Knut Aufermann - Larsen Effect

Display Schedule

Subject guarantor:

Miloš VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ

Name of lecturer(s):

Miloš VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ

Learning outcomes of the course unit:

Student will become acquainted in class with tools intended for surround sound and other use in performance and new media art in general.

Mode of study:

Lecture and presentation

Prerequisites and co-requisites:

Participants bring their own battery-operated transistor radio - (during the rehearsals there may be damage).

Course contents:

The Artist Workshop introduces students to the theory and practical use of radio signals and sound feedback; methods and applications of using feedback and small FM radio emitters and receivers in music composition and improvisation. Participants bring their own battery-operated transistor radios.

This is a two-day workshop in English.

Program:

25. 4. 17:00 Knut Aufermann: Larsen effect

Lecture and presentation

Acoustic feedback (sound feedback, feedback, or the Larsen Effect) is a particular type of positive feedback which occurs if there is a sound shift between sound input (ex: by microphone or guitar pick-up) and sound output (ex: a speaker). This is a signal captured by a microphone which is sent and emitted by a speaker. The signal from the speaker may again be captured by the microphone and again emitted by the speaker. The frequency of the captured sound is determined by the resonant frequency of the microphone, amplifier and speaker, acoustic characteristics of the space, the pick-up direction and emitting characteristics of the microphone and the speaker and the distance between them. In small sound systems this sound is a high pitch or whistle.

Acoustic feedback principles were discovered by the Danish scientist Soren Absalon Larsen. Many musicians of experimental and rock music have used these physical qualities of recording and reproduction from the beginnings of the 1960s (ex: Robert Ashley, The Wolfman (1964), Steve Reich, Pendulum Music (1968), Robert Fripp on the David Bowie album Heroes, Jimi Hendrix on Third Stone from The Sun, or „Wild Thing“ at the Monterey Festival, The Who and Canned Heat. The second topic is radio signal emission technology using small FM equipment and an overview of how it is used by musicians and artists. The lecture summarizes the experience of Knut Aufermann in experimental art which he has been involved in more than 15 years.

Second day

10:00 -12:00

14:00-16:00

The practice part of the workshop introduces students with how to use feedback with a small FM emitter and receiver in performance art. Participants when possible their own battery-operated transistor radio. (During trials there may be damage).

Praktická část dílny seznámí studenty se tím jak využít zpětnou vazbou a s mini FM vysílačem a přijímačem v oblasti performačních umění. Účastníci si donesou pokud možno vlastní tranzistorové rádio na baterie.(během pokusů může dojít k jeho poškození).

Recommended or required reading:

http://knut.klingt.org/docs/resonance_9_2_feedback.pdf

Assessment methods and criteria:

Participation in the two-day workshop

Course web page:

Note:

Lecturer CV:

Knut Aufermann was born in 1978 in Hagen, Germany. He studied chemistry, sound technology and sound art at London MIddlesex University. Between 2002 and 2005 was one of the first editors of the community radio station Resonance 104.4 FM in London. Currently he is devoted to being a musician, organizer, curator, consultant and lecturer of primarily improvised music where he specializes in working with different types of sound feedback. With Sarah Washington, he performs under the name Mobile-Radio where he is devoted to alternative models of radio production. Their radio programs have been on a number of radio stations around the world. They have performed at festivals and galleries, including the Bienale in Sao Paulo in 2012. Aufermann is a co-founder of the international network of independent Radio FM stations and artistic director of the second international Radiorevolt festival in Halle/Salle 2016.

Further information:

This course is an elective for all AMU students

Schedule for winter semester 2015/2016:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2015/2016:

Date	Day	Time	Tutor	Location	Notes	No. of paralel
25.04.2016		17:00–18:30	Miloš VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ	Institut intermédií - Dejvice	Lecturer: Knut Aufermann	přednášková par. 1
26.04.2016		10:00–16:00	Miloš VOJTĚCHOVSKÝ	Institut intermédií - Dejvice		přednášková par. 1

The subject is a part of the following study plans: