http://www.archive.org/details/srn2010-07-24

The performance was delivered via a powerful PA system, which allowed the sound to propagate through the surrounding area. The melodies and notes were mostly created by stochastic algorithms.

Archive vol. 11 – Deeper Caverns.

The more the reality is changed to be in unison with as many people as possible, the easier it is to realize how close we all are to each other. In the depths of our minds we are all intimately connected.

That gave me an idea of an ambient event where all of the performances would be duets (or more), where the other player resided anywhere in the globe. A video feed would also be provided and processed to with the atmosphere of the event. A reflection of that idea is coming up soonish, as I will play a live duet jam with Tange on StillStream when a few technical issues have been solved.

Sarana and Blu : May Session on Archive.org

It’s hard to fathom that the tracks I’m going through now have been conceived 11 years ago. Here’s one track from the past – Solina. Solina is Finnish and means the sound which water makes when it flows around small pebbles and things. In this case the actual sound comes from the kitchen sink of the flat where I lived back then.

I had a microphone by the sink, let the water run and recorded the track live without much preparations. The basis of the track is a 7/4 beat that probably took a some time to create. Back then if a track took more than an hour to compose I considered it too much.

The steady pulse that goes with the beat is DX-7, which is set to play one note only, and which takes the trigger from any midi input that comes from the drum machine. I used this method often, and all kinds of fruitful melodies revealed themselves now and then.

Over the beat Polysix goes through an arpeggio, which is not synced to anything. The few note melody comes from a Casio keyboard, which I intuitively played while mixing the track. The hardest to mix was usually the drum machine, DR-660, because I had to mix its sounds individually in and out, and the interface is not very intuitive.

All the mixing was done while performing the tracks – there wasn’t any automation or pre-recorded backgrounds.

This is the only take of the track. I usually had some plan in my mind how I would mix the sounds in but I never planned how to end the tracks. The latest element that is mixed in, the noisy choir, is something I grabbed from some passing TV-show of the moment.

The track has been loitering on one of my hard disks for some time, since 2004.

The recording was accomplished without overdubs, and the track features distorted analogue synth lead and uncontrolled resonances on a slow and steady beat.  I accidentally opened the original 44 kHz recording at 48 kHz for mastering, so the final track became 47 seconds shorter and somewhat higher pitched than the original.

The track is called Nimetön, which means Unnamed or Nameless. It’s also the name of the ring finger. Now that I looked it up I also found out that in some cultures the finger in question has healing and magical powers.

I actually forgot to bring with me the transformer for the other effect device that has used to be part of my live setup, so the set became even more minimal.

The weather was grayish, the temperature was just above zero. The whiteness of winter passing away, melting, the sun behind clouds providing even light. I don’t think weather can be dull or horrible. Try this next time when it’s dark, raining or everything generally seems ugly: it’s a perfect ugly weather. I don’t think you can never be really disappointed with anything by thinking like that – “this outcome is the most extremely succeeded example of how things shouldn’t go”, for example.

I’ll be playing live too in a couple of weeks. The event is called Ambient Breakfast, and the idea is to cook food to the guests and make them as comfortable as possible while listening to the soothing ambient music.  My set will take place around the noon, and I look forward to playing during the daylight.

Here’s a poem I’ve written on  a train to somewhere…

When the night falls, begin
the shadows their journey towards light,
from which they draw their vitality.

At the moment of blue twilight, the time
momentarily stands still, and in the frontiers
light and shadow become one, entangled
to each others’ dreams and expectations.

Light has gone its way, and the ways
have created shadows, like an oar
disturbs water and animates the waves.

What moves light? Infinitely it sparkles,
twinkles, changes places with a dark stream and looks
for a place to rest,
as quickly as possible.