Then & Now Now & Then
Deep Listening Band - Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, David Gamper
Digital reissue of the double LP of the Deep Listening Band celebrating 20 years
Sound Creation: Johannes Welsch
The gong, one of the oldest instruments on the planet, commands the artist more than any other instrument. Except for the seventh improvisation which also uses singing bowls, the improvisations on gongs by Johannes Welsch feature only gongs of different types and sizes, most of them from the full Sound Creation Series crafted by the Swiss company, Paiste. The Paiste Sound Creation Series consists of four groups named after the elements of alchemy, fire, water, earth and air, with three gongs in each group except for earth that has four. Welsch in his improvisations works with two sound aspects of the gongs, that of dynamic range and the other of frequency spectrum. He has written: "I typically develop soundscapes which come out of and return to silence. While the amplitude increases the gong unfolds its full frequency spectrum, beginning with low frequencies (fundamental) and subsequently developing those beautiful overtones (harmonics)."
The first improvisation, *Fire*, uses the Paiste fire gongs to explore aggression, sun, and fire. In *Storm* two gongs are heard. The 28 inch symphonic gong has a slightly raised surface with its fundamental note balanced with its complex overtones. Its sounds are combined with the 32 inch earth gong. For *Water*, Welsch combines three Paiste water gongs -- moon, peace, water-- with two Chinese gongs of different sizes (20" and30"). *Earth* features two of the Paiste earth gongs (38" and 60").
In *Symphony Part I* a Paiste symphonic gong of 38 inches reverberates with a microphonic (inspired by Stockhausen) gong of 60 inches. The latter can be heard in *Symphony Part II* along with a large symphonic gong of 60 inches. To conclude this set of improvisations, Welsch describes *Air* in sound with two singing bowls, one of crystal, the other of bronze, along with an Indonesian gong, and the Paiste air gongs of abdomen, chest, and head.
Johannes Welsch is the proprietor of the Dunrobin Sonic Gym, a professional facility in Ottawa devoted to the experience, study and production of sound. A critical thinker, performing artist and music producer his artwork and ideas have been featured on radio programs around the world. He has been a drummer from early childhood and for two decades has been offering performances featuring one of the world's largest collections of fine gongs currently on permanent display at the Dunrobin Sonic Gym where he has performed with artists such as David Mott, Pauline Oliveros and Jesse Stewart. Johannes studied economics at the University of Miami and received his doctorate in Management from IESE, the University of Navarra's Graduate School of Management. In 1991 he was the recipient of the "Best Doctoral Dissertation Award" by the American Family Firm Institute (FFI). His early research which applied social systems analysis to transitional processes in large industrial family firms has been published in academic journals and covered by national media in Europe. His lectures on organizational dynamics have been attended by managers of some of the world's largest organizations. Johannes has taught and/or held research positions at IESE in Barcelona, IMD in Lausanne, The German Management Institute (USW) at Gracht Castle in Germany, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.
The Dunrobin Session: Pauline Oliveros & Jesse Stewart
The recording of The Dunrobin Session took place during a residency at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, during which Pauline Oliveros presented a series of concerts and workshops in collaboration with percussionist Jesse Stewart, who teaches music composition at Carleton. Oliveros and Stewart are composers, performers, educators, and writers, and each has pursued creative exploration of new instrumental resources while developing expertise on a traditional instrument (accordion and drum).Recorded March 16, 2011 by Johannes Welsch at the Dunrobin Sonic Gym, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Pauline Oliveros • V-Accordion; Jesse Stewart • Percussion
Sonic Territories: Jonas Braasch
Sonic Territories is 12 works for 12 distinct acoustic spaces. Composer/performer Jonas Braasch utilizes soprano saxophone, field recordings, and electronic processing.
"Sonic Territories investigates the creative potential that various acoustic environments can unleash. Opposed to the current ideal of quiet recording studios that do not distract the performer from inner thoughts, I was looking for spaces that inspire and mess around with me, by influencing and guiding my performance. A number of the recorded spaces, I only encountered once to capture my initial impression. Other spaces I have fought with until I found something that sounded better in this space than anywhere else in its own right." - Jonas Braasch
DVD is region free, instrumental music, with Dolby 5.1 surround sound
Quartet for the End of Space
Pauline Oliveros: Mercury Retrograde; Cyber Talk / Francisco López: untitled #270; untitled #273 / Doug Van Nort: Outer; Inner / Jonas Braasch: Web Doppelgänger; Snow Drifts
This recording consists of 8 electro-acoustic compositions - 2 pieces by each of the 4 composers. The works span a vast sonic terrain, challenging listener and performer alike through a seamless blend of Deep Listening and Absolute Noise, moving between ever-fluid improvisation and carefully controlled sound manipulation.
The quartet convened for two improvisational sessions between February and May of 2010, with López sitting in on a Triple Point (Oliveros/Van Nort/Braasch) recording session and bringing his finely crafted sonic objects-as-instruments, further spanning the electro-acoustic divide that has become Triple Point's calling. The four later re-formed for their debut concert at the Deep Listening Institute in Kingston, NY in September of 2010. These sessions have since become raw material for the individual artists to construct new visions of this shared sonic body through extensive and thorough evolution of the recordings - personal reflections culled from a collective tapestry.
Nile Night
Here is the MP3 download version of the Nile Night CD which accompanies Ione's book Nile Night:Remembered Texts from the Deep.
'A sonic trace of collaborative performances with the composer Pauline Oliveros, recorded in the azure of Cassis, France, at the Camargo Foundation.'
Complete MP3 includes 15 Tracks:
Deep Listening
The First Night in Aswan - LISTEN
Gift in Upper Egypt
Dozing
Your Beads
Mirage
Locks of Esna
Edge of Dreams
Initiation Notes
Dear Thunder
Ferry Across the Nile
Stand Here
Remembered
The Labyrinth
Lord Kitchener Smiles
To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation
PAULINE OLIVEROS
“Shortly after it was published in 1968 the SCUM Manifesto by Valerie Solanas fell into my hands. Intrigued by the egalitarian feminist principles set forth in the Manifesto, I wanted to incorporate them in the structure of a new piece that I was composing. The women's movement was surfacing and I felt the need to express my resonance with this energy. Marilyn Monroe had taken her own life. Valerie Solanas had attempted to take the life of Andy Warhol. Both women seemed to be desperate and caught in the traps of inequality: Monroe needed to be recognized for her talent as an actress. Solanas wished to be supported for her own creative work. Commissioned by the Music Department of Hope College, Holland Michigan, To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of Their Desperation had its premiere in 1970. Though everyone knew Marilyn Monroe hardly anyone recognized Valerie Solanas or took her Manifesto seriously. I brought the names of these two women together in the title of the piece to draw attention to their inequality and to dedicate the piece.” – Pauline Oliveros.
This LP contains both the 1970 Hope College premiere, performed by a 14-piece ensemble, and a 1977 recording from Wesleyan University, performed by a 43-piece orchestra. Roaratorio is proud to present the first commercially available release of this eerie, beautiful, and important Oliveros work. Cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom. Download coupon included.
"Much of Oliveros's aesthetic is best understood as environment, areas of aural doldrums providing momentary and slightly queasy resting points, like the requisite standing back from a massive architectural work to take in the whole before venturing back in. In
To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe
, the hallmarks of Oliveros's later philosophy and aesthetic are brought into direct play with politically-charged expressionism. Kudos to Minneapolis-based Roaratorio Records for uncovering such a significant work, a piece of music that will probably scare the living shit out of you. Valerie Solanas would be proud." - Clifford Allen,
Paris Transