In my installations I present the listener with a sound field of superimposed events through which the ear can freely navigate. The listener chooses how to experience the piece over time by focusing first on one layer then another, or letting connections between the layers, such as similarities in pitch or rhythm, suggest a path for the ear to follow. The time-based nature of sound is thereby minimized, and the experience becomes more like viewing a painting (with important differences).
Michael J. Schumacher is a composer/performer, concert producer and curator, and has received degrees in music from Juillard School of Music and Indiana University. Director of the sound and intermedia galleries Studio Five Beekman and Diapason, he has produced exhibitions by David Behrman, Alvin Lucier, La Monte Young and other pioneer sound experimenters. He composes electronic sound installations using 2 - 22 speakers, computer-controlled random structures, taped and live music and acoustic works for piano, chamber ensemble, voice, and orchestra, and has presented his sound installations at major art institutions in the United States and Europe. His discography includes five solo CDs, including a double CD set on the XI label "Room Pieces" (2002).
