Karlheinz Essl

Portrait KHE


Important Topics at One Glance


REplay PLAYer

generative sound file shredder
© 2000-2013 by Karlheinz Essl

vs. 4.0

A generative computer music program that deconstructs a given sound file and recomposes it by using realtime composition algorithms. It can be used as a tool to generate an infinite and every-changing sonic stream from a single sound file for artistic, compositional or mere recreational purposes. It can also be regarded as a computer based instrument for live performances, as an interactive sound installation or a generator for ambient music.

Released: 7 May 2013

NEW



New Compositions

not yet over (2013)
electronic soundtrack for a video installation by Guido Kucsko
Premier: 12 Jun 2013, Vienna (A)
Sigmund Freud Museum
Tristan's Lament (2013)
electronic sound performance for computer and controllers
Premier: 12 Apr 2013, Taipei (TW)
Lacking Sound Festival
Karlheinz Essl: computer and controllers
WalkürenWalk (2013)
sound performance for computer and controllers
Premier: 9 Apr 2013, Hsinchu (TW)
News from Vienna
Karlheinz Essl: computer and controllers
Miles to go (2012)
for 4 prepared and amplified toy pianos
Premier: 2 Dec 2012, Luxembourg (LUX)
Rainy Days: Toy Piano World Summit
Isabel Ettenauer, Xenia Pestova, Pascal Meyer, Phyllis Chen: toy piano


Recent Releases

Not a Toy (2012)
Music for (toy) piano and live-electronics by Karlheinz Essl
Víctor Trescolí Sanz (toy piano, piano) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) live at Universitat Politècnica de València
Released: 5 Nov 2012, Audiotalaia
Download...

Mental Mess (2012)
Hans Tammen (endangered guitar) and Karlheinz Essl (m@ze°2) live at Harvestworks, New York
Released: 4 Feb 2012, modisti
Download...

Proper Ties (2010)
generative sound environment for a cross-media installation
Released: 10 Jan 2011 (artquarterly Edition: Vienna 2010)
Listen...

OUT OF THE BLUE (2010)
Agnes Heginger (vocals) and Karlheinz Essl (electronics, kalimba) live at the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg
Released: 31 Mar 2010, XS Records [xs-72]
Download...

FLECHTWERK (2009)
Karlheinz Essl and Matthew Ostrowski (electronics) live at ISSUE Project Room, Brooklyn
Released: 24 Oct 2009, XS Records [xs-68]
Download...


New Sounds

...wird sichtbar am Horizont (1996)
spatially distributed ensemble
Zungenreden (1990)
radiophonic piece
Proper Ties (2010)
generative sound environment
Sequitur X (2010)
for trombone and live-electronics
Sequitur III (2008)
for electric violin and live-electronics
Entsagung (1991-93)
for ensemble and live-electronics
Free Ringtones
derived from Karlheinz Essl's electronic compositions


Music Software

fLOW 4.0 (1998 - 2013)
ambient soundscape generator
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
shareware - released 11 May 2013
REplay PLAYer 4.0 (2000-2013)
generative sound file shredder
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
shareware - released 7 May 2013
FontanaMixer 2.0 (2004-2012)
generative sound environment
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
freeware - released 3 Feb 2012
WebernUhrWerk 2.3 (2005-2011)
generative music generator
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X) and Intel PCs (Windows XP)
freeware - released 12 Jan 2011 (Universal Binary)
Lexikon-Sonate 4.0.1 (1992 - 2010)
algorithmic music generator
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
freeware - released 5 Dec 2010 (Universal Binary)
Real Time Composition Library (RTC-lib) (1992-2010)
Software library for algorithmic composition with Max/MSP/Jitter
freeware for Mac OS X, Windows XP and Pd
Amazing Maze 2.0 (1993 - 2007)
interactive realtime composition for sampled sound particles
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
freeware - released 14 Jan 2007 (Universal Binary)
more or less 1.3 (1999-2007)
random-generated playing instructions for musical improvisation
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
freeware - released 16 Jan 2007 (Universal Binary)
SEELEWASCHEN 1.2 (2003-2006)
generative sound environment
for Apple Macintosh computers (Mac OS X)
freeware - released 20 Oct 2006 (Universal Binary)


New Feature

Lautstrom #18: Karlheinz Essl (2011)english
Karlheinz Essl interviewed by Jeremy Woodruff about his recent interdisciplinary sound works in collaboration with other artists
reboot.fm (Berlin, 12 Dec 2011)
Digitale Paradiese (2010)deutsch
Generative Kompositionen von Karlheinz Essl
Radiosendung von Patrick Hahn
WDR 3 (13 Jan 2010)
WDR 3


New Articles about Karlheinz Essl

Endloser Klangprozess (2011)deutsch
by Tobias Fischer
BEAT - Magazin für Musik, Produktion und DJ-ing (Kiel 2011), p. 40-41.
Digitale Dialektik (2011)deutsch
by Elisa Holz
update 2.11, Donau-Universität Krems (München 2011)


New Articles by Karlheinz Essl

Proliferationen eines kompositorischen Konzepts (2013)english
Vortrag beim Symposium Arbeit am musikalischen Werk. Zur Dynamik künstlerischen Handelns am 26.3.2011 am Mozarteum in Salzburg
Der Komponist ist tot - es lebe der Komponist! (2009)english
Statement von Karlheinz Essl über die Rolle des Komponisten heutzutage

sine fine... Unendlich Musik (2007)english
Karlheinz Essl über Musik, die kein Ende hat

Wandlungen der elektroakustischen Musik (2007)english
Karlheinz Essl über Geschichte, Gegenwart und Zukunft der elektroakustischen Musik

Algorithmic Composition (2007)english
published in.: Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music, ed. by N. Collins and J. d'Escrivan, Cambridge University Press 2007


New Interviews with Karlheinz Essl

Gibt es sie noch: "die" Musik? (2011)german
Karlheinz Essl im Gespräch mit Reinhard Kapp (Wien)
in: ANKLAENGE 2010 (Wiener Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft): Gibt es sie noch: "die" Musik? Vorüberlegungen zu einer Allgemeinen Musiklehre, hrsg. von Marie-Agnes Dittrich und Reinhard Kapp, Mille Tre: Wien 2011, p. 89-108. - ISBN: 978-3-900198-25-1
Intuition, Automation, Entscheidung. Der Komponist im Prozess algorithmischer Komposition (2011)german
Karlheinz Essl im Gespräch mit Jonas Förster (Essen). - Telefoninterview, Klosterneuburg 29.11.2010
mica-Interview mit Karlheinz Essl (2010)german
Im Gespräch mit Heinz Rögl erzählt Karlheinz Essl über seinen musikalischen Werdegang und aktuelle künstlerische Projekte. - Studio kHz, Klosterneuburg 21.07.2010
Algorithmische Komposition und Live-Elektronik (2010)german
Karlheinz Essl im Gespräch mit Samuel Gfeller (Bern). - Café Prückel, Wien 15.02.2010
Interview with Karlheinz Essl (2010)english
Singer and musicologist Julieanne Klein (Montréal) in conversation with Karlheinz Essl about his music and artistic ideas. Published at eContact 12.2 (Montréal 2010)


WebMusic / web@rt

Karlheinz Essl's Playing Strategies (1998)
A mind-challenging text oracle which generates playing strategies for musical improvisations which should provoke you to overcome your internalized playing behaviour.
Champ d'Action (1998)
An interactice realtime composition for computer-controlled ensemble where musicians are playing from computer screens on which playing instructions are projected on the fly.
MindShipMind (1996-98)
A realtime-generated multimedia Web installation which derived from the interdisciplinary seminar on "Order, Beauty & Complexity" at the Copenhagen MindShip, by Karlheinz Essl and Vibeke Sørensen.
Lexikon-Sonate online... (1997)
2 different versions for the Internet, one implemented in Javascript, the other (interactive) as a CGI-script.
Lexicon-Oracle (1996/97)
An automatic Web oracle which sheds some light onto the mysteries of Lexikon-Sonate. Furthermore, it also plays an instantly generated excerpt of that infinite piano piece. There is also a version available that talks (using computer speech).



