Robert van Heumen Composer Improvisor Laptop-Instrumentalist Sound-Designer
Software Developer
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Robert van Heumen

Robert van Heumen: composer, improvisor, software developer, sound designer

Robert van Heumen is a composer and improvising musician using an extended laptop-instrument to perform highly immersive and hyper-dynamic electro-acoustic music. As a musician, live sampling is his main tool. With a joystick and other tactile controllers, live sampled source sounds are gesturally manipulated and reworked within open ended narratives. Van Heumen is continously researching new strategies for live sampling and looking for the perfect balance between free improvisation and structured music. The laptop is used in an instrumental, tactile way, connecting action to sound like any acoustic instrument. He develops his work with realtime audio-synthesis software SuperCollider inspired by STEIM's live sampling software LiSa. Van Heumen is performing regularly in various ad-hoc constellations and he recentely ventured into the live coding community. As a software developer he builds his code in JavaScript, Angular 2.0 and PHP. His most recent project is a Music Catalog application with an Angular frontend and a PHP API.

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Contact | Github | Bandcamp | Press photo's | Compositions | Sound Design | Collaborations | Releases | Videos | Sounds Archive


Reviews

"The music of Shackle is truely strong and varied. There are fast, raw passages and also very subdued parts where something new can be heard every time you listen. The power of the duo is that they evoke curiosity without becoming overly abstract."
Jan Nieuwenhuis (Gonzo (circus)) on the Shackle Stick

"Digital brutalism in free form, vehement expressions, heightened efforts, wailings and atonal lamentations are all performed with uninterrupted breathing techniques - the electronic manipulation is relentless, full of powerful distortions, melancholic melodies and experimental combinations. Authentic, intricate compositions [...]."
Aurelio Cianciotta (Neural.it) on ABATTOIR

"[...] Stranger in any case represents an intriguing chapter in the output of a hardly pigeon-hole-able emerging sound artist. There's more than meets the ears, though it takes persistence to find the combination needed to enter this obscure area, halfway through the remnants of excruciating memories and the blurred idea of an uncertain future."
Massimo Ricci (The Squid's Ear) on Stranger

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Music: compositions, sound design, collaborations


 

Compositions

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For CD's and releases in other formats, go to the Releases section.


 

Sound Design

Sound Design overview page


 

Collaborations

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Videos




The audio-visual installation Point-to-Line, January 2017
Note: due to the screen-capture process the video quality is lower than in real live.




Curves with Shackle and Männer mit Motoren, October 30 2016




Chuck by Shackle




SPILL for harp and live electronics, performed by Miriam Overlach at Splendor on March 27, 2016




Untitled For Anne for flute and live electronics, performed by Anne La Berge at Orgelpark on November 28, 2015




The sound-walk Steenklank


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More videos at Vimeo.

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