Soundstreams, a Toronto-based new music presenter with 30 years of commissions recorded by the CBC, is showcasing its musical history with a new web site and companion iPad app.
According to the company, the initiative, called SoundMakers, lets users to “experience and engage with” the music commissioned by Soundstreams over the years. Users can stream music on-demand, download free samples from selected works to use in their own unique compositions, and share music through integration with audio distribution platform SoundCloud and through social media.
The SoundMakers iPad app, which is a free download at the iTunes store, allows users to download textural samples taken from selected commissioned works, such as brass, string or percussion sounds, and create a two-minute piece using the app’s built-in sound editing tool.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase these works in a new way,” said Mark Steinmetz, director of music programming for the CBC, which commissioned much of the music, in a statement. “It opens up part of our rich catalogue of music to listeners and composers across Canada and around the world.”
Soundstreams also has commissioned Toronto-based composer and pianist John Kameel Farah to be the first SoundMakers Composer in Residence, which will involve chronicling his process of creating a new work for piano and electronics using recorded content from the site and engaging with the community.
“I am delighted to be the first SoundMakers composer-in-residence,” said Farah. “SoundMakers opens up a myriad of possibilities for both electronic producers, who can now bring the textures, harmonies and rhythms of contemporary Canadian composers into their music, and the composers themselves, whose ideas can now be brought into the realm of sampling and electronic production.”