Sound artist, media artist and composer for both humans and computers. So much banjo, too
I’m looking forward to performing tomorrow on a concert highlighting free improvisation and electronic music. The show will include Sam Herman, Aaron Johnson, and LaDonna Smith.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7pm
An Evening of Free Improvisation and Electronic Music
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Hulsey Recital Hall
950 13th Street South
Birmingham AL
I’ll be performing material similar to the pieces on my 2021 Tell A Gossip recording from Tape Drift Records.
Trombonist Jacob Elkin is coming to Alabama this week for two concerts featuring music by Alabama composers. The programs include the premiere of my piece By Wit and Reason, Which We Call Science for trombone and live electronics. The concerts are presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance and supported in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Jacob Elkin: Music by Alabama Composers
Moody Recital Hall
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa AL
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Loud at the Library: Jacob Elkin
Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham AL
By Wit And Reason, Which We Call Science is informed by the music of Renaissance composer John Dowland. The piece uses a custom microtonal scale similar to Dowland’s scheme for tuning the lute. The performer’s musical gestures and improvised variations drive the electronic sounds: extending pitches, shifting resonant frequencies and triggering repeated tones.
It’s Epiphany, the last day of Christmas, so it’s my last chance this season to share the Composer’s Voice Holiday Show presented by Vox Novus.
My banjo tune “Shepherd’s Crook” kicks it off. Stay tuned for vocal music, chamber music, arrangements of holiday favorites, and even a piece by Stockhausen!
Sad to hear that composer Tom Johnson has died. His Illustrated Music playlist is full of delights.
I’m beginning a new sonification project in collaboration with Dr. Alyssa Stubbers and the Alabama Materials Institute (AMI). We will sonify electron microscope diffraction patterns of various materials. I’ll post sounds and images as the work develops.
The two-year project is funded through a partnership between AMI and the Collaborative Arts Research Initiative (CARI).