“Observations” is an audio visual study of the people, machines and practices at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University. Culminating in two performances on 12th &13th of March, 2010 at 7.30pm during the Cambridge Science Festival.

The piece poses the question of “What does it mean to be an Astronomer?” and how it has evolved; from observations with the unaided eye and the first telescopic studies 400 years ago, to modern telescopes and satellites collecting data across the full reach of the spectrum, and the importance of theoretical study of astronomical concepts such as cosmology.

Following on from the successful “Obsolete?” in 2009 at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, Matthew C. Applegate aka Pixelh8 internationally renowned “chip tune” musician will be directing, composing and performing this entirely new piece.

All of the sounds in the music will be recorded from the machines, people and interpreted from the data they collect at the Institute. This includes electro-mechanical, mechanical, and ambience as well as interviews with leading scientists and curious visitors to the Institute.

The work is supported by the researchers at The Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and the outreach officer Dr. Carolin Crawford and was funded by the PRS for Music Foundation Live Connections award.

The PRS for Music Foundation (PRSF) is the UK’s largest independent funder of new music across all genres. Widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, the Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity – from unsigned band showcases to composer residencies, from commissions for new music to experimental live electronica. Since March 2000 PRSF has given more than £12 million to over 3,000 new music initiatives.

Don’t get me wrong I like doing interviews but sometimes it is nice to do one like this, which was very relaxed and I did it via Skype from my couch, I literally had just stopped working on Observations in the studio to talk about it on the Nerdy Show. You can hear my interview on the podcast my bit is about 42 minutes into the program, you can download the show from their website here or from iTunes here.

You can find out more about Observations here. Observations takes place on March 12th & 13th, 2010 at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University at 7:30pm and it’s free!!! It’s getting very exciting now.

Thanks for Kirsti Weir at Dazed Digital for coming and having a chat with me about  Observations, during which I had the epiphany of what the universe actually sounded like how bad might diet was especially when I read it all back, to find out what check out the full interview here.

You can also check null+void music blog here for other amazing music and reporting.

You can find out more about Observations here. Observations takes place on March 12th & 13th, 2010 at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University at 7:30pm and it’s free!!! It’s getting very exciting now.

Really pleased about being interviewed about “Observations” for the Guardian’s Science Podcast, about 20 Minutes in I take you on an audio tour around the Institute of Astronomy. You can listen to the podcast at the Guardians website here or listen to it through iTunes here. It has a few audio snippets from the piece itself at the very end of the podcast. Many thanks to producer Andy and the team.

You can find out more about Observations here. Observations takes place on March 12th & 13th, 2010 at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University at 7:30pm and it’s free!!!

Really enjoyed doing this interview, they were a great team and I love the way they introduced the pieces with loads of historical research and references to other music.

The interview explains how and why I made the leap from Obsolete? to Observations. You can listen and download through iTunes here or direct from their web-page here.

You can find out more about Observations here. Observations takes place on March 12th & 13th, 2010 at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University at 7:30pm and it’s free!!!

Today I gave a  Q&A session at the V&A it was part of the SAP Digital Design Weekend. There were loads of other events and talks by different artists like Memo Akten and Jason Bruges and the amazing Decode exhibit. I will be giving the talk again tomorrow same time same place.

I also ran a circuit bending workshop earlier that morning for NESTA as part of the idiscover programme which was really good fun and the students really enjoyed it too. They were able to create a fully working circuit bent keyboard for each of them to take home at the end of the workshop. You can listen to the sounds they made below.

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To celebrate the impending release of  “Observations” I have decided to release the full film of “Obsolete?” for you to enjoy. Note : “Function” is meant to be just a black screen, because it is scary.

I got to give a work in progress report to the researcher at the Institute of Astronomy about the “Observations” project, and play them a few extracts from the new piece and explain some of the ideas behind the work. Although it went down well, it was pretty tough for me because I wanted to dazzle them but I had to save all the really big moments for the performances on March 12th & 13th.

I am very excited about it, it is both new and yet linked to “Obsolete?” rhythmically in places.  The events on the 12th & 13th are free and are at the Sackler Lecture Theatre, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge between 7:30pm and 9:00pm which includes a performance and Q&A afterwards.

A lot of public talking today about four hours actually! Two events. First up was a visit to ATM Norwich which I am a patron of to talk about chip tune music, circuit bending with some level three students, who asked some very good questions and showed some good lateral thinking with regards to their own music. Secondly was “Decent Exposure” a Q & A on how to deal with the press, I was on a panel with Wendy Roby of Drowned in Sound, Bob Patterson of BPA Live Agency, Bobbi Coppen of All About Promotions and Alex Mann of the Musicians Union. It was very nice to do something for the Musicians Union, who have been very supportive of me in the past. Again good questions were asked and the crowd enjoyed the evening.

Observations from Pixelh8 on Vimeo.

“Observations” is an audio visual study of the people, machines and practices at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University. Culminating in two performances on 12th &13th of March, 2010 at 7.30pm during the Cambridge Science Festival.

The piece poses the question of “What does it mean to be an Astronomer?” and how it has evolved; from observations with the unaided eye and the first telescopic studies 400 years ago, to modern telescopes and satellites collecting data across the full reach of the spectrum, and the importance of theoretical study of astronomical concepts such as cosmology.

Following on from the successful “Obsolete?” in 2009 at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park, Matthew C. Applegate aka Pixelh8 internationally renowned “chip tune” musician will be directing, composing and performing this entirely new piece.

All of the sounds in the music will be recorded from the machines, people and interpreted from the data they collect at the Institute. This includes electro-mechanical, mechanical, and ambience as well as interviews with leading scientists and curious visitors to the Institute.

The work is supported by the researchers at The Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge and the outreach officer Dr. Carolin Crawford and was funded by the PRS for Music Foundation Live Connections award.

The PRS for Music Foundation (PRSF) is the UK’s largest independent funder of new music across all genres. Widely respected as an adventurous and proactive funding body, the Foundation supports an exceptional range of new music activity – from unsigned band showcases to composer residencies, from commissions for new music to experimental live electronica. Since March 2000 PRSF has given more than £12 million to over 3,000 new music initiatives.