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Ephemeral Instruments Interview
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I did an interview with Stefanos Kourkoumelis, a writer for tralala.gr, who wrote an article about ephemeral instruments. Included are my burning paper instruments.
You can read the full article, in Greek.
Here is my interview, in English:
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SK: Judging from the content of your site,you seem to love both noise and melody equally? Why do you think these extremes inspire you?
VH: The difference between music and noise is all in how you listen. So much music has become noise, background in restaurants and stores. It makes me worry we've forgotten how to really listen. But when we do listen, even noise is fascinating. There is so much sound around you at this very moment—notice it!
SK: What was the initial idea to set the paper instruments on fire?
VH: It seemed obvious. Flaming instruments have been done before, but to me it is heartbreaking to burn something as beautiful and difficult to make as a piano. The idea fascinated me, but I couldn't do it. But the paper instruments, while I'd spent many hours crafting some of them, are easier to destroy. Maybe because I created them in the first place.
SK: I 've seen some experimental musicians to set fire to their pianos but the nature of a burning paperwind(?) is much more
impressive since breath and air consequently are so crucial for both fire and sound to exist.What do you think?
VH: Yes, that was one of the most beautiful things about it! Our breath was translated into not only sound, but also light. I think we all felt like dragons. So many people have made visual representation of music, but this was more than a representation—the fire was dancing with us.
SK: How was the experience during the playing? (emotions,the alteration of the sound during burning,injuries maybe)?
VH: We were improvising, and improvising is a wonderful thing. When you improvise, you are discovering together. One person discovers a rhythm, the next discovers a melody that fits the rhythm, and so on. But with fire, we were also discovering new ways to use our instruments, ways to manipulate the flame, and ways to play with light. This was a part of improvisation I had never experienced before. We had to adapt to the changes we each made in the music, and to what the flame did to the instruments. Fire is a great metaphor. We shared the flame, passed it to each other, supported each other's inner fire.
SK: In the relevant text of the video you are writing about the music's dependency on the ephemeral.Could you develop your thoughts on this statement?
VH: There are such beautiful moments in music, that climax which you wait for through the entire piece. But you can't take a snapshot of that moment and hang it on a wall to admire at your leisure. As soon as you try to isolate it, it becomes meaningless. You need the music leading up to it, and you can only stay there for so long before you have to move on. Even in dance, another art form strongly embedded in time, we can enjoy a still image. Music cannot be caught—it is there one moment, and then it is gone.
SK: "You are the last person who will ever play that burning instrument." This is definitely one of the strongest lyrics I've ever heard even though it's not supposed to be
one. What do you think about the human condition are we just one-use burning instruments in a way?
VH: I'm not sure which is more ephemeral: music or humans. If we are just one-use burning instruments, who is playing us? I am quite certain that, more than I play music, music plays me. I'm sure many other composers feel the same.
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— posted
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 06:09PM EST
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Last Quintet for Burning Paper Instruments
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What follows is a montage of video clips from a long improvisation, playing instruments made of paper while they are on fire, from lighting the first didgeridoo to dousing the last. Many thanks to Hendrik Goris, Anton Maes, Frank Maes, and Geert Vrolix for playing with fire with me. (Disclaimer: burning stuff is dangerous.)
![[video preview image]](/paperinstruments/lastquintet.jpg)
Click to play (3 min 36 sec)
Also available on YouTube.
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— posted
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 10:08PM EST
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New Piano Recordings
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I've finally finished up a fun little piece that I wrote most of a couple years ago, a piano doodle in A Minor.
And I finally am posting recordings of a couple piano doodles in C Major from 2005–2006.
I also updated the recording of Nothing Has Changed quite a while ago, but in case you missed it, here it is:
The trouble with being a composer is that I always hope some day I will be able to play these pieces perfectly, so that you can hear exactly what I was trying to get at, but that day never comes and I eventually get bored of the piece and stop playing it altogether, which only makes things worse. But I would rather get out an imperfect recording than none at all, and I will trust you to forgive my mistakes.
