brianduffyhasabigbrain

TEDxAldeburgh - Modified Toy Orchestra - Surplus Value. What...

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:32:12 -0500

TEDxAldeburgh - Modified Toy Orchestra - Surplus Value. What Makes an Audience Tick? (by TEDxTalks)

Brian and the MTO in the dressing room before TEDx (via via...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:13:51 -0500

Brian and the MTO in the dressing room before TEDx (via via Graeme Rose’s Blog)

"We were then treated to Brian Duffy’s demonstration of how he has sonified the light from the stars..."

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:02:14 -0500

“We were then treated to Brian Duffy’s demonstration of how he has sonified the light from the stars by looking through telescopes at the night sky and then translating the frequencies of the light into sound frequencies. My favourite part of this was hearing him talk about the ‘pulsar’ – a rotating neutron star – discovered by Jocelyn Bell – (I am very taken by the story of her discovery which was recently featured on a BBC documentary). Anyway – if the rotation speed of the pulsar is fast enough, it can generate a pitch – so Brian asked a scientist to find pulsars with various pitches to work in a piece of music…”

- Kathy Hinde reports on TEDx Aldeburgh

The Modified Toy Orchestra perform at @tedxaldeburgh (by...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:59:42 -0500

The Modified Toy Orchestra perform at @tedxaldeburgh (by matthewlinley)

Mini-MTO at Sound Kitchen

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:15:04 -0400

News reaches us that there’s a (rare?) chance to see an extended Casio Duo set from the Modified Toy Orchestra on the 6th of October at Kings Heath’s fashionable Hare and Hounds where they’ll be supporting Coppe’, “the legendary godmother of Japanese Electronica”.

The whole gig should be unmissable. More info on the Sound Kitchen blog and tickets are a mere £4.00.

If you’re wondering what the Casio Duo set is, here’s an example from last year.

MTO circuit bending workshops in Bristol

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:40:18 -0400

MTO circuit bending workshops in Bristol:

A 6 day course for £40 in the week before the big gig. Exciting!

MTO Bristol gig, 27th Oct

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:39:12 -0400

MTO Bristol gig, 27th Oct:

Plastic Planet at the Colston Hall.

Modified Toy Orchestra - Pocket Calculator (Kraftwerk cover) (by...

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 06:55:55 -0400

Modified Toy Orchestra - Pocket Calculator (Kraftwerk cover) (by lernrning)

Modified Toy Orchestra play “Black Star” Live in...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:59:12 -0400

Modified Toy Orchestra play “Black Star” Live in Hong Kong (by DazzDang)

There’s a MTO Facebook page, should you be down with the...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:05:00 -0400

There’s a MTO Facebook page, should you be down with the liking.

Scan of the Brian Duffy interview in this month’s RADAR...

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 09:38:00 -0400

Scan of the Brian Duffy interview in this month’s RADAR magazine.

MTO setting up at 6 Music (from the Mark Riley Facebook album)

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:47:16 -0400

MTO setting up at 6 Music (from the Mark Riley Facebook album)

The MTO meet Mark Riley at 6 Music (via Graeme Rose’s Blog)

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:39:39 -0400

The MTO meet Mark Riley at 6 Music (via Graeme Rose’s Blog)

A montage of clips of the Modified Toy Orchestra at Ikon...

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:40:36 -0400

A montage of clips of the Modified Toy Orchestra at Ikon Eastside. (by @hellocatfood)

The whole set from last night’s Modified Toy Orchestra...

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:26:45 -0400

The whole set from last night’s Modified Toy Orchestra performance at Ikon Eastside.

"Described by Mute magazine as a “national treasure” Brian is the artist leader of the..."

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:21:26 -0400

“Described by Mute magazine as a “national treasure” Brian is the artist leader of the acclaimed MODIFIED TOY ORCHESTRA and member of the Sinclair Spectrum Orchestra. Brian is a NESTA Fellow and impossibly clever. He first worked for Stan composing the soundtracks for two of the company’s youth theatre shows, No Walls, Just Doors and Adult Child/Dead Child before moving onto the radio piece So Bring Me Down and the coundtrack to Good and True. Brian did an exceptional job as musical director for Lurid and Insane. Most recently he worked alongside composer Giles Perrin on the music and sound design for SONIC JOURNEY”

- Brian’s bio on the Stan’s Cafe Theatre Company - Associate artists and other collaborators list.

The World of R. Buckmister Fuller, a 1974 film by Robert Snyder...

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:32:50 -0500

The World of R. Buckmister Fuller, a 1974 film by Robert Snyder on UBUweb.

Buckminster Fuller was an architect, engineer, geometrician, philosopher, futurist, inventor of the famous geodesic dome, and one of the most brilliant thinkers of his time. His legacy becomes ever more relevant, providing us a road map to steer our planet away from oblivion and toward a sustainable future for all humanity. This film by Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Snyder, like his other documentaries on “the greats” (Michelangelo, Henry Miller, Willem de Kooning, Pablo Casals, among others), transports the viewer into Fuller’s mind and soul. Told entirely in his own words, the film is an intimate, personal and inspiring message from Fuller to our fragile world. 85 min

MTO live at the Rites of Spring: Ikon Music Festival

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:25:51 -0500

Thursday 7, Friday 8 and Saturday 9 April, 7–11pm
Ikon Eastside, 183 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5SE

Ikon presents Rites of Spring, a special festival of live music taking place 7-9 April 2011 at Ikon Eastside, Digbeth.

Modified Toy Orchestra, Martin Creed and his band and Fyfe Dangerfield headline the three-night festival, which showcases a pick of emerging folk, pop and electronic talent from Birmingham and further afield.

The Lineup:

Thursday 7 April
Modified Toy Orchestra
epic45
Shady Bard
Poppy Tibbetts
Friends of the Stars

Friday 8 April
Martin Creed and his band
David Cunningham
Matmos (video set)
Is I Cinema
Arc Vel

Saturday 9 April
Fyfe Dangerfield
Lulu and the Lampshades
Boat to Row
Young Runaways
Timothy Parkes

Doors open 7pm
First act 7.30pm
Headline act 10pm

TICKETS
£12 (£10 students with valid NUS card) per night or £30 (£27) for all three nights.

Details and booking at the Ikon website.

MTO on Mark Riley

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:23:51 -0500

The Modified Toy Orchestra will be in session for Mark Riley’s 6Music show tonight.

Planet of Rock The tracks on the Plastic Planet album are new...

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:05:00 -0500

Planet of Rock

The tracks on the Plastic Planet album are new recordings with the current MTO lineup. They differ from the tracks on Earth One (now branded “Special Edition Plastic Planet Hong Kong”) as you’d expect given the nature of the instruments and it’s most obvious with Planet Of Rock. Enjoy.

Order a copy here.