EPK_Mikromedas_AdSCFT001

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About the album

3 dimensional computational representation of internal black hole structure 

Honorary Mention for Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 for the S+T+Arts Prize – Ars Electronica

Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 is a new concept driven album from Dr Valery Vermeulen. It is an invitation to contemplate the nature of reality, an odyssey focusing on the most enigmatic, exotic objects in space – black holes. Vermeulen augments art and science using data sonfication to transform data streams from various models of black holes into sound and music.

The album is signed to London based record label Ash International, subsidiary of Touch. Publishing and licensing of the album is signed to Touch Music. The album was mastered by Simon Scott (SPS Mastering), also known as a member of the band Slowdive. The release is of Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 is scheduled for 03/12/2021.

Exclusive source material used for the album originates from simulations of black hole mergers, gravitational waves, neutron stars, elementary particle behavior near black holes and white dwarfs. Data was gathered and produced in collaboration with several academic partners. These include the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Alabama (US), the Institute for Theoretical Physics at KU Leuven (BE), the Centre for mathematical Plasma Astrophysics at KULeuven (BE) ), the Department of Mathematics at the University of Antwerp (BE), physicists Prof. Dr. Matthias Kaminski and Prof. Dr. Thomas Hertog, former colleague and long time collaborator of Stephen Hawking.

The album was realized with the support of Concertgebouw Brugge (BE).

Bridging the fields of mathematics and music, Vermeulen has designed bespoke data sonification systems to create otherworldly expansive soundscapes, that guide us into the higher dimensional realms of deep space and reality.

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All the information in this epk is confidential. The audio and video material in the epk is copyright protected. So by this we would ask you to not share any of the links in the epk or the link to the epk itself to the general audience. Thank you for your understanding.

All rights reserved. The musical contents, pictures or videos on this webpage may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed in whole or part without express written permission.

If possible we would like to ask to share a link to the instagram of the artist of the album via @valeryvermeulen.studio in your communication to the general audience. Thank you in advance.

Press 

For a full overview of press coverage of Mikromedas AdS/CFT 001 click here.

Press pics


1 dimensional representation of gravitational waves emitted by black hole merger

2 dimensional representation of gravitational waves emitted by black hole merger


Simulation of particle trajectory near black hole event horizon


Simulation of particle trajectory near black hole event horizon

2 Dimensional visualisation of gravitational waves emitted by black hole merger


Picture by Jaromir Mulders. Artistic interpretation of magnetohydrodynamical distortion caused by black hole. 


Picture by Jaromir Mulders. Artistic interpretation of black hole mergers

Picture by Carolien Teunisse

Trailers audiovisual show 

Publications

  • Vermeulen, V.  (2014)  Affective computing and psychophysiology as new ways for interactive music compositions and performance. In eContact! 16.3.
    Link: http://econtact.ca/16_3/vermeulen_affectivecomputing.html
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  • Huylebrouck, D.  (2014)  Muziek op maat (in Dutch). (Article on EMO-Synth project) In EOS, issue april 2014.
    Link: http://eoswetenschap.eu/content/eos-april-2014
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  • Vermeulen, V.  (2012)  The EMO-Synth, an emotion driven music generator. In: eContact 14.2! Biotechnological Performance Practice.
    Link: http://econtact.ca/14_2/vermeulen_emosynth.html
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  • Vermeulen, V.  (2012)  The EMO-Synth, an intelligent music and image generator driven by human emotion. In Proceedings of the 15th Generative Art Conference GA2012.
    Link: http://www.generativeart.com/GA2012/valery.pdf
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  • Leman, M., Vermeulen, V. et al.  (2005)  Prediction of Musical Affect Atribution Using a Combination of Structural Cues Extracted From Musical Audio. Journal of New Music Research, 34, no 1, pp. 39-67.
    //

Press bio approved for immediate release

Valery Vermeulen cuts a unique presence in the world of music. Holding a Phd in pure mathematics and an MA in music production, he is passionate about the convergence of art and science. Driven by a raw curiosity, a fascination with the very nature of reality and a determination to test boundaries within music, Vermeulen’s work evolves tirelessly in its exploration of innovative generative sound synthesis and sound design. His experiments range from using AI in his Emo-Synth project – exploring the connections between music and emotions, to journeying into space using gravitational wave data from black holes. Vermeulen’s process is as mind-bending as the music he produces – like writing bespoke programs to translate data into musical compositions. This approach has led to the creation of beautiful, haunting story telling productions with an emotive intensity – the merging of intuition and logic.

