Ice Cream Truck Songs is a seasonal set of melodic chimes and jingles produced for playback on ice cream truck loudspeaker horns. The sonic messages investigate the invasive distribution and transmission techniques of public address systems.

Ice Cream Truck Songs acts as a soft-serve cover album of the most common jingles found in ice cream truck music boxes. Each track is arranged to be looped for an extended, unknown duration over and over again. Ice Cream Truck Songs was created using circuit-bent variations of handclaps, calliopes, glockenspiels, chimes, bells, and MIDI tones.

Ice Cream Truck Songs consists of three discrete parts: a gallery installation, a photo catalog, and playback in an ice cream truck trolling the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago. Ice Cream Truck Songs was produced for the exhibition #404 Not Found curated by Miguel Cortez at Co-Prosperity Sphere in August 2013.

http://jeffkolar.us/icecreamtrucksongs

Ice Cream Truck Songs

"The Entertainer" from "Ice Cream Truck Songs" [2013]

GSM Buzz is an audible investigation of electromagnetic interference patterns between mobile phones and computer speakers.

GSM Buzz captures bursts of electromagnetic radiation when mobile devices connect to cellular towers. The buzzy bursts are a result of overcrowded cellular networks transmitting data in rapid succession, one after the other, every 0.004615 seconds.

GSM Buzz explores these synchronized interference patterns as source material. Each track uses a different generation of mobile wireless Internet to manipulate the repeated humming signals. GSM Buzz was produced for the magazine "Totally Relaxed" by Nick Ferreira.

http://jeffkolar.us/gsmbuzz

GSM Buzz

"3G" from "GSM Buzz" [2013]

Performing with radiophonic instruments, unique homemade electronics, micro-watt transmitters, and re-purposed objects, Anna Friz, Jeff Kolar, and Eric Leonardson create intimate atmospheres traversing acoustic and electrode-magnetic space. Together their work can be characterized as a mindful collaboration with vibrational surfaces and unstable circuits; and with subtle treatments of potentially noisy, often lo-fi materials from which highly detailed landscapes emerge. Though all three artists have worked with one another in various constellations in Chicago and internationally, this concert is their premiere outing as a trio.

Performed and recorded live on May 15, 2015 at Defibrillator Gallery in Chicago, USA. More info at http://dfbrl8r.org/event/home-radiation.

"Home Radiation 2" from "Home Radiation" by Anna Friz, Jeff Kolar, Eric Leonardson [2015]

Car Alarms is a set of custom maximum security sonic alarms produced for installation in vehicles. Car Alarms deconstructs classic multi-toned and high-volume horns, sirens, klaxons, and verbal warnings to challenge their effectiveness as public security alerts. For installation inquires of Car Alarms, please contact (773) 696-0118.

The Car Alarms magnet album release is an edition of 50. Car Alarms was produced for the exhibition Hot for O.S. curated by Miguel Cortez at Cobalt Studio in Chicago 2015. Special thanks to Christopher Cunningham for print material, and Kevin Hamilton for loudspeaker horns.

All Tracks Performed, Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By: Jeff Kolar
Design: Jeff Kolar

http://jeffkolar.us/caralarms

Car Alarms

"Yelp 1" from "Car Alarms" [2015]

http://soundcloud.com/joncates + http://soundcloud.com/jeffkolar

Performed & Recorded LIVE on August 12, 2015 at Defibrillator Gallery in Chicago, USA.
http://dfbrl8r.org/event/ariadne

"0812215" by Jeff Kolar + jonCates [2015]

Each of the twelve Doorbell tracks are designed to loop continuously. 

Doorbell is permanently installed as a ringable doorbell system outside of the Urban Gray Ballroom at 606 ½ S. Elm St. Greensboro, North Carolina. Doorbell was produced for the Museum as Instrument residency curated by Shannon Stratton and Joe Jeffers at Elsewhere Museum in July 2015.

All Tracks Performed, Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By: Jeff Kolar
http://jeffkolar.us

Artwork: Aleia Murawski
http://instagram.com/aleia._

Liner Notes: Marc Weidenbaum
http://disquiet.com/2015/12/21/music-for-doorbells

More Info: http://jeffkolar.us/doorbell

Doorbell

Panospria

"Doorbell 12" from "Doorbell" [2015]

Wind Chimes is a multichannel, wind powered sound installation composed for prepared copper wind chimes and custom electronics. Wind Chimes will be installed outdoors hanging from tree limbs on the 1700 block of South Laflin Street in Chicago for July 1 – July 29, 2016.

When:
Opening BBQ Friday July 1 from 6pm-10pm
July 1 - July 29, 2016
RSVP: http://facebook.com/events/1037743526317760

Where:
Antena
1755 S. Laflin St.
Chicago, Illinois
http://antenapilsen.com/blog/2016/6/21/jeff-kolar-wind-chimes

Wind Chimes

"Wind Chime 1" from "Wind Chimes" [2016]

As a live multi-channel audio installation for hacked wireless baby monitors, Baby Monitor reveals the intimate, invisible, and unstable electromagnetic spaces found in electronic baby monitoring hardware. Using unlicensed radio frequencies to broadcast, the work explores how harmonic interference patterns, oscillating frequencies, and distant human voices surround us. Baby Monitor stages distributed listening, soft surveillance, and consumer electronics while revisiting the history of music for babies and its influence on electronic music.

Commissioned by Radio Revolten International Radio Art Festival in Halle (Salle), Germany

All Tracks Performed, Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By: Jeff Kolar
http://jeffkolar.us

More info: http://jeffkolar.us/babymonitor

Baby Monitor

"Lullaby 1" from "Baby Monitor" [2016]

Produced at https://soundcloud.com/skalarsound - Skálar | Sound Art | Experimental Music, East Iceland http://skalar.is/

Performed & Recorded LIVE on October 30, 2016 at LungA School in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland.

"Hangman (Jeff Kolar, Meg T. Noe)" is an adaptation of a centuries-old folk song.

Album Art: "Angel Baby" by Meg T. Noe http://megtnoe.com

"Hangman" by Jeff Kolar and Meg T. Noe [2016]

The Wilhelm Scream is an audio exploration into the iconic cinematic sound effect called “The Wilhelm Scream.” The sound sample can be found in over 225 films, video games, and television programs. The scream is often used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion.

The scream was originally recorded in a single take, along with five other short pained-screams, which were archived as “man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams.” The stock sample is credited to Sheb Wooley, best known for his pop song “The Purple People Eater.”

The Wilhelm Scream CD is in an edition of 187 - one CD for each Hollywood usage of the scream. Each copy of the CD includes a specific screen-shot captured at the exact moment the scream was used in each particular film. The print inserts are numbered chronologically, with number 1 being the first usage of the scream in the 1951 movie “Distant Drums.” The film stills were sourced digitally from online discussion boards, fan websites, and YouTube channels. 

The audio explores the scream’s origins, usage, and cult status as well as the character conversations and ambient sounds that immediately precede and follow the sound effect.

The Wilhelm Scream was produced for the exhibition “And Then She’s Like, And He Goes” curated by Chris Campe at Columbia College Chicago’s Averill and Bernard Leviton A+D Gallery.

The Wilhelm Scream

"The Wilhelm Scream" from "The Wilhelm Scream" [2012]

Reprinted from the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago:

We are interested in what "radio" can mean in terms of art, music, and culture. The concepts, technologies, and ways that people use radio(s) has changed radically in recent years, and we are excited by the possibilities and conversations this opens up.

From antique analog radio receivers to the most recent digital systems for the distribution and streaming of musics, people know radio(s) as both a physical object and a cultural idea.

Our goal is to reimagine radio as a more mobile, spatial, and flexible artistic medium. We listen between stations, crossing signals, and creating opportunities to hear radio(s) again, with fresh sensibilities. This includes challenging the conceptions of terrestrial broadcasts, satellites, online activity, and on-demand forms; as well as telematic art exchanges, online podcasts, and unlicensed temporary interventions. Our performances utilize an array of electronic and analog instruments, as well as devices designed and fabricated by hand. We are interested in creating new electromagnetic infrastructure that proposes alternate narratives and experiences.

Commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2016)

Performed, Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by: Jeff Kolar, jonCates
Cover photograph by: Ian W. Arsenault

03222016

03222016_000

"03222016_000"  from "03222016" by Jeff Kolar + jonCates [2017]

Performed, Recorded & Mixed By: Jeff Kolar (2016)
Artwork & Design By: jonCates
Mastered By: Cooper Crain
Commissioned By: Chicago Film Archives (2016)
Released By: Felix Onyx (2018)

The Engine’s Near Is Unconstructed

"B" from "The Engine’s Near Is Unconstructed" [2018]

Ringtones is a set of operative ring tones produced specifically for use by mobile telephones. The audio addresses the compositional structures of ring tones and their functional use as transmission indicators.

Ringtones imitates the durational loops and rhythms found in the incoming and outgoing audio alerts. The audio tracks analyze different ring tone formats: Monophonic, Polyphonic, Truetone, Singtone, video ringtone; and other peripheral transmission languages: Morse code, MIDI.

Ringtones investigates the dominant cadence patterns (i.e. ring-pause-ring), and other audible signals like the dial tone, busy signal, off-hook tone, and recorder tone. The work also explores the proprietary encoding formats and data compression techniques predominantly used to reduce transmission bandwidth and storage requirements of audio data.

More @ http://jeffkolar.us/ringtones

Ringtones

"Alarm" from "Ringtones" [2012]

Music for Phone Booths is a multi-channel audio installation and recorded album intended to defuse the hectic atmosphere of Chicago’s City Hall and County Building. For this site-responsive work, Kolar composed original music for playback inside five vintage abandoned phone booths located underground in the Chicago Pedway. The compositions feature an 1863 S.D. & H.W. Smith pump organ and electronics. The project investigates the style, function, and format of Background Music - music created to be passively listened to. Music for Phone Booths is intended to induce calm and serve as a comfort station for daily commuters.

Performed, Recorded, Mixed & Mastered By Jeff Kolar in Chicago, Illinois, United States (2018)
Cover Art By: Jeff Kolar
Commissioned By: Chicago Loop Alliance, Space p11, The City of Chicago
Special thanks to Chris Cunningham at Loupe LLC.

More @ http://jeffkolar.us

Music for Phonebooths

Anywhere in the world

"Anywhere In The World" from "Music for Phone Booths" [2018]

Jeff Kolar is a composer, sound artist, and founder of Radius, an experimental radio broadcast platform established in 2010. His work has been exhibited internationally at the Smithsonian Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, CTM Festival for Adventurous Music, Radio Revolten Radio Art Festival, and reviewed in The New York Times, The Wire Magazine, Red Bull Music Academy, and more.

Jeff Kolar

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