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SONIC FORCE The concert version premiere--May 10, 2003 at St. Mary's Episcopal Church at 13th and Holmes in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Tickets--$15 at the door, $12 in advance and $8 for students with valid ID. Ticket information--Central Ticket Office at (816) 235-6222. Broadcast Premiere--April 12, 2002 on KCUR 89.3 FM in Kansas City, Missouri. Other broadcasts--KKFI-FM, KSHB-TV, Resonance FM (London, England) and KOPN-FM. A collaboration between Whiteman Air Force Base, newEar players, KCUR-FM, the UMKC Sound Design for Theater Dept. and composers Dwight Frizzell and Michael Henry using military technology to create audio art. Sonic Force celebrates A-10 Warthog attack planes by employing them as Futurist sound instruments mixed and digitally mapped with human voices and conventional instruments. The unique sound signature of the versatile and sophisticated A-10 Warthog was recorded by Dwight Frizzell and his assistant Megan Henniger in a range of situations such as start ups, taxiing, take offs, aerobatics, and landing using state-of-the-art digital recording techniques (Neumann RMS system)--from the broadband whine, for example, of the A-10 Warthog's pair of 9065 lb. thrust TF34-GE-100 turbofans, heard during slow and low maneuvers, to the thunder of the jet exhaust at higher speeds. Acoustic phenomena produced by the aircraft; such as pitch shifts due to Doppler effects, reflections and timbral shifts due to proximity and phase cancellations; were studied and used as material for composer-collaborateur Michael Henry to create the score for military band instruments. The distinction between human/machine will be blurred through the digital synthesis of human voices and the Warthogs. Participants from the community (Knob Noster and Kansas City) will be asked to match take-off sequences with their voices to create a Jet Exhaust Choir when multi-tracked and time-aligned. The latest digital technologies, such as Arboretum Ionizer signal analysis/processing software, will be used to map the spectral information of one sound (such as a voice) onto the sound of another (such as a jet), using it like a filter. The broadcast version includes introductory comments and interviews with an A-10 pilot (COMMANDER ROGER DISRUD), and the project coordinator for the Air Force Reserves (LT. BRIAN BOWMAN), the vocal participants, and the instrumentalists. The piece is part of the "From Ark to Microchip" radio series, a long running program on KCUR (produced by Dwight Frizzell) that has featured audio artworks and collaborations with newEar and new media artists working in performance, audio art and soundscape composition. Although a pacifist since his youth, Dwight Frizzell conceived SonicForce to promote positive exchange and awareness between the art/cultural community, the military community and the community at large. Financial
assistance for Sonic Force is provided by the Missouri
Arts Council and newEar supporters. For additional information and press materials, please email us at sonicforce@pleasewatch.com or revdwight@yahoo.com |