Brendon Ehinger (He/Him, Red River Métis/European) is a multi-instrumentalist and sound artist based in Brandon, MB, Canada. Since 2016, he has been using a combination of modular synthesis, acoustic instrumentation, live mic input and field recordings to explore the acoustic ecology of technology and the environment. His sound explorations first listen and observe their subject, then respond with attempts to sonicly reconcile the intrusion. He, has performed solo and collaboratively in alternative spaces, galleries and venues in Canada and Europe including The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (Brandon, MB), Neutral Ground ARC (Regina, SK) and Warte Für Kunst (Kassel, Germany). He has numerous solo performances live and online and regularly collaborates with Brandon University professor of low brass Dr. Aaron Wilson for electroacoustic live performances. He has also been commissioned for sound design on various artworks by artists Peter Morin, Lisa Wood and Chris Reid.
Brendon Ehinger is also a father, partner, freelance graphic designer and the founder of Prairie Wires, an experimental music and sound art event series based in Brandon Manitoba. Prairie Wires was established in 2019 to create opportunities for sound-based artists and experimental electronic musicians, to gather, share knowledge, collaborate, and perform. With a strong focus on modular synthesis, Prairie Wires produces curated concert events that celebrate artists from the prairie region of Canada and beyond, strengthening ties and building connections between communities. Past events have included live and virtual live-streamed concerts for International Drone Day and Culture Days, as well as a free biannual modular synthesizer meetup and festival, Prairie Wires Modular. Past presentations have included Matthew Cardinal (AB) and Stephanie Kuse (SK), Casey Koyczan (YT), Leanne Zacharias (MB), Shotgun Jimmie (MB), Ernie Dulanowski (SK), Ali Khan (MB), Alison Burdeny (MB), Lindsay Joy (MB) and has included digital submissions by sound artists Crys Cole (MB/DE), Andrea Roberts (MB), Kelly Ruth (AB), Jeff Morton (SK), Adrien Lefebvre (FR) and many more.
This video is an excerpt from a pop-up performance I gave to wrap up my Riding Mountain Residency on the porch of the MAC cabin at Deep Bay. Using my time at RMNP, I collected several field recordings of flora and fauna and experimented with integrating them into a musical composition. The sounds of water, waves, wind and wildlife pepper a sparsely composed tonal ambient score in an attempt to bring harmony between natural and electronic process.
This is an audio/video piece created for the 2020 Cluster Festival of Integrated Arts that uses the manipulation of nature sounds as an allegory for the impact of human activity on the natural habitats of Canadian wildlife.
This piece was performed as part of a Brandon University School of Music Pro-Series concert curated by Aaron Wilson. Wilson provided me with a recording of an original solo trombone piece titled “The Missing Fifth” and allowed me to use it as a foundation and primary sound source to deconstruct and “remix” through my modular synth.
This piece was performed as part of Videopool’s Temporal Contours Sound Series which took place in 2019. Having been unsuccessful in a recent residency application, I presented this as tongue in cheek response to the letter of rejection using a found cassette tape of field recording from Riding Mountain National Park as the inspiration.
Video by Robert Szkolnicki
This piece was performed at the 2018 Wheat City Nuit Blanche in the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba Main Gallery. A 9′ x9′ canvas cube was constructed and rear projected on three sides with a continuous loop video piece by Christenson. Ehinger intermittently occupied the space creating a responsive sound collage using sounds derived realtime from other Nuit Blanche installations and performances.