HAMMING IT UP PIG-INSPIRED COMPOSITION TO BE PERFORMED AT CALARTS.Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer VALENCIA - CalArts will ham it up Verb 1. ham it up - exaggerate one's acting ham, overact, overplay dramatic art, dramaturgy, theater, theatre, dramatics - the art of writing and producing plays Nov. 20 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SEAMUS SEAMUS Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States - the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States - that will feature a composition inspired by a xylophone-playing pig. Barry Schrader, founder of SEAMUS, is also a pot-bellied pig aficionado A Spanish word that means fan, devotee, enthusiast, etc. There are loyal aficionados of every subject in the computer field. and found his muse while visiting the Little Orphan Hammies rescue shelter in Ventura County. Four-year-old porcine porcine /por·cine/ (por´sin) pertaining to swine. porcine pertaining to pig. See also hog (1), swine. porcine circovirus 1 a nonpathogenic virus. Duke showed a little promise and trainer Susan Parkinson worked with him to tap out melodies on the xylophone xylophone (zī`ləfōn) [Gr.,=wood sound], musical instrument having graduated wooden slabs that are struck by the player with small, hard mallets. The slabs are usually arranged like a keyboard, and the range varies from two to four octaves. and draw a string across the bow of a violin. Schrader, seeing him in concert, couldn't help but be inspired. ``I've known Duke from the week after he was born,'' Schrader said ``He just seemed very special. Susan trained him in different things and gave him some latitude. He has several little instruments he plays, including the piano and violin. He also paints.'' Schrader said that seeing and hearing the pig play offered an opportunity to bridge the musical gap between human and animal, transcribing the notes and using them as a basis for a computer piece. ``It's about 14 minutes long,'' he said. ``I treated it like a theme with variations. I like composing like that.'' ``Duke's Tune'' will be part of Schrader's video presentation that features interviews and works by the musician who came to California Institute of the Arts California Institute of the Arts known as CalArts U.S. private institution of higher learning in Valencia. Created in 1961 through the merger of two other art institutes, it was the first in the U.S. in 1970 as a graduate student and has stayed on as a faculty member since then. He created SEAMUS in 1984, bringing together a handful of composers. Today, the group numbers more than 500 members, all of whom have a passion for unusual computer compositions. ``It has grown to become the largest organization of its kind in the world, with almost 550 members, almost all of them composers. The group has an annual conference, publishes a journal and newsletter and issues a CD series. It also awards pioneers in the field, recognizing such luminaries as Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer synthesizer Machine that electronically generates and modifies sounds, frequently with the use of a digital computer, for use in the composition of electronic music and in live performance. , and guitar giant Les Paul. The 8 p.m. concert in the Roy O. Disney Roy Oliver Disney (June 24, 1893–December 20, 1971, aged 78) was, with his younger brother Walt Disney, co-founder of what is now The Walt Disney Company. Roy served as the company's chief executive officer (1929–1971)-though title name wasn't given until 1968-, hall on the CalArts campus is free and is being billed as a SCREAM listening room, a group concept founded by Schrader in 1986. An acronym for Southern California Resource for Electroacoustic Music, it began as a consortium of colleges and universities broadcasting electroacoustic music over the radio and swelled in popularity over the years. The collection is now a curated series. ``The focus is on studio composition, not live performances,'' Schrader said. ``The nice thing is that you get to get a notion of what the composer is like before you hear the pieces.'' Carol Rock, (661) 257-5252 carol.rock(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO Music inspired by a musically inclined pig is part of a free concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Roy O. Disney Hall at California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia. For information, call (661) 253-7800. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (color) Composer Barry Schrader gets cheek and jowl jowl 1 n. 1. The jaw, especially the lower jaw. 2. The cheek. jowl 2 n. with Duke, a pot-bellied pig who plays the xylophone and the violin and inspired his new composition. Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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