Venue: Great Hall, Museum Building Massey University, Buckle Street Wellington

Date: 8pm Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The New Zealand premiere of Body Waves, Stanier Black-Five’s collaborative earthquake work with Dr Malcolm Riddoch – part of a programme of experimental electronic music works exploring the natural harmonic resonance of one of the largest acoustic spaces in New Zealand – the Great Hall at Massey University in Wellington.

In Body Waves Stanier Black-Five and Riddoch tune Stanier Black-Five’s Christchurch earthquake infrasonic soundscape into the lowest fundamental resonant frequencies of the Great Hall to create music that goes beyond the auditory system to be felt in the body.

This is preceded by three solo works by Riddoch, in which he uses the Larsen effect (microphone feedback) to ‘ring out’ the unique resonant frequencies of an acoustic space. The four works track the evolution of his practice from simple pure tones through interference effects with acoustic instruments to the use of acoustically derived digital feedback controllers driving the electronic manipulation of sound. The only audio source for these first three works is the ambient noise within the acoustic space itself.

Thanks to the support of the Sonic Arts programme at the New Zealand School of Music (a joint venture of Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington), Massey University College of Creative Arts  and the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).