Shackle is Anne La Berge on flute and electronics and Robert van Heumen on laptop-instrument. Their aim is to explicitly and subtly exploit shackling in both concept and material.

Shackle Affair: Collaborations

by Robert on January 16, 2013

An important aspect of the Shackle Affair project is collaborations. We are constantly looking for interesting guest players to work with. With every player we aim to develop alternative versions of existing parts or create new parts of the Shackle System. Ideally we spend time together improvising with and without the system, record these sessions and extract interesting interplays that can be turned into a part.

Below a list of collaborations in 2012. Not included are the Converging Objects presentations with workshop participants. More about this in another Shackle Affair post.

Shackle & TimeArt (Sven Hahne & Matthias Muche) / February 2, 2012

The Cologne-based TimeArt ensemble and a Dutch contingency selected by Shackle presented a structured improvised music piece for 11 musicians at Trouw De Verdieping (Amsterdam) on February 2, 2012. A hand picked international group of virtuosic, acoustic and electronic musicians performing a 45-minute impro-composition. A collaboration between the Amsterdam Trytone organisation, the TimeArt collective from Sven Hahne & Matthias Muche and Shackle (Anne LaBerge & Deckard). Also with Angel Faraldo (electronics), Felicity Provan (trumpet) and Oscar Jan Hoogland (clavichord, elektronics). Supported by STEIM. The improvisation was guided by a version of the Shackle System. Three lcd screens were put in front of the players. Screenshots of the various musical sections can be found in a Shackle blogpost.

Links: YouTube, Soundcloud, Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Het Wereld Duo (Tessa Zoutendijk & Jaap Berends)/ February 15, 2012

Shackle performed a set with the Wereld Duo at the Jazz&lib at the Lindenberg in Nijmegen, using the Shackle System.

Shackle & Oğuz Büyükberber / March 25, 2012

Shackle performed a set with bassclarinet player Oğuz Büyükberber during the Brokken Middag in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). For Oğuz we developed a specific interface to accomodate his low vision.

Links: image

Shackle & Oğuz Büyükberber / May 1, 2012

Shackle performed a set with bassclarinet player Oğuz Büyükberber in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). This was the second concert with Oğuz. By this time he was more comfortable with the Shackle System and we could fully expoit the system. At the same time this was also The Shackle Stick Kickstarter Celebration Party, to celebrate the succesful Kickstarter project we set up to realize the Shackle Stick.

Links: Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Yedo Gibson / May 8, 2012

Shackle performed a set with saxophone player Yedo Gibson in Zaal 100 (Amsterdam). This was also the Shackle Stick Video-tape Concert, to record footage for the video to be included on the Shackle Stick.

Links:Vimeo, Shackle blogpost

Shackle & Lukas Simonis / December 8, 2012

Shackle performed a set with guitar player Lukas Simonis at the Delicatessen concert series in Wilhelmina Pakhuis (Amsterdam). By this time we had the experience of our Australia/New Zealand/Brazil tour and developed a more generic version of the Shackle System. Meaning: generic instructions for the musical sections useful for every musician, instead of just the flute or laptop instructions:

ANCHOR: grounded drones
BOLT: hectic fast changes
BOW: sustained and airy
CHAIN: solo and accompaniment
CHOICE: voice
CLIP: broken beats
CUFF: circular breath long tones
EYE: sines
FORGE: clicks & pops
IMAGINE: pianissimo
LIMIT: hot pink noise
LOOP: loops
PIN: choppy
RIG: D minor David Lynch
SCREW: glissandi
SHACKLE: free improv
SNAP: short statements
THIMBLE: fast and dense
TORQUE: sustained spit
TWIST: unpredictable silences
ZIPPER: melody