Browse by Artist: SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J.

Artist:	SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J.
Title:	Stories
Label:	QUECKSILBER (GERMANY)
Format:	CD
Price:	$14.50
Catalog #:	QUECK 008CD

"The new album by composer, performer and installation artist Michael J. Schumacher from New York City after the critically acclaimed Room Pieces, on the XI label, which was rated best of 2003 for 'modern composition' by The Wire magazine. Feat. guest musicians Tim Barnes, Charles Curtis, Donald Miller, Peter Zummo, George Bishop and many more. Stories refers to the idea of layering, the process of building a structure by stacking things on top of each other. This procedure is particularly evident in 'Room Pieces New York', in which as many as 23 parts play simultaneously. In general, Schumacher's interest is to develop a contemporary form of counterpoint, where each voice maintains its integrity while contributing to a total sound. Listeners are invited to create their own melodies by letting their ears follow the sounds moment by moment, allowing spontaneous pathways linking the various voices to emerge effortlessly."

Artist:	SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J.
Title:	Four Stills
Label:	SEDIMENTAL
Format:	CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	SED 032CD

"Schumacher has a strong presence on the experimental scene with his refined guitar 'drone' compositions but parallel to this activity he has been working with number system applications of sampled material through electronics, a direct extension of his audio installations. Where as much digitally generated material succumbs to a hermetically closed world of glitches and electronic landscape Schumacher's work opens up this environment, despite the density of the material, into a breathing, organic spaciousness while still maintaining the intimacy inherent in the form. 'The Four Stills are expressions of the number system that I have used since 1989 in my electronic compositions. These numbers form the basis for dozens of rhythmic processes executed by the computer, from playing a midi grand piano, to deciding a range within a sample buffer to play, to determining larger structural aspects such as the alternation of sound and silence within a particular part. The fact that they are prime numbers prevents predictable patterns from emerging. The limit of six maintains structural coherence. The Four Stills were recorded direct to stereo in real time. Though the sounds used in a given piece are predetermined, their interaction with each other over time is left to chance. These pieces are extensions of my installation pieces, which evolve over long time periods, and are also created in real time by generative algorithms. However, in contrast to the installations, which utilize distance as an important perceptual feature and employ as many as 16 independent channels of sound, allowing for meaningful variations in texture, these recordings, being limited to two channels, are more compact in their presentation of the sonic material. They therefore remind me of certain styles of painting, which present the spectator with a static field of color that is experienced in no particular order. Though the music obviously unfolds over time, the analogy seems appropriate to me, since the dense textures (sometimes as many as 27 simultaneous parts) invite a contemplation of the many layers of sound and their relation, not in time, but in space.'"

Artist:	SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J.
Title:	Room Pieces
Label:	XI
Format:	2CD
Price:	$13.00
Catalog #:	XI 127CD

"Much has been written to guide listeners through the course of a preconceived form. Although Michael J. Schumacher's music is distinctly his own it has been inspired by David Tudor and Morton Feldman as well as La Monte Young. Like their music it is about hearing sounds in themselves, about allowing the ear to register sonorities and then the hearing imagination may go to work, navigating amongst temporal realities and imaginary spaces, negotiating between a sense of control and perceived randomness, stasis and movement, finitude and limitlessness, Schumacher thrives on those creative tensions. At its most personal and expansive his singular music has the capacity to convey 'intimate immensity.' Room Piece provides a unique solution and musical experience in reference to 'the room.' Generated by a specific method and possessing a decidedly emotional character, Room Piece is not merely 'ambient music' but creates a bridge between the 'eventfulness' heard in Cage-ian and serial music, and the new American drone music that has arisen intuitively to create the sound of a vibrant universe with rich interior activity." 2 CDs for the price of one.

Artist:	SCHUMACHER, MICHAEL J.
Title:	Five Sound Installations
Label:	XI
Format:	DVD-ROM
Price:	$34.00
Catalog #:	XI 133DVD

Five Sound Installations is a DVD-ROM (for MAC and PC) that contains 5 sound compositions generated in "real time" by a computer algorithm. The works are: "Room Piece Twenty-Four"; "Noema"; "Steiner Suite"; "Unintending"; "Scene." "Sound Art, algorithmic composition, chance operations, multi-channel sound systems, immersive installations, computer music; these terms all intersect at a point defined by the new XI release 5SI by MJS. Schumacher is a composer, curator (he runs Diapason, NY's only 'sound art' gallery), and performer, and has been creating computer-generated installations for close to 20 years. His output includes 5 solo CDs, but these were by necessity adaptations of works designed for more or less 'permanent' listening situations, in which auditors could explore various modes of listening within sound environments. These works were composed with installation settings in mind, they had no 'beginning-middle-end' (even out of order) in the traditional sense. For the CD releases, the pieces needed to be manipulated in various ways to accommodate the medium. A better way needed to be found. Schumacher has always been interested in creating algorithmic works that extend the boundaries of the genre, investing them with 100s of constituent parts that form sonic mobiles in space and time. Now he presents the ambitious (and technically savvy) listener with a means to experience Schumacher's installations in the home, through up to 8 separate speaker channels and for as long as the computer keeps running. No question, this is not an iPod experience! For some, just understanding the reason for such a project will be difficult. But the composer and XI believe that the time is apt for challenging a complacent public and industry. This release, more than anything else, is a challenge to break boundaries in both content and distribution, a call for a new way of thinking about sound in the home, which is more than ever the predominant place for listening." NOTE: These compositions must be installed on a computer to be heard. Instructions are enclosed. Minimum system requirements: PC: Windows XP, Vista, 1 gig processor speed, 5 gig free disc space. Mac: OS 10.3 or higher, 1 gig processor speed, 5 gig free disc space.

Previous Page Index of Artists Next Page