video, recorded at the Museo Fundación Juan March, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 2016.
Mirlitones has been shown there at the exhibition Arte sonoro en España (1961-2016), from 10-02-2016 until 21-05-2016. For this occasion we changed lots of things like the types of valves we use (the work works with compressed air), the software, the length of pipes and, being the most important change, the type of membrane that produces the sound.
http://www.march.es/arte/palma/exposiciones/arte-sonoro/?l=1
http://www.hoyesarte.com/evento/2016/02/la-gran-exposicion-sobre-el-arte-sonoro-espanol/
http://masdearte.com/arte-sonoro-e-informalismo-en-2016-en-la-fundacion-march/
article in eContact 18-2, Canada:
http://econtact.ca/18_2/bosch-simons_mirlitones.html
Mirlitones was commissioned by DordtYart, Dordrecht and shown in their space at the exhibition “Kunst Werkt” during April-September 2012 together with Krachtgever (1994-98). The title refers to a primitive instrument that has appeared in a multitude of forms in various parts of the world. All these instruments exist of a hollow form with a membrane mounted that can be brought into vibration by blowing or singing. The best-known member of the family is the kazoo used until present times in pop music.
The point of departure for the work was the spectacular noise produced by children with minuscule plastic mirlitons in the cavalcade of the Funeral of the Sardine, the final act of the biggest fiesta in the Spanish town Murcia.
In 2004 we built giant lions roars for Último Esfuerzo Rural where we created a new context for age-old instruments. Also the Mirlitones are much bigger than their predecessors and produce a world of sounds little known in musical practice. The installation exists of suspended vertical pipes, one to three meters long, equipped with a vibrating membrane at the upper side. The air used to bring the membranes into vibration comes from a compressor and a web of tubes and taps controlled by a computer. Small fluctuations in the air pressure cause subtle changes in the sound, composed of many ultra-low frequencies, harmonics and phenomena like beats and combination tones that arise from simultaneously sounding pipes. Because all the pipes share the air from the same limited source they also influence each other resulting in a fragile and complex sonorous system, unpredictable up to the smallest detail.
ICMC 2013 / Totally Huge New Music Festival,
at Kidogo Art Institute, Fremantle, Australia
During 14-18 August, 2013 Mirlitones was shown as part of the ICMC 2013 and the Totally Huge New Music Festival at the Kidogo Art Institute, Fremantle, Australia. For the occasion we made a new computer program based on data taken from seven planets. The length of the pipes is related to the diameter of these planets and the elapse in time of the dynamics for each pipe is deduced from day and night cycles. Each pipe is treated differently resulting in a slow, hypnotizing, ever changing sound mix. A new phase in the development of the work.
Another, practical novelty is that the pipes were bought in Australia while all other essential materials were brought in the plane as personal luggage. A formula that can be performed worldwide with little transport costs.
August 17 bass clarinet player Krista Martynes improvised together with the installation after a short introduction on the work by Peter Bosch.
Links:
http://thnmf2013.tura.com.au/shows/mirlitones/
http://www.lontanomusic.com/review-of-notable-works-from-icmc-2013/ (Mirlitones at the bottom)
http://www.kristamartynes.com/
Sound Travels Festival of Sound Art , August 2015.
Two years later Mirlitones was shown at NAISA, Toronto, during the Sound Travels Festival.
At the last day of the exhibition Glen Hall did several improvisation sessions lasting 8 minutes.
Sound recordings:
The 1st track is from Australia, 2013, recorded at the centre of the space when working as an autonomous installation, the 2nd is an excerpt of a recording made by Johannes S. Sistermanns of the live improvisation with Krista Martynes.
The 3rd track is an improvisation session with Glen Hall, Toronto, 2015.
Mirlitones was commissioned by DordtYart, Dordrecht, Netherlands for the exhibition Kunst Werkt, April-September 2012.
Special thanks to Günter Geiger for his assistance in the development of the software.
The performances in Australia 2013 and Canada 2015 were financially supported by the Performing Arts Fund, the Netherlands. Canada 2015 was also funded by AC/E, Spain.
