*Mobile* Ringtone Performance at the 2013 Americans for the Arts Convention

On Friday, June 14, 2013, I’ll be at the Americans for the Arts Convention in Pittsburgh doing a *Mobile* Ringtone Performance. My appearance is sponsored by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, and I’ve prepared a very special series Pittsburgh ringtones for the event, featuring the above participants and/or sounds. The 10 new art cards include, from left to right: the Dilworth Drumroll Ringtone, Nermal’s Meow Tone, Erok’s Bicycle Bell Ringtone (2nd most downloaded tone in the project), Arrington de Dionyso’s Throat Singing Tone, the Uniontown Poultry Hall Ringtone, Balkan Babe’s Ja Posijam Lane Ringtone, the Welcome to Xenon Ringtone, Daniel Striped Tiger’s Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood Tone (most downloaded tone in the project), the Afro-American Music Institute’s Boy’s Choir Ringtone and the Homestead Train Whistle Ringtone.

What is a *Mobile* Ringtone Performance?

During this 100% *mobile* and self-contained performance, I use my cell phone and re-chargeable battery-operated equipment to broadcast and amplify select tones from my public art project, Locally Toned. I also pass out a limited number of art cards featuring photographs of tone collaborators on the front, and tiny URLs and QR codes on the back, so that users may download specific tones to their cell phones. All equipment (broadcast and visual media) for the performance is lightweight and “wearable,” allowing the me to traverse almost anywhere to perform.

Here’s a diagram of my ringtone performance get-up:

Here’s a sample ringtone art card (front and back):

This art card features Pittsburgh artist Casey Droge with her cat Nermal

Nermal the Kitty’s Meow Tone

Meet artist Casey Droege and her 13-year old blind kitty cat, Nermal, who live in Pittsburgh’s North Side Deutschtown neighborhood. Asked why she wanted to contribute the sound of Nermal’s meow to the project, Casey said, “It’s one of the most consistent sounds I hear all day long when I’m working in my studio. I like to work in a quiet environment, and Nermal will start doing these loud, long meows. I think it’s a form of echo-location–she uses to figure out if anyone’s near her.” Here’s Nermal’s Meow Tone. In it, you’ll also hear the kitty cat’s prominent purrs. I also exported one short and sweet meow as Nermal’s Meow – Message Alert.

We recorded Nermal in Casey’s impressively well-organized studio, where she’s working on several projects about language and relationships. Lately her work has taken the form of books, prints and recordings. An ongoing project, Tracks of My Tears, is an vinyl record featuring “40 minutes of stories about 8 songs that have induced crying.”

Thank you, Casey and Nermal for your contribution to Locally Toned!

This ringtone recording session was made possible by a generous grant from The Fine Foundation.