Category Archives: all

algorave helsinki workshop and showcase

I’m one of the organizers of the Algorave Helsinki workshop / collective. I started the workshop back in 2019 with Viktor Toikkanen. Basically the idea of the workshop was to have a relaxed, free and open workshop on a monthly basis (at the start it was actually a weekly one at the Helsinki main library Oodi), where the participants just learn different music live-coding languages together.

The “rave” part of the name is just a reference to the international live-coding community. Our members have not only dealt with beat/rave music, instead we have had members with various different backgrounds. Also I didn’t want to be an unpaid teacher, so we didn’t have that many organized learning sessions, more just freeform knowledge sharing ones.

The workshop is still ongoing and I nowadays organize it with musician, programmer and artist pulu alias Miranda. The current version of the workshop is to meet semi-irregularly at the WHS Teatteri Union‘s Unika Gallery to share knowledge, techniques and tips etc… about live-coding related practices.

But, some new developments! There is a big demoscene festival here in Finland called Alternative Party. It has been about 10 years when it was last held, but it will have a new iteration in a just few days: Alternative Party 2024 at the Technical Museum of Helsinki. Algorave Helsinki is going to participate as well:)

On Friday 11.10.2024 We will have a SuperCollider & TidalCycles workshop organized by me and Miranda from 15 until 18. Anyone interested in these languages can just join in by paying the museum entrance fee or using a Museum Card. No previous coding knowledge is needed.

Later on in the evening we will have a two hour showcase slot for livecoded music by:

Viktor Toikkanen,
sofi (Sofia Zaiceva),
Forces (aka me) and
pulu.

This one requires an AltParty festival ticket.

I have been interested in the demoscene for a long time, so it was great to have this collaboration. If you haven’t bumped into it before: demoscene is a computer subculture that already started in the 80s. Basically it boils down to coding executable files that form AV visuals, ie. demos. The different demoparties (and the big computer festival Assembly) host competitions (or compos), where people present them and compete with them.

The demoscene ethos is pretty similar to making music with live-coding languages, so I was very glad that they accepted this collaboration, when I approached them:)

See u there!

sola festival 2024

The 2024 SOLA festival lineup has been revealed!

FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1044787200653164 & website: https://solafestival.fi/

I think we got together an interesting lineup with pretty limited means (with just a small grant from the Helsinki City). We organize the festival with the Välirivi ry non-profit association, of which I have been the chairperson since the beginning. We actually registered the association in December 2014, so pretty close to our 10 year anniversary!

Quite a lot of free labor I have worked for the festival throughout the years, but I guess it’s enjoyable enough in its own way, so I’m sure the festival will continue:)

Here a copypaste from the info blurb I wrote:

“SOLA festival 2024

The yearly festival for experimental music and moving image lands on the speakers and screens of WHS Teatteri Union again, already for the 9th time!

This year the moving image program will focus on the pioneering Scottish filmmaker / poet / doctor Margaret Tait (1918-1999). We will show a selection of her works from the early 50s to late 70s, six different short films that she referred as ”film poems”. Tait stands out as one of Scotland’s most innovative and stridently independent filmmakers.

We will also screen renowned British artist Luke Fowler’s experimental film ”Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait” (2022). The film is a portrait of Tait’s beloved Orkney, the place she lived and filmed for most of her life, as much as it is about her.

The moving image program concludes with the expanded cinema performance Warm Data by Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki with music composed by Jonna Karanka.

The music program of SOLA 2024 fuses together the different worlds of acoustic and electronic experimentation: the Canadian Oslo-based composer Mike McCormick’s audio processing of the double bass of Mikael Saastamoinen, Mercedes Krapovickas’ traditional bandoneon instrument and electronics form urban sound textures, Luke Lund’s tectonic aural shifts from the electric guitar and computer processing, Katrin Enni’s manipulation of sculptural sounding objects, Essi Hirvonen’s thematic concert ”The Saints” on the double bass, the microscopic (and multichannel!) experimental electronics of Atte Elias Kantonen and Maja Jantar’s extended vocal techniques!

The full line-up and detailed descriptions can be found from our website:
https://solafestival.fi/

Tickets:
Friday 1.11. 15e
Saturday 2.11. 15e
Friday & Saturday 25e

Discount tickets (for students, unemployed, pensioners etc). Friday 10e & Saturday 10e

Tickets available from:
https://teatteriunion.fi/elokuva/sola-festival-2024/

The festival takes place at WHS Teatteri Union, Helsinki Finland – Friday & Saturday, 1st and 2nd of November, 2024, 18 – 22.30.

