Nick Didkovsky Explained
| Nick Didkovsky |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Date: | 22 November 1958 |
| Genre: | Progressive rock |
| Years Active: | 1984–present |
| Associated Acts: | Doctor Nerve, Vomit Fist, Alice Cooper |
Nick Didkovsky (born 22 November 1958) is a composer, guitarist, computer music programmer, and leader of the band Doctor Nerve.[1] He is a former student of Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros and Gerald Shapiro.
Career
Didkovsky formed Doctor Nerve in 1984.[2] He received a Masters in Computer Music from New York University in 1987 and went on to develop a Java music API called JMSL (Java Music Specification Language).[3] JMSL is a toolbox for algorithmic composition and performance. JMSL includes JScore, an extensible staff notation editor. JMSL can output music using either JavaSound or JSyn.[4] He has presented papers on his work at several conferences.
Ensemble activities include founding the blackened grindcore band Vomit Fist in 2013.[5] He was a composing member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet for the ten years of the band's tenure, and has also played in John Zorn's band. His Punos Music[6] record label is a harbor for his more extreme musical projects such as "split",[7] a guitar collaboration with Dylan DiLella of the technical death metal band Pyrrhon[8] .
His debut solo album was released in 1997 and featured contributions from Frith.[9] His second album, Body Parts, came out of a collaboration with Guigou Chenevier.[10]
Didkovsky has composed for or performed on a number of CDs including:
- 1987, Doctor Nerve Armed Observation, Label: Cuneiform, produced by Fred Frith
- 1988, Rascal Reporters Happy Accidents
- 1995, Doctor Nerve SKIN, Label: Cuneiform
- 1997
- 1999, Upbeat, with the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet[11]
- 2000, Ereia, with Doctor Nerve and the Sirius String Quartet
- 2003, Bone - uses wrist grab, with Hugh Hopper and John Roulat
- 2015, Vomit Fist Forgive but Avenge
- 2017 Alice Cooper Paranormal
- 2019, Vomit Fist Omnicide
Didkovsky's music has also been arranged by the experimental music group Electric Kompany. He is a co-owner of the "$100 Guitar", a guitar which was circulated amongst many musicians (including Alex Skolnick, Fred Frith, and Nels Cline) for the recording of a concept album about the guitar.[12]
Solo discography
- Now I Do This (1982), Punos Music
- Binky Boy (1997), Punos
- Body Parts (2000), Vand'Oeuvre
- The Bright Lights The Big Time (2005), FMR
- Tube Mouth Bow String (2006), Pogus
- The $100 Guitar Project (2013), Bridge
- Phantom Words (2017), Punos
Sources
- Couture, François "Body Parts Review", Allmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2014
- Dickenson, J. Andrew: "Electric Counterpoint", Urban Guitar, July 2006
- Dorsch, Jim "Nick Didkovsky Biography", Allmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2014
- Jurek, Thom "Binky Boy Review", Allmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2014
- Ross Feller, Ice Cream Time: The Raunchy and the Rigorous http://www.dramonline.org/albums/ice-cream-time/notes
- Rose, Joe, A $100 Guitar Makes A 30,000-Mile Odyssey, https://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/12/04/166430924/a-100-guitar-makes-a-30-000-mile-odyssey, National Public Radio, 4 December 2012
External links
Notes and References
- Dorsch
- Taylor, Graham "Doctor Nerve" in Buckley, Peter (1999) The Rough Guide to Rock, Rough Guides,, pp. 302-3
- Didkovsky, Nick & Burk, Philip L. "Java Music Specification Language, an Introduction and Overview", in Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, Computer Music Association, 2001, p. 123
- Dean, Roger T. (2009) The Oxford Handbook of Computer Music, OUP USA,, p. 127
- Web site: Vomit Fist - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives.
- Web site: Punos Music.
- Web site: C H O R D / Dylan DiLella - "split".
- [Pyrrhon (band)]
- Jurek
- Couture
- Schultze, Tom "Upbeat" in Bogdanov, Vladimir et al (2002) All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz, Backbeat Books,, p. 443
- Kozinn, Allan (2013) "A Generic Guitar Inspires a Distinctive Project", The New York Times, April 2, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2014