Vermeulen’s installations and performances have been widely shown at various festivals and venues including Hause der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin, DE), CTM Festival (Berlin, DE), Slingshot Festival (Atlanta, US), KIKK Festival (Namur, BE), Bozar (Brussels, BE), Concertgebouw Brugge (BE) and Muziekgebouw aan ‘t Ij as support act for Alva Noto (Amsterdam, NL) to name but a few.

Extended bio

Valery Vermeulen cuts a unique presence in the world of music. Holding a Phd in pure mathematics from Ghent University (BE) and an MA in music production from the Royal Conservatory of Ghent (BE), he is passionate about the convergence of art and science. Driven by a raw curiosity, a fascination with the very nature of reality and a determination to test boundaries in sound synthesis, Vermeulen’s music evolves tirelessly in its exploration of innovative generative sound synthesis and sound design. His experiments range from using AI in his Emo-Synth project – exploring the connections between music and emotions at the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM, Ghent University) to working with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hertog, former colleague and long time collaborator of Stephen Hawking to use gravitational wave data from black holes and translate it into an emotive journey to the stars. Vermeulen’s process is as mind-bending as the music he produces – like writing bespoke programs to translate the data into musical compositions.

This approach has led to the creation of beautiful, haunting sci-fi productions with an emotive intensity – the merging of intuition and logic. When not in the production studio, Valery can be found as a guest professor at the Royal Conservatory – School of Arts – University College Ghent (BE), researcher at the Department of Mathematics – Computer Science at University of Antwerp (BE), guest lecturer at the Master ArtScience in Den Hague (NL), and as a statistical expert, data scientist and consultant.

Projects in Vermeulen’s work include besides Mikromedas, Krystal Ball and EMO-Synth.
Krystal Ball is an artistic, politically and economically inspired multimedia project focusing on the recent financial credit crisis, interactive systems and stochastic as well as algorithmic music composition as initiated by I. Xenakis in the early sixties. Under various formats the project confronts the audience with the often misleading systems and mechanisms that caused the global financial crisis (more info at: https://www.valeryvermeulen.net/works/krystalball/).
With the EMO-Synth project, Vermeulen has been designing and implementing interactive multimedia systems where the impact of automatically generated sound and music is directed by the emotional responses of the user through means of artificial intelligence (more info at: https://www.valeryvermeulen.net/works/emo-synth/).

Vermeulen’s installations and performances have been widely shown in Belgium as well as abroad.

Past performances (selection)

  • Hause der Kulturen der Welt (HKW, Berlin)
  • CTM (Club TransMediale) Festival Berlin
  • KIKK Festival (Namur, BE)
  • Bozar (Brussels, BE)
  • Concertgebouw Brugge (Brugge, BE),
  • Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ (Amsterdam, NL)
  • Slingshot Festival (Atlanta, US)
  • IMT (Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca, IT)
  • Technical Museum Zagreb (Zagreb, HR)
  • Atomium (Brussels, BE)
  • GOGBOT Festival (Enschede, Nl)
  • State Festival (Berlin, DE)
  • SPEKTRUM Art|Science Community (Berlin, DE)
  • TEDxFlanders (Antwerp, BE)
  • MHKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, BE)
  • Musical Instruments Museum (MIM, Brussels, BE)
  • Economia Festival (Baltan Laboratories, Eindhoven, NL)
  • Oortreders Festival (Musica, Neerpelt, BE)
  • TECART Festival (Rotterdam, NL)
  • Sound Scapes & Sound Identities (Beseno, IT)
  • Liebig 12 Gallery (Berlin, DE)
  • GRETA Gallery (Zagreb, HR)
  • Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE)
  • Z33 (Hasselt, BE), STUK (Leuven, BE)
  • Vooruit (Ghent, BE)
  • Tour & Taxis (Brussel, BE)
  • Gallery Tatjana Pieters (Gent, BE)

Interviews, radio airplay and features (selection)

  • Tech Radar (US)
  • Music Radar (US)
  • DJ Mag (US)
  • MixMag (US, Asia and Korea)
  • MusicTech (US)
  • Deutschland Funk (DE)
  • Deutschland Funk Kultur (DE)
  • The Wire UK
  • Electronic Sound Magazine (UK)
  • Trax Magazine (FR)
  • FazeMag (DE)
  • Radio Eins (DE)
  • VRT Radio 1 (BE)
  • VRT Radio 2 (BE)
  • The Wire UK On Air (UK)
  • Radio Lancashire, On The Wire (UK)
  • Radio NOVA, La Potion (FR)
  • DubLab, Longwave (US)
  • YLE Radio 1 (FI)
  • Radio Scorpio, Sterrenplaten (BE)

Contact

email: valery@valeryvermeulen.net
instagram: @valeryvermeulen.studio
web: https://www.valeryvermeulen.net/