Experimental Sound Studio

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Stream OPTION on YouTube!

Watch LIVE on Monday night @ 7:30PM CST

Experimental Sound Studio is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to artistic evolution and the creative exploration of sound.

Calendar
GALLERY HOURS: Lee Blalock, 'I Sing the Body Cybernetic'
Jan 25
GALLERY HOURS: Lee Blalock, 'I Sing the Body Cybernetic'

ESS presents an installation and performances by Lee Blalock, in its Audible Gallery from January 25-April 28, 2019. Inspired by both experimental band formats and futurism, I Sing the Body Cybernetic presents mannequins outfitted with wearable electronics that serve as instruments as well as augmentations.

FLORASONIC: Anne Guthrie 'Hackle 2'
Feb 10
FLORASONIC: Anne Guthrie 'Hackle 2'

For Florasonic, Anne Guthrie presents Hackle 2, an installation that connects with themes of transparency and hidden information.

OPTION: Lisa Mezzacappa
Mar 25
OPTION: Lisa Mezzacappa

San Francisco Bay Area bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa presents a program that showcases different aspects of her far-ranging musical personality—combining improvisation, original compositions, graphic scores, and music for experimental film. She performs solo and in duos with with longtime collaborator, Bay Area drummer Jason Levis, plus a surprise guest or two from the Chicago improvised music community. Throughout the intimate salon-style performance, Mezzacappa will discuss her process composing music for improvisers and collaborating with artists in other media, as well as the (often hysterical, sometimes heartbreaking) trials and tribulations that have marked her artistic journey.

OPTION: Matt Mehlan & Cyrus Pireh
Apr 1
OPTION: Matt Mehlan & Cyrus Pireh

Chicago native musician and filmmaker Matt Mehlan and guitarist and composer Cyrus Pireh perform solo and in duo for their debut performance on the Option stage. Not to be missed!


OPTION: Sam Weinberg & Henry Fraser
Apr 8
OPTION: Sam Weinberg & Henry Fraser

Prolific NY based composer and saxophonist Sam Weinberg and the versatile bassist and composer Henry Fraser perform solo and duo for their first appearance on the Option Series.

OPTION: Adam Shead & Matt Piet
Apr 15
OPTION: Adam Shead & Matt Piet

Percussionist and composer Adam Shead is a highly prolific member of Chicago’s improvised music scene. Along with drumming and writing for a number of creative ensembles, he also organizes the Improvised Series at Slate Arts and Performance. Adam will perform a set of music for solo drums, followed by a duet with the versatile Matt Piet on piano. This will be Adam’s premier performance on the Option stage.


OPTION: Anna Webber with Katherine Young
Apr 22
OPTION: Anna Webber with Katherine Young

Brooklyn based saxophonist and composer Anna Webber performs a set of solo music followed by a duo set with Chicago bassoonist and composer Katherine Young. Don’t miss the chance to hear these two artists collaborate in what’s sure to be an exciting evening of sound exploration.

OPTION: Anne La Berge and Amanda Schoofs
Apr 29
OPTION: Anne La Berge and Amanda Schoofs

Flutist, improviser and composer Anne Laberge and vocalist/composer Amanda Schoofs mark their debut on the Option stage. Please join us for an evening of solo and duo music by these two of giants in the field of sound.

As an international hub for sonic experimentation, ESS nurtures artists, heralds new works, and builds a broad, supportive community of makers, enthusiasts, and creative partners through production, presentation, education, and preservation.

Keep up with us on INSTAGRAM

Lee Blalock’s new web release is live now! Lori Felker interviews ULL4 on their debut EP. Check out the interview at : http://leeblalock.com/ull4speaks.html
HUGE thank you to @luhringaugustine for sponsoring the March OPTION performances this year. Their generosity helps us pay respectable honorariums for the artists and curators in the series. Check out their gallery in New York or their booth at Art Basel Honk Kong! www.luhringaugustine.com/
MONDAY! 3/25 bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa performs for OPTION, the first set solo and the second set with drummer Jason Levis, cornetist Joshua Berman and bass clarinetist Jason Stein! Get your tickets before the studio fills up - link in bio for tickets 🎫
Special shout out to our studio session from yesterday! Thanks to our clients, engineers and volunteers who make the magic happen! Our recording studio specializes in the unique recording techniques required for capturing the wide range of sounds produced by sonic artists. Book a session with us and get a fair rate for you next release. 📸: @alex_inglizian

Founded in 1986 by Dawn and Lou Mallozzi, Eric Leonardson, and Perry Venson, Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) has occupied its Edgewater location since 2006. The facility is home to a full-service recording, mixing, and mastering studio for hire; Audible Gallery, a small public space for exhibitions, meetings, workshops, performances, and artists' projects; and the Creative Audio Archive—an invaluable collection of recordings, print, and visual ephemera related to avant-garde and exploratory sound and music of the last five decades. ESS presents eclectic performance and installation programming, workshops, and artist talks year round—both in the various spaces around the studio (including its beautiful garden) and at various partner venues around Chicago.

