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Kay Sievers

@versioduo

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Last tickets for my 180 Minutes show @zenner.berlin Thursday September 24!

It’s a serious production, involving Kay Sievers’ incredible @versioduo mechanical instruments: Viola-1, Glockenspiel-37, Hi-Hats..

In addition to 180 Minutes on Thursday, Discrete Ensemble will be open to the public at Zenner on September 22 and 23 from 4-9 PM. Discrete Ensemble is a sound installation for eight custom built MIDI-controlled mechanical string instruments, spread widely throughout the room. Sharing some videos from our last installation in Scotland at the Hamilton Mausoleum to give you an idea. It’s an immersive experience, and we wanted you to see and hear it outside of the busy evening event on Thursday. Come down and say hello :)

For Thursday, I’ve invited two special guests: Temple Rat @meiyuxinmay will be joining the ensemble with her Erhu (a Classical Chinese string instrument) for a special performance mediating between tradition and technology.

machìna @yeoheemusic will perform a solo set from her latest ‘Wonder’ project, and we will also play a short piece together.

I can’t wait to show you what we’ve got planned. Tickets in bio.. hope to see you there ❤️ by @versioduo

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a month ago

*** Opening 22.09.26 ***
Ahead of Barker’s groundbreaking 180 Minutes event, Zenner will install the Discrete Ensemble (Viola-1) directly inside the Saal, opening the space to the public for an exclusive two-day interactive sound exhibition.

Visitors are invited to experience the mechanical sound sculptures up close before their integrated performance for Barker’s 180 Minutes. Here, inside the lofty GDR-era architecture of the Saal, the physical act of listening becomes a fully immersive, 3D experience.

Challenging performer and audience conventions, the eight mechanical string instruments are distributed as widely as possible throughout the Saal, giving rise to psychoacoustic effects and allowing the isolation of individual tones, encouraging interaction and discovery as the audience moves through the sonic body.

By decentralising the ensemble, the piece explores individual vs collective dynamics, the interaction between sound and space, and the automation of human activities. Operating as an open gallery, visitors are encouraged to stay as long as they like, lingering within the soundscape for a meditative and unhurried experience.

The Saal will be open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both days prior to the 180 Minutes main event.

Tickets are priced 9.50€ and available via link in bio + RA now.

Artwork: @artstrizhkov taken in ZENNER by @versioduo

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a month ago

*** SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ***

For his upcoming 180 Minutes showcase, we are excited to announce that Barker will be joined by the Discrete Ensemble, an innovative mechanical sound installation created by Sam Barker and designer Kay Sievers/Versio Duo.

The Discrete Ensemble consists of eight custom, MIDI-controlled mechanical string instruments known as the Viola-1, each one featuring a single string acted upon by a rotating mechanical bow and an automated moving finger.

Additionally for the show, the project’s eight custom-built V2 hihat motorized cymbals will also be fully mounted, as will the V2 glockenspiel-37, allowing guests to experience a complete rhythmic and harmonic spectrum, whilst reimagining traditional instrumentation as a kinetic social sculpture.

Seating in the Saal will be very limited and we encourage movement throughout the space as much as possible.

Supporting Barker on the night will be the super-talented machìna, debuting part of her new live repertoire ‘Wonder ii’.

Tickets via link-in-bio. taken in ZENNER by @versioduo

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a month ago

Playing around on the @versioduo Glockenspiel-37..

My interest in mechanical instruments is not to replace the performer, but to find new techniques unique to the machine, that a human would take no pleasure in playing, if it were even possible. In this case, arpeggios and MIDI delays mimic door buzzers, alarm bells and bouncing marbles on an automated Glockenspiel. by @versioduo

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3 months ago

Discrete Ensemble is in the UK!

Now installed for the opening of @artscollectivenn gallery in Northampton at their new home on 24 Guildhall Road. Free entry and open to all, running from 11-5pm until May 2nd. Sharing some impressions of the private view yesterday, congratulations to @emermaryg and the team!

Next week we travel to Scotland, for an installation and recording session at the Hamilton Mausoleum - known for having the world’s longest man made reverb. A very limited number of tickets are available to the public for May 7th (link in bio).

About Discrete Ensemble:
Challenging performer and audience conventions, 8 mechanical string instruments are distributed as widely as possible throughout a space, giving rise to psychoacoustic effects and allowing the isolation of individual tones, encouraging interaction and discovery as the audience moves through the sonic body.

By decentralising the ensemble, the piece explores individual vs collective dynamics, the interaction between sound and space, and the automation of human activities.

Last slide is footage from the first performance in August 2024, at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

Discrete Ensemble is a project of Sam Barker and Kay Sievers. More info at www.voltek-labs.net

Where else would you like to see this happen? by @versioduo

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6 months ago

taken in Berlin by @versioduo

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by @versioduo

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a year ago

by @versioduo

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a year ago

by @versioduo

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a year ago

Happy to present a new sound installation called ‘Discrete Ensemble’, happening on Saturday 24th August at the @neuenationalgalerie in Berlin.

Continuing a collaboration with instrument designer and engineer Kay Sievers, it uses 8 mechanical string instruments widely dispersed throughout the sculpture garden, allowing the audience to move inside the ensemble and physically explore the harmonic interactions.

The piece will run from 18:00-02:00, as part of the Lange Nacht der Museen @lndmberlin event, where you can visit hundreds of exhibitions and museums in Berlin, open till late, with one ticket.

Hope to see you there :)
Sam taken in Neue Nationalgalerie by @versioduo

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2 years ago

V2 glockenspiel-37 — 2023 Model taken in Berlin, Germany by @versioduo

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3 years ago

taken in Berlin, Germany by @versioduo

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