The festival is supported by the Helsinki City – Culture & Leisure Division and organised by the non-profit Välirivi ry with collaboration of WHS Teatteri Union.

—-
Friday 1.11.
18->
Luke Fowler: Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait (DCP, 61 min, 2022)
Essi Hirvonen
Mercedes Krapovickas
-intermission-
21->
Natalia Kozieł-Kalliomäki, expanded live cinema performance Warm Data
Luke Lund
———————————————
Saturday 2.11.
18->
Margaret Tait films I (DCP)
Mike McCormick & Mikael Saastamoinen
Katrin Enni
-intermission-
21->
Margaret Tait films II (DCP)
Maja Jantar
Atte Elias Kantonen
”

Warmly welcome!

farmersmanual remix

I recently joined in the Discord of a Japanese label Tokinogake, which has released a stellar patch of interesting computer music. I was glad to notice that in their Discord there was an open call for a remix. The remix was for the computer music luminaries farmersmanual of their nullgerät record and I took part on the remixing duties as well as Forces .

Here’s my track, waveset manipulation with SuperCollider of the original track:

Was super fun to do it as I actually have a formative experience w FM. Back in 2005 I saw Mathias Gmachl of farmersmanual play here in Helsinki at Avanto festival. I guess I was listening to a lot of Warp stuff back then, so encountering more wild computer music really made an impact:) I love when computer music is this alchemical amalgam of sounds, and u have no idea how it’s produced. Still trying to do just achieve that:)

charm of sound concert

Helloo, I have an upcoming Forces concert next Saturday 14th of September 18 onwards at the pilote event of a new space of Äänen Lumo / Charm of Sound association.

FB link here: https://www.facebook.com/events/881054270751997.

Excited to play at this new space as Helsinki desperately needs new spaces for experimental music. There is also an open call for the space, if anyone is interested organizing something there themselves:
https://aanenlumo.com/2024/09/03/open-call-for-the-new-sonic-arts-space-for-october-december-2024/

The concert kind a brewed up from the fact that my fellow SHAPE+ alumni Felisha Ledesma is at at a residency in Turku and we thought that this would be perfect opportunity for Felisha to perform in Helsinki as well. Kati Roover and J.Koho also joined up in the lineup so it should be a stellar night:)

Welcome!

live video game soundtracking event

 

My friends Aapo & Aatos (of the Timate Ynts no-wave band) are hosting an awesome live video game soundtracking event called “Tiistain duibadaiba” next Tuesday 20th of August -24 at Teatteri Underground.

I selected an old FromSoft game “Eternal Ring” from the year 2000, which my friend Miša Skalskis (aka ang3l_sp1der) is going to play live, while I’ll try to improvise nice, weird and hopefully interesting background music on my trusty Kurzweil K2000 synthesizer. Should be a very fun evening!

Shows (in order):
Maiju Jouppi + Shadowgate
Roope Eronen + PowerWash Simulator
Fuzz ro dah + The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Forces + Eternal Ring

Event link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/847251146941912

evo-natura radio mix

An Austrian avant-garde concept label evo-natura was kind enough to ask me to do a radio mix, which aired on the Greek radio station Stegi radio on last Tuesday!

I wanted to do more of a historical take on experimental music, so I played a lot of different stuff from different decades from the 70s to 2020s. Sometimes I feel that the contemporary electronic music scene is quite stuck in the state of presence, but for me doing radio mixes is an interesting platform to do deeper digging into the legacy of experimental music in different times.

I have built a whole system in the SuperCollider programming language to mix multiple different tracks together with automated fade-ins and fade-outs, which is also fun way to do these.

The mix is 30min (playlist above) and the other half is from the Helsinki based artist / musician Romance Relic!

