Reconstructing Harald Bode

Concert as part of the "Synthie-Lovers Festival"

Featuring

Students of the IMWI Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology
Luís A. Pena Juan Parra Cancino (Orpheus Institut, Gent)

Felix Mittelberger, ZKM-archive 
Tina Lorenz, ZKM Hertz Lab 

This event is part of Reconstructing Harald Bode – A Synthie Lovers Festival
for more information visit www.zkm.de

about this event

Harald Bode (1909-1987) was a German engineer who took a leading role in the development of electronic instruments. Since 2019 his extensive estate is being managed by the ZKM. Moreover, they have also been conducting the research project ‘Reconstructing Harald Bode’ since 2022 in cooperation with the SYNTH-Werk in Munich and the Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology at the Karlsruhe University of Music.

The aim of the research project is to reconstruct various sound devices based on construction plans, design drawings, correspondence and other documents from Bode's estate. The replicas are made by hand by the SYNTH-Werk and form part of the ZKM archive. The Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology supports the project as scientific partner. 

In celebrations of the successful reproduction of the Barberpole Phaser - a device that can create the acoustic illusion of an infinitely ascending or descending tone, the Synthie Lovers Festival will take place on 25 and 26 April 2025. As part of the festival, there will be a concert taking place at the Karlsruhe University of Music led by students of the Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology as well as other artists. This will be a unique experience as there are only three original constructions of the Barberpole Phaser in the world.

Senta Hirscheider kicks off the programme with a performance that sheds light on the collaboration between Suzanne Ciani and Harald Bode, specifically on the Bode Vocoder and the unfinished Voice-Over project. Afterwards, students from the Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology will exhibit the chronological development of electronic techniques starting from the musique concrète to the use of artificial intelligence in music. Functional music examples will be combined with Harald Bode's ideas to create a unique sounding experience. 

After the break, Juan Parra Cancino will provide insights into Bode's creative processes and musical work using a digital interface and combining it with their own creative output. Following, Marieke van de Ven will present the composition series LIJN 14 consisting of six pieces that explore the movement of points, lines and surfaces within temporally structured spaces. Luís Antunes Pena and Florian Zwißler will conclude the concert with a live dialogue on electronic music. 

(Malena Dautel Castro)