Jessica Rylan

Last updated

Jessica Rylan (born 1974) [1] is a sound artist, electronic musician and engineer from Boston, Massachusetts. Most of Rylan's work is based on the design and construction of DIY modular synthesizers, which she then uses to create a variety of sounds combined with her own vocal performance. Her work has been described as "a set of weird hybrids - noise pop, folk noise", [2] and "sometimes rough, sometimes playful, sometimes confessional." [3] She describes herself as an "artist turned engineer," [4] and has cited Merzbow as an influence upon her own work. [5]

Contents

Childhood and education

Rylan grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and was based in Boston for the beginning of her career. She has played music for most of her life and began with classical training. Ryan also sang, read music, and played musical instruments in her early years. Her grandfather was an electrical engineer and was her first influence in the area of electronics. He taught her about electronics and helped her first build machines. The magazine Popular Electronics was also an inspiration to Rylan when she was growing up. [6]

Rylan received an MFA degree in electronic music from Bard College in 2003. She was a research affiliate at MIT’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies from 2006 to 2010. Rylan received a BS degree in electrical engineering from University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2010. She has received grants from Penny McCall Foundation and the LEF Foundation and is currently a PhD candidate in electrical engineering at Stanford University. [7]

Career

Rylan is a solo artist, working as the noise band Can't, [8] or under her own name. [9] She has performed across the United States and toured in Europe, Russia, and Norway. Rylan's work has been released as a limited series on her own IRFP label, [10] as well as recordings on Important Records (USA), [11] Musica Excentrica (Russia), [12] and Drop Of Blood Records (Netherlands), [13] among others.

On 14 November 2007, Rylan gave an artist's talk at MIT's Centre For Advanced Visual Studies, discussing the development of her work, her influences and her work with Don Buchla. [6]

Rylan is one of the artists featured in Totally Wired, [14] a documentary about Andreas Schneider's infamous boutique electronic musical instrument shop called SchneidersBuero, in Berlin. [15]

In January 2012, Rylan performed as part of Stanford University's KZSU 90.1FM's 24-hour 'Day Of Noise' experimental music broadcast. [16]

Rylan has performed with various artists, including John Wiese, [9] Thurston Moore and Wolf Eyes. [11]

YearEvent
2002A sound installation Thesis at Baird College Research at Berwick Research Institute
2003Touring
2003Writing for a magazine
2003Receiving a grant for a research project with LEF Foundation
2003Boom Box show at the Boston Center for Arts
2003TV performance with Greater Boston Arts, WGBH TV
2004Project:AIR at Smith College
2004sound installation at MIT’s List Gallery for Visual Arts
2004RRRecords final performance of Can’t songs
2005Sound installation Mills Gallery, Boston
2005Book- bri:air vol 1 (research book)

Business

Rylan started a business, Flower Electronics, [17] in 2006 where she produces editions of her instruments for purchase. These include: Little Boy Blue, Personal Synth, Natural Synth, Battery Powered Noise Generator, Modular Synthesizer, Controller, White Face, Blue Box, Arvin Radio, Bogen Intercom, Intermodulator #1. [18]

Rylan discusses the process behind (and details the schematics for) her DIY Personal Synthesizer (2004) build in an article for the Vague Terrain journal. [19]

Related Research Articles

Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means. Pure electronic instruments depended entirely on circuitry-based sound generation, for instance using devices such as an electronic oscillator, theremin, or synthesizer. Electromechanical instruments can have mechanical parts such as strings, hammers, and electric elements including magnetic pickups, power amplifiers and loudspeakers. Such electromechanical devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, electric piano and the electric guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic musical instrument</span> Musical instrument that uses electronic circuits to generate sound

An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into a power amplifier which drives a loudspeaker, creating the sound heard by the performer and listener.

Wendy Carlos is an American musician and composer best known for her electronic music and film scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music technology (electronic and digital)</span>

Digital music technology encompasses digital instruments, computers, electronic effects units, software, or digital audio equipment by a performer, composer, sound engineer, DJ, or record producer to produce, perform or record music. The term refers to electronic devices, instruments, computer hardware, and software used in performance, playback, recording, composition, mixing, analysis, and editing of music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow Magic Orchestra</span> Japanese electronic music band

Yellow Magic Orchestra was a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The group is considered influential and innovative in the field of popular electronic music. They were pioneers in their use of synthesizers, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, computers, and digital recording technology, and effectively anticipated the "electropop boom" of the 1980s. They are credited with playing a key role in the development of several electronic genres, including synthpop, J-pop, electro, and techno, while exploring subversive sociopolitical themes throughout their career.

Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s which is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Neill</span> American classical composer

Ben Neill is an American composer, trumpeter, producer, and educator. He is the inventor of the "Mutantrumpet", a hybrid electro-acoustic instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circuit bending</span> Modification of an electronic device to create an instrument

Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low-voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators.

STEIM was a center for research and development of new musical instruments in the electronic performing arts, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Beginning in the 1970's, STEIM became known as a pioneering center for electronic music, where the specific context of electronic music was always strongly related to the physical and direct actions of a musician. In this tradition, STEIM supported artists in residence such as composers and performers, but also multimedia and video artists, helping them to develop setups which allowed for bespoke improvisation and performance with individually designed technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blevin Blectum</span> Musical artist

Blevin Blectum is an American electronic musician and multimedia composer. She is celebrated as an "icon of deviant and cerebral electronic music".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Waisvisz</span> Dutch inventor and musician

Michel Waisvisz was a Dutch composer, performer and inventor of experimental electronic musical instruments. He was the artistic director of STEIM in Amsterdam from 1981, where he collaborated with musicians and artists from all over the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synthesizer</span> Electronic musical instrument

A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristan Perich</span> Composer and sound artist

Tristan Perich is a contemporary composer and sound artist from New York City who focuses on electronic one bit sound.

Carol Yvonne Espy-Wilson is an electrical engineer and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland (UMD) at College Park. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kasia Glowicka</span> Polish computer music composer (born 1977)

Kasia Glowicka, also known as Katarina Glowicka, is a Polish composer and lecturer of computer music at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laetitia Sonami</span> Musical artist

Laetitia Sonami, is a sound artist, performer, and composer of interactive electronic music who has been based in the San Francisco Bay area since 1978. She is known for her electronic compositions and performances with the ‘’Lady’s Glove’’, an instrument she developed for triggering and manipulating sound in live performance. Many of her compositions include live or sampled text. Sonami also creates sound installation work incorporating household objects embedded with mechanical and electronic components. Although some recordings of her works exist, Sonami generally eschews releasing recorded work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Coleman</span> American composer

Beth Coleman is an American female electronic music composer and academic in the field of new media studies. Her work has been featured in a variety of venues such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, Musée D'art Moderne Paris, and the Waag Society Amsterdam. From 2005 until 2011, she was a professor of Comparative Media Studies and Writing at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Currently she is assistant professor, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Waterloo, Canada, and co-director of Waterloo's Critical Media Lab.

Kaffe Matthews is a British electronic composer and sound artist. She collaborated on the work Weightless Animals, which won a BAFTA Scotland award.

Tara Rodgers is an American electronic musician, composer, and author. She is a multi-instrumentalist and performs and releases work as Analog Tara.

References

  1. ↑ Rodgers, Tara (2010). Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound. Durham, NC: Duke University. ISBN   978-0822394150.
  2. ↑ Fisher, Mark (July 2007). "Jessica Rylan - Interior Designs". No. 281. The Wire - Soundcheck. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Cummings, Raymond (Summer 2007). "Jessica Rylan: Boston's Sound Manipulator Focuses On Fluctuating Textures". No. 46. Signal To Noise Magazine. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Savin, Irina (28 September 2011). "Jessica Rylan: crazy electronics". steim.org. STEIM. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  5. ↑ Roe, Nat. "Blown Out Easy Listening Mp3s From Jessica Rylan's Can't". blog.wmfu.org. WMFU. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Jessica Rylan: Artist's Talk". video.mit.edu. MIT Centre for Advanced Visual Studies. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  7. ↑ "Jessica Rylan Piper: Biography". vagueterrain.net. Vague Terrain. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  8. ↑ Discogs. "Can't - Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  9. 1 2 Discogs. "Jessica Rylan - Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  10. ↑ Rylan, Jessica. "IRFP.net Releases - Numbered Series Of Objects". irfp.net. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Jessica Rylan - Interior Designs(2011)". importantrecords.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Musica Excentrica - Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Drop Of Blood Records - Discogs". deplayer.nl. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  14. ↑ Snag Films. "Totally Wired Trailer". youtube.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  15. ↑ Snag Films. "Totally Wired". snagfilms.com. Snag Films. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  16. ↑ The Wire. "Day Of Noise: Stanford University's 24 hour live music broadcast". thewire.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  17. ↑ Rylan, Jessica. "All About Us". flowerelectronics.com. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  18. ↑ Siegel, Ed (20 April 2001). "AUSPICIOUS DEBUT FOR MARKET THEATER SERIOUS FUN TAKES CENTER STAGE WITH PAIR OF ADVENTUROUS ONE-ACTS". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  19. ↑ Rylan, Jessica (22 April 2011). "Personal Synthesizer". Vague Terrain (19). Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.