<h1 id="toc0"><font size="2"><span style="font-weight: normal;">do forward as much as you can stomach——thanks!</span></font><br></h1><h1 id="toc0"><font size="4">"World's First Udderbot Recital" Friday August 20 @ UC-IMC</font></h1>
<img src="http://udderbot.wikispaces.com/file/view/udderbot_fancy.jpg/154891979/udderbot_fancy.jpg" alt="udderbot_fancy.jpg" title="udderbot_fancy.jpg" style="height: 238px; width: 156px;" align="left">Champaign-Urbana, July 30,
2010—Multi-instrumentalist and composer Jacob Barton is happy to present
his first full-length concert featuring the "udderbot", a unique slide
woodwind instrument invented in 2005.<br>
<br>
A joint project of OddMusic-UC and UnTwelve, the concert will feature
adaptations of pre-existing music and new music commissioned especially
for the occasion. Sixteen composers, half of them Champaign-Urbana
residents, participated in the commissioning project.<br>
<br>
The recital will take place at 8 PM on Friday, August 20, 2010, at the
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center. Admission is a $10-15 sliding
scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds. <a class="wiki_link" href="http://udderbot.wikispaces.com/uddcital+rsvp">RSVPing is
encouraged.</a><br>
<br>
Made of a glass bottle, a rubber glove, and water, the udderbot's quirky
appearance and unassuming timbre make it a "friendly" instrument;
however, with a range greater than the concert flute's, the udderbot is
no mere novelty. The recital will feature music for solo udderbot
player; udderbot with electronics; chamber music with traditional
instruments; and multiple udderbots. The udderbot will substitute for
its electronic predecessor, the theremin, for the oldest piece on this
recital, Martinu's "Fantasie" from 1944. A majority of the music being
performed is "microtonal", i.e. using notes and intervals that fall
"between the keys" of the piano (but are no trouble at all for the
udderbot).<br>
<br>
Jacob Barton, the udderbot's chief advocate and only known virtuoso,
grew up in Virginia Beach, VA, where his musical hunger led him to learn
piano, saxophone, clarinet, bassoon, and musical saw. He studied
composition at Rice University, where he received a BMI Student Composer
Award for "Xenharmonic Variations on a Theme by Mozart". His passion
for instrument building led serendipitously to the collaborative
invention and development of the udderbot, which continues even today.
Since 2005, Jacob has played the udderbot in traditional bands,
children's concerts, experimental music venues, theater productions, New
York City subway stations, and humanitarian clowning missions in
Ecuador.<br>
<br>
The recital is a joint presentation between UnTwelve, a Midwest-based
organization dedicated to exploring the musical frontiers beyond the
12-note system, and OddMusic-UC, a new compositional co-op and musical
instrument library out of the UC-IMC. OddMusic-UC aims to increase
everyone's access to unusual musical experiences, offering radio
programs, performances, and instrument making workshops. The udderbot
can be built in under an hour using materials available at a hardware
store; even so, learning the udderbot takes significantly more time and
effort. Jacob will be leading an all-ages udderbot marching band with
OddMusic-UC this fall.<br>