to do what I wanted it to do with my graphics at first, but after several attempts I think I have settled on a method. Jewelboxing even posted a little write-up about me and my album on their site. Check it out if you are intersted : A Favorite of the Chimps. Once printed, the inserts fit like a glove, and the case snaps together with some reassuring clicks. Once assembled it feels very substantial in hand. Not like those other wimpy @ssed cases out there! Ha ha

Now that the case was complete, all I had to do was write some quality music. Well, that actually took me about a year, but I think I have put together some tracks that will will appeal to a wide variety of people (yourself included!). The idea for this album came from being an audience member at a Compagnie Felix Ruckert performance in Chicago during the Fall of 2003. Entitled Tools | Consulto, at one point there were nearly 40 bodies on stage at once moving to the music created by a laptop and a mixer. Having played music for nearly 15 years myself, and having long been a fan of electronic music, this progression into my own electronic music creation was only natural. The title, { movement 1 }, came from the fact that I wanted to create a number of pieces that might some day themselves be used by choreographers/dance companies. Each song has its own unique story that I may share here at some further point. But for now, just know that each was a labor of love and I want to thank everyone who helped, encouraged, and supported me during this journey. Here's to the future and more collaborations! Thank you.

In all, including the bonus CD, there are 13 tracks and over 110 minutes worth of music. Not too shabby eh?! Check it out if you get a moment, and let me know what you all think.

I am now busy working on some new material that I will be discussing here in more detail : recording techniques, sounds used, mixing notes, mastering notes, etc.

And hey, if you are lucky, I might even post clips right here for you all to hear first!

Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and read what I'm up to. Check back often if you'd like. Post if you'd like. Either way, I hope you enjoy what you see/hear/read.

Peace - Benjamin