The Audium – SF

One of our favourite places is The Audium at 1616 Bush St. in San Francisco. It’s the only theatre of its kind in the world and pioneers the exploration of space in music. The theatre has 169 speakers which ‘bathe listeners in sounds that move past, over, and under them.’ The ‘Sound sculptures’ are performed in total darkness in the 49 seat auditorium. As Stan Shaff explains, ‘When the concept of Audium began taking shape in the late 1950′s, space was a largely unexplored dimension in music composition. The composer who suspected space capable of revealing a new musical vocabulary found his pursuit blocked by the inadequacy of audio technology and performance spaces.’ The Audium was created by composer Shaff with equipment designer Doug McEachern and it’s the only theatre constructed specifically for sound movement, utilizing the entire environment as a compositional tool. Yo!

The Fall Of America

Currently reading Allen Ginsbergs ‘The Fall Of America’ published by City Lights (The Pocket Poets Series No.30). It won The National Book Award for Poetry in 1973. The picture above is from The International Times, their archive is at www.internationaltimes.it

Cream Puff War