Vanishing Incidents
Performed at Roulette, 2020.
Vanishing Incidents is comprised of three compositions that explore the processes of disintegration, preservation, and reconstruction. Electric cello is processed through an array of pedals and electronics, while amplified objects are used to form percussive structures and rhythmic patterns; swelling into a mesh of loops and dense electronic sequences.
Composed and performed by MV Carbon
Long Range-Order and the Telekinesisynth
Premiered at Roulette May 13, 2015, Brooklyn, NY. Spring 2015 Residency from the Jerome Foundation.
A composition written for piano, processed piano, electronics, tape loops, voice and rotary telephones. Performed by MV Carbon (electronics, tape machines, piano processing, and voice) and Emily Manzo (piano). This composition was inspired by the sounds of antiquated communication devices, including fax machines, Morse code, rotary telephones, and mini-cassette answering machines.
The composer wrote piano music that evoked the rhythmic and sonic qualities of Morse code. Weeks before the performance, the composer called people on the telephone and asked them to meditate and visualize an image that the composer was holding in her hand from afar on the other end of the telephone line. During the live performance, the composer called the receiver again, and the telephone conversation was amplified as part of the composition. The person on the other end of the line was then asked to describe the image they had imagined while the composer held up the actual image. Surprisingly, this telekinetic experiment produced interpretations that closely matched the actual image. Long Range-Order and the Telekinesisynth made possible with support from Jerome Foundation.
Emily Manzo: Piano
MV Carbon: voice, reel to reel, vintage microphone, electronics, telephone receivers, answering machines, percussion, video
Composed by MV Carbon
Psychophonic Instruments: Feedback, Form, and Ephemeral Communication
Performed at Issue Project Room, BK, NY, 2026. This work examines how technology, instrumentation, and phonology shape how music is articulated, captured, manipulated and perceived. Through vintage telephone receivers, electric cello, The Toll, a wind gong, and evolving synth textures, the composition materializes a two-way conversation between space and matter.In this work I approach instrument design as an extension of compositional thought. Sculptural objects function as musical instruments , exploring rhythm, resonance, tone, and symbolism. The work explores the breakdown of language as a metaphor for its mediation and the ways technology shapes how language is perceived. This is reflected materially through the deterioration of magnetic tape and the use of antiquated communication devices. Telephone receivers amplify The Toll while processing and manipulating my vocals, creating a relationship between material degradation, technological obsolescence, phonology, and perception. The work also considers the ephemerality of live performance and immersive sound, as well as how the materiality of the space shapes the sonic experience. This performance was composed for a quadraphonic speaker system and was performed at Issue Project room on March 13, 2026. The concept was initially presented at Orpheus Institute, Ghent, Belgium, in January 2026.
Composed and performed by MV Carbon
Cadence
Premiered at Roulette, BK, NY. 2025.
Zach Layton: piano
Laura Cocks: flute
MV Carbon: “The Toll”, Reel to Reel Tape Machine, Vintage Microphone, Voice, Radio, Ring Modulator, Wind Gong, Sampler
Composed by MV Carbon
Liquiddd Changesss
Album release show. Performed at Roulette, BK, NY. 2022.
Composed and performed by MV Carbon
Visuals by Scott Kiernan
Shattered Patterns
Performed at PS1 Moma, NY, 2010.
A TV and electromagnetic cello constructed with custom-made circuitry which reacts to electromagnetic pulses.
Built by MV Carbon with support from the Center for New Television, NY, and the Darmstadt Institute.
Inspired by early works by Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik.
Performance by MV Carbon
Tony Conrad and MV Carbon
Live performance at MOCAD, 2007.
“Horizons on Our Back”
Album release show. Performed at Swiss Institute, 2021.
Live video by Scott Kiernan
Live performance by MV Carbon
If We Could See: Out the Tomb
Premiered at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, BK, NY. 2010.
Composed by MV Carbon
Performed by The String Orchestra of Brooklyn
MV Carbon live performance at Montez Radio, NYC. 2022.
MV Carbon live performance at The Lab, San Francisco, CA. 2022.
MV Carbon Artists-In-Residence
Issue Project Room, BK, NY. 2010.
Aki Onda: tapes and electronics
MV Carbon: cello and electronics, voice, tapes, amplified objects
