#CJLOGoesMoog: Day Four

May 23 2016 // Julie Matson // Magazine // Features

Today was a short day for me, thanks Air Canada for booking me on an early flight.

Despite my brief amount of time, I managed to see some great stuff!

I began with watching a conversation with Ben Frost and Tim Hecker at The Armory. I also interacted with The Floating Point Collective’s RTP Convergence installation. This was a display full of many LED touch sensitive rods, set up in a pyramid shape. Participants interacted in all aspects of the piece, moving in an out of the setup. When you touched a rod, coloured particles traveled through the rod, to another part of the installation. It was very interesting to observe what happened with a small amount of human interaction, no contact, and lots of human contact. It had a very organic wave-like feeling, which was quite soothing.

A photo posted by CJLO 1690AM (@cjlo1690am) on

My official "last" program that I watched at Moogfest 2016 was a fitting ending. It was another rad lady of electronic history, Suzanne Ciani. It was a durational installation, of which I was only able to witness a small section of, before heading to the airport. If you aren’t familiar with the name Suzanne Ciani, you probably are familiar with her music. She is another legend featured at this year’s Moogfest, iconized through her work with the Buchla Analong Modular Synthesizer, and endless film scores she has written.

A video posted by CJLO 1690AM (@cjlo1690am) on

What I got to experience of her four hour installation (!!) was incredible. She has a lovely ability to capture movement and resonance with her soundscapes. I am happy I got to bear witness to some of her wizardry!

A video posted by CJLO 1690AM (@cjlo1690am) on

Thinking about my whirlwind festival experience at Moogfest 2016, I feel inspired upon leaving. Sure, there were issues surrounding aspects of the festival, but honestly, every festival has logistical issues, it is in their nature of organized chaos. The sheer amount of festival goers swarming the streets of downtown Durham was bound to create some hiccups. It also created an extremely welcoming environment, bonding one another through the love of all things "electronic music." I had many thought-provoking and heart-warming conversations with random strangers. I met new friends. I re-connected with old ones.

All these things combined with one of the most solid festival programming and artist lineups I have seen made Moogfest 2016 my highlight of the year so far!

Julie Matson has covered the 2016 edition of Moogfest in Durham, North Carolina, and also hosts Beyond The Black Rainbow ;where she puts back the experimental back into experimental music every Monday at 4pm ET.

Read more of her tales from Durham chronologically:

And check out sights and sounds of our coverage on social media, by following the hashtag #CJLOGoesMoog. Photos and videos courtesy of the author, with permission.