Mike Hovancsek

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Mike Hovancsek (born c. 1967) is an American multi-instrumentalist, visual artist, and writer [ permanent dead link ]. He collaborated with Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh since the late 1980s (performing and recording with him, and restoring his early electronic music), and is a former member of the multicultural experimental group, Pointless Orchestra. He plays the guzheng , koto, guitar, waterphone, and percussion, among other instruments.

Contents

In the late 1980s he founded the Pointless Music label, which was devoted to experimental music releases. In his solo work, and with Pointless Orchestra, he recorded and/or performed with such musicians as Jin Hi Kim, Z'EV, Amy Denio, Anna Homler, Illusion of Safety, Reed Ghazala, John Hajeski, and Barry Chabala.

Mike Hovancsek's current output, which he describes as "multicultural chamber music," [1] includes solo recordings, solo performances, and collaborations with many notable members of the world music community. His music often combines instruments from several different cultures in unique ways. For example, on "Hybrids" (from his Temporal Angels CD) he combines the Chinese guzheng, cello, violin, and Middle Eastern dumbek. On "Somniloquy" (also from Temporal Angels) he combines koto, english horn, and choir. Reviewer Anastasia Pantsios of Cleveland Scene describes his work as "elegant, textured music that sounds spare and understated yet is quite complex." [2]

Mike Hovancsek is a graduate of Kent State University, where he majored in psychology and later earned a master's degree in counseling. While there he studied Chinese music with Chia-chun Chu and Japanese koto with Anne Prescott.

Discography

As leader

With Pointless Orchestra

With Halim El-Dabh

With John M. Bennett

Compilations

As engineer

Articles about music, written by Mike Hovancsek

Swords into Plowshares

Related Research Articles

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The koto (箏) is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument, and the national instrument of Japan. It is derived from the Chinese zheng and se, and similar to the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and ajaeng, the Vietnamese đàn tranh, the Sundanese kacapi and the Kazakhstan jetigen. Koto are roughly 180 centimetres (71 in) in length, and made from Paulownia wood. The most common type uses 13 strings strung over movable bridges used for tuning, different pieces possibly requiring different tuning. 17-string koto are also common, and act as bass in ensembles. Koto strings are generally plucked using three fingerpicks, worn on the first three fingers of the right hand.

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Album Collection of recorded music, words, sounds

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Guzheng

The zheng or guzheng, is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25 or 26 strings, is 64 inches (1.6 m) long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from Paulownia wood. Other components are often made from other woods for structural or decorative reasons. Guzheng players often wear fingerpicks made from materials such as plastic, resin, tortoiseshell, or ivory on one or both hands.

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References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-12-31.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link) CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Locals Only: Not Pointless Anymore: Mike Hovancsek Launches A New Label With The Release Of His Solo Debut," by Anastasia Pantsios . Cleveland Scene, v. 11, no. 37 (January 7, 2004). [ permanent dead link ]