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— posted
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 04:58PM EDT
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HP Septet Video: Filth, Mudbloods, Scum!
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Here is another video excerpt of the Harry Potter Septet, from book 7. This is a fun section featuring the words shouted by the portrait of Mrs. Black, along with the new ministry motto "Magic is Might."
![[video preview image]](/hp/Filth_Mudbloods_Scum.jpg)
Click to play (1 min 42 sec)
Also on YouTube.
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— posted
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 02:09PM EDT
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Pachelbel's Music Box Canon
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My second arrangement for music box is Pachelbel's Canon in D. Three music boxes play the same strip of paper in sequence, creating a canon. The basso continuo is created by another music box playing a loop of paper. This arrangement really lets you see the structure of Pachelbel's original canon!
![[video preview image]](/musicbox/musicboxcanon.jpg)
Click to play (2 min 53 sec)
Also available on YouTube.
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— posted
Monday, September 28, 2009 at 11:08PM EDT
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The Everything Index
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My site now has the Everything index, which shows a picture and explanation for every section of the site. Hopefully things will now be easier to find, as the site grows.
I've also added a webpage for Music Boxes. There's nothing new there yet, but there will be soon!
In other news, Storia is now in the iTunes music store. It's been updating every week, with three episodes so far. The RSS is separate from my blog, so make sure you're subscribed! You have lots of options: RSS, iTunes, or Google Reader.
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— posted
Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 09:31PM EDT
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Storia: My New Weekly Podcast
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I've started a podcast, Storia. Every week I will be writing a new short story with accompanying music, to read aloud and play. The stories will be mostly fantasy and speculative fiction, with some sci-fi, horror, and whatever else comes to my head.
I'm incredibly excited about this project because it is so much fun to be writing stories and music for each other. I've been writing stories and music separately for years, and putting them together has turned out to be really effective! I've already recorded a few episodes and can't wait to get them out.
So head on over to the Storia webpage to hear the tale of a mysterious ghost ship...
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— posted
Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 01:22PM EDT
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Human Geometry at BRIDGES 2009
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The BRIDGES conference is always a lot of fun, but this year was especially so. Not only did I meet and hang out with lots of great people, give a talk, host music night as well as jam with lots of other mathematical musicians, and act in theater night, but I also got tessellated.
Yes, one of the many fun people I hung out with was Mike Naylor, the mastermind behind Naked Geometry. A group of us got together and tried doing some human geometry. Here is a cube we made with ourselves, and a lovely tessellation that Mike created out of me.
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— posted
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 01:13AM EDT
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StarCraft 2 Comic Contest Winner
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I placed third in the StarCraft comic competition "vespene laughs" for June!
Mostly I am posting to provide a high-resolution version of the comic, as Blizzard requires submissions to be small jpgs.
You can see my comic on the official site. If you are not in the US, change the region setting in the upper-right corner, and select June.
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— posted
Thursday, July 09, 2009 at 10:59PM EDT
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Math Midway a Success
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The Math Midway premiered last Sunday to great success! The Organ Function Grinder, for which I wrote the music, was a lot of fun to play with. I designed an algorithm which would transform an input melody, creating a mathematical piece of music dependent on how the dials are set and what ticket is input. This algorithm was then programmed into Mathematica by George Hart. I hope to get up video footage soon so that you can hear the results!
I also spent the day making magic balloon octahedra for people. Here are some pictures from the event:
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A girl sets the dials on the organ function grinder, while her friend inserts a number ticket. |
Making a balloon octahedron wand (orange), watched by a girl who just received one (light blue). In the background, people ride square-wheeled tricycles. |
Learn more about the other exhibits at the Math Midway on their website.
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— posted
Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 01:16AM EDT
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HP Septet Video: His Eyes...
