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POW Ensemble Packs a Digital Punch
Katrin Figge | June 03, 2009

The musicians of the POW Ensemble collaborate with local artists when performing outside of Europe. (Photos Courtesy of the POW Ensemble) The musicians of the POW Ensemble collaborate with local artists when performing outside of Europe. (Photos Courtesy of the POW Ensemble)
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An electric guitar and two computers — that’s all the POW Ensemble needs for a performance.

Founded in 2001 by Dutch jazz saxophonist Luc Houtkamp, this ensemble plays computer music, or live electronic music.

Now on its Strange Attractors tour, the group is set to perform in four Indonesian cities, starting in Jakarta this weekend.

“A computer is not a musical instrument, it’s a neutral tool you can use for anything,” Houtkamp said.

“We’ve designed our own software to put down our musical ideas. For instance, we can include the sounds of the outside world by recording them and manipulating them they way we want with the help of the software. You have all these sounds in your computer and you can choose how you want to play them,” he said.

The POW Ensemble lineup usually includes 11 musicians, but on this tour, Houtkamp is joined only by Wiek Hijmans on guitar and Guy Harries on computer.

“This is the smallest lineup that we’ve ever had. We have a basic lineup, and for each project, we find other musicians, to play what we need,” Houtkamp said.

Hijmans will also perform a solo concert. “I play contemporary music and classical music,” he said. “Classical music is not just about dead composers. Composers today like the different sound of the electric guitar, and so they’ve started to use it more and more in their music, like in chamber music or orchestral music, and also a lot of solo music.”

Only Hijmans plays an instrument, in the traditional sense. “The electric guitar is a very interesting instrument to collaborate with electronic music because it is, in a way, both acoustic and electric,” he said. “It’s like an interface between human physicality and electronics, so there is something very special about combining guitar with electronic music.”

In 2005, Houtkamp was awarded the VPRO/Boy Edgar Prijs, the most prestigious award in the field of jazz and improvised music in the Netherlands.

“We became musicians because we hate having office jobs,” Houtkamp said. “But the thing about computer music is it’s exactly like sitting in an office. So one day I thought, ‘This isn’t right. I am back in my office again.’ That’s why we try to find different ways to make it more physical, even theatrical at times. That’s the challenge with computer music: you have to deliver it just like other musicians do.”

The POW Ensemble will also collaborate with a local talent. For their show on Sunday, an Indonesian dancer, Sari, will share the stage with them.

“When we go outside of Europe, we like to collaborate with local musicians and artists,” Houtkamp said.

“We did so in Israel and South Africa, and we will do the same in Indonesia. Especially when it comes to computer music, because it is still relatively new, it is essential to learn from one another.”