Shackle is Anne La Berge on flute and electronics and Robert van Heumen on laptop-instrument. Their aim is to explicitly and subtly exploit shackling in both concept and material.





Shackle Affair is Shackle‘s extension into working with guestplayers, extending Shackle into trio constellations. Guests can be musicians, but also visual artists or other performers. At the same time Shackle Affair is also about further developing the Shackle System to use in Shackle’s concerts and in their Converging Objects workshops. This blog gathers documentation about the project.

Shackle Affair with international guests

by Anne on May 23, 2016

We will play compositions and guided improvisations with Cologne-based musicians Etienne Nillesen and Nicola Hein and Amsterdam-based Oguz Buyukberber.

Another chance for us to explore and discover ways to bring exciting and interactive new music to the public.

Zaal 100
De Wittenstraat
Amsterdam
21.00

Update: that was fun! Thanks to all the players, including Oguz Buyukberber, who at the time of this picture hid in the corner 😉

RobertEtienneNicolaAnneZaal100

Kunststation St. Peter in Cologne

by Anne on May 23, 2016

Shackle will play our own compositions with organist Michael Bonaventure at the Kunststation St. Peter in Cologne for a half hour concert on 4 June 2016.

The program is:
Sanctuary for solo organ by Michael
Untitled For Anne by Robert
Dakota by Anne

It’s a trio of composer/performers exchanging ideas, sounds, structures for lunch!

Saturday 4 June 2016
Kunststations Sankt Peter Köln
Jabachstraße 1
13.00 – 13.30

Update: we had  great, albeit slightly weird time in the mesmerizing Sankt Peter in Cologne.

AnneMichaelRobertStPeter2

Shackle in De Ruimte

by Anne on April 30, 2016

De Ruimte is an art and concert space with a cafe and an impressive view in the North of Amsterdam.

The ambitious and friendly staff is working to expand their programming to include electro-acoustic improvised music and last night was one of those nights with Shackle and the Oslo trio Lindvall/Myhr/Gismervik.

The room led us into some soft drawn-out soundscapes where the Shackle sections named
Imagine, Screw, Limit and Forge found new sonic forms.

We love to play.

Shackle set up with a view.

Shackle set up with a view.

A Shackle Affair with Young/Day

by Robert on September 15, 2014

Come see and hear a lively discourse between voices, flutes, turntables, computers, buttons, sliders, pedals and joysticks!

Time: 15:00
Location: Splendor, Amsterdam

shackleyoungday

The duo Shackle is not only a vehicle for Robert van Heumen (laptop-instrument) and Anne La Berge (flutes, electronics) to explore and discover ways to bring exciting and interactive new music to the public, it is an ongoing project to invite other artists to enter into our intimate way of working. Our guests for this concert are the duo YOUNG/DAY from Los Angeles: Andrea Young (voice-controlled electronics) and Michael Day (prepared turntables). This will be the second Shackle and Young/Day Affair. The first was a romping concert in Los Angeles in April 2014.

http://splendoramsterdam.com/concerten/anne-la-ber…
http://andrea-young-wtoj.squarespace.com/youngdayd…

Shackle Affair and Converging Objects at STEIM

by Robert on December 11, 2013

Shackle collaborated with hard/software hacking wizard Luc van Weelden on another Converging Objects workshop and a Shackle Affair concert at STEIM.

During their two days at STEIM’s studio 3, the international participants of Shackle’s Converging Objects workshop will work together with Anne La Berge, Deckard and Luc van Weelden on a structured improvisation piece, using both acoustic and electronic instruments. We will premiere this piece at the concert tonight!

The second set will be a Shackle Affair. In the Shackle Affair, a guest plays with Shackle and the Shackle System. The guest for this set is hard/software hacking wizard Luc van Weelden.

Converging Objects artists: Vilbjørg Broch, Inge van den Kroonenberg, Steve Jones, Stefano Kalonaris , Mark Summers, Giorgio Distante, Nicoleta Chatzopoulou, Xander Sijperda, Musfik Can Muftuoglu, Chi-Hsia Lai, Joshua Hu and Jan Klug.

Luc

A Shackle Affair in Orgelpark

by Robert on November 3, 2013

Shackle performed another Affair with Dominik Blum at Orgelpark. They played Robert van Heumen’s Tubes in Chains.