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I've put up a new video on the Harry Potter Septet webpage, from the performance on Dec. 5th, 2008. It is a short excerpt from the second movement, the ever popular "His Eyes are as Green as a Fresh Pickled Toad." Check it out:
![[video preview image]](/hp/HPS_hiseyes.jpg)
Click to play (1 min 43 sec)
Also available on YouTube.
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— posted
Sunday, June 07, 2009 at 10:08PM EDT
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Polyhedral Balloon Tangles
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You may have seen our paper on Computational Balloon Twisting in the Publications section. That paper focuses on general graphs and polyhedra, but for an upcoming publication we're working on making orderly tangles out of balloons. Here are some models I made today. The dress is also a new creation—I've recently acquired a sewing machine.
I will be twisting balloon octahedra for children of all ages at the Math Midway premier next Sunday (June 14th)! There is a small green one in the photo, but I can make you any color you like.
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— posted
Thursday, June 04, 2009 at 11:31PM EDT
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Upcoming Premier: Organ Function Grinder
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I wrote over 12,000 pieces last month! They were commissioned by the Math Factory for the Math Midway, an interactive mathematics exhibit which will be part of the World Science Festival Street Fair on Sunday June 14 in New York City, at Washington Square Park, from 10AM to 6PM. I'll be there!
The 12,000 pieces are for an "organ fuction grinder." You choose a number to input, and set some dials to various mathematical transformations. Not only does the number get put through the transformations, but a musical theme also! For example, if you add three to your number, the melody gets transposed up three steps. It's very cool to play with the Mathematica version, programmed by George Hart, and I plan to get an online version up in the future.
The rest of the Math Midway exhibit promises to be really fun too. There will be a tricycle with square wheels which, as you can try for yourself, gives a perfectly smooth ride! There will also be giant puzzles and other cool stuff.
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Math Midway
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— posted
Wednesday, June 03, 2009 at 10:38PM EDT
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Autorequiem for Tube Harp
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A month ago, we played instruments made of paper while they were on fire. What follows is a video of one piece from that night, Autorequiem for Tube Harp—a self-inflicted song of death. Luckily, this flaming instrument's last song has been recorded for your viewing and listening pleasure:
![[video preview image]](/paperinstruments/autorequiem.jpg)
Click to play (4 min)
Also available on YouTube.
A bunch more paper-instrument stuff is coming soon, so stay tuned!
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— posted
Friday, May 29, 2009 at 05:56PM EDT
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Sound of Paper Videos
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I'm learning how to edit video! To start, here are videos of two of the pieces we played on paper instruments at the Art Cézar gallery.
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— posted
Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 02:10PM EDT
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Paper Instruments: Studio Recordings and Burning
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Awesome things about paper instruments: easy and cheap to make, readily available materials, lightweight, recyclable, and quite flammable. Playing instruments while they are on fire is not something I can legally recommend to you—it is as dangerous as art itself. Luckily, we are the world experts on playing burning paper instruments, and with proper precautions had an incredible experience. Video footage to come.
Before we burned all the instruments, I made some studio recordings. Here are three short pieces for paperwinds and paper tube xylophone:
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— posted
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 10:37PM EDT
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Symmetry in Music: Paper and Pieces
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Symmetry is a common tool in composition, but no one has thoroughly studied all symmetry patterns that are possible in music... until now! “Symmetry and Transformations in the Musical Plane” will appear in the proceedings of BRIDGES 2009, and I'll be in Banff this summer to present it.
