Acoustic and electronic sonic explorations of the trumpet by the duo TpT-TpT (pronounced trumpet-trumpet), featuring Jeff Kaiser on quartertone trumpet and laptop and Dave Ballou on trumpet and laptop. Using the deep sonic palette accessed within the trumpet by the performers, they act together with close-mic techniques, custom digital signal processing software and hardware interfaces Kaiser and Ballou co-design. Close-mic techniques allow sounds usually inaudible to the audience to become audible: the quiet metallic sound of the valves descending, slides compressing and releasing air, springs within the mechanics of the trumpet vibrating. Combined with playing the instruments in more traditional manners, these microsounds are then spatialized using interactive ambisonics—a variant of surround sound—utilizing pitch, dynamics and algorithms the performers choose to locate the sound around the audience: creating an immersive improvisative environment. Jeff Kaiser is a trumpet player, music technologist and scholar currently living in San Diego, California. Traditionally trained as a trumpet player in classical and jazz, Kaiser now views his traditional instrument as hybrid with new technology that he creates. Jeff gains inspiration and ideas from the intersections of experimental composition and improvisation and the timbral and formal affordances provided by combining traditional instruments with emerging technologies. The roots of his music are firmly in the experimental traditions within jazz, improvised and Western art music practices. Kaiser considers his art audio-centric, but he also works with live video, tracking and interactive technologies.The San Diego Reader described one of his solo performances as “a manic, hallucinogenic joyride through time, space and tonal distortions. He took some of the extended techniques of Lester Bowie and Bill Dixon, and stretched them past the breaking point. He would bend a note, transpose it to an impossible octave, and then send it spinning around the room like a remote-control airplane…He’d sample a phrase and distort it beyond recognition, causing it to ricochet around the space in pink and white noise reiterations. Kaiser’s set was unbelievably creative…” jeffkaiser.comDave Ballou has released nine internationally recognized recordings as a leader and co-leader. He has performed or recorded with ensembles led by Michael Formanek, Denman Maroney, Maria Schneider, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Steely Dan, Rabih Abou-Kahlil, Woody Herman, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and an extensive list of jazz personalities. Dave has performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Bella Musica Orchestra of NY, Larry Austin’s Improvisations with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Gunther Schuller’s Journey into Jazz with the Spokane Symphony and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He also was a featured soloist for the premiere of Schuller’s Encounters, a composition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jordan Hall. The Meridian Arts Ensemble, The TILT Brass ensemble and the Monarch Trio have performed or recorded his compositions. His work for solo trumpet, Samskara has been recorded by Jon Nelson on his CD Fables. University of Michigan French Horn professor, Adam Unsworth, recorded an adaptation of Samskara for horn on his CD Snapshots. Dave is currently serving as an Associate Professor of Music at Towson University and coordinator of the Jazz/Commercial music division. daveballou.com
Acoustic and electronic sonic explorations of the trumpet by the duo TpT-TpT (pronounced trumpet-trumpet), featuring Jeff Kaiser on quartertone trumpet and laptop and Dave Ballou on trumpet and laptop. Using the deep sonic palette accessed within the trumpet by the performers, they act together with close-mic techniques, custom digital signal processing software and hardware interfaces Kaiser and Ballou co-design. Close-mic techniques allow sounds usually inaudible to the audience to become audible: the quiet metallic sound of the valves descending, slides compressing and releasing air, springs within the mechanics of the trumpet vibrating. Combined with playing the instruments in more traditional manners, these microsounds are then spatialized using interactive ambisonics—a variant of surround sound—utilizing pitch, dynamics and algorithms the performers choose to locate the sound around the audience: creating an immersive improvisative environment.
Jeff Kaiser is a trumpet player, music technologist and scholar currently living in San Diego, California. Traditionally trained as a trumpet player in classical and jazz, Kaiser now views his traditional instrument as hybrid with new technology that he creates. Jeff gains inspiration and ideas from the intersections of experimental composition and improvisation and the timbral and formal affordances provided by combining traditional instruments with emerging technologies. The roots of his music are firmly in the experimental traditions within jazz, improvised and Western art music practices. Kaiser considers his art audio-centric, but he also works with live video, tracking and interactive technologies.
The San Diego Reader described one of his solo performances as “a manic, hallucinogenic joyride through time, space and tonal distortions. He took some of the extended techniques of Lester Bowie and Bill Dixon, and stretched them past the breaking point. He would bend a note, transpose it to an impossible octave, and then send it spinning around the room like a remote-control airplane…He’d sample a phrase and distort it beyond recognition, causing it to ricochet around the space in pink and white noise reiterations. Kaiser’s set was unbelievably creative…” jeffkaiser.com
Dave Ballou has released nine internationally recognized recordings as a leader and co-leader. He has performed or recorded with ensembles led by Michael Formanek, Denman Maroney, Maria Schneider, Andrew Hill, Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Joe Lovano, Sheila Jordan, Steely Dan, Rabih Abou-Kahlil, Woody Herman, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and an extensive list of jazz personalities. Dave has performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Bella Musica Orchestra of NY, Larry Austin’s Improvisations with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Gunther Schuller’s Journey into Jazz with the Spokane Symphony and Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He also was a featured soloist for the premiere of Schuller’s Encounters, a composition celebrating the 100th anniversary of Jordan Hall. The Meridian Arts Ensemble, The TILT Brass ensemble and the Monarch Trio have performed or recorded his compositions. His work for solo trumpet, Samskara has been recorded by Jon Nelson on his CD Fables. University of Michigan French Horn professor, Adam Unsworth, recorded an adaptation of Samskara for horn on his CD Snapshots. Dave is currently serving as an Associate Professor of Music at Towson University and coordinator of the Jazz/Commercial music division. daveballou.com
