Schick Machine
‘Schick Machine’ is a showcase for fantastical new musical instruments
Collaboratively created by:
Paul Dresher: Composer, Instrument Inventor
Rinde Eckert: Director, Writer
Steven Schick: Performer, Percussionist
Daniel Schmidt: Instrument Inventor
Matt Heckert: Mechanical Sound Artist
Tom Ontiveros: Lighting and Visual Designer
Description
Schick Machine features percussionist Steven Schick exploring a visually compelling world of mechanical devices, invented instruments, and seemingly infinite sonic possibilities.
A giant motorized hurdy-gurdy, a deconstructed pipe organ, and an array of spinning and thrashing metal machines that seem almost to be alive — these devices and more fill the basement workshop of our possibly mad and possibly genius inventor as he nears the completion of his giant instrument that he believes can reconcile the past and the future. He thinks: “Theoretically, it’s sound. It’s sound, theoretically, it’s sound.”
The sound of a summer storm’s distant thunder and the rain on the roof — the memory of the late-night sound of his mother’s typewriter down the hall — compel the sound collector and sonic inventor Lazlo Klangfarben to attempt the creation of the Schick Machine, a wondrous mechanical device that consumes his every waking and dreaming moment.
Upcoming Performance
Stay tuned!
High-Resolution Photos
The below photos will print 5″ x 5″ at 300 DPI.
Post-Family Show – Photo: Paul Dresher
Post-Family Show – Photo: Paul Dresher
Post-Family Show – Photo: Paul Dresher
Stephen Schick performing on Hurdy Grande – Composite Photo: 8 point 2-Design
Steven Schick Bowing Bicycle Wheel – Photo by Chi Wang
Steven Shick at Big Wheel – Composite Photo: 8 point 2 Design
Steven Schick at Peacock with ring Vertical – Photo: Chi Wang
Steven Schick blowing organ pipes – Photo: Chi Wang
Videos
Short Videos
Schick Machine Excerpt: Percussion Table & Machines Gone Wild.
Excerpt from Schick Machine: Object Orchestra.
Schick Machine Excerpt: Hurdy Grande Lazlo Hendrix.
Schick Machine Excerpt: Lazlo and the Machines.
Schick Machine Excerpt: Field of Flowers.
Schick Machine Excerpt: The Bell Fantasy.
15-Minute Excerpt
This concert is funded in part by Grant for the Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Bernard Osher Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, New Performance Traditions’ Board of Directors, and individual donors.
For press inquiries for Schick Machine, please contact David Hyry: daldenh at aol dot com.
The sounds are fresh and surprising as layers and textures change…often mind-blowing. A theater piece for percussionist Steven Schick by composer Paul Dresher and director Rinde Eckert…a group of back-to-the-future percussion instruments.” —M. Swed LA Times