Related to this paper is a seven-movement piece in which each movement is inspired by and contains the symmetry of each of the seven frieze patterns. The piece will ultimately be a piano trio, but three movements of the piano sketch are now available:
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— posted
Monday, April 27, 2009 at 06:05PM EDT
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Altitude Title Music
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I was recently commissioned to write the title music for the video game Altitude, a fun multiplayer 2D shooter which you can download for free. The game is still in beta, but it features my music during the opening screens. You can also listen to the title music directly:
A commission like this is a collaboration between the game designer and composer, and we have to work together to get the feel of the music to be just what the game designer envisions. The first draft of the music contained three different ideas I was playing around with. We ended up going with something more serious, but you might enjoy listening to the original:
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— posted
Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 12:34PM EDT
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Upcoming Premier: The Sound of Paper
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I am finally combining origami and music by writing music for paper! The premier work for paper instruments will be at a gallery opening for art with a paper theme. If you happen to be near Leuven, Belgium on March 7th, you should drop by and hear us play! More information can be found on the Art Cézar gallery website (in Flemish). On the right is a photo of a few wind instruments (flutes and recorders).
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— posted
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 12:20PM EST
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Work in Progress: Frieze Music
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One of my current composition projects is a seven-movement piano trio with
one movement inspired by each of the seven possible
geometric frieze patterns.
I've written piano sketches of the first two movements,
and I thought I'd share them with you here:
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— posted
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at 12:19PM EST
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Harry Potter Septet studio recordings
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Studio recordings of the Harry Potter Septet
are now available! I'm so excited to be able to share with you the results of 16 months of effort. Seven movements, seven voices, inspired by the seven-book
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
(© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and J. K. Rowling).
The few lyrics are all quotes from the books. Approximately 90 minutes
for Soprano, Alto, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano.
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— posted
Thursday, February 05, 2009
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Nothing Has Changed
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Nothing Has Changed is a new composition available in Music. This is a rough recording that I made the same day that I finished writing the piece, so it has that unpracticed hot-off-the-press charm. (edit: this recording has now been updated)
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— posted
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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Harry Potter Septet performed
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The first public performance of the Harry Potter Septet
happened today at Stony Brook University. The audience consisted of
around 100 people, and it seems to have been a real success! Thanks everyone for coming out.
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— posted
Friday, December 05, 2008
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HP Press: Newsday Entertainment/Theater Section
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The Harry Potter Septet performance on December 5th has been publicized in the Entertainment/Theater section of Newsday [this article is no longer available].
Vi Hart, a Stony Brook University senior music major, has been wild about Harry since she was about the same age as the adolescent wizard in J.K. Rowling's first novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.” Hart will conduct the premiere of the “Harry Potter Septet” she composed for string quartet, violin, piano and two female voices. It's based on all seven Rowling books in the series.
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— posted
Thursday, December 04, 2008
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HP Press: Stony Brook Homepage and Admissions Blog
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The upcoming performance of the Harry Potter Septet has been featured on the Stony Brook University homepage! Check out the article.
The article also appears on the Stony Brook Admissions Blog.
The book that launched a thousand marketing schemes has now spawned a classical chamber piece, composed by a Stony Brook music major with a flair for mathematical wizardry. The Harry Potter Septet [is] an ambitious but accessible composition for string quartet, piano, and two female voices... It's the work of multi-talented senior Vi Hart, whose obsession with J.K. Rowling's adolescent sorcerer dates back to the sixth grade.
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— posted
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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URECA Researcher of the Month
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I have been named the URECA Researcher of the Month in November 2009, for the Harry Potter Septet. Check out the interview by Karen Kernan.
“I'm a composer and I've been composing for as long as I can remember. I got inspired last year by none other than the Harry Potter series. The project started off as a cute idea and then I just ran with it. It took about 14 months. But I completed a septet—originally 2 hours of music, which I've cut down to one and one-half hours.”
“I think there's definitely a connection [between music and mathematics]. Maybe I'm biased because those are the two things I know how to do, so they're the only things I know how to see connections between. They're similar in that sense of discovery, having things fit together. When I'm composing a piece, I often feel that I know what has to come next and what makes sense. Certain notes work and other notes don't work. If you can figure it all out and put it together, you end up with a beautiful piece. Mathematics is often the same way where you're on this trip of discovery. Certain things work, certain things don't. And when you're done, you have something beautiful, elegant.”
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— posted
Saturday, November 01, 2008
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