Robert van Heumen Composer Improvisor Laptop-Instrumentalist Sound-Designer
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February 13, 2024

Funeral Freeze

Funeral Freeze. A forgotten track I submitted for the Nachtmuziek album in 2015.

Dedicated to my dear friend Arjan who passed away last week so unexpectedly.




January 9, 2024

GeluidKrasser

Happy newyear to all you happy readers!

Last fall I have worked together with Ivo Bol on a software sampler for his live concerts. Like me, Ivo is an expert LiSa user (STEIM's live sampling software). Unfortunately LiSa cannot run on recent Mac laptops, so Ivo was looking for software to replace certain functionality of LiSa. To my knowledge, there exist no software sampler that treats samples in the very unique way like LiSa did. Years ago I have rebuild my extended LiSa setup in the SuperCollider programming language, and for Ivo I created a stripped down version that I call GeluidKrasser (SoundScratcher). It can be found on Github.

I have also been working on a more extended version with 4 sample buffers, also to be found on Github. Let me know if you have any questions or if you have trouble getting it to work.


GeluidKrasser Quadruple



LiSa X v1.25




July 10, 2023

Review Money For Your Whale

The Money For Your Whale concert at the Kaboom Animationfestival received a warm review:

"One of the most entertaining events at Kaboom was a live performance by the band Money For Your Whale who improvised live music while animator/illustrator Sjaak Rood drew what he heard. Nothing was rehearsed or planned in advance. At this entertaining performance, Rood and the musicians let us “hear” what drawing sounds like. Not only did we see the images that Rood was drawing reflected on the big movie screen, but the sounds that the artist made also influenced the performance.

Singer and voice artist Han Buhrs performed his own lyrics in existing and invented languages. By adding rubbers, clothes pins, magnets, and some unidentifiable objects to his piano strings, Albert van Veenendaal created some unique, otherworldly sounds with a wide variety of timbers. Last, but far from least, Robert van Heumen captured all of the sounds live, which he then manipulated and added back into the performance. It was an extremely unique event that both Nik and I thoroughly enjoyed."

More reviews at the Animation World Network.




February 20, 2023

Money For Your Whale - Twelve Twelve Twelve - 2023 reissue

A promo video for Money For Your Whale's Twelve Twelve Twelve album reissue.
Money For Your Whale is Albert van Veenendaal en Robert van Heumen




February 17, 2023

Composition for Carillon

I am working on a short piece for the carillon (beiaard in Dutch) in the Raadhuis in Hilversum. Very exciting to get familiarized with such a big and physical instrument!





December 11, 2022

Jatzwerk

A long time ago, in what feels like a different life, I played the trumpet in bigband Jatzwerk.




December 3, 2022

Twelve - Twelve - Twelve

The album Twelve – Twelve – Twelve by Money For Your Whale was conceived and recorded in 2012 and never ‘officially’ released. Listening back to the music convinced us that it deserved a second life on this newly founded label. Therefore, the album is re-released December 2, 2022 on Minimal Damage Recordings and available on Bandcamp.




November 15, 2022

BRUTI composition

I have been working on a track based upon improvised sessions using the MicroBrute analog synthesizer. You can hear the result here: west28.nl/Bruti.




January 2, 2022

Circles: an audio-visual online installation

In the covid period I have been working on the audio-visual online installation Circles. It is a continuation of the techniques and ideas developed during the making of PointCode.




March 9, 2021

Releases on Bandcamp

I have released a number of my albums on Bandcamp. Let me know if you prefer the physical thing, there are still some left.




March 29, 2020

Streaming event: NL_CL #1: The Future of Music

Last night I was part of the streaming (un)concert NL_CL #1: The Future of Music. In light of recent global circumstances making in-person performances increasingly difficult for performing artists, the organisors presented the first NL_CL / iii collaboration as a live streamed (un)concert.

An interesting experience, even more alienating than the frequent Microsoft Teams meetings I have been doing the last two weeks, because you have no idea whatsoever of who is really listening and what their response is; aside from some chat messages.

The stream can be viewed here.




November 26, 2019

Shackle retired

Anne La Berge and I have travelled the world more than a few times as the electro acoustic duo Shackle. We have decided to end the journey since we’ve been on different paths these days. Not exactly the last supper, but we did go out and celebrate. Beginnings and endings are powerful moments in our lives and Jacqueline Oskamp summed up our story with a text that says it all (a Dutch version is also available). We have also made available the Shackle Archive.




October 7, 2018

Chains of Code

Last week I have been improvising with Felipe Ignacio Noriega in Zaal 100, Amsterdam. Just to get inspired, to see where this could lead us. Three excerpts can be heard below.




