Pitch Battles: A Multimedia Investigation into Musical Tunings.
Machine Project presents a night of art and writing exploring a rather esoteric bit of musical ephemera and the insane controversy it’s generated. In overlapping performances, Colin Dickey, Nicole Antebi and Chris Kallmyer will explore the difference between two rival pitches, 440 Hz and 432 Hz: Colin Dickey will trace the history of the war for correct musical tuning, a debate that’s raged for two centuries and has involved the French government, the BBC, Joseph Goebbels, and Lydon Larouche, among others. Responding to the phenomenon of radial pattern formation by sound frequencies or Cymatics, Nicole Antebi will accompany the talk and performance with a two-channel video tinkering with the shape of sound. Additionally, Chris Kallmyer will accompany the talk sonically, creating an multi-channel environment of competing tonal systems and real-time examples of pitch-altered recordings of Wagner, sine tones, and live instruments.
Colin Dickey is the author of Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius, and Afterlives of the Saints: Stories from the Ends of Faith (forthcoming). He writes on forgotten, absurd, confusing and otherwise neglected topics.
Nicole Antebi is a Los Angeles based artist and organizer, working mostly in video, installation, and animation, she has recently developed a series of animated documentaries which draw connections between the language, strategies, and mythologies surrounding so many of California’s historical wizards and moguls whose excessive vision led to calamitous ends.
Chris Kallmyer is a performer, composer, and sound artist living in Los Angeles, CA who works in sound installation, composition, improvisation, and electronic music. His work is influenced by a sense of place, design, architecture, field recordings, and outdoor listening.