On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Julie Herndon of the Cal Poly music department and guest artist Anne Hege will present a concert in Room 218 of the Davidson Music Center, according to Cal Poly’s website.
This concert is free to attend for the public and, according to the artists, will provide listeners with a unique showing that will blend electronic sound with human performance.
Hege and Herndon have been collaborating on projects since they first met in 2015.
“We’re both on the same page when it comes to the importance of the relationship between body and sound,” Hege said.
Hege describes this show as one that will highlight the very “human” aspects of using technology to alter and enhance modern musical performance in an unusually transparent way.
This theme will be emphasized through Hege’s use of the “tape machine,” an instrument of her design. Through the use of one recording tape head and two playback points, she will make use of auditory effects such as live-looping while singing live on stage.
“Sometimes in music, it feels like there is a big push to dissociate sound from the body,” Hedge said.
With this machine, “there are no hidden effects, but rather, the instrument is completely transparent supporting active listening and collaboration with the instrument as a muse,” she said.
According to Hege, the idea for this instrument spawned from her frustration with the lack of transparency in music. In so many cases, it can be hard to tell what’s live and what isn’t, she said.
In Hege’s case, accusations of lip-syncing performances and relying on a computer for sound began the journey to creating this more transparent method of electronic performance.
Similarly, much of Herndon’s work is centered around exploring the harmony of sound and body.
“These pieces for extended keyboard instruments explore the body’s relationship to the piano, the keyboard, the synthesizer and other forms of tempered technology,” she said.
According to Herndon, technology is something that often takes away from the awareness of the listener as to what goes into making sound. Even playing piano is something that could be reduced to simply pushing buttons and Herndon’s work aims to highlight the human element that goes into a performance.
“Part of my goal with these projects is linking the instrument’s design to the performance of the characters,” Hege said when asked about the concert.
The concert is one in a line of concerts that will be performed up and down the California coast.
For more information, visit the concert’s page on the Cal Poly University Communications and Marketing site. Links to the websites of both of the artists can also be found here and here.