June 12, 2018

Utopa Baroque Organ, again

This exceptional organ is keeping me busy. On June 4th the Orgelpark hosted a demo/presentation for the call for compositions that Orgelpark and the Conlon collective have published. I presented and demo'd the digital console and its MIDI and OSC possibilities. For those of you who would like to have been present but weren't, here is some documentation:

Video of the evening:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Raw documentation (in progress)
3 Scenarios
MIDI mapping (in progress)
Utopa temperament




March 27, 2018

KP6-3.7 at Orgelpark

Last Saturday my new composition for the Utopa Baroque Organ at Orgelpark saw the light. After a long development process with many technical hiccups, I was glad all went well. The piece was very well received, and the machines did not fail me.

Many thanks to all people at Orgelpark, that beautiful place.


KP6-3.7 (9’06") (work-in-progress)
for digitally enhanced Baroque organ, monophonic analog synth and live electronics
by Robert van Heumen

The music of KP6-3.7 is a process, a journey and a continuation of the ideas developed for the piece First Law of Kipple composed for the Sauer organ. Using existing material from different media, morphing it unrecognizable, I try to pay homage to my inspirations and at the same time create something entirely new. The new Baroque Organ inspired me to develop my ideas for a hyper-organ into new areas, combining sampled material, analog synthesizer and processed field-recordings with the traditional organ sound to create an instrument that unites the acoustic and the electronic into a whole. Since the organ was not available for experiments until 4 weeks before this premiere, the piece is not sealed yet, and will continue to be developed.




December 9, 2017

Curves / Hot Spot On Chili Tour

Robert van Heumen, Matthias Muche, Sven Hahne, Luis Negrón and Anne La Berge played three concerts in Chile together. We billed ourselves as Hot Spot On, and we were just that.

Our first concert was part of the Turrel Series run by Marcelo Maira Moya in a gallery/restaurant Dinamarca space in the colorful city of Valparaiso.

Our second was in the Sala SCD in Plaza Egana, a hall at the very top of a shopping mall. We were joined by Marcelo Maira Moya on flute, sax and noise makers for an intense and punchy second set.

Our third was in the more southern city Valdivia as opener for the Relincha Festival at the Museum for Contemporary Art, an incredible place overlooking the water where sea lions and birds were vying for fish scraps at the market on the other side.

We travelled by plane and bus, drank the local wine and pisco sours, just like a real band.


Matthias Muche, Robert van Heumen, Anne La Berge, Luis Negrón, Sven Hahne

Special thanks to Sven who organized the tour and to Marcelo who was present at every gig as producer, performer and host.

And to our funding support:

Goethe Institut Köln




Review of Songs of Love

Massimo Ricci of Touching Extremes wrote a lyrical review of Songs of Love (and Decay).

"Van Heumen made the most of his technical skillfulness to ensure that nothing sound predictable or stale, and he succeeded. The choice of vocalist Evelien Van Den Broek appears perfect for the scope. The lyrics are rendered with a cross of detached sadness and genuine anger. They talk of hope and disillusion; of processes of growth that had been imagined in a thoroughly different light."

Read the full review here.




October 17, 2017

Songs of Love (and Decay)

The album Songs of Love (and Decay) is released as of today! A special day indeed.

Available on Bandcamp.




October 10, 2017

Line Management

The Line Management concert took place at Orgelpark on October 7, 2017. A collaboration with musician/composers Michael Bonaventure, René Huysmans, Felipe Ignacio Noriega, Yung-Tuan Ku and Luiz Henrique Yudo, the evening presented an eclectic mix of new music.

I presented three sets there: Automatic consists of 4 short pieces for The Busy Drone, Orgelpark’s Dance Organ. The main role is played by the percussion section and the pieces stress unusual ways of playing this dance organ. The natural sound of the organ is enhanced by electronically manipulated versions.

Point-to-Organ is the next version in a series of installation/compositions revolving around the movement of colored blocks on a screen. Guided by the animation of the blocks, electronic and acoustic tones are moving in and out, emancipating from both the Sauer organ, the computer and the Verschueren organ. This version is the most performative one, with the composer controlling the sequence of colors and organist Bonaventure responding to those colors.

And finally an improvised set of chains of interaction. Live-coder Noriega interacts with the audience through his code, triggering sounds from the Busy Drone. Van Heumen live samples these sounds and throws them at Ku, who adds bass-drum, snare-drum, metal and cymbals to the percussive sound world.




May 20, 2017

Sanoma Technology Video Trailer

For Sanoma Technology I created the sound of a video trailer. Check out their video's with the trailer here.




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