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Programs

ESS’s public presentation includes weekly and seasonal ongoing concert series in addition to special projects, commissions, and site-specific installations throughout Chicago.

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Archive

Creative Audio Archive houses and programs a number of unique collections documenting sonic arts and experimentation over the past 60 years. Collections include the Sun Ra/El Saturn Collection, the Malachi Ritscher Collection, and an archive of all artistic production through ESS from the past 30 years.

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Membership

Join the ESS community as a member and receive special access to recordings, show and studio discounts, additional media, and private events. Membership comes at a range of levels to ensure an inclusive community of experimental arts supporters.

BLOG:

Featured
OPTION: Interview with Gerry Hemingway
OPTION: Interview with Gerry Hemingway

Ahead of Gerry Hemmingway’s concert this Monday for Option, we dug through the Creative Audio Archives housed at ESS to see what we have from the percussionist’s many visits to Chicago.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Oscillations
APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR HIGH CONCEPT LABS’ FALL/WINTER 2018 ARTIST PROGRAMS
APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR HIGH CONCEPT LABS’ FALL/WINTER 2018 ARTIST PROGRAMS

APPLICATIONS OPEN FOR HIGH CONCEPT LABS’ FALL/WINTER 2018 ARTIST PROGRAMS

IEM Graz Music Residency Program 2019 - Call for Applications
IEM Graz Music Residency Program 2019 - Call for Applications

IEM Music Residency Program 2019 - Call for Applications

Sonic Genealogies: Olivia Block on Harry Bertoia for Radio from Reina Sofia Museum
Sonic Genealogies: Olivia Block on Harry Bertoia for Radio from Reina Sofia Museum

Sonic Genealogies: Olivia Block on Harry Bertoia for Radio from Reina Sofia Museum

Florasonic: Interview With Artist Stephan Moore
Florasonic: Interview With Artist Stephan Moore

ESS sat down with Stephan Moore, composer and sound artist, for an interview about his Florasonic piece that’s currently up in the Lincoln Park Conservatory Fern Room. A Grid Against the Sky will be up from Sunday, December 10th - Friday, March 2nd, 2018. 

Alex Jen Reviews Sara Ludy's 'Climates'
Alex Jen Reviews Sara Ludy's 'Climates'

Alex Jen review's Sara Ludy's Florasonic work, 'Climates'

Alex Jen is an independent curator and critic based in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He has written for Hyperallergic, Hiram Butler Gallery and ArtDesk, and is currently working on a piece considering space and texture in Robert Irwin's work for Domus. Past projects include an exhibition of sound and visual art by Brian Trelegan at Williams College, where Jen is also a student

Ten x Ten in Process Update: Lou Mallozzi and Joseph Clayton Mills
Ten x Ten in Process Update: Lou Mallozzi and Joseph Clayton Mills

We interviewed Lou Mallozzi and Joesph Clayton Smith about their Ten x Ten collaboration, artistic process, and how the idea of narrative plays out in their piece. 

OSCILLATIONS 2017: Call for Proposals
OSCILLATIONS 2017: Call for Proposals

Oscillations 2017: Call for Proposals

Deadline for Proposals: October 1st, 2017, midnight

send submissions to oscillations@ess.org 

Now in its fifth year, OSCILLATIONS presents concerts by artists selected from submissions received in response to an open call for proposals. ESS will present chosen artists in a series of 3-4 performances between November 4 and November 25th, 2017. (Depending on the nature of the selected projects, we may feature either one or two acts per evening.) Emphasis will not be placed on any particular genre or style; the main criterion for selection is the demonstration of experimentation, exploration, and innovation in the artist’s/group’s chosen idiom.

Ten x Ten In-Progress Update: MELINA AUSIKAITIS & AMBROSIA BARTOSEKULVA
Ten x Ten In-Progress Update: MELINA AUSIKAITIS & AMBROSIA BARTOSEKULVA

Ten x Ten 2017 partners Ambrosia Bartosekulva and Melina Ausikaitis tell us a little bit about their collaboration and process for their track recorded in ESS’s Studio A at the end of April.

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EXPERIMENTAL SOUND STUDIO
5925 N RAVENSWOOD, CHICAGO IL 60660