Tether into Yoke

A virtuoso chain reaction in noise and sound

Compositions by: Robert van Heumen, David Dramm & Luc Ferrari
Performed by: Marco Blaauw, Dominik Blum and Shackle (Anne La Berge & Deckard)

Location: Orgelpark, Gerard Brandtstraat 26 Amsterdam
Time: 14:15h
More info: http://www.orgelpark.nl/pages/agenda/voorstelling/…

Program
Ferrari – Visages V part 1 & 2 (1959) 6’33″
Dramm – New work for solo trumpet (2013) 3’00″
Dramm – (chaincurve) (2006-7) 22’00″
Robert van Heumen – The First Law of Kipple (2012, premiere) 21’05″
Robert van Heumen – Tubes in Chains (2013, premiere) 20’00″

Dominik

Shackle Affair at Tabula Rasa in MLK

by Robert on February 1, 2013

Shackle played an Affair again, this time with saxophone player John Dikeman.

Shackle Affair with John Dikeman

John

From the Tabula Rasa mailing:

Tabula Rasa: Improvised Music @ Maarten Luther Kerk
Wednesday, January 30, 2012, 21:00
Maarten Luther Kerk, Dintelstraat 134
Free Entrance, Donations Welcomed (beer is cheap!)

We are starting off a new season for Tabula Rasa and we’ve made some changes to make things more festive! Concerts will now start at 21.00 and take place in the basement of the church where we have a grand piano, courtesy of Keiko Higuchi, and a good PA, making it possible to expand the horizons of Tabula Rasa programming. The church has also created a small lounge next to the basement where it’s possible to hang out, chat and drink from a new selection of artisanal beer for cheap (or standard beer for really cheap!).

Shackle Affair
Anne La Berge – flute and electronics
Deckard – laptop instrument
+ John Dikeman – saxophone

With our new PA available for concerts I wanted to invite an exciting electro-acoustic project to perform. Shackle immediately came to mind as a one of the hardest working electro-acoustic improvised groups around. I figured they’d be perfect to put the system through a thorough workout. They suggested I join, and of course I jumped at the invitation!

Closing the year 2012

by Robert on January 23, 2013

Shackle Affair is definitely a project that we’ll keep developing. We enjoy very much playing with third members and would like to expand on that. Organizing residencies, for example at WORM Rotterdam, and spend a couple of days developing new parts for the Shackle System. We’re also in the process of organizing a tour to the US in 2014, teaching our Converging Objecs workshop at Bilgi University in Istanbul, preparing a vinyl release of our Australia/NZ tour recordings, composing a piece for Shackle + church organ. This last piece will be premiered in the Orgelpark in November 2013.

Regarding the Shackle System, we are regularly rehearsing to get more confortable with the transitions and the control over the other player’s patch. For now we’ll keep it fixed, just learn to play it. Then we’ll find out what works and what not, and take it from there.

Stay tuned for more!

Shackle Affair: The Australie/NZ/Brazil tour

by Robert on January 23, 2013

With all this information about our activities in 2012 I almost forgot that we also went on a big tour. Visiting Wellington (NZ), Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney (AUS), Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) we performed 11 concerts and taught 8 Converging Objects workshops in 4 weeks. A huge boost to our performing and teaching skills. All performances were recorded, and we’ll release a selection of these on a vinyl release scheduled in the fall of 2013. We’ve been posting about our activities during the tour, to be found here.

Shackle Affair: Transitions

by Robert on January 16, 2013

Until early 2012, the Shackle System would assist in going from one musical atmosphere to another, but not HOW we would do that. The parts that the system would propose would become active if the countdown wasn’t cancelled. Then we would transition to the new musical section in a way we saw fit. This would sometimes be a hard cut, sometimes a gradual crossfade, and sometimes something less articulated. Sometimes in sync with eachother, sometimes not at all. In the new version we’ve added the display of a random transition together with each new proposal. Possible transitions are hard cut, crossfade, and ‘free’ (meaning do whatever you like). This helps us coordinating transitions. We are still learning to work with this. Quite often we don’t really obey the prescribed transition, or we’re just too late because of activities we need to perform to go to the new part (loading samples, changing flutes).

In the image, the box between the current part and the proposal is the transition box, showing either X (crossfade), | (hard cut) or — (free).

This could be a good moment to talk a bit more about the transitions. So the way the system works: there is a current part, let’s say EYE, a musical section where we would play sine tone related material. Then the system proposes a new section, let’s say SNAP, and starts to countdown from 15 to 0. The idea is that at the count of zero the new part, SNAP, becomes active and we as musicians go into playing snappy. But there is no rule nor some God telling us not to start playing snappy already a bit earlier – but then the other player might hit ‘cancel’ and we would stay in EYE, making my snappy playing sound out of place. We could on the other hand postpone the snappy playing a bit, and slowly do a crossfade after the countdown reaches zero. This whole field of possibilities is an interesting playground. Like the part proposal this transition proposal gives us direction, but leaves enough freedom to keep the flexibility and surprise of free improvisation. During the Converging Objects workshops we also found that players find it extremely difficult to wait with transitioning to the next part until the count of zero.

