DonÕt Touch that Dial
ÒTransmissions: Main Street,Ó an electronic musical performance with audience participation will be held Sunday, April 13 in Oldtown Salinas.
The performance uses a quadraphonic FM radio transmission system to involve the audience in the diffusion of live electronic music. It addresses the issue of the transmission of culture across distance and time through the media of sound and radio. Those who attend the performance are asked to bring battery-powered boom boxes in order to participate.
Chris Brown, head of the Music Department at Mills College in Oakland, and Guillermo Galindo, a Mexican composer and performer, are working with youngsters from the Second Chance Youth Program in Salinas and California State University, Monterey Bay students to compose and record the hip hop music.
At the performance, participants will be told which of four FM frequencies to tune into. As each participant begins to play his or her radio, a cloud of sound will begin to build. The participants are free to move anywhere within range of the micro-power radio signals, and to place their sound in any relationship to the sounds of other individuals in the group.
ÒItÕs all about creating an environment,Ó Brown says. The idea is to transform the area, to reclaim the space. ÒItÕs about transmitting, community and Ð more than anything else Ð challenging the traditional way music is performed,Ó says Galindo.
The audience becomes a creative partner in the performance of the music, and the event becomes an interaction among the musicians, audience and the sounds and themes presented in the transmissions.
ÒWeÕre both classically trained musicians, but we feel itÕs important to try some other ways to listen and perform, in a different environment with the audience participating, rather than us as the center,Ó explains Galindo.
The two artists have worked together on Transmission projects in Oakland, San Francisco and Mexico City. To Brown, the thrill of these performances is their blend of recordings, technology, radio and the outdoors. ÒMany things weÕre doing are not in our control. ThereÕs an edge to it . . . and itÕs a wonderful way to relate to an audience,Ó he says.
The event is sponsored by the Reclamation Project, a grant-funded program at California State University, Monterey Bay.
For more information, call project coordinator Alison Clifford at 582-3130.
What: A multi-channel live radio performance
When: Sunday, April 13, 3 to 5 p.m.
Where: Parking lot across from the National Steinbeck Center
Cost: Free