Los Modulinos
free improvisations on modular electronics
Karlheinz Essl and Otto Wanke started their musical collaboration as performers only recently at a concert in Brno (CZ), although they have known each other for many years - Otto was a student of Karlheinz at the University of Mucis and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) and graduated there in 2018. Each of them plays his own self-configured electronic instrument based on various non-standard analog synthesizer modules. Using non-linear analog feedback loops, they create ever-changing and modulating sounds that constantly shift into new, often unpredictable musical contexts.
Their improvisational musical interaction involves spontaneous communication between themselves and their electronic devices. They see their music as an ever-changing process that constantly creates new situations. Essl and Wanke embrace the surprising possibilities that arise when noise, sound spectra and chaotic systems merge into immersive soundscapes. These are sometimes projected through a multi-channel loudspeaker system, giving their musical dialogue a distinct spatial dimension and immersing the audience in a vivid world of sound.
Karlheinz Essl und Otto Wanke haben ihre musikalische Zusammenarbeit als Performer erst kürzlich bei einem Konzert in Brünn (CZ) begonnen, obwohl sie sich schon seit vielen Jahren kennen - Otto war Student von Karlheinz an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (mdw) und hat dort 2018 seinen Abschluss gemacht. Jeder von ihnen spielt sein eigenes, selbst konfiguriertes elektronisches Instrument, das auf verschiedenen nicht standardisierten analogen Synthesizermodulen basiert. Mit Hilfe nichtlinearer analoger Feedbackschleifen erzeugen sie sich ständig verändernde und modulierende Klänge, die sich immer wieder in neue, oft unvorhersehbare musikalische Kontexte verschieben.
Ihre improvisatorische Interaktion beinhaltet eine spontane Kommunikation zwischen ihnen und den elektronischen Geräten. Sie verstehen ihre Musik als einen sich ständig verändernden Prozess, der immer wieder neue Situationen entstehen lässt. Essl und Wanke lassen sich auf die überraschenden Möglichkeiten ein, die sich ergeben, wenn Geräusche, Klangspektren und chaotische Systeme zu immersiven Klanglandschaften verschmelzen. Diese werden gelegentlich durch ein mehrkanaliges Lautsprechersystem projiziert, das ihrem musikalischen Dialog eine ausgeprägte räumliche Dimension verleiht und das Publikum in eine lebendige Klangwelt eintauchen lässt.
Los Modulinos live at Divadlo na Orlí
Brno, 6 Feb 2025
Otto Wanke
Karlheinz Essl (b. 1960) is an Austrian composer, performer, improviser, software developer, media artist and composition teacher. He studied composition in Vienna with Friedrich Cerha and completed his musicology studies with a doctorate on Anton Webern. Composer-in-residence at the Darmstadt Summer School (1990-94) and at IRCAM in Paris (1991-93). From 1995-2006 he taught algorithmic composition at the Bruckner University in Linz. Since 2007 he has been a Professor of Composition and Electroacoustic Music at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Between 1992 and 2016 he was music curator at the Essl Museum in Klosterneuburg.
His work with computers and a long-term preoccupation with the poetics of serial music have been formative influences on his compositional thinking. During the 1990s he carried out various projects for the Internet and became increasingly involved in improvisation. In 1997 Karlheinz Essl was a featured composer at the Salzburg Festival.
In addition to writing instrumental music, Karlheinz Essl also works in the areas of electronic music, interactive real-time compositions and sound installations. He develops software environments for algorithmic composition and live electronics.
As a performer and improviser he plays his own computer-based composition environments as well as instruments such as toy piano, electric guitar, modular synthesizers and analog electronics.
Karlheinz Essl
Los Modulinos live at Blue Mountain Contemporary Art
Vienna, 11 Feb 2025
Los Modulinos live at Divadlo na Orlí
Brno, 6 Feb 2025
Karlheinz Essl's modular setup
Otto Wanke's modular rack
L’evento musicale dei Los Modulinos tenutosi l’11 febbraio ha raccontato una storia di casualità e creatività. Nonostante la collaborazione dei due compositori sia abbastanza recente, Essl e Wanke hanno saputo trovare una perfetta intesa instaurando un dialogo musicale continuo.
La performance, divisa in due parti scandite da un breve intervallo, ha catturato l’attenzione del pubblico per tutta la serata offrendo agli spettatori un’esperienza unica, fatta di affascinanti sperimentazioni sonore date dalla manipolazione del suono in tempo reale. La libera improvvisazione dei due musicisti, basata sull’interconnessione e sulla loro personale sensibilità, ha infatti dato vita ad una sinfonia di suoni spettrali, caos e rumore, capace di condurre il pubblico attraverso paesaggi sonori sconosciuti e offrendo un’esperienza nata durante la performance stessa.
Otto Wanke and Karlheinz Essl live at BMCA Vienna (11 Feb 2025)
© 2025 by Georg Herder
Alle loro spalle, l’ampio dipinto di Huang Min 黄敏 (*1975), Untitled, ha contribuito a valorizzare le suggestioni di molteplicità ed eterogeneità suggerite dal vortice dei suoni.
L’entropia dei toni iniziali ha assunto gradualmente le sembianze di melodie elettroniche dagli accenti grotteschi, futuristici e quasi alieni, proprio come echi di un linguaggio e di una dimensione non più umana. Nella seconda parte, invece, ad un’inizio di suoni gravi, interrotti e frammentati, ha fatto seguito un crescendo di acuti, poi dolcemente affievoliti, a creare un’equilibrata armonia tra suoni e silenzi.
La live performance dei Los Modulinos, in conclusione, ha intessuto sequenze sonore capaci di narrare una dimensione dove il caos è origine di creazione e creatività. Le trame musicali generate dai due compositori hanno coinvolto il pubblico, chiamato a recepire stimoli nuovi, emozioni continue e differenti: un processo capace di aprire in ciascuno nuovi soggettivi orizzonti sonori, una performance creativa in grado di generare creatività nei componenti del pubblico.
Updated: 16 Feb 2025