Shackle Affair: Player-Player Digital Interaction

by Robert on January 16, 2013

Initially the Shackle System was purely a cueing system, providing analog (visual) cues to the players and with players interacting in the analog domain as musicians. We’ve changed that by adding the possibility for players to control the other player’s musical software parameters. This control only happens in three parts: CLIP, LIMIT and SNAP. In CLIP and SNAP, I control a parameter in Anne’s Kyma system using the X-axis of the joystick. In LIMIT, Anne controls whatever funtion is active on the Y-axis of my joystick.

We are still learning to perform with this feature. We are used to playing our own instruments, but playing one instrument together is a whole different ballgame. It’s a bit like playing one violin with two players: one bowing and the other fingering. The great thing is that it forces us to listen in a different way to the other person’s patches. It’s a completely new way of playing together. Update: come to think of it, Shackle overall is a bit like playing one instrument together, as the system and our experience in performing together are binding our improvisations and determine to a large degree how we respond to eachother as players.

Shackle Affair: Player-System Interaction

by Robert on January 16, 2013

As part of the technical development of the Shackle System, we’ve looked into different ways of interfacing with the system. Specifically we looked at three aspects.

Presentation of the system to the players

Initially we both were looking at our computer screen to see the newly proposed parts. For Anne this made perfect sense, as she already has her computer screen there for visual feedback regarding her Max and Kyma setup. As I just moved away from looking at the screen, I wanted to find another way to get visual feedback from the system. The first option I considered was building custom hardware with LED lights as feedback. I soon realized this was not going to give me enough information, so I decided to use my iPod Touch. Using the AirDisplay sofware on both my laptop and the iPod, I could extend my computer screen onto the iPod Touch. I then modified the Shackle System window to fit on the iPod Touch screen. The iPod Touch is directly above my controllers, so without staring at it all the time, I can catch new proposals (blinking orange) out of the corner of my eye.

       

Interaction of the players with the system

An added advantage of using the iPod Touch was the ‘touch’ aspect of the iPod. I can actually hit the ‘cancel’ and ‘next’ button to cancel a proposal or request a next proposal on the iPod itself. So no need to reach for the spacebar on the laptop. I also added a switch pedal to my Arduino sensor interface to be able to cancel/next with my feet. This is also used regulary in Converging Objects workshops and Shackle Affair concerts to enable other players to cancel/next.

Presentation of the system to the audience and other players

We see the Shackle System mostly as a functional tool, enabling us to perform interesting improvisations. In that respect, there’s no need to show the system to the audience during performances. On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of interest of audiences to understand a bit more of the way we communicate. We’ve been going back and forth about this, and haven’t found a good solution yet. During workshop presentations we usually show the system using a video projector, mostly because the participants need to see it, but this would also enable the audience to follow what’s going on. When performing with other players we usually use an extra LCD screen to enable the other player to see the system. Sometimes the audience can also get a glimpse of the system through that screen. That might in the end be the best solution: not putting to much emphasis on the system, but still opening up a bit to the audience’s interest.

Shackle Affair: Converging Objects workshops

by Robert on January 16, 2013

Shackle has been teaching Converging Objects workshops since 2010. Converging Objects is a series of workshops for acoustic musicians who improvise and use live electronics in their own setups, those who play with other musicians using electronics, or electronic musicians who improvise and work with acoustic players. As part of Converging Objects we introduce concepts and techniques for ensemble playing for both acoustic and electronic musicians. We encourage all participants to play their instruments and work with us on free and guided improvisation as well as developing approaches to using live electronics.

For us, the workshops also function as platform to test and improve our Shackle System. We regularly use the Shackle Multiplayer Music Game as exercise for the participants, and we use our Shackle System to structure the presentations at the end of the workshop. In that respect the Converging Objects workshops are an integral part of our Shackle Affair project. We have been adjusting our Shackle System to provide useful interfaces for the participants to work with.

 

 

Converging Objects workshops in 2012:

Shackle Affair: Shackle Multiplayer Music Game

by Robert on January 16, 2013

We developed the Shackle Multiplayer Music Game as the analog counterpart to our digital cueing system The Shackle System. The game is used regulary by ourselves during Converging Objects workshops as an example and exercise in structuring improvisation. The game is also included in the Shackle Stick package.

