Audium (Theater)

Audium is a unique sound art phenomenon that has been presented weekly in San Francisco since 1967. Audium is a creation of composer Stan Shaff that is performed on original equipment designed by Doug McEachern. It is played in a completely dark theater designed to heighten the spatial effects of sound and for "choreographing sound in space." [1] Compositions are developed from acoustic and electronic instruments and from sounds of the natural world used as metaphors. Works are "sculpted" in space through 176 speakers. Audium has pioneered the language of space in music for over 40 years, as progressively complex compositions evolved jointly with originally-designed performance equipment. Its three major concerns have been development and exploration of space as a language of music composition, live performance in a space uniquely-designed for spatial composition, and the role of the environment in the totality of the work.[2]

Contents

Early Development

The concepts used in Audium initially evolved from experimental performances throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1959 Shaff met fellow musician and teacher Douglas McEachern, whose background in electronics enabled him to develop original equipment systems for live, spatial performances.[1] Prior to Audium, Shaff & McEachern worked with Anna Halprin's Dancer's Workshop and Shaff worked with Seymour Locks, an artist and the originater of the overhead projected light show later used widely at rock concerts in the 1960s. Shaff was also associated with the Tape Music Center in San Francisco. Early presentations were done at University of California Extension (1960), San Francisco State College (1962)and San Francisco Museum of Art (1963,1964).[3] These early performances were done with "portable systems" that had about 8 to 16 speakers.[4][5]

The First Theater

To proceed with experimenting and with exploring these ideas, McEachern and Shaff, in 1965, leased a hall at 309 4th Avenue in San Francisco and began adapting it to become the first Audium theater. It initially was outfitted with 44 speakers, and on May 26, 1967 the first public performance was held. By 1968 the number of speakers had increased to 61. Weekly performances were presented until October 2, 1970. The theater had to close when the lease ended and the building was sold.[4]

The Second Theater

In 1972 Shaff received a grant from National Endowment for the Arts. A storefront, formerly a bakery, in downtown San Francisco was purchased and subsequently converted to a theater.[6] The first public presentation was October 31, 1975 and weekend shows have continued since then. Beginning with 136 speakers, the phenomenon has gradually and unrelentingly grown and evolved. It now has over 170 speakers[7], and Stan Shaff presents his 9th opus, AUDIUM 9, every Friday and Saturday, opening at 8 PM.[8]

Attendance & Acclaim

The performances have been described as "surreal" [9] and a "musique concrete." [9] Another author said that Audium harnesses "the primal essence of sound" and that after a performance "you'll emerge uncertain, excitable, outside of yourself." [10] According to Shaff, Audium is periodically visited by members of Walt Disney Imagineering, the R & D arm of the Walt Disney Company[9], engineers from Dolby Laboratories, sound engineers from the film industry, the Audio Engineering Society, and composers from international universities.[11] Shaff has done very little advertising,[12] but after ongoing programs since 1967, Audium now attracts weekly listeners from around the world.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "www.otherminds.org/shtml/Shaff.shtml". Other Minds website. http://www.otherminds.org/shtml/Shaff.shtml. Retrieved 05Mar09. 
  2. ^ http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=what_is_audium.hpp
  3. ^ "www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/aboutAudium.html". History of Experimental Music in Northern California. http://www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/aboutAudium.html. Retrieved 05Mar09. 
  4. ^ a b "www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=archive/archive_history.hpp". Audium archive page. http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=archive/archive_history.hpp. Retrieved 11Mar09. 
  5. ^ "www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/Sculpt.Space.html". from Music Journal, Jan 1977. http://www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/Sculpt.Space.html. Retrieved 11Mar09. 
  6. ^ "www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/aboutAudium.html". History of Experimental Music in Northern California. http://www.o-art.org/history/LongDur/Shaff/aboutAudium.html. Retrieved 06Mar09. 
  7. ^ "http://pingmag.jp/2008/08/25/audium-see-with-your-ears". PingMag, 25Aug08. http://pingmag.jp/2008/08/25/audium-see-with-your-ears. Retrieved 11Mar09. 
  8. ^ "www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=location.hpp". Audium website. http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=location.hpp. Retrieved 11Mar09. 
  9. ^ a b c "www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/08/30/DD12439.DTL&type=music". San Francisco Chronicle, 30Aug01. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/08/30/DD12439.DTL&type=music. Retrieved 10Mar09. 
  10. ^ Richard Fitzpatrick, "A 'sound' experience," in Western Edition Vol 2, Number 9, August 1995
  11. ^ 15.“http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=archive/archive_visitors.hpp Retrieved on 05Aug09
  12. ^ "www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=article.cmj.hpp". from Computer Music Journal, 1985. http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=article.cmj.hpp. Retrieved 09Mar09. 
  13. ^ “http://www.audium.org/omhpp.cgi?src=archive/archive_visitors.hpp Retrieved on 05Aug09

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