We are gathering as many Apple II computers as possible together in the FlatPak House for what can only be called a “Beeptacular Spectacular” concert using vintage computers as an orchestra.
As a grand “musical” experiment, Jason Torchinsky has written a crude 16-tone sequencer for the Apple II, and will try and gather up as many Apple IIs as possible to perform a live, dynamic sort-of concert/musical event. Machine Project’s resident music guru, Chris Kallmyer, will be on hand to discuss the nature of music, and generally help make things somewhat listenable. Who knows what the end result will sound like? A chorus of angels poking at touch-tone phones? All the computers from the background of every sci-fi movie from the 50–80s going off at once? A serenade by a truckload of R2-D2s? You’ll have to come and listen for yourselves. Please bring your own Apple II if you’ve got one!
Chris Kallmyer is a performer, composer and sound artist living in Los Angeles, who works in sound installation, composition, trumpet and electronic music. He has presented work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), The Walker Art Center, The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, The Hammer Museum, REDCAT, Machine Project, The Goldwell Open Air Museum and other spaces in America and Europe. His work is influenced by a sense of place, architecture, field recordings and outdoor listening.
Chris is the Curator of Sound Programming for Machine Project. He earned his MFA in music from the California Institute of the Arts where he studied with Thomas Stevens, Vinny Golia, Wadada Leo Smith and Aashish Khan. He holds a BA in trumpet performance from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Jason Torchinsky is mostly an artist and writer based in Los Angeles. Jason has built a functional, 15x-scale Atari joystick, a hoax Kyrgyz arcade machine, and several kinetic sculptures that have been exhibited at LACMA and The Hammer Museum. Jason writes ideas for the Onion News Network and is the author of Ad Nauseam: A Survivor’s Guide to American Consumer Culture. Jason has worked with Machine Project for years, giving talks and teaching classes, usually about odd mechanical things and the loons that made them. To fund his lavish, decadent lifestyle, he teaches design at the School for Visual Arts and Humanities to sullen, apathetic teens.