Farm Technology Days
At Barringer Family Farms
Typically, Farm Technology Days are a festival type celebration and demonstration of farm machinery throughout history. Attendees examine threshers, combines, pickers, and plows and watch them do their jobs and marvel at how farmers continue to innovate in order to do their jobs better and with less labor. It's great fun, and just a bit nerdy.
Farm Technology Days at Barringer Family Farms adopts that same festival atmosphere, but instead of vintage farm machinery (though Barringer Family Farms has plenty), attendees can engage in a variety of outdoor activities that explore the intersection between music technology and outdoor, rural setting. Some pieces will be old-school, with simple invented instruments and improvisation, while others will feature cutting edge AR (augmented reality) technology that is changing how we experience art and music. (Bring headphones/earbuds for best experience!) Activities will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a scheduled performance of hARvest at 7 p.m. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds! Barringer Family Farms will serve a pear crisp with ice cream. BYOB. Apps to download for AR works by Scott L. Miller:
hARvest: Apple MKHP: Apple or Android Barringer Farm Soundwalk: Apple or Android => Download the Echoes app and then click this link to find the Soundwalk. WORKS INCLUDE:
Barringer Farm Soundwalk by Scott L. Miller A set of sound experiences geolocated on Barringer Family Farms. Smart phone required. hARvest by Scott L. Miller hARvest is a graphic score with electronic sound accompanying Zeitgeist’s performance of the work. Miller realized the score in AR and it is geolocated in fields of Barringer Family Farms, where you will be able to watch it on your iPhone or iPad during the performance. Once recorded by Zeitgeist, this will become available as an update that you can watch and listen to anywhere in the world. The app/piece will be free to download from the Apple App Store for concert attendees. MKHP by Scott L. Miller MKHP is a collaborative work created by Miller and Zeitgeist’s own Pat O’Keefe. It is an audio-visual work you experience in AR through an app on your iPhone or iPad. The music is for bass clarinet and electronics. Line art inspired by the earliest computer art of the 1960s is generated in response to an analysis of the recording in real-time. Each performance generates a slightly unique AR line art “sculpture.” The app/piece will be free to download from the App Store for concert attendees. You can download the app for Apple or Android prior to the event. Right to Repair by Heather Barringer An instrument building and improvisation experience utilizing instruments made and found on Barringer Family Farms. On a working farm, equipment requires repair and maintenance with great frequency, and the ability to fix machinery and get it back on the field can mean the difference between a quality harvest and no harvest at all. Increasingly, farm machinery manufacturers are stipulating that their tractors, combines, balers, and other gear need to be fixed by licensed dealers, making it not possible for farmers to repair their equipment themselves. Not only is this expensive for farmers, in some parts of our country , such a licensed dealer may be several hours away, making timely repair not possible. With Right to Repair, attendees assemble an instrument and play and record their own improvisations. Scott L. Miller’s work with Zeitgeist the past two years has involved the development of a large and growing body of graphic scores. The visual language he has been cultivating is also evident in the AR works, using elemental graphic forms, sharply defined lines, and numbers, often juxtaposed with raw, organic, natural images. In hARvest, we see this juxtaposition of the synthetic on the living landscape of Barringer Family Farms, as we hear the processed and synthetic sounds of the electronic music contrasted with the organic sounds of Zeitgeist’s acoustic instrumentation.
Recordings of hARvest and some of his graphic scores will be released by Miller and Zeitgeist on New Focus Recordings in spring 2023. Limited edition signed original prints of a selection of Miller’s graphic scores will be available for sale for the first time at Barringer Family Farm Technology Days. The numbered prints on archival paper will be in 10 x 13” ($25) and 20 x 26” ($60) sizes. 
Scott L. Miller is an American composer described as ‘a true force on the avant-ambient scene’ of ‘high adventure avant garde music of the best sort’ (Classical-Modern Music Review). Best known for his electroacoustic chamber music and ecosystemic performance pieces, his music is characterized by collaborative approaches to composition and the use of electronics, exploring performer/computer improvisation and re-imagining ancient compositional processes through the lens of 21st century technology. Inspired by the inner-workings of sound and the microscopic in the natural and mechanical worlds, his music is the product of hands-on experimentation and collaboration with musicians and performers from across the spectrum of styles. His recent work experiments with VR applications in live concerts, first realized in his composition Raba, created for Tallinn-based Ensemble U:.
Three time McKnight Composer Fellow, his work is frequently performed by soloists, ensembles, and at festivals throughout North America and Europe. Recordings of his music are available on New Focus Recordings, Innova, and other labels, many featuring his long-time collaborators, the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (and whose albums he produces). His music is published by the American Composers Alliance, Tetractys, and Jeanné. Raba (NFR198) is his most recent album, a collection of audio-visual music drawn from collaborations with six film and video artists. Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music and theory. He is Past-President (2014—18) of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS) and presently Director of SEAMUS Records. 
Barringer Family Farms is a third generation family farm located in the verdant Trimbelle River valley in western Wisconsin. They grow certified organic vegetables, hay, CBD hemp products, present arts and education events, and host community celebrations.
Barringer Family Farms centers the production of healthy and delicious food in a sustainable manner that nourishes our customers, improves our land, and connects with community. Their food can be purchased at local farmer's markets, through a CSA, online, or at the farm. Farm Technology Days are free, but your donation helps compensate the artists and makes events like these possible. Thank you!
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