Looking for Cowslips

:: Looking for Cowslips - live performance @ the Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre ::

The final evenings performance for Mira Calix included compositions from British composers Tansy Davies, Larry Groves and Emily Hall. I was not familiar with any of their work but will be keeping my third eye and ear attuned in the future, as I enjoyed and was intrigued by their various approaches in composition. 

By far the piece that shone on the night (in my memories) was 'Wedding List' (Calix) from the contemporary opera piece, 'Dead Wedding'. During rehearsals it did not particularly register with me and yet as the night at the Salon pulled you closer, it rose to the point of becoming a modest yet ideal example of the elements that Calix brings together for her work in contemporary classical/electronic composition. 

Musicians for this piece were:

Zoe Knighton - Cello

Anna Webb - Viola

Aviva Endean - Clarinet

Lotte Betts-Dean - Soprano

Mira Calix - Electronics

Together they generated a sweetness in the air that began with a coy shyness between soprano and clarinet. Timid refrains created a melodic conversation between the two, to be joined by quieter chanting voices and delicate electronics in their sonic background. The piece builds and it's musical elements lose their inhibitions, expressing a release of the emotion 'Love'. It becomes harder to differentiate between the electronic sounds, soprano and strings. Vocals, strings and electronics swirl, layer upon layer, bonding to create a pocket of warmth that you are fortunate enough to be existing in, as they inspire and act as catalyst to the atmosphere growing around them.

At the finish of this piece I believe I became, 'stuck'.

It's lingering impression and mood was such that I could not wholeheartedly focus on those that followed, as my heart was still with, 'Wedding List'.

Fables & Other Works

:: Rehearsal artefacts :: 

The first evening went well and I must admit, I was relieved once it was complete and looking for that glass of red wine. I was struck by how different the pieces sounded when removed from the comfort and somewhat casual but hectic nature of rehearsal. They seemed a lot 'harder' in observation - both in the musicians act of physically playing the pieces and in the challenges of non-conventional composition, presented to the listening audience. 

In the formality of the concert, the boundaries between the expected/accepted and the new - being tampered with in composition methods and creative content, was laid out bare on a stark background to be opposed, accepted or simply observed as one would see fit. 

Personally, I found it exciting but also a little terrifying. 'He Fell Amongst Roses' was a typical example of the above, with  it's crescendo being reached as musicians frantically bowed their instruments with heightened strength and aggression as to evoke a level of volume and intensity that left me feeling exhilarated and oddly enough - frightened. They finish in unison on a single note almost as a vocal shout of triumph (or war-cry), while Mira Calix continues playing the electronic sounds of a thumping beat typically heard through the walls of a club - to fade into a muffled sub frequency that soaks into the sonic surroundings before finally reaching silence.

Tonight is the Salon. 

See you there.

Fables & Other Works: Looking for Cowslips. Rehearsals.

:: Guest performers :: 

I joined Mira Calix for her rehearsal schedule, to find developments moving quickly. I missed the first couple of rehearsals and those small voids covered an expanse of progress well beyond what I would expect to achieve in rehearsal time. She moves quickly!! While I scoop up scores with recently added pencil markings and hand written scribblings - to save them before they disappear into the flurry of actions and objects that together - bring the works to life - Mira has moved on to the next rehearsal piece and is describing moods and inspirations to the musicians.

These moments of explanation from Mira have become a bit of a favourite of mine. They are moments of quiet, whereby the musicians (and I from afar) sit and listen, to the tales of how/why/where/who - reasons of creation - intended emotional response and translation of the above through the playing of their instruments. I've always enjoyed a good story teller... Captions that I remember from her tales include, 'Egyptian basement acid trip', 'Whirling dervishes' and 'thick, dense, soupy air'. There were so many more but I've managed to forget them already.

:: Rehearsal in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall - in progress ::

Wednesday's rehearsal was in the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall of the Melbourne Recital Centre and included the musicians,

Amir Farid - Piano
Josie Vains - Cello
Sarah Curro - Violin
Jo Beaumont - Violin
Aviva Endean - Clarinet
Anna Webb - Viola

The two pieces that have haunted me with their sounds since this rehearsal are 'Nunu' and the 'Made of Music' commission, 'He Fell Amongst Roses'. I'm trying not to give too much away but I will say that both are strikingly different but cover two pressure points of my own likings, them being, instruments as used to generate organic sounds (opposed to traditional musical notes) and the lure of repetitive beat - that is typically not so present in classical as it is in dance music. 

