Leonardo Barbadoro - Musica Automata

[Draft78]

I have already written a post about this project, in the Autechre subforum, but given the transversality of the musical influences, and the singularity of the execution, it seemed interesting to me to post it in this section.

I discovered this project from a young electronic producer and electroacoustic composer (he released some IDM in the past as Koolmorf Widesen ). In the last years it has been working on something slightly different: music for robot orchestra (Logos Foundation, probably the most varied and articulated robot orchestra that has ever been designed). 

He is running a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter where we can see a video documenting the complexity of work:

https://kck.st/2wWMQgQ

If we go beyond the merely “wunderkammer" spectacular aspect of the “robots” - a MIDI controlled orchestra - I must confess to being mainly interested in the compositional aspect. The robots are nothing more than the medium. The Leonardo Barbadoro's influences range from contemporary music (specifically, I find some polyrhythmic experiments of Gyorgy Ligeti), minimalism (Steve Reich in primis), to idm (Aphex Twin, and a Ae nuance ...), but with a very personal touch, not very catalogable. 

Here there a preview of a song :

On the Kickstarter page he say "The potential of the robots due to their extreme precision, can often surpass the ability of a human performer and, therefore, introduce completely new expressive possibilities. However next to the precise digital controls, the real performance and acoustic sound of instruments playing in a real acoustic space is preserved."

 

I think this project deserve more attention that it got it until now. I see there are just 10 days left and the campaign is not even 50% to reach the goal; it seemed interesting to give my contribution to the project, pointing it out until there is the possibility of seeing it realized.

[Allize]

That track sounds nice

[ARPA]

hmm interesting project ...
his stuff on https://koolmorfwidesen.bandcamp.com sounds pretty nice too 

[whosebrian]

 

I am about to release many albums and EPs, I have like 50 tracks ready to go which I was sitting on since a while

http://www.ninasever.com/conversationswithnina/2017/4/24/koolmorf-widesen-i-used-to-have-auditory-hallucinations

[Draft78]

hmm interesting project ...

his stuff on https://koolmorfwidesen.bandcamp.com sounds pretty nice too 

 

...it's true, what he published as Koolmorf Widesen is very detailed and full of variations, but - at last what I heard - is adjacent to the gravitational field of Richard Dj.

On the contrary, it seems to me that the previews of this new project are much more personal, both for the melodies and for the percussive conception. The second half of the song loaded on souncloud is really rich in subtracks and luciferine melodies ... i sincerely hope that he will be able to finish the project.

 

 

On you tube, Barbadoro, has uploaded some very short videos, in which he tests the automations of some instruments, playing more or less famous film motifs: Ligeti's Musica Ricercata (Eyes Wide Shut), Badalamenti's Twin Peaks ... but the thing that more surprised me are two melancholic tracks from Der Todesking, a darkly pervasive film by Jorg Buttgereit:

[Draft78]

... Other film tributes by Leonardo Barbadoro:

two Badalamenti themes for Twin Peaks:

 

But, above all, a beautiful homage to Florian Fricke and the ancestral vision of Werner Herzog: Aguirre

 

...To judge from the positive performance of the kickstarter, I have good reason to hope that the project will see the light!