Shackle
A multiplayer music game.

Setup: This is a musical improvisation game for 2-5 players. The Shackle deck contains 70 cards: 60 Section cards, 5 Cancel cards and 5 Next cards. The number of sections to be used in the game and the musical parameters for those sections are defined by the players before the game. There are 20 different section names and each section name has 3 variations on its musical parameters. One player is appointed the role of conductor. The other players receive a Cancel and a Next card. The conductor shuffles and holds the rest of the deck. The extra Cancel and Next cards are set aside.

Play: The conductor draws a card from the top of the deck and shows it to all the players for 10 seconds. This is a proposal to improvise on the musical parameters defined for the section on the card. If one of the players holds up a Cancel card within these 10 seconds, the conductor puts the proposal card anywhere in the deck and draws another proposal card from the top of the deck. If no one shows a Cancel card then the conductor puts the proposal card where it can be seen by all players and the proposed section is played. The conductor can draw a new proposal card at any time and this procedure is repeated. The conductor and players continue this procedure of proposal and play unless a player holds up a Next card which indicates that the conductor should draw a new proposal card from the top of the deck and hold it up for 10 seconds to propose the next section to be played. Players again have the right to cancel the proposed section by holding up a Cancel card within these 10 seconds.

Play continues until the players mutually decide that they are finished. An overall length can be agreed to beforehand. Players are encouraged to experiment with variations on these rules. Musical decisions take precedence over the rules.

 

Shackle Affair: Collaborations

by Robert on January 16, 2013

An important aspect of the Shackle Affair project is collaborations. We are constantly looking for interesting guest players to work with. With every player we aim to develop alternative versions of existing parts or create new parts of the Shackle System. Ideally we spend time together improvising with and without the system, record these sessions and extract interesting interplays that can be turned into a part.

Below a list of collaborations in 2012. Not included are the Converging Objects presentations with workshop participants. More about this in another Shackle Affair post.

Shackle & TimeArt (Sven Hahne & Matthias Muche) / February 2, 2012

The Cologne-based TimeArt ensemble and a Dutch contingency selected by Shackle presented a structured improvised music piece for 11 musicians at Trouw De Verdieping (Amsterdam) on February 2, 2012. A hand picked international group of virtuosic, acoustic and electronic musicians performing a 45-minute impro-composition. A collaboration between the Amsterdam Trytone organisation, the TimeArt collective from Sven Hahne & Matthias Muche and Shackle (Anne LaBerge & Deckard). Also with Angel Faraldo (electronics), Felicity Provan (trumpet) and Oscar Jan Hoogland (clavichord, elektronics). Supported by STEIM. The improvisation was guided by a version of the Shackle System. Three lcd screens were put in front of the players. Screenshots of the various musical sections can be found in a Shackle blogpost.

Links: YouTube, Soundcloud, Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Het Wereld Duo (Tessa Zoutendijk & Jaap Berends)/ February 15, 2012

Shackle performed a set with the Wereld Duo at the Jazz&lib at the Lindenberg in Nijmegen, using the Shackle System.

Shackle & Oğuz Büyükberber / March 25, 2012

Shackle performed a set with bassclarinet player Oğuz Büyükberber during the Brokken Middag in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). For Oğuz we developed a specific interface to accomodate his low vision.

Links: image

Shackle & Oğuz Büyükberber / May 1, 2012

Shackle performed a set with bassclarinet player Oğuz Büyükberber in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). This was the second concert with Oğuz. By this time he was more comfortable with the Shackle System and we could fully expoit the system. At the same time this was also The Shackle Stick Kickstarter Celebration Party, to celebrate the succesful Kickstarter project we set up to realize the Shackle Stick.

Links: Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Yedo Gibson / May 8, 2012

Shackle performed a set with saxophone player Yedo Gibson in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). This was also the Shackle Stick Video-tape Concert, to record footage for the video to be included on the Shackle Stick.