About Karlheinz Essl's Music

german
Klingende Abbilder der Welt
Peter Blaha (2000)
Die Poesie des Augenblicks
Reinhard Kager (1998)
Karlheinz Essl
Bernhard Günther (1997)
Vrouw Musica goes Internet
Barbara Maria Zollner (1997)
Wagnis Synthese
Christian Baier (1997)
Klangsystem, Spiralnebel: im Kreis, in's Offene
Bernhard Günther (1994)
Systemtheorie und Komponieren
Ulrich Mosch (1993)
Die Spirale als strukturiertes Chaos
Christian Scheib (1989)


english

The Music of Karlheinz Essl
CS Leigh (2009)
Design Work by Karlheinz Essl
Julia (2008)
An Extended Composer's Desk
Andreas Felber (2007)
Ariadne's Thread in the Hand of Karlheinz Essl
Christoph Becher (1991)


french

Karlheinz Essl
Jean-Noël von der Weid (1993)


Selected Articles on Composition Theory by Karlheinz Essl

german
Wandlungen der elektroakustischen Musik
Aktuelle Tendenzen elektronischer Musik (Wien 2007)
Improvisation über "Improvisation"
Musik-Wissenschaft an ihren Grenzen. Manfred Angerer zum 50. Geburtstag (Wien 2004)
Komponieren im Cyberspace
Proceedings of "KlangArt 99": "Global Village - Global Brain - Global Music" (Osnabrück 1998/99)
Realtime Composition. Musik diesseits der Schrift
Positionen. Beiträge zur Neuen Musik, Nr. 36 (Berlin 1998)
Strukturgeneratoren. Algorithmische Komposition in Echtzeit
Beiträge zur Elektronischen Musik, Vol. 5 (Graz 1996)
Wie entsteht eine Komposition?
Bruckner-Symposion Linz 1995 - Zum Schaffensprozeß in den Künsten, hrsg. vom Anton Bruckner Institut Linz (Linz 1997)
Kompositorische Konsequenzen des Radikalen Konstruktivismus
Positionen. Beiträge zur neuen Musik, Heft 11 (Berlin 1992)
Computer Aided Composition
Distel, Nr. 46/47 "Mensch Maschine" (Bozen 1991)
Klangkomposition und Systemtheorie
Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik, Bd. XX (Mainz 1990)


english

Algorithmic Composition
Cambridge Companion to Electronic Music (Cambridge 2007)
Playfully earnest
Karlheinz Essl on his collaboration with Jonathan Meese (Klosterneuburg 2007)
Improvisation on "Improvisation"
Karlheinz Essl in discussion with Jack Hauser (Vienna 2002)
Composing in Cyberspace
Proceedings of the conference "Cultural Competence. New Technologies, Culture & Employment" (Linz 1998)
Lexikon-Sonate. An Interactive Realtime Composition for Computer-Controlled Piano
Proceedings of "KlangArt 97": Musik im virtuellen Raum (Osnabrück 2000)
Composing in a Changing Society
International musicological symposion "Austria: 996-1996. Music in a Changing Society" (Ottawa 1996)
New Aspects of Musical Material
Lecture given at the "Darmstädter Ferienkurse" (Darmstadt 1992)


french

Utopies
Les cahiers de l'IRCAM, Nr. 4/93 (Paris 1993)


Selected Interviews with Karlheinz Essl

deutsch
Radioportrait Karlheinz Essl
ORF-Zeitton: Helmut Jasbar (2007)
IM FOKUS: Karlheinz Essl
Christian Baier (2005)
Elektronische Musik / Komposition / Improvisation
Silvia E. Pagano (2004)
Karlheinz Essl neue CD ©RUDE
ORF-Zeitton: Ursula Strubinsky (2001)
Komponieren im Cyberspace
Abele Internent Radio: Hanns Abele (1998)
Intervention
ORF-Zeitton: Christian Scheib (1996)
Portrait Karlheinz Essl
ORF-Zeitton: Lothar Knessl (1994)
Gesättigt mit Intention
ÖMZ: Gerold W. Gruber (1994)

english

NET MUSIC
Golo Föllmer (2000)
Music beyond Scripture
De Standaard, Bruxelles: Maarten Beirens (1998)
Profile Karlheinz Essl
Radio Austria International: Joanna King (1997)
Karlheinz Essl interviewed by Bruce Duffie
WNIB, Chicago: 2 Mar 1997



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Updated: 11 May 2013