Bear
ZOOM recorder feedback noisehttp://safpaul.weebly.com/bear.html
Bear originated from a recording I made of myself improvising with my Cube practice amp and my field recorder mic. I had done a series of experimental recordings with this new way of performing: initially with some PC speakers and then moving to practice amps. The sound can be altered in so many ways: the positioning of the mic in relation to the amp, any controls of volume, EQ or special effects on the amplifier and, of course, use of the microphone in the conventional way of capturing sounds. Notably for the latter technique I used noisy vocal improvisations and tapping the microphone, which makes a distinct pitch.
The best of these experimental recordings was what I used here. You can actually hear Jos Chapman in the background; he was sitting in my room talking to me intermittently throughout the recording. I did some basic processing in Pro Tools because I wanted a harsh noise piece for my BEAR page on this website. The idea would be that there would be an inexplicable page on the website that someone would click on out of curiosity to find an adorable picture of a bear (drawn by Jos). Moments later, Bear starts playing. I know that I've already given one or two people a surprise like this. I quite like how this turned out, despite there being no heavy processing or editing.
The best of these experimental recordings was what I used here. You can actually hear Jos Chapman in the background; he was sitting in my room talking to me intermittently throughout the recording. I did some basic processing in Pro Tools because I wanted a harsh noise piece for my BEAR page on this website. The idea would be that there would be an inexplicable page on the website that someone would click on out of curiosity to find an adorable picture of a bear (drawn by Jos). Moments later, Bear starts playing. I know that I've already given one or two people a surprise like this. I quite like how this turned out, despite there being no heavy processing or editing.
Swamp (parts 1 and 2)
acousmatic work with guitar and vocals
Swamp was written for There Is No Most Beautiful Sound, the collaboration concert between UWA and WAAPA performance students. It uses plunderphonics and text heavily, as well as taking on some aspects of black metal and shoegaze aesthetics.
The piece did undergo some changes. It was initially meant to be something of an avant-karaoke piece, a backdrop for a vocalist to recite the text in various ways. These included speaking, singing and death metal growls. However, in parts 1 and 2 these ended up being part of the main recording
The opening section is a low-fi, messy wall of noise. I sampled many pieces to create an extremely dense texture, as well as layering my own voice reading the same text at various speeds, processed in different ways. In the later parts of part 1 I put together a totally unplanned series of textures, including synths, guitars, a heavily processed sample of most of King Crimson's Waiting Man (the vocal ambient section) and field recordings.
The second section was originally intended to use death growls, but I ended up using a pitch-shifted narration of the text instead. The other sounds here are processed prayer bowls and bells, as well as most of Liget's Adaptations for Barrel Organ layered and processed beyond recognition.
The third section has unfortunately not been uploaded to SoundCloud yet by James Bradbury from UWA, who currently has the full recording of the night. It included Josiah Padmanabhan on vocals and myself on electric guitar with heavy delay playing a calm tonal song.
The piece did undergo some changes. It was initially meant to be something of an avant-karaoke piece, a backdrop for a vocalist to recite the text in various ways. These included speaking, singing and death metal growls. However, in parts 1 and 2 these ended up being part of the main recording
The opening section is a low-fi, messy wall of noise. I sampled many pieces to create an extremely dense texture, as well as layering my own voice reading the same text at various speeds, processed in different ways. In the later parts of part 1 I put together a totally unplanned series of textures, including synths, guitars, a heavily processed sample of most of King Crimson's Waiting Man (the vocal ambient section) and field recordings.
The second section was originally intended to use death growls, but I ended up using a pitch-shifted narration of the text instead. The other sounds here are processed prayer bowls and bells, as well as most of Liget's Adaptations for Barrel Organ layered and processed beyond recognition.
The third section has unfortunately not been uploaded to SoundCloud yet by James Bradbury from UWA, who currently has the full recording of the night. It included Josiah Padmanabhan on vocals and myself on electric guitar with heavy delay playing a calm tonal song.
Chalker
alto sax, Maschine, electric guitar, ZOOM feedbackhttp://theartifactory.bandcamp.com/album/noizemaschin-20
A live improvisation with Josten Myburgh (under the in-joke ensemble name "Mr. Government"). Josten and I jammed many times in preparation for the Noizemaschin!! gig and some of the motives come through here, especially in the guitar part. No scoring or planning was done in advance of the performance, however.