Links:Vimeo, Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Lukas Simonis / December 8, 2012

Shackle performed a set with guitar player Lukas Simonis at the Delicatessen concert series in Wilhelmina Pakhuis (Amsterdam). By this time we had the experience of our Australia/New Zealand/Brazil tour and developed a more generic version of the Shackle System. Meaning: generic instructions for the musical sections useful for every musician, instead of just the flute or laptop instructions:

ANCHOR: grounded drones
BOLT: hectic fast changes
BOW: sustained and airy
CHAIN: solo and accompaniment
CHOICE: voice
CLIP: broken beats
CUFF: circular breath long tones
EYE: sines
FORGE: clicks & pops
IMAGINE: pianissimo
LIMIT: hot pink noise
LOOP: loops
PIN: choppy
RIG: D minor David Lynch
SCREW: glissandi
SHACKLE: free improv
SNAP: short statements
THIMBLE: fast and dense
TORQUE: sustained spit
TWIST: unpredictable silences
ZIPPER: melody

 

Shackle Stick Video-tape concert

by Robert on May 8, 2012

On May 8 Shackle celebrated reaching the $5000 goal in our Kickstarter project to realize the Shackle Stick. This Shackle Affair installment featured saxophone player Yedo Gibson. For Yedo a special version of the Shackle System interface was created, being shown to him on an lcd screen. The concert was filmed to create a videoclip to put on the Shackle Stick. The video can be seen here.

The Shackle Stick is a USB stick with Shackle’s music and a video made by Maarten van Rossem. The Shackle Stick is designed by artist Isabelle Vigier. We are using Kickstarter to gather funds for the final costs. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it is a US based funding program for creative projects based on donations from the public.

 

(Photo’s by Jeff Kaiser – Thanks!)

Kickstarter Celebration Party

by Robert on May 1, 2012

On May 1 Shackle celebrated reaching the $5000 goal in our Kickstarter project to realize the Shackle Stick. This Shackle Affair installment featured bassclarinet player Oguz Buyukberber. For Oguz, the Shackle System was displayed on an lcd screen with a specially designed Shackle System interface.

The Shackle Stick is a USB stick with Shackle’s music and a video made by Maarten van Rossem. The Shackle Stick is designed by artist Isabelle Vigier. We are using Kickstarter to gather funds for the final costs. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it is a US based funding program for creative projects based on donations from the public.

Below an image of the original design before the actual product was realised.

 

Timeart / Shackle / Trytone collaboration

by Robert on February 2, 2012

The Cologne-based TimeArt ensemble and a Dutch contingency selected by Shackle presented a structured improvised music piece for 11 musicians at Trouw De Verdieping on February 2, 2012. A hand picked international group of virtuosic, acoustic and electronic musicians performing a 45-minute impro-composition.

 

 

The improvisation was guided by a version of the Shackle System. Three lcd screens were put in front of the players. Screenshots of the various musical sections below. The system proved to be very useful, also (or maybe: especially) for such a big group. One thing we learned though is that people respond very differently to such a system. The majority of players initially wanted more direction than the system gave them. In some way the system initially seems to block people’s creativity, they act like they have a score before them and they work had to try to understand what ‘the composer’ ment by the instructions. It takes them a while to grasp that the instructions are just guidelines, and that primarily this is improvisation, with hints of directions to go into. Once they understand it, every runthrough of the piece becomes different, while still keeping some kind of unity.

The difference in responding to the system probably depends on one’s position towards authority. Some people tend to do what they’re told, while others instinctively go against it.

 

This was a collaboration between Shackle, Timeart, Trytone and STEIM.

The Shackle System

by Robert on January 15, 2012

The Shackle System is an electro-acoustic composition system for guided improvisation. Its development started in 2007 and it is continuously being updated, feeding back from Shackle‘s concerts and Converging Objects workshops.

The system is a digital cueing system with 20 different musical sections (‘parts’). These sections are proposed to the performers in a semi-random order. The length of each musical section is also partly randomized. Each new proposal can be cancelled during its countdown phase, and new proposals can be requested by players at any time. This can be done by either hitting a footswitch or the computer’s spacebar. The documentation of the version as of January 1, 2012 can be found here.

This is the first post of a blog that will document the Shackle Affair project. Shackle Affair is Shackle‘s extension into working with guestplayers, extending Shackle into trio constellations. Guests can be musicians, but also visual artists or other performers. At the same time Shackle Affair is also about further developing the Shackle System to use in Shackle’s concerts and in their Converging Objects workshops.

Update:

As of January 2013 we have a list of parts that is much more descriptive than it used to be, so I’ll list it here:
ANCHOR: grounded drones
BOLT: hectic fast changes
BOW: sustained and airy
CHAIN: solo and accompaniment
CHOICE: voice
CLIP: broken beats
CUFF: circular breath long tones
EYE: sines
FORGE: clicks & pops
IMAGINE: pianissimo
LIMIT: hot pink noise
LOOP: loops
PIN: choppy
RIG: D minor David Lynch
SCREW: glissandi
SHACKLE: free improv
SNAP: short statements
THIMBLE: fast and dense
TORQUE: sustained spit
TWIST: unpredictable silences
ZIPPER: melody