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(More customer reviews)For much of the tracks on the MICE (Mobile Interactive Computer Ensemble) World Tour, the artists incorporate and spotlight nature in its many forms which span the globe. This unconventional use of sounds in these pieces brings to light a side of nature that was both highly unexpected, but at the same time enlightening. Most do not have the luxury of having a first hand experience with the lava flows in Guatemala of the Pacya volcano, as in "'A'aa," or the sand dunes of the Namibia Desert like "Sandprints". MICE not only captured the sounds provided through the use of microphones and hydrophones, but created unmatched sounds in these environments by whistling over the sand dunes or adding layers of instruments to juxtapose those given by nature. The sounds collected, and further, the compilations created from these nature tunes highlight different environments and give one a sense that even being there could not provide.
The people of the MICE World Tour incorporate technology with nature, not to destroy it, but enhance it. It seems to be a more modern version with its origins in musique concrète. Musique concrète first took shape in the late 1940s under the guidance of Pierre Schaeffer. He pioneered the use of audio tapes for these purposes to extend music beyond the common perceptions that were held. The recordings of endless possibilities could then be changed as he pleased, via editing of sections, amplification or altering the speed into one seamless piece. The members of MICE, given the technology of today, can do this once tedious work in more or less real time through the use of computer processing.
Not all of the compositions on the World Tour incorporate the sounds of nature but rather showcase global unity some other form. "World Strings" uses string instruments spanning from around the world, combining unique sounds and inadvertently the unique cultures from which they derivate, in one piece. Still, technology is not far from this piece. The MICE computers emanate sharp and calculated tones, yet are not overpowering in their design. These sounds resemble that of another string instrument in the orchestra, but the quality in sound is distinct enough to stand alone. The stringed instruments of the world and the computer generated tones effortlessly harmonize together as balance is always struck between all elements involved.
The first half of the CD emphasizes nature by traditional or nontraditional means. Contrastingly, the latter portion of the CD utilizes found sources of radio samples generated from a location specified in the given title, in total forming the "World Radio Quilt". Each composition is a compilation that blends the effects of bits of FM radio talk, static from changing the station or clips of songs. Whether it be the sounds from the middle of the Indian Ocean, as in "Kanja" or the squeaking of a collection of toys from "Sxueak" to the different components of the World Radio Quilt, the people of MICE have proven that nature and technology can coincide and work together as one, without losing their own distinctive features.
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Traveling 30,000 miles by ship around the world, MICE performed an ambitious series of concerts engaging with diverse environments and cultures of the world. MICE creates deep collaborations between ecologies, human musicians and computer systems.
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