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contemporary musicianship
A Night in the Fields: Creating Live Music to Videogame Play
On July 20th 2013 The Consortium for Innovation and Transformation participated in A Night in the Fields, a project in collaboration with the Center for Games and Impact and Phoenix Art Museum.
During A Night in the Fields, a group of musicians collaborated with attendees to create music that interacted with the way that people played the videogame Flower. As people played the game, musicians performed varied acoustic and electric instruments, laptops, and mobile devices to create and manipulate music that captured the sense of place and action occurring in the game.
Attendees were invited to participate in the music creation and performance with a range of small acoustic instruments. Each game player, situated between the group of musicians and a large screen upon which the game Flower was projected, had a unique and customized immersive experience. Attendees also had their own unique experiences as they watched the gameplay and listened to the music.
This project, in collaboration with the Center for Games and Impact, The Consortium for Innvotion and Transformation in Music Education, and The Phoenix Art Museum was a unique convergence of contemporary musical engagement, video games, interactive media, participatory culture, digital culture, music education, and community engagement.
The A Night in the Fields interactive music and video game event was an outgrowth of ongoing research and practice taking place in CITME and the ASU music education department looking at the process of creating music in relation to interactive media and connections to music teaching and learning. The musicians in the group made decisions collaboratively through a consensus-based process. A Night in the Fields was the group’s first public event and a significant point in the development of this ongoing project and research. For more information on the A Night in the Fields music and video game project and related initiatives contact: Evan Tobias evan.tobias@asu.edu
The A Night in the Fields interactive music ensemble consisted of:
Evan Tobias – facilitation & iPad
Ryan Bledsoe – saxophone
Corrie Box – vocals & effects processing
Rebecca Carr – MIDI keyboard controller
Patrick Cooper – string bass
Bill Fitzgibbons – trumpet
Jennifer Horne – flute
Jared O’Leary – percussion
Julian Peterson – laptop, gamepad controller, effects processing, & live audio mixing
Skye Van Duuren – trumpet
A Night in the Fields Saturday July 20 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m @ Phoenix Art Museum Great Hall
A Night in the Fields was a part of the Center for Games and Impact’s and Phoenix Art Museum’s Celebrating the Art of Making and Playing Games: Bridging Digital and Live Play Experiences event July 20 from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Additional Information on related projects and organizations:
Phoenix Art Museum Announcement of A Night in the Fields
The Art of Video Games Exhibit @ the Phoenix Art Museum
The Center for Games and Impact
Celebrating the Art of Making and Playing Games: Bridging Digital and Live Play Experiences (The Center for Games & Impact @ the Phoenix Art Museum July 20 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The Consortium for Innovation and Transformation in Music Education (CITME @ASU):
ASU School of Music Music Education Department
The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
AZ Beat Lab in the Community
CITME partner and ASU Music Education Masters student Samuel Pena has been hard at work developing the AZ Beat Lab. Over the past school year Samuel and the AZ Beat Lab have provided programming to the Music Instrument Museum, Mesa SparkFest, and Art Detour at Palabras Libreria. The Beat Lab facilitates beat making with technology such as launchpads, laptops, iPads, and even the Makey Makey! Samuel applies pedagogy, curriculum design, program development, and community engagement developed over several ASU Music Education courses and initiatives with his rich experience with community music making and facilitation to engage people in musical experiences and learning.
CITME is proud to partner with AZ Beat Lab and looks forward to the organization growing over time and future collaborations in schools, after-school programs, and community events.
Sun Devil Stadium Reinvention Through Music
As part of our ongoing efforts to explore the role of music in community engagement and socially engaged practice, CITME supported the Sun Devil Stadium 365 Reinvention #SDS365 initiative this November. Music education students facilitated participatory music making in the entrance to Sun Devil Stadium.
We invited the public to jam with us using acoustic and electric percussion equipment along with interactive media and musical interfaces such as a controller developed with a Makey Makey.
We invited event attendees to create and perform music with an Akai APC 40 by triggering samples of sounds from across the ASU Tempe campus as imagery from campus was projected on a stadium wall in an interactive audio- visual installation designed by students.
In addition to taking part in the event, students developed their skills in facilitating participatory music events with people in school or community contexts.
Find out more about the #SDS365 event and see a very short clip of students performing in the video below:
Nils Lofgren Composes and Performs with Arcadia High School CMAS Program
Students in Arcadia High School’s Contemporary Music and Sound (CMAS) program collaborated with rock guitarist, Nils Lofgren to create a new music video for Lofgren’s song Miss You Ray. Lofgren has a long and illustrious career as a professional guitarist and is probably best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band. CMAS students produced, directed, and appeared in the video. Additionally, a number of students involved with the Media Communications program were involved with production work related to the video.
Lofgren’s song, Miss You Ray is part of his 2011 album, Old School. This video has been released by Lofgren’s record company in anticipation of an upcoming promotional campaign to support the album. You can see the video below and hear Lofgren talk about his experience working with the Arcadia High School Students.
Congratulations to the CMAS students and faculty members Richard Maxwell, the creator and facilitator of the CMAS program, and Paul Hoeprich of Arcadia’s Media Communication Program.
Miss You Ray Video
Nils Lofgren discussing his collaboration with CMAS
