Tag Archives: composition

Composition For Solo Piano With 40 Channel 1 Bit Electronics

New Amsterdam Records releases are special and Surface Image, the album-length composition for solo piano with 40-channel 1-bit electronics, composed by Tristan Perich and performed by pianist Vicky Chow is no exception.

“Surface Image is a stunning marriage of Perich’s inspired electronic aesthetic and Chow’s nuanced yet fiercely virtuosic playing. The line between electric and organic is artistically blurred, as the simple hand-wired electronics fuse with the individual notes of the piano on the same, expansive plane. Recorded at EMPAC’s sound studio by producer Argeo Ascani and mix engineer Jeffrey Svatek.”

A look at the performance set-up in "Surface" by Tristan Perich for a piano performance by Vicky Chow
A look at the performance set-up in “Surface” by Tristan Perich for a piano performance by Vicky Chow
"Surface's" Tristan Perich and Vicky Chow
“Surface’s” Tristan Perich and Vicky Chow

Pre-Order Now: https://newamsterdamrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tristan-perich-surface-image

Microtonal Wall in “Audible Spaces”

Curated by Alexis Lowry Murray, “Audible Spaces” presents three sound installations that encourage participants to explore the subtleties of listening. Tristan Perich, Zarouhie Abdalian, and [The User] have each created immersive environments using seemingly uniform sounds that dissolve into tonal, tactile, and temporal variations as participants engage with them. Perich’s Microtonal Wall (2011), on view in the Cohen Gallery at the Granoff Center, demonstrates the extraordinary complexity that can be generated using only the most basic electronic tools. Drone-like from a distance, this 25 ft long sound field of 1-bit noise dissolves into 1500 unique frequencies.

A look at Perich's microtonal wall installation.
A look at Perich’s microtonal wall installation.

ELEKTRO MOSKVA- Intriguing Documentary About Soviet Music Synthesizers

I spent most of yesterday afternoon watching and taking notes from the 86 minute documentary ELEKTRO MOSKVA. This film is so rich and interesting that I found myself sitting in reflection every time I jotted down another intriguing story element…..and believe me there were lots.

Stanislav Kreichi with ANS - world's first 'draw sound' synthesizer.
Stanislav Kreichi with ANS – world’s first ‘draw sound’ synthesizer.

The film’s official website describes itself like this: “ELEKTRO MOSKVA is an essayistic documentary about the beginnings of the Soviet electronic age and what remained of it- a huge pile of outdated, fascinating devices. Today they are being recycled and reinterpreted by musicians, inventors and traders, who carry that legacy on into an uncertain future. An electronic fairy tale about the inventive spirit of the free mind inside the iron curtain- and beyond.”

An example of everyday Soviet Russia DIY- In 1970 TV's were readily available but not antennas.
An example of everyday Soviet Russia DIY- In 1970 TV’s were readily available but not antennas.

Well all of that is certainly true but I discovered something deeper….. something partially hidden and really only stated at the end of the documentary: A metaphysical connection between electronic instruments, their circuitry and between immortality and rejuvenation. A sort of Frankenstein subplot. And that makes ELEKTRO MOSKVA much more interesting. It lingers and stays with you as all great films and documentaries tend to do.

Leon Theremin

Leon Theremin
Leon Theremin

Leon Theremin

If the inventor of the world’s first electronic instrument- The Theremin is to believed, his experimentation with electronic instrument designs led to techniques that allowed rejuvenation of human life and the bringing of the dead back to life. Kooky stuff to be sure but in our modern age of DNA manipulation and Stem Cell research shouldn’t we keep our minds open to all biological possibilities? Why is it so obtuse to think that electronic manipulation holds the key to immortality? The brain is after all- a sort of electronic computer. Why else would Russia have kept the body of Lenin whole and entombed for over a hundred years? Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself- let’s move instead to the birth of Communist Synthesizers.

A Ghost of Communism: The backdrop for the film

It began with the Soviet electrification of the country. As Russian homes and farms became wired, Science and Technical Progress became heralded by the state as ‘the new Gods’. In 1926 Léon Theremin ( Lev Sergeyevich Termen ) invented an early form of television which was adapted for border security use and classified. At the same time, the state decided that technological developments were only considered legit and legal if they strengthened communism.

Alexey Borisov
Alexey Borisov

The long awaited electrical revolution expected by the masses and any notions of new, exciting products in Russian homes became instead a sort of electrified jail and super factory. Then, after Russia had successfully developed nuclear bombs and orbited the first man in space- things changed. A celebration of technical progress and Soviet achievement became politicized through the use of synthetic music and sound. Found out what happened next by watching ELEKTRO MOSKVA online in HD. Highly recommended. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Click me! New Music created from early sci-fi soundtracks incl. Theramin cameos.
Click me! New Music created from early sci-fi soundtracks incl. Theremin cameos.

Electronic Jazz Collective Hits SOMA FM charts

The inimitable Rik Ganju
The inimitable Rik Ganju

The music collective GANFUNKEL released the 5-song-EP Fighting Music with Music following the successful 2013 release of Machine Coincident Jazz.  The former album produced one song that reached #1 on jazz radio charts, 2 songs that reached #2, and one song that reached #3.

Ganfunkel listing on SOMA FM charts.
Ganfunkel listing on SOMA FM charts.

Ganfunkel is California-based and led by Simcoe native Rik Ganju.  Personnel on Fighting Music with Music have recorded and toured with Esperanza Spalding, the Kronos Quartet, John McLaughlin, Terry Riley, Bela Fleck, Wayne Shorter and Zakir Hussain.

Ganfunkel’s sound is influenced by rock, jazz, funk and Indian classical music.   Standing out on the new album is Stars Fell on Daniel featuring tabla maestro Salar Nader, and the legendary George Brooks on saxophone.

“The success of Machine Coincident Jazz validated our belief that multi-genre music has an audience that doesn’t want to be confined by traditional categories, “ says Ganju. “People are open to many styles of music depending on their mood.  And just as film music evolves from minute to minute, our sound changes texture as the mood of the tune allows.”

Ganfunkel albums are available today on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and most major music download sites, and music videos can be found by searching on Ganfunkel at Vimeo.com

Ganju’s experiments with multi-genre music stretch back to the mid-2000s when he collaborated with Jarrod Barker  on many avant-garde experiments.

Also hailing from Norfolk County- Jarrod Barker, friend of Rik. Both have collaborated in the past on new musical forms and sounds.
Jarrod Barker

The track listing for Fighting Music with Music:

  1. Chunky Town (featuring Kai Eckhardt and Dana Hawkins)
  2. Shot in a Gambling House
  3. Stars Fell on Daniel (featuring Salar Nader and George Brooks)
  4. That Feel on Flesh (featuring Kai Eckhardt and Dana Hawkins)
  5. Venezia

All songs are composed by Rik Ganju.

Video for Stars Fell on Daniel: http://vimeo.com/94441271