Nick Didkovsky | |
|---|---|
 Nick Didkovsky at The Stone | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 22 November 1958 |
| Genres | Progressive rock |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Associated acts | Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist, Alice Cooper |
| Website | www |
Nick Didkovsky (born 22 November 1958) is a composer, guitarist, computer music programmer, and leader of the band Doctor Nerve. [1] He is a former student of Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros and Gerald Shapiro. [1]
Didkovsky formed Doctor Nerve in 1984. [2] He received a Masters in Computer Music from New York University in 1987 and went on to develop a Java music API called JMSL (Java Music Specification Language). [3] JMSL is a toolbox for algorithmic composition and performance. JMSL includes JScore, an extensible staff notation editor. JMSL can output music using either JavaSound or JSyn. [4] He has presented papers on his work at several conferences. [1]
Ensemble activities include founding the blackened grindcore band Vomit Fist in 2013. [5] He was a composing member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet for the ten years of the band's tenure, and has also played in John Zorn's band. [1] His Punos Music [6] record label is a harbor for his more extreme musical projects such as "split", [7] a guitar collaboration with Dylan DiLella of the technical death metal band Pyrrhon [8] [ circular reference ].
His debut solo album was released in 1997 and featured contributions from Frith. [9] His second album, Body Parts, came out of a collaboration with Guigou Chenevier. [10]
Didkovsky has composed for or performed on a number of CDs including:
Didkovsky's music has also been arranged by the experimental music group Electric Kompany. He is a co-owner of the "$100 Guitar", a guitar which was circulated amongst many musicians (including Alex Skolnick, Fred Frith, and Nels Cline) for the recording of a concept album about the guitar. [12]
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The Fred Frith Guitar Quartet was an American-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. The group was formed in 1989 by Frith and they performed extensively across North America and Europe for the next ten years, including at the 14th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada in May 1997. They recorded their first album, Ayaya Moses in 1996, and released a live album, Upbeat in 1999.
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Upbeat may refer to:
A discography of releases by Cuneiform Records.
Ayaya Moses is a 1997 studio album by the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, an American-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. It is their debut album and was recorded in Radio-Canada's Studio 12 at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, seven years after the ensemble was formed in 1989. It was released by Canadian record label, Ambiances Magnétiques.
Upbeat is a 1999 live and studio album by the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet, an American-based contemporary classical and experimental music guitar quartet comprising Fred Frith, René Lussier, Nick Didkovsky and Mark Stewart. It is their second album, after Ayaya Moses (1997), and was released by Canadian record label, Ambiances Magnétiques. The live material was drawn from concerts the quartet had performed in Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain in November 1997. The studio tracks were recorded at Tonstudio Amann in Vienna, Austria, also in November 1997.
