Case Studies Archives

Jon Mueller: DEATH BLUES from rhythmplex on Vimeo.
Forthcoming throughout 2012, ‘Death Blues’ is a multidisciplinary project that addresses the inevitability of death vs. the reduction of time wasted, encouraging people to do something important right now.
‘Death Blues’ will utilize a number of methods of communication, featuring writing, recording, images, movement, video, food, performance, and more, [...]

All images in this post by Natasha Pickowicz.
In September 2011, I gave a workshop on Listening and Creativity as part of the Viva! Art Action Festival in Montreal. Attendees were first instructed to take part in an exercise involving taste. The items that each of them tasted were created by Natasha Pickowicz, who used a [...]

Here is a talk I gave in April 2011 at the Loyola Music Industry Forum in New Orleans. The focus of the talk was on creativity, and how the process can be approached in different ways based on changes in business, technology, and the increasing saturation of communication. The video is about an [...]

(photo by John Kannenberg)
On June 27, 2009, while I was nearing the end of my Physical Changes tour, we played a show at the Robinwood Concert House in Toledo, OH.  I saw in advance that Matthew De Gennaro was to be on the bill.  I recognized his name from a CD he did with Alastair [...]

I first saw Marcus Schmickler many years ago at a Lampo event in Chicago, in a duo with Thomas Lehn. At that time, I had previously heard a handful of his recordings in various collaborations, but it was great to experience the sound of this particular duo in a live setting, hearing the immediate [...]

I’ve had the pleasure of seeing New Yorker Byron Westbrook’s project Corridors a few times over the last couple of years. Incorporating sound and visuals, it’s more than just watching something while hearing someone play something. As an audience member, you get the sense that a lot is taking place – both within [...]

When I first heard the music of Richard Skelton, it struck me in that rare way, like being somewhere you’ve never been, but feeling some sense of familiarity. It’s warm and comforting music, unrushed and with plenty of breathing room. Whether working under his own name, or monikers like A Broken Consort (see [...]

Location Perspectives is a video interview series featuring multi-instrumentalist and instrument builder Hal Rammel and percussionist Jon Mueller. Six similar questions were asked of each participant, and the resulting discussions took place at their respective homes.
Hal Rammel has been conceiving, building, and discovering things that make sound for most of his life. His [...]

Jeph Jerman and I talked about shooting some videos of some of the situations that happened when we recorded sound – not as a glimpse into technique, but an exploration of the physical effects that occur when vibrations are instigated. Conversely, I suggested we also video some footage that involved movement but no audible [...]

Elementary School Children Listening Exercise:
The Haggerty Museum of Art hosts education programs for inner-city children during the summer months. For one of these programs, I spent a morning with the group asking them about their favorite sounds and what kind of music they listen to. Their answers to these questions contained insight into their lives: [...]