Barry Schrader News : November - December 2008 (Autumn 2008)

Monkey King is now in wide release in both CD and MP3 formats.

You can now buy CDs and MP3s directly from my web site by going to the Store page. I've added many excerpt tracks to the store widget, some of which haven't been previously available. Also, on the Downloads 2 page of the site, I've added new exceprts from all four movements of Monkey King.

I'll be doing a new interview with Bonnie Barnett on the Monkey King CD on Trilogy on KXLU 88.9 FM in Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 5 at 9:00 pm, PST (5:00 am GMT on November 6). This will be streaming live on the web, and you can easily connect via the main KXLU page. The recently posted 2003 interview I did with Bonnie on the EAM album has become a popular download on the Downloads 1 page of the site, and I'm sure you'll find this new interview to be interesting and entertaining.

I'll be doing another interview about the Monkey King CD on Outsight Radio Hours hosted by Tom Schulte on Sunday, November 30 at 4:00 pm EST (9:00 pm GMT). Outside Radio Hours is presented over the Radio Gets Wild network from 3:00 to 6:00 EST on Sundays, with portions later repeated over the Radio Freedom, and LUVeR networks, and also on WXOU, 88.3 FM in Rochester, Michigan. You can hear this show live via the WXOU site and over the Radio Gets Wild network. Tom's shows are also now available as a podcast on iTunes (search for "Outsight Radio Hours" in the iTunes Store).

On December 10 I'll be presenting the SCREAM 2008 show at REDCAT: Vic Ray Electric, a program of new works for piano and electronics performed by pianist Vicki Ray. Featured on the program is the world premiere of Rand Steiger's awhirl, a composition selected via an international competition sponsored by SCREAM for works for piano and electronics. Steiger's exuberant piece features mercurial gestures, swirling flights of arpeggios and multi-channel spatialization. Also on the program are recent works by Peter Ablinger, Eric Chasalow, Shaun Naidoo, Jacob ter Veldhuis, and Daniel Wohl. This promises to be a unique and exciting concert.

Rand Steiger

To celebrate the release of the Monkey King CD, I've uploaded an MP3 of Twilight on the Downloads 2 page of the site; you can find this file at the bottom of the page, below the "store". Twilight was a live/interactive keyboard/computer improvisation. It was composed for my first trip to China in 1988, and based on a poem of the same name by Ch’ên Yün (1886-1910). This performance was recorded in 1989. Using software that is now obsolete, the work can no longer be realized, and this remains the only recorded performance. Since I have no plans for releasing this on a CD, I'm offering it as a free download through the rest of 2008.

MatrixSynth

Matrix of Matrixsynth asked me about some of the technical aspects of composing the works on the Monkey King CD. You can read my response here.

If you haven't yet read the interview on the Monkey King CD on the Tokafi website with Tobias Fischer, please check this out. This serves as a preview of the CD. To read the interview, please click here. There's also an article on this interview on the Synthtopia website.