CAROUSEL/CAROUSEL AQUARIUM is the musical creation/persona of composer Keith David Doyle.

Bio

Keith started in his formative years on the piano, and migrated to the guitar in his teens. An interest in electronics resulted in an engineering education and subsequent employment. Via computer programming connected with his engineering duties, Keith transitioned into computer systems programming. In the 1990s Keith authored the software package "The Director," an interactive multimedia presentation/animation program for the Commodore Amiga. Concurrent with all this, Keith has continued to develop his music into his own unique style, composed the soundtracks for some experimental films, and is currently working primarily with MIDI controlled electronic synthesizers. Keith finds MIDI controlled electronics provides the optimum environment for working on composition as all sound settings can be preserved and restored at any time, providing a consistent and flexible editing environment.

The Music

The CAROUSEL music ranges from ambient soundscapes to driving syncopated rhythms. Keith considers it Space-Age "Circus" music of a sort, since it is primarily electronic and most of it seems well suited as accompanyment to dynamic entertainment experiences. The name CAROUSEL was chosen because many of the driving syncopated rhythms invoke the dizzying rotational sensation of carnival rides. Some listening samples can be heard via links on the CAROUSEL HOME PAGE, and here or here, or possibly here.

Musical Influences

Nino Rota - Film composer
Bill Harkleroad - Guitarist
Bix Beiderbecke - Jazz legend
Raymond Scott - Jazz composer and early electronic experimenter
Les Baxter - Exotica pioneer and film composer
Dick Dale - King of the Surf Guitar
Robert Moog - Electronic instrument pioneer
Mort Garson - Composer of many eclectic electronic works
John Chowning - Audio analysis pioneer/musician
Richard Feynman - Physicist and musician
Nathan Van Cleave - Film composer
Fred Katz - Jazz and film composer
Kenneth E. Iverson - Computer language pioneer
player pianos - from childhood

Reviews

"Brilliant Techno that gets under your skin like a radioactive leech. I once tried making music like this but failed. Depeche Mode meets avant garde."
-- Century Egg (Joe Brancaleone) on his Hot Tamale mp3.com station.

"Carousel fearlessly uses daring, eccentric rhythmic patterns to create something genuinely unique - circus music. This has all the eclectic, fantastic character of a world full of clowns. Pattern-based synthetic music like this mightn't be to everybody's taste, but you *must* at least try it. It's spellbinding stuff..."
-- Rob Chilcott's Fantasy Music Station on mp3.com.

The Aquarium and The Lagoon

The AQUARIUM and The Lagoon are places where CAROUSEL's music interacts with both visual elements and adventurous participants.  Interactive art pieces are being prepared based on a a portable, reconfigurable platform for experimental works of this nature.  Exhibition of the First Configuration occurred in March 2004 at the Contact 2004 conference at NASA Ames in Mountain View, CA. , and the Second Configuration in March 2005 at the Contact 2005 conference at the same location.  A new configuration is being prepared for Contact 2006  Stay tuned to this page for the latest AQUARIUM exhibition details.

Location

Los Angeles

Acknowledgements

Support and interest is gratefully appreciated from Steve Kenworthy, Howard Heard, Doug Haise, Joel Hagen, Suza Szewiola, Brenda Goodwin-Cole, Gordon Kurowski, Dennis Burke and Dan Maclean.