Housed in Amsterdam, STEIM (The Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music) has been around for more than 40 years. Not only are they probably the oldest "independent live electronic music centre" but, as they assert themselves, they are the only one "exclusively dedicated to the performing arts." A combined "research laboratory and development workplace for live electronic music" STEIM was born out "of a kind of political and cultural rebellion" from which dissatisfied composers and orchestral musicians (Peter Schat, Konrad Boehmer, and others) began a workgroup back in 1967.

Despite STEIM's contribution to many concerts and manifestations, it was only with the arrival of Michel Waisvisz in 1973 that the emphasis came to focus on STEIM as a laboratory/workplace in addition to its functions of research and education. (Roland Spekle, Michel Walsvisz)

Walsvisz collaborated with STEIM to create the Cracklebox, a "completely new musical-electronic principle" based upon instability. The inception of the Cracklebox, a touch-based inharmonic audio device, is what Spekle and Walsvisz argue crystallized STEIM's mission: "advancing an instrumental approach to the practice of electronic music." 

And ever since, STEIM has "encouraged the use of low-tech solutions and the creative "misuse" of recycled high-tech" in the production and performances held at the centre. Judging by their Vimeo account alone, which only shows videos dating back to 1990, the breadth of content and the diversity of talent is vast. A fan of abusing both hi- and low-fi media equipment myself I'm amazed by the sheer dedication STEIM demonstrates to this area of the performing arts.

Live electro-instrumental music hasn't always been easily accepted by the general public as an artform. Even performing electronic music live in the nineties, with say laptops, often lead to being ridiculed on stage - "he's checking his email." Fortunately now with the expansion and experimentation of peripheral devices, tactile interfaces have become readily accessible to electronic musicians. And thus, we've seen a huge outgrowth in the electro-instrumental performance scene. The popularity of devices such as the Monome and the MPC have helped to foster the collaboration of electronic musicians with other instrumentalists as well. Simple pad inputs, combined with twisty knobs, actually allow for some rather complex human-to-computer interactions.

http://vimeo.com/6782805

Despite the simplicity some of today's interfaces (essentially derived from the same concepts as the original Roger Linn drum machine or Bob Moog synthesizer) that's behind the recent trends, the old-school scene still evokes a sense of wonder in the hearts of electro-musical performers such as myself. Most, if not all, forms of digitized sound still lack the fuzzy warmth of their analogue counterparts. Records, tube synthesizers, contact-mics all share the ability to tap into the organic nature of sound that is sometimes lacking with solely computer generated audio. But who's to stop electronic musicians from utilizing the best of both worlds? Definitely no one at STEIM for that matter.

For those interested in live electro-instrumental music I encourage you to check out the Handmade Music Night happening Friday night at InterAccess in Toronto.