I’m fascinated by mysticism, music’s ability to sound meditative and uncanny at the same time. I aim to discover the beauty and dark energy on the bleeding edge between tranquility and friction. It has me continuously exploring types of spirituality found in avant-classical music, non-western traditions and club music.
How can we implement types of mysticism into our hectic times, and discover catharsis in it? I often start at nature: the organic intricacies of timbre, the imperfections of improvisation, and our ancient fascination for (cavernous) reverberations.
In my search for spiritual sound, I want to transcend drama and emotion, reach beyond it, towards the roots of inner consciousness and outer space. What are the roots of music, and how can we keep rediscovering them?
Exorcism at Cultura Nova (Heerlen, NL) With dancer Nathaniel Moore (USA) Image from video by Paul Caron
Thresholder installation at Born Digital (Utrecht, NL) Photo by Joram Wolters
Designer’s Statement ‘Improv is the Future of Gameplay’
Both the origin and future of creativity are improvisational. While computers might not have intuition, they can improvise using algorithms, logics, memory (data), feedback and chance.
Soon, generative arts wil happen in real-time. These instant explorations call for new (playful) interfaces that bridge human improvisation with machine intelligence.
Game design allows us to explore the roots of creativity and culture in accessible and interdisciplinary ways. I research the field of ’emergent gameplay’, which aims to gives players the ability to evolve rules, without breaking the flow/immersion.
Name Rutger Muller Born 1984, Netherlands E-mail rutger@rutgermuller.nl Phone +31 6 50 82 45 71 VAT ID NL001833192B75 KvK 50806149
EDUCATION
MA • Digital Design: Music Technology HKU UTRECHT UNIVERSITY OF ARTS (2012)
BA • Music & Sound for Adaptive Systems HKU UTRECHT UNIVERSITY OF ARTS (2012)
BA • Communication & Multimedia Design AVANS HOGESCHOOL BREDA (2008)
Minor • Cultures of the Netherlands TILBURG UNIVERSITY (2006)
Community College (MBO4+) • IT-Admin ARCUS COLLEGE HEERLEN (2003)
PLAYFUL INTERACTION DESIGN
MyuBio (NL, 2020-now) Interaction/Sound Designer for Spatial & Playful Bio-Soundsystem W/ Studio Ricky van Broekhoven • Nomination Hybrid Future Challenge at Eindhoven Maker Faire (2021)
‘UniTie’ by Wolfsbloem (NL, 2017) Sound Design for Motion Instrument • Presented at Dutch Design Week 2017
Thresholder (NL, 2011-now) Composer & Co-Game-Designer of Multiplayer Sound Installation •Nomination Young Talent SpinAward 2012
GlitchHiker (NL, 2011) Composer & Co-Game-Designer of Ephemeral Arcade Game • Winner Global Game Jam (NL, 2011) • Hon. Mention IGF (SF, USA, 2012)
MUSIC GROUPS & SOLO ACTS
Rutger Muller | Rutger Muller Ensemble Electroacoustic • Ambient • Techno • Improv Ensemble w/ Josephine Bode & Wen Chin Fu Compositions for Ensemble 88 Duo w/ Bernhard Hollinger
R-Muller RnB • Pop
Hypnotic School Trip-Hop • Indie R&B • Dreampop w/ Nilipek., Can Aydinoglu, Sinqlogue
The TEFL Academy (2018) TEFL certification (Level 5, 120h)for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
MA Thesis – E.M. Ferf Jentink (2015) [NL-EN] Eindhoven University of Technology – ‘To increase the acceptance of renovations: Kolenkit as case study’
Languagewire (2017-2021) [EN-NL] 50+ jobs for international agency (technical, financial, PR…)
Monsterkamer – Roger Willems (2017) [EN>NL] artist biography for event at paper showroom
‘The Weathers They Live In’ (2017) [EN>NL] leaflet for exhibition at puntWG initiated by Nicola Arthen
‘AliceD: There Is No Time For This’ (2017) [DE>EN] description of audio-walk by Bruno Pilz
Fluister (2017) [EN>NL] eight artist bios for classical-electronic booking agency
Biography – English
Rutger Muller is a composer and interaction designer with a strong interest in mysticism and improvisation. Zooming in on the intricate details of sound (timbre, acoustics and spatiality) allows him to crafts “soundspaces” that give space for instrumentalists to experiment with abstractions of ancient / classical music, ambient, techno and free improv.
By shaping slowly morphing (non-lineair) sound worlds, Rutger aims to transcend the drama of emotion – towards patterns and noises that reveal something of our natural and cosmic origins; the micro and macro cosmos.
After dabbling in hacker culture and playing drums in hardcore punk bands, Rutger gained a BA and MA of Music Technology at the HKU. Thereafter, he performed extensively with his contemporary classical ensemble and in interdisciplinary collaborations, for example at Amsterdam’s contemporary concert hall Muziekgebouw with visuals by NAP Labs – and in Seoul with Korean Traditional multi-instrumentalist Scarlett Choi. As an interaction / game designer, Muller collaborates on spacious interactive installations for groups of players, and publishes research on his blog.
Through electro-acoustic sound design and collaborations with avant-garde instrumentalists / designers / developers, Muller sheds a contemporary light on on the spiritual essence of culture(s). His outcomes are are often more mystic than abstract, on the edge between tranquil and uncanny. What is lightness and what is darkness, Muller questions, as he uses improvisation and playfulness to seek out the freedom of uncertainty.
Photo by Paul Caron
Biografie – Nederlands
Rutger Muller is een hedendaagse/ elektroakoestische componist en interactie-ontwerper met een sterke fascinatie voor het mystieke. Zijn werk ontspringt vaak uit de fijne details van klankkleur (timbre) en akoestiek (ruimtelijkheid). Uit die basis ontwikkelt hij ‘soundscapes’ waarbinnen ruimte ontstaat voor (geïmproviseerde) elementen uit oude / klassieke muziek, ambient, techno, architectuur en gameplay.
Rutger Muller is een hedendaagse/ elektroakoestische componist en interactie-ontwerper met een sterke fascinatie voor het mystieke. Zijn werk ontspringt vaak uit de fijne details van klankkleur (timbre) en akoestiek (ruimtelijkheid). Uit die basis ontwikkelt hij ‘soundscapes’ waarbinnen ruimte ontstaat voor (geïmproviseerde) elementen uit oude / klassieke muziek, ambient, techno, architectuur en speelsheid.
Na amateuristische experimenten in de hackercultuur en het spelen van drums in hardcore punkbands, behaalde Rutger een BA en MA in muziektechnologie aan de HKU. Hij trad vervolgens veelvuldig op met zijn hedendaagse klassieke ensemble en in interdisciplinaire samenwerkingen, bijvoorbeeld in het Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ met visuals van NAP Labs – en in Seoul met de Koreaanse traditionele multi-instrumentalist Scarlett Choi. Als interactie / game designer werkt Muller mee aan ruime interactieve installaties voor groepen spelers (onderzoek beschikbaar op zijn blog).
Via elektro-akoestisch geluidsontwerp en samenwerkingen met avant-gardistische instrumentalisten / ontwerpers werpt Mullers een hedendaags licht op de spirituele essentie van cultuur. Zijn uitkomsten zijn vaak meer mystiek dan abstract; op de grens tussen meditatief en unheimisch. Wat is lichtheid en wat is duisternis, vraagt Muller zich af, terwijl hij met improvisatie en speelsheid op zoek gaat naar de vrijheid van onzekerheid.