Thursdays rehearsal was considerably quieter - with more time to hear inspirations from Mira and to be inspired myself. Musicians included,

Amir Farid - Piano
Zoe Knighton - Cello
Lotte Betts-Dean - Soprano
Aviva Endean - Clarinet
Anna Webb - Viola

While Wednesday seemed to focus on 'larger' pieces (if this makes sense), Thursdays works conveyed a sense of smaller tales of the sweet, sour and disruptive. The room was the, 'Salon' which is considerably smaller and much more intimate than the large hall. Sounds are more direct - there is less need for amplification and each piece feels as if it is being told to you by a close friend, rather than a speaker announcing to a crowd. 'Narcissus' is a piece aptly named and provokative in nature - to the point that you enjoy it's discord. In contrast, 'I am Alone', leaves you internally weeping and holding your loved ones close to you in joy and sorrow - together as one....

If I had to choose one night to attend then I would chose Saturday night in the Salon. (I have always liked smaller crowds and closer friends for company). Either of the nights would give you a whirlwind of emotions as generated by the musical repertoire - collecting you from your point of beginning and delivering you at the point of end - with the feeling of having gained experiences unique to the world.

Not to be missed......

Booking details: 

Friday in the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall: Fables & Other Works can be found HERE

Saturday in the Salon: Looking for Cowslips can be found HERE

Mira Calix @ Metropolis New Music Festival 2013

Image from MRC website

I am very excited to be assisting Chantal Passamonte AKA Mira Calix, during her upcoming trip to Australia as part of the Metropolis New Music Festival 2013. The works she will present include, 'Fables' and 'Looking for Cowslips', to be performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre on the 19th and 20th of April. 

I have long admired the works of Mira Calix - with her delicate but oh-so precise use of electronics, found sounds, voice and classical instrumentation. Her work has inspired and compelled me for a number of years and continues to do so with its gentle morphing. I am delighted to be able to commit my time and efforts to her visit to Australia in 2013.

Tickets can be nabbed from moshtix HERE.

If you happen to be in Melbourne on these dates I highly recommend attending. I'll be doing my best to blog as I work but my success is questionable, considering the rehearsal schedule and workload leading up to and including the evenings of final performances. 

Hope to see you there,

KunstRadio Commission: Booroomba Rocks Technical

:: Equipment for Booroomba Rocks recording, (minus Quarke the cat) ::

The above is a photo of equipment I took for the Booroomba Rocks recordings, with the addition of leads and minus the cat. The microphones include the new addition to my artillery, the DPA 4023 - matched pair. Items worth pointing out include the Mipro MA101 - a battery powered portable PA, the iPod, the microphone wind jammers and wind socks and the rugged Crumpler Karachi Outpost bag that it all fits in (bar the stand and boompole). The Mipro MA101 is also a new addition that I had not tried out before. Previously I have used battery powered speakers such as the RCF Move100. As light as these are  - they are still incredibly impractical to lug across bushwalking terrain... The Mipro is the same weight and size of a large torch and gets plenty of volume. My biggest complaint would be that despite the advertise frequency response of 60Hz - 15KHz +/- 3db, anything under 90Hz was predictably weakened/not really there. The mids and highs however, were very crisp and LOUD.

The conceptual idea (from a technical approach) was to take the work I had composed using only source material from Uli Kuehn's 'ROBOT', and play it back into this selected space/place (as per it's purpose for creation) in order to record the sonic outcome.

The recordings I did at Booroomba consisted of two stereo paired microphones (four channels in total). The first pair was my tried and true DPA 4060 (omnidirectional), positioned well above headheight, to catch the general surrounds and sound difusion. The second pair was the new DPA 4023's, in ORTF formation, closely positioned to the Mipro to directly catch the playback of the piece in realtime.

:: Recording position ::

:: Recording configuration ::

It was extremely important to me to capture the playback of the composition in it's surroundings as it occurred and likewise, to capture the surroundings as they reacted and conversed with the sounds of the composition. Even I, the most easily pleased listener when it comes to enjoying and discovering the rhythms in everyday sonic occurrences - natural or otherwise - was almost startled by how perfectly,  moments of shift and drama between nature and composition unfolded within the resultant recordings. 

Aspects that I failed miserably in included the positioning of the microphones (a crucial element - I know..). Because of the lack of time and poor weather conditions, equipment positioning was less than ideal. Nerves and rush on setup meant that I pretty much almost just shoved the gear somewhere out of the weather and free of fauna. The PA should have been further away from the 4060 atmosphere microphones, allowing them to capture more subtle diffusions of the playback composition without drowning out the sounds of their surrounding nature. I also wish I had had the time to base the setup right in amongst the trees and shrubs so as to catch the sounds of the rain falling and dripping over them.

