Five Sound Installations is a DVD-ROM (for MAC and PC) that contains 5 sound compositions generated in real time by a computer algorithm. The works are: 'Room Piece Twenty-Four'; 'Noema'; 'Steiner Suite'; 'Unintending'; 'Scene'. 'Sound Art, algorithmic composition, chance operations, multi-channel sound systems, immersive installations, computer music; these terms all intersect at a point defined by the new XI release 5SI by MJS. Schumacher is a composer, curator (he runs Diapason, NY's only 'sound art' gallery), and performer, and has been creating computer-generated installations for close to 20 years. His output includes 5 solo cds, but these were by necessity adaptations of works designed for more or less permanent listening situations, in which auditors could explore various modes of listening within sound environments.
These works were composed with installation settings in mind, they had no 'beginning-middle-end' (even out of order) in the traditional sense. For the cd releases, the pieces needed to be manipulated in various ways to accommodate the medium. A better way needed to be found. Schumacher has always been interested in creating algorithmic works that extend the boundaries of the genre, investing them with 100s of constituent parts that form sonic mobiles in space and time. Now he presents the ambitious (and technically savvy) listener with a means to experience Schumacher's installations in the home, through up to 8 separate speaker channels and for as long as the computer keeps running.