"Brian Duffy, award winning sound artist and creator of the Modified Toy Orchestra, has been at the forefront of a world wide underground movement called circuit bending which involves rescuing childrens electronic toys from car boot sales, and converting them into new strange and wonderfully sophisticated musical instruments. Taking them apart, he finds new connections hidden within each toys circuits that reveal new sounds, exposing the surplus value of redundant technology. The toys are then reassembled including switches and dials with which to control this surplus value. The results of this process can be shockingly beautiful, funny and extreme and have led to Brian being labelled a genius, a madman, and a national treasure."
Band stalwarts Dazz and Loz had warned me that there’s no such thing as a trouble-free mto gig and true to form the Toy Orchestra’s first proper Brum show in 2 years was not without its drama. At the sound check there was no whiff of Brian…— New-ish Modified Toy Orchestra member Graeme Rose blogs on the recent MTO gig.
Brian playing the Hula Barbie in her new dress (designed by Lisa Temple Cox) at the Capsule 10th Birthday gig at Vivid, Birmingham. More photos by Katja Ogrin here.
Brian Duffy : Optophonic Lunaphone :: Ikon Gallery
British artist and musician, Brian Duffy presented a unique live performance that took place under the light of a full moon. Using a “Lunaphone,” a musical instrument invented by Duffy and made of specially adapted telescopes which collect lightwaves from the night sky, an ensemble of operators slowly explored and revealed the celestial soundscapes.Translating the lightwaves into sound through a mixer and sequencer, the performance created an unprecedented collaboration between the viewer and the earth’s atmosphere.
Photos by Katja Ogrin of Cum Dogs’ debut performance at Vivid on Tuesday 1st December.
Cum Dogs are performing at Vivid on December 1st for Capsule’s 10th Birthday Celebrations launch gig. It seems Cum Dogs is a new venture by Brian. This extract from the Capsule zine says:
“A new creation from Modified Toy Orchestra’s Brian Duffy, this will be the first live performance for Cum Dogs. Over cheap cocktails one evening Duffy described his band as gay trucker blues.”
We know no more but really hope someone is at the gig with a video camera because such a spectacle needs to be shared with a wide audience.
Regents Park Open Air Theatre
Future of Sound Tour 2009Details and tickets here
Saturday 23 May 7:30 pm
Venue: Hall Two, The Sage Gateshead
Tickets: £7An international collective of vanguard musicians, animators, visual artists and digital masters is brought together in interactive ‘edu-tainment’ presentations hosted by Martyn Ware, founder member of The Human League and Heaven 17 and pioneer in electronic music. The show - part presentation, part performance, part audience interaction - explores the latest innovations in experiential art and sound. The line-up features the Modified Toy Orchestra; The Sancho Plan; Mouthful; Andy Huntington; Tilly Automatic (AKA Sarah Nicolls); and filmmaker and graphic artist Tal Rosner.
But circuit bending is particularly interesting when performed live. One example here is the British musician Brian Duffy, who with his Modified Toy Orchestra spans a bridge between consumer culture and composition. As a performer, there is something of a test pilot about Brian Duffy. His spaceship is the stage, his fuel old electronic toys, his drive to tickle the unconscious out of these materialized dreams of childhood.— Audio Poverty » Modified Toy Orchestra / Quarta 330