Final mistake (another crucial beginners error) was that I did not have adequate wind protection for the DPA 4023's. The recordings suffered terribly for it with not only the grating sound of wind battering a microphone, but also severely limiting just how much time I was able to record (minus the excessive wind). I'd say I know what my next needed piece of equipment will be. Time to start saving (again)......

KunstRadio Commission: Booroomba Rocks experience

:: Booroomba Rocks, Feb 2013 ::

Last weekend was spent heading to Booroomba Rocks to complete the field recording for the final piece in the KunstRadio commissions. The day ended up being a surreal experience to say the least - with an uncanny amount of participation from Lady Luck at points where it really should have all turned pear-shaped.... As Luck would have it, there was not a soul to be seen at the lookout. I discovered this was not only because of the approaching storm but also due to a festival. Locals and tourists alike headed to Canberra city for the annual Multicultural festival leaving the nature-loving curious to experience their bush surroundings in an eerie stillness, disturbed only by their own trudging of footsteps. 

The storm was a concern. I was nearly hit by lightening once - the world froze in a white light, there was an almighty crack/black and then the world started up again much the same except my hair was smoking/smelt strange and adrenalin was making my legs shake as I ran down the hill. While I was determined to record what I could of the storm, I knew it was unwise to be standing on top of a mountain next to a metal rod while it passed. Distant thunder started while Len and I packed our bags for the walk at the base of the mountain. We made the decision to continue the climb.

           

I had forgotten the way the bush goes quiet before a storm. The birds stop calling and sometimes - even the crickets cease... It felt ominous - like a preparation of what was to come - a 'battening down of the hatches' for the impending blows. I can't remember it ever being so quiet and here I was, expecting to record sounds. We reached the top, I began scouting for a slightly sheltered space, time became shorter and I realised that there was only a matter of minutes before nature's show would begin. Setup became a bit frantic with the swelling quiet consuming the space of time. As luck would have it, I managed to gather the beginning of the storm as it passed us by - barely clipping us with it's edges - leaving us safe from the lightening and as an awestruck audience on eye level with the clouds as we watched the elements play their part around us. We weren't completely protected - the rain still came and I stopped recording when it turned to hail. The microphones got questionably soaked (I will try them out to make sure they are OK) - but we were extremely lucky. My legs still shook as we headed back down the hill.

Thankyou to Lennart Katzwinkel for his beautiful photos and general calming influence on the day (and every other day).

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australian Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Equipment used in these recordings included microphones purchased through the support of the Australian Council. For more details please see HERE.

KunstRadio Commission cont'd

 I have come through the other side with the final piece for the KunstRadio commissions - this would be the composition whose source material is the recordings of Uli Kuehn's works, as completed at KunstRadio at the end of September last year. This piece stumped me for quite a while. Uli's live improvisation on his 'Robot' was the recording that I focussed on and I could not shake the feeling that it was already complete. After time away from the sounds I began again in Jan 2013 and this time, had success..... This composition will be interesting to contrast against the first ('The Broken Return'), in that while the first composition used source material consisting of field recordings of Andreas Trobollowitsch's piece, 'Minigit' as installed at the Moozak festival in Vienna, 2012, this second composition follows a similar process but somewhat reversed. I created a composition using the sounds of Uli's work, for the intent of finding a suitable environment in the ACT, to play this piece back in, and record a field recording of the sonic result. I have finalised the initial composition and now, it is just a matter of finding the correct time and place, to unleash the sounds into.

The image above was taken when I went looking for environments for the sounds. I spent half a day driving out of the ACT city and listening to it's rural edges. There was talk of a storm at the time of leaving home to start the drive and by the time I reached areas that began to interest me, the clouds were well and truly brewing. Perhaps I will end up recording this piece in the rain - I think I would like to - however, the downpours I have experienced in Canberra do not qualify as light enough so as to not damage my microphones. Any equipment left exposed would be well and truly drenched and I do not want to record with a 'blocked' sky. If I am to record outdoors (as is my wish) the the sound must be able to travel unrestricted.

So far I have looked at areas heading towards Brindabella, on the NSW border. I'm still unsure as to where I will end up but I am waiting for the hot weather to start again so as the cicadas and crickets start their songs. Till then, like the storm, I am waiting......