Listen here:

 

A few months ago, I actually did an another radio mix that would be fun to share it as well. I did it for the NYC based label/collective International Winners and for their States United show on n10-as radio. For this mix I mainly wanted showcase the different interesting video game composers mixed in with more contemporary glitch, experimental and club music. Listen here:

 

The playlist for IW show:

01. Ippu-Do – Fear For The Future x John Wall – [M – B] Version 1
02. Kota Hoshino (Lost Kingdoms II) – Card Shop
03. Soichi Terada – Dosukoi Wrestler Pumpin’
04. Nuno Canavarro – Wolfie
05. Tsukasa Saitoh (King’s Field IV) – City Ruins
06. Tujiko Noriko – Shore Angel
07. FreQuency (Keiichiro Segawa, Tsukasa Saitoh) (Eternal Ring)- Noah
08. Kota Hoshino (Evergrace II) – Camp
09. Angelforces – ???
10. Yoko Shimomura (Parasite Eve) – Arise within You
11. Ikue Mori – Small Fortune
12. Masahiko Kimura, Motoaki Furukawa, Mariko Egawa (Castlevania 64) – Castle Center
13. GS Sultan – Nightblind in Two Steps
14. Yoko Shimomura (Front Mission 1st) – Canyon Crow
15. Carl Stone – Sumiya
16. Nobuyoshi Sano (Tekken Tag Tournament) – Yoshimitsu Stage
17. Toiret Status – #149.5

three concerts!

I have three concert this weekend!

Sat 15.6. 16.00 Forces presents “Algorithmic Ambiance 2004-2024” at Sound Gifts : Closing of GIFTS/PRESENTS/PRESENCE (an algorithmic live set comprised of randomly chosen unreleased ambient/drone recordings, recorded between 2004-2024)

Sat 15.6. later that evening, part of randomly formed free improv group at you need 2 be friendly after the roof has collapsed

Sun 16.6. 22.30 Forces set at SWÄG 20yrs fest in Tampere

Welcome!✨💜

forces in czechia

I have been kind a lazy updating the website, but I had a small micro tour in Czechia as Forces during last March that I want to post here.

I played two shows there, one in Ostrava (the picture above) and one in Prague!

The Ostrava one was in an abandoned Bauhaus hardware store called PLATO and I played there 9th of March 2024. I think it was probably one of better gigs from me and everything went pretty smooth. Also the amazing Atte Elias Kantonen played and had much fun to travel there together! Natálie Pleváková opened for us, and I think all our sets with together great!

The Gin & Platonic label organized the concert and I’m so glad that I know them and released my Epoch album with them back in the day:)

A few days later I played in Prague in a slightly punkish/noise-ish venue called Petrohradská kolektiv. I really dug the vibe there; DIY and grassroots which is awesome. They seem to have a lot of interesting events, talks, workshops and exhibitions there. The performance venue was very intimate and I felt actually pretty nervous playing there as you were playing from a circular couch in the middle of the room and all the audience were around you and super close. But besides that I think it also went pretty good and people seemed liking the set:) My friend Enchanted Lands also played which was awesome as well. We played there Tuesday 12th of March 2024.

Prague pics:

Prague photos by: Adriána Vančová

data leap

A new Algorave Helsinki event, a first one in five years! It’s called data leap and it takes place next Friday 1.3. I’m going to play there as Forces and I was thinking to play more rave focused set than my few recent ones. See u there!

Algorave Helsinki & WHS Teatteri Union present

data leap
https://www.facebook.com/events/699112179062871/

CASSALPOPOLO & julesvisuaalinen
codepage
Eilien
forces
Kalle Rasinkangas
OH3SD
pulu & Twilight Courier
Trauma Responses

glitchy grooves, metamorphosing melodies, turbulent textures, algorithmic ambiences and beyond!

data leap is a celebration of audio-visual art created with idiosyncratic technological methods. we present live performances and an interactive installation showcasing the creative practices of artists working with algorithms, data and electronics.

Algorave Helsinki is a community of people in the Helsinki area interested in livecoding, generative art and related topics.
we organize periodic meetups to share knowledge, ideas and personal projects.

the term ”algorave” (from algorithm + rave) was coined in 2011 by Alex McLean and Nick McCollins, and has since grown from the UK to a worldwide movement. Although our community is called Algorave Helsinki, we perform a variety of musical styles not limited to ”rave music”.

1.3.
WHS Teatteri Union
Siltavuorenranta 18
Tickets: 15 / 10 €

A discount ticket for everyone who feels entitled to a discount.

“Temporal Passage” installation open 28.2.–2.3.

new album + final weekend!

Heeyy, me and my dear friend Miša Skalskis (ang3l_sp1der) have a new album out as Angelforces! 💜✨

https://superpang.bandcamp.com/album/spaun

Two years ago we opened for Roc of EVOL at VTT and I guess he liked it enough, so he got us in contact with Chris of Superpang label.

