Daniel Scheidt’s innovative approach to computer software programming has him defining new soundscapes for musicians to play around in. The North Vancouver composer’s interactive electroacoustic music will be featured later this month in Vancouver at a concert and CD-release event.

Scheidt will be touring the country with Electro Traces, a showcase for leading electroacoustic composers and players. The first concert will be in Vancouver at 9 pm, Feb. 22 and Feb. 23 at the Western Front, 303 East 8th Street. The Feb. 22 concert follows an event at 8 pm marking the release of Action/Réaction, Scheidt’s new CD. Each composition on the CD is defined by a piece of computer software developed by Scheidt. The program, according to Scheidt, “creates a set of circumstances within which a live performer explores and interacts. The machine isn’t pretending to be another person jamming with a performer. The live performer leads all the way.” The system responds to acoustic input from a musician.

How do musicians tend to react to the composer’s interactive software structures? “At first they find it comical. And then it piques the curiosity and they begin to develop a rapport with it. It’s like the software is an entity. It has a behavior and you feel like it is responding to you,” Scheidt explains.

Scheidt has developed about a dozen interactive music software compositions. The heart of Scheidt’s computer system is an Atari 1040 ST. He chose it because it is affordable. “It’s the most bare bones. I don’t have to go through a lot of fluff to program it. It’s a raw tool.” He uses a Yamaha 802 rackmount version of a DX-7 synthesizer. It’s a box the computer can talk to and comes without a keyboard. The system also includes an SPX-900 multi-effects processor. A recent visit to Scheidt’s studio found a Roland Pad-8 Octapad percussion pad patched into the system.

The computer was loaded with the software forming the basis for the composition Obeying the Laws of Physics, recorded for the CD with percussionist Trevor Tureski. Striking the pad kicked off a fascinating series of musical responses from the computer.

Is what he is doing ultimately a self-indulgent process, given the limited popular appeal of the music? Responds Scheidt: “I’m not trying to make music that a lot of people will listen to. If I’m looking for some of the deepest of my motivations to do this, I would suggest that the way we as a North American society have been proceeding is not good enough. We need to find some new ways of thinking. I would suggest to you that what I’m doing is different.”

Scheidt graduated from North Vancouver’s Handsworth Secondary School in 1974. He first plugged into a synthesizer there and performed his first electronic music in 1973. He went on to study music at Capilano College and then at the University of Victoria. In 1985 he graduated from Queen’s University in Ontario with a computer science graduate degree. Scheidt is currently director of the Music Intensive program of the SFU Contemporary Arts Summer Institute.

empreintes DIGITALes, ce label québécois a entrepris récemment l’édition de disques compacts de musique électroacoustique. L’étape actuelle est celle de la recherche d’une Présence régulière de see disques dans le marché européen.

C’est ainsi que, voici quelques jours, J’ai reçu la visite de la charmante attachée de presse chargée de cette mission d’investigation. Et le premier disque qu’elle m’a présenté (IMED 9001) est consacré à trois œuvres de Christian Calon, originaire de Marseille immigrant au Québec depuis 1966 et actuellement vice-président de la communauté électroacoustique canadienne. Christian Calon, qui fut “résident” au GMEM (Marseille) en 87/88, y séjourne à nouveau.

Les trois «récits électriques» qui composent son disque Ligne de vie: récits électriques datent de 1984/83 (Portrait d’un visiteur), de 1987/88 (La disparition œuvre réalisée dans les studios du GMEM et créée à Marseille, le 17 juin 1988 au Jardin des Vestiges: en son temps, notre journal avait rendu compte de l’événement) et 1989 (Minuit).

Pages intéressantes, montrant un tempérament généreux et une virtuosité jamais gratuite au service d’une inspiration diverse. Des trois pièces, Minuit est sans doute celle qui présente la plus grande densité d’émotion et d’imagination.

On retrouve Christian Calon en compagnie de 24 autres compositeurs — Québec, Canada, USA, Mexique — pour le compact Électro clips.

Les 25 musiciens, pour la manifestation New Music America, à Montréal en novembre dernier, ont joué le jeu de la forme breve: pas plus de 3 minutes pour s’affirmer. Un catalogue passionnant mals déroutant, un peu hétéroclite, souvent roboratif, à feuilleter d’une oreille attentive en lisant les jalons proposés par un agréable livret de 58 pages.

DIFFUSION i MéDIA could be called the the most exciting thing on the Canadian NEW music scene. Based on a CD label called empreintes DIGITALes, the project of Montréalers Jean-François Denis and Claude Schryer is much more. DIFFUSION i MéDIA is stimulating production and building an interesting network of composers, players and listeners. With six releases under its belt after just one year of operation, DIFFUSION i MéDIA has assembled a formidable group of collaborators for its first trans-Canada tour.

On Friday night at eight we will welcome DIFFUSION i MéDIA to the West Coast and celebrate the launch of a new CD by Vancouver composer/performer Daniel Scheidt — Action/Réaction. This will be followed by a concert with performances by Lori Freedman, Kathy Lewis and Pauline Vaillancourt in works by Daniel Scheidt, Alain Thibault, Robert Normandeau and Christian Calon.

Saturday’s concert will feature Jacques Drouin performing a piano concerto by Alain Thibault, percussionist Trevor Tureski in Scheidt’s Obeying the Laws of Physics and Claude Schryer himself in a new work for clarinet and electronics.

This tour is supported by a grant from the Touring Office of the Canada Council [for the Arts].

A collection of 25 minute “Electroacoustic snapshots,” together with 25 black and white photographic snapshots and descriptive notes from the composers. Ranges from highly experimental noise to the sound of breathing and trains. Strangely soothing in its unexpected changes, and ideal for listening to in a shuffled order on the CD player.