Ben Neill

Ben Neill plays a mutant trumpet! And he joins us for this month’s SNS performances in Philly and Brooklyn. Mutantrumpet has 8 continuous MIDI controllers and 8 momentary MIDI controllers in addition to the acoustic note and volume control from the instrument’s natural sound. The instrument connects directly to the computer via USB. !!!!

“Neill began developing the mutantrumpet in the early 1980s. Initially an acoustic instrument (a combination of 3 trumpets and a trombone combined into one), Neill made the instrument interactive with electronics in the mid 1980s when collaborating with the synthesizer inventor Robert Moog. In 1992, while in residency at Steim’s research and development lab for new instruments in Amsterdam, Neill made the mutantrumpet fully computer interactive. In 2008 Neill created a new version of his instrument and returned to Steim for another residency. The new mutantrumpet is greatly expanded in terms of its electronic capabilities.

Neill’s current projects range from club sets to more experimental electroacoustic pieces, an ongoing collaboration with VJ Bill Jones, and collaborating with LEMUR, the League of Musical Urban Robots. In Neill’s live performance, laptop computers merge his three-belled, digitally interfaced mutantrumpet with live MIDI controlled digital audio and video. In addition to controlling digital audio in real time, Neill literally plays the moving pictures, making the images an extension of his electrified horn. In 2008 Neill constructed a new mutantrumpet with the help of a residency at the STEIM Studios in Amsterdam.” [more about Ben on his site]

His last record Night Science, is available for purchase on itunes, and there’s lots of interesting things on his blog.

Peep his Ben’s podcast for Electronic Groove:

Tracklist:
01. Raymond Scott – IBM Mt St
02. Geiom and Appleblim – Shreds
03. Kontext – Plumes – (Ramadanman remix)
04. Ben Neill – Afterimage (DJ Pinch remix)
05. Ben Neill – Menace Ultimo
06. Benga – 3 Minutes
07. Kode 9 – Magnetic City
08. Ben Neill – Futura
09. Ben Neill – Gaugear
10. Ben Neill – Sistrum (DJ Spooky Grapheme mix)
11. DJ Shadow – Six Days
12. Ben Neill – Seeker
13. Peverelist and Appleblim – Circling
14. Hidden Agenda – Pressin’ On