I have been really digging Superpang for some years as it has similar computer music / experimental music vibes as early Mego records, which was an important label for me to 22-20 years ago, so it’s very nice to release the album with them.

The album consist of the improvisational livecoded base material we made for the gig. But we have slowly editing it for almost two years, making more interesting spatial / pitch manipulations, so it’s not the pure SC/synth recordings.

Thanks a lot to Roc! Also for the mastering:)

Also, the final weekend of Liminal Objects is at hand at the gallery Sculptor

Here’s Sculptor gallery’s interview of me (in Finnish though), where I explain my thoughts about the game/installation

.

liminal objects still on!

Hey, just wanted to post that my Liminal Objects solo exhibition / videogame installation is still on until the 25th of February 2024 at the Sculptor Studio gallery.

I already included the solo exhibition on my works page as well:
https://joonassiren.fi/liminal-objects/

Maybe few words more; I started thinking about this project a few years ago. I guess it boils down to that I wanted to make a playable game where u walk into a facsimile of the same gallery, where u are playing the game. But I also wanted the game taking place in the future, after maybe some catastrophic ecological collapse.

So in the game u can walk into the future Sculptor, and there on a shiny pedestal, there is a randomly spawning,
liminal object.

Some of the models are abstract shapes I have made in Blender, some from classic video games (Mario, Zelda etc), some are photogrammetrified trash from last Summer around Kalasatama, some museum collections like ancient Egyptian sculptures etcetc

I wanted the objects to create this kind large framework of different referencies ranging from art history, to artifacts of our current time whether they are virtual or “actual”. Kind of a shifting liminality of meanings projecting from the objects.

The installation part consist of garbage that I gathered last year from the wastelands of Kalasatama. Also a mound of soil which has test tubes inserted. Inside the test tubes there are dandelions picked last summer. I feel that dandelions are a very resilient flower and maybe they can survive the after an apocalypse. In the game, they are also the only flower you can find.

Here’s are some installationg picture:

 

More on the actual Liminal Objects page:
https://joonassiren.fi/liminal-objects/

And finally photographer Aukusti Heinonen’s pic of me playing the game:

If u have time, go/play the exhibition:)

incoming! gallery sculptor exhibition

Hey all, I’m atm incredible busy finishing my new exhibition “Liminal Objects”, which opens next week. The opening is at Thu 1.2. 17-19 and everyone is warmly welcome to attend!

I will post more about the exhibition, but here’s a copy paste of the exhibition leaflet from Sculptor website:

https://sculptors.fi/exhibition/liminal-objects/

Joonas Siren: Liminal Objects

Welcome to the opening reception on Thursday 1 Febuary from 5–7 pm! Joonas Siren will be present at the gallery on Saturday 3 February between 2–4 pm and on Sunday 25 February between 2–4 pm.

Joonas Siren’s solo exhibition at Galleria Sculptor’s Studio space is a comprehensive installation that consists of a video game made by Siren, objects collected from the waste land of Kalasatama, and dandelions preserved in epoxy resin.

In the video game, visitors can discover a 3D modeled object that is constantly changing its shape. Hundreds of different objects create their own kind of philosophy, referring to art history, commodities, other video games and artifacts in the world after climate catastrophe, among others. Perhaps the scooters lying around Helsinki in the summer will become historical treasures – something beautiful and perfect? It is in the nature of objects that their meanings and agency are in a constant process of liminality.

Joonas Siren (b. 1983) is a Helsinki-based multidisciplinary artist and experimental electronic musician. Siren graduated as Master of Fine Arts from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2013 and from the joint-study program Nordic Sound Art in 2012. Siren realizes media art installations with various digital working and programming methods, which often contain generative elements. Siren’s most recent exhibition was 16-channel sound installation Lost Time at the Forum Box gallery in 2023, in a joint exhibition with Juuso Noronkoski and Tuomo Rainio. Siren releases music under the name Forces, so far six albums on various international labels. Siren is frequently performing at experimental music events both in Finland and abroad.

forces concert at marginalen festival

One last Forces concert for this year!

I will play next Monday 4th of December 2023 in a festival called Marginalen at the Viirus Theater here in Helsinki. Here’s a link for the event:
https://www.viirus.fi/en/shows/marginalen-3

Also playing:
girlcrushcrushcrush and Tanja Valta.

