Author: jan

A SERIES OF ACTIONS – ICA

by jan


Jan St Werner, one half of German electronic duo Mouse on Mars, creates a new composition for the ICA that uses the structure and daily sounds of the building. Arranging drones from harmoniums with soundpockets produced by ICA staff, the work exists throughout the ICA for one day.

“Three players and three harmoniums are located in separate areas of the ICA.
The sound of the first player who plays vibraphone is relayed to an amp in the room of the second player. The sound of the second player who plays guitar, and the sound of his amp, are relayed to player 3. Player 3- who is playing guitar, and the sound of his amp, are relayed to a fourth amp located at the entrance of the building.
Every 15 minutes each player chooses one of a given number of note groups. Each player repeats the chosen note group three times. Player 1 starts every quarter of an hour. Player 2 joins in when player 1 is playing his note group for the second time. Player 3 joins in when player 2 is playing her note group for the second time.”

ICA
The Mall
London SW1Y 5AH
22 November 2009

Spiazzacorale

by jan


A spacial sound composition for church bells, church organ, brass orchestra, bicycle sound systems, vibraphones, recorders, street noises and electronics.
Piazza Della Repubblica, Foligno, Italy, June 27th, 2009, 9.00 – 19.00
“the compostion started at 9 in the morning with the two piazza cafes playing especially prepared cd’s. one was a 60 minute slow piece which was derived from sounds of the piazza plus vibraphone elements and street noises. the idea was that the cafe sounds whould interfere or match with the sounds of the piazza. the other cd was a saxophone recording by topo freier who had made an improvisation in tune to the church bells. the jazzy saxophone track was also supposed to match with the glossy cafe interior of the centralbar. outside electronic sounds from a big stereo p.a system were fading into the piazza ambience. there were high sounds, feedback modulations, bass jolts. around mid day three bicycles with speakers were sent around the piazza and inner city playing electronic signals which worked as solo melodies similar to mobile phone ringtones but would later also function as harmonic elements in the grande finale of the piece. next came a vibraphonist who was positioned opposite from the church. she played a score which was written by composer stefan streich and took elements from the church bells melody and the arizzete song, an adaption of a traditional foligno folk song. every hour the main church bells were supposed to play, too but on the day of the performance they didn’t. another unexpected interference were the heavy rain showers which interrupted the composition about every half an hour in the afternoon. at 4 o’clock a group of 10 kids entered the piazza playing two continous low notes on recorders. this subtle but nervous drone added another layer to the piece. finally the brass band entered the scene playing the arizzete arrangement at full speed. the band played the theme for a certain number of times and then continously slowed down. interrupted by rain showers for about three times the band finally played one long continous drone of all the notes of the arizzete composition. it was like a long real-time timestretching effect. the church bells finally joined in and together with the electronic sounds from the p.a. plus the long sustained notes of the vibraphone the piece culminated in a swirling vortex of harmonies and noises.”

Fahren 1

by jan

Score for an undefined number of cars on a highway to be performed until all actions are exercised. By Volker Hormann, Michael Rauter & Jan St. Werner. On the occasion of “Nordkurve”, Künstlerische Arbeiten am Ort der ehemaligen Autorennstrecke AVUS und heutigen Autobahn A115 Berlin
kunstraum avus

SPIAZZACORALE

by jan



Spatial composition for church bells, church organ, brass orchestra, bicycle sound system, vibraphone, recorders, street noises and electronics.
Piazza Della Repubblica, Foligno, Italy, June 27th, 2009, 9.00 – 19.00

sonig

by jan

sonig is an independent music label for experimental, electronic and non genre specific music. the artist roster is international and features bands, solo artists and art related music projects. sonig is based in cologne and shares offices with a-musik, the specialist shop, distributor and label for all kinds of outsider music. sonig is also running a mail order service and alternatively offers products through online stores such as itunes or amazon. sonig is run by frank dommert, jan st werner and andi toma.

A&E / Aelters / Audiogarde / Baleine 3000 / C-Schulz / C-Schulz & F.X.Randomiz / Candie Hank / DJ Elephant Power / Dogr / Dü / F.X.Randomiz / Fan Club Orchestra / Fanal / Hajsch / Jason Forrest / Kevin Blechdom / Lithops / Michel Waisvisz / Microstoria / Mouse On Mars / Nathan Michel / Noisemashinetapes / Patric Catani/Chris Imler/Jorinde Voigt / Schlammpeitziger / Scratch Pet Land / Sun OK Papi K.O. / The Allophons / Uské Orchestra / Vert / Wang Inc. / Wevie De Crepon / Workshop / Xberg Dhirty6 Cru

sonig, kleiner griechenmarkt 28-30, 50676 koeln, germany.

mail(a)sonig.com

sonig.com

a-musik

by jan

a-musik is a highly recommended record store, label, mail order service and distributor for experimental music

a-musik
Kleiner Griechenmarkt 28-30
D-50676 Köln
Tel.: 0221 – 510 7591 (mailorder)
Tel.: 0221 – 169 30 600 (shop, distribution)
Fax: 0221 – 510 7592
mail(a)a-musik.com

Shop-hours: tuesday – saturday 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
every 1st thursday/month until 11 p.m.

“target=”_blank”>a-musik blogspot

Travel Controller

by jan



a one octave micro keyboard with transpose up/down buttons and 8 rotary controllers. the travel controller uses a junxion board to translate controller data to a junxion software patch which generates midi. it is connected to a powerbook via usb. the travel controller was contrived by jan st werner and built by jorgen brinkmann at steim. size: 15,5 x 8 x 3 cm

VORGEMISCHTE WELT suhrkamp verlag

by jan

„Mit Vorgemischte Welt legen Klaus Sander und Jan St. Werner die anregendsten Gedanken zum Thema Musik und deren ästhetische Bedingungen seit Jahren vor. Wer sich auch nur ein wenig über Musik als traditionelles Beruhigungsmedium hinaus für tatsächlich auch soziologische, biologische, ökonomische oder ästhetische Fragen des Kunstschaffens interessiert, darf an diesem Buch nicht vorbeigehen. Pflichtlektüre!“ (Der Standard, Wien)
Suhrkamp Verlag