Richard Lainhart

This gorgeous video captures a performance of Oraison, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1937 for six Ondes Martenot, transcribed for Buchla 200e synthesizer and Haken Continuum Fingerboard controller and performed by Richard Lainhart in 2009.

Here’s Lainhart’s background for this performance:

From the time I first touched the Haken Continuum, I’d wanted to use it to play a composition by Olivier Messiaen called “Oraison”. I first heard “Oraison” years ago as a student of electronic music, and had fallen in love with its simple, beautiful harmonies and profound sense of mystery.

“Oraison” is not only a lovely piece of music, but has historical interest too – it may be the first piece of purely electronic music written expressly for live performance. Also of note is that Messiaen re-arranged “Oraison” for cello and piano and used it for the fifth movement of “Quartet for the End of Time”, which he composed in a German prisoner-of-war camp in 1941; the “Quartet” is one of the great classics of 20th-century music.

“Oraison” (”prayer”) is from a suite of pieces for six Ondes Martenot called “Fete des Belles Eaux” (”Celebration of the Beautiful Waters”), composed for the Paris International Exposition in 1937. The Ondes Martenot was among the first electronic instruments, and is still among the most expressive. The Continuum’s own expressive qualities seemed at least the equal of the Ondes Martenot’s, while allowing for polyphony and the possibility of performance of the work by a single player. I transcribed “Oraison” for my Buchla 200e/Continuum system, programmed the modern system in homage to the sound of the Ondes Martenot, and now offer this performance to you.

Fantastic, isn’t it? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Richard Lainhart live performance at the Arts Center of Capital Region 3/28/09.

Six sections of the performance are embedded above. Also, check out the intermission footage, below, which features Lainhart talking tech on the Buchla 200e and the Haken Continuum Keyboard.

It looks like it was a great show. If you happened to make it to Lainhart’s show, leave a comment with your impressions! Read more…

The 2nd Annual City Skies 09 Electronic Music Festival will be held in the Atlanta area on May 7-9, 2009.

Kavarna in the Oakhurst section of Decatur, GA (minutes away from Atlanta) is once again the venue for the Festival Event. Kavarna offers a perfect vibe for the performances, with great sound and a nice selection of food and beverage for festival attendees. Kavarna is a non-smoking and all-ages venue.

The list of performers include some of the best electronic musicians from around the U.S. heard on radio stations like Music From the Hearts of Space, Echoes, Star’s End, Soma FM, StillStream, Galactic Travels, and more, and are from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Musical styles ranged from ambient to downtempo chillout to Berlin school to IDM to space rock to experimental. This is not a DJ event.

Real electronic music performed live by humans!

Details below Read more…

This is the trailer for A Fistful of Patchcords, a DVD of a live electronic music performance from 2006 featuring Jordan Rudess and Richard Lainhart.

I missed this when it came out in 2006 – but I saw it over at Matrix‘ site and thought it was worth noting for readers into a little “Moog space jamming”.

This new video by Richard Lainhart, Pneuma, is based on growth patterns generated by cellular automata software, processed in Adobe After Effects to create constantly changing structures ranging from the crystalline to the architectural.

We previously highlighted another cool visualization by Lainhart, Lux,

The soundtrack is a live improvisation on the Buchla 200e analog modular synthesizer, controlled by the Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard fretless keyboard controller. This HD version was rendered in May, 2008.

Note: “Pneuma” displays an intense, periodic flicker pattern that some may find uncomfortable. Those subject to seizures should not view this film.