I’m again building completely new set (a habit that I should get rid off as it takes too much time) and hopefully it should be interesting. Doing some kind of weird sample manipulation in SuperCollider, some cutting edge VST abuse + kind of janky and dated sounds from old hardware romplers; in this case the Yamaha RM1x. I think it’s fun to mix very different kind of tonalities and see what kind of primordial sound soup it will generate:)

Come if you are around! Atm it’s my last booked show for a while (ps. I’m available for booking:)).

forces midi saxophone themed concert at pertin valinta

I have a Forces concert tomorrow Wednesday 22nd of November at Pertin Valinta record store/gallery!

I’ll play together with Passepartout Duo and Heta Bilaletdin.

I decided to do something a bit different for this one, so I programmed a SuperCollider & Max/MSP patch which uses a very old 80s Casio MIDI saxophone as input device. All the notes from the sax goes to different MIDI channels, so I can make a rich tapestry of sounds by just blowing into the horn:). A fun challenge and I hope that the concert will be interesting as well.

C u there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1085437109487514

sola festival 2023

SOLA festival 2023 takes over the cozy film theater / live-art venue WHS Theater Union next weekend, Friday & Saturday 3.- 4.11.2023. I have been organizing this festival with friends from the start 2015 onwards and it’s always nice to organize it again, this time for the seventh time.

If you are around, welcome to SOLA:)

https://solafestival.fi/
https://www.facebook.com/events/373694408316946

SOLA festival 2023

The yearly festival for experimental music and film returns to its usual November timeslot! The festival takes place at its usual prowling ground the WHS Teatteri Union – Friday & Saturday 3rd and 4th of November, 2023.

For the 2023 edition we have programmed again an adventurous selection of different kinds of experimental sounds plus a retrospective of the beautiful 16mm film abstractions of the US based filmmaker Jerome Hiler. Hiler’s films have rarely been shown and this is the first opportunity to see them in Finland.

The music program ranges from the multichannel computer music compositions of Kari Väkevä to the electro-acoustic treatments of a cello by Aino Juutilainen and prepared harp of Saara Olarte, onwards to the digital collage of New York City based Dilian and bio sensor aided compositions of Matilda Seppälä.

Trauma Responses (aka Johanna Sulalampi) will present a unique audio-visual performance exploring the theme of trauma through shifting perspectives. Sofia Zaiceva’s electro-acoustic multichannel concert charts acousmatic worlds where noise transforms into order. Finally the acclaimed accordionist Veli Kujala will play a special microtonal accordion performance.

More info about the artists and program:
www.solafestival.fi

The festival is organized in collaboration with WHS Teatteri Union and it’s supported by the Helsinki City Culture & Leisure Division and MES.
Tickets
Friday 3rd of November 10e
Saturday 4th of November 10e
Friday & Saturday 15e
Tickets:
https://teatteriunion.fi/elokuva/sola-festival-2023/

Program
Friday 3.11.
18
Jerome Hiler: Bagatelle I 2016-2018 16mm 16min
Kari Väkevä
Matilda Seppälä
Jerome Hiler: Marginalia 2016 16mm 23min
-break-
20.30
Jerome Hiler: Bagatelle II 1964-2016 16mm 16min
Veli Kujala
Sofia Zaiceva (LV)
Jerome Hiler: Words of Mercury 2010-2011 16min 25min
—
Saturday 4.11.
18
Jerome Hiler: New Shores 1971-1987 16mm 35min
Aino Juutilainen
Saara Olarte
– break –
20.30
Jerome Hiler: In the Stone House 2012 16mm 35min
Trauma Responses
Dilian (US)
www.solafestival.fi

Notice: no admission during the performances/screenings. Please enter between the short pauses between performances/screenings or before 18/20.30.

ule heli festival performance

Next weekend I will play two different Forces performances at Üle Heli festival in Tallinn, Estonia!

Super happy to go there and thanks for the curator/director Aivar Tõnso for inviting me!

The first performance is on Friday 20th of October 2023 where I play my more typical hi-nrgy pummeling noisey/algoritmic Forces set. I probably will use the weird E-mu Xtreme Lead-1 groovebox, which was super fun to play at the recent Drifts festival. Also playing Shapednoise which I’m super looking forward for!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1361168561188426

The second performance will be on Saturday 21st – a multichannel piece entitled “Hi-hats, Hoovers and Wavetables” which I premiered at our own exhibition “Two Million Seconds” (with Juuso Noronkoski and Tuomo Rainio) at Forum Box gallery last April. This time I will be able to play it more properly as the gallery set was very echoic.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3637270673227719/

Excited!