Thomas Engdahl
A.k.a. (Tommy)
Email(That I never check, but I am getting better): tgeegt@hotmail.com ; tgengdahl@wichita.edu
Hello Everyone!
My name is Thomas Glen Engdahl. I am 21 (as of Dec 8 2006) and I was born and raised here in Kansas. In high school my intention was to be a music major. I was first chair trombone in just about every musical activity available to me in my high school. Unfortunately for that goal, I also had a childhood passion for electronics stemmed from the constant subjection to technology from my father. In the end I decided to study to be an Electrical Engineer, but that has not entirely snubbed my pursuits in music.
When I was a freshman in high school, I had the rare opportunity of presenting at the Bridges Conference. This is an annual meeting of mathematicians and artists from around the world who appreciate and discuss the connections between math, art, and science (An atmosphere very parallel to our Cratel). Since that opportunity, I have have been deeply interested in such interdisciplinary practices.
Here is me at the Bridges Conference with David Ritcher (Middle) and George Hart (Right). During a Zometool demonstration, we decided to build a rectified 600-cell. It's a projection of a 4-D object in 3-D space. A more complicated explanation ensues...
My presentation at the Bridges Conference was a elementary version of what I now call Sensthethesia. This is a laser show that I have put together that shows the mathematical presence in music. This involves a unification of all theories; sort of a comeback to the Quadrivium comprised of the four prime subjects: Arithmetic (pure numbers), Geometry (numbers in space), Music (numbers in time), and Astronomy (the medieval physics: numbers in time and space). I have taken my presentation many places including Exploration Place but mainly it has been used as a special education tool at my high school. I am hoping to take this from less of a educational stage to a more artistic mode with perhaps the incorporation of more procedurally generated music or live input from other artists.
As a musician I am at kind of a turning point. Since I knocked out my front teeth (Aug. 05), I haven't gotten back into playing the trombone. I am sometimes accused of having a musical knack, and can pick up most instruments and learn to play them through a fundamental logic; though I have never really achieved a real mastery over any of them like the trombone other than a general improvisational talent. I do enjoy creating and editing music on the computer. This seems to be my most rewarding use of my free time when I can no longer stomach video games. I have been a electronic artist really since I was five with my first midi music editor. Currently I have been stuck onFLStudio. Have made a few cd's for my friends and have a few short tunes intended for a video game my friend was making (which I think got scrapped) but most of my work either gets lost, is too fragmented, or so improvisational that I never bother to get it written down. I have been interested in finding some outside collaboration to help me fill in some of my spaces in talent.
I look forward to participating in an interdisciplinary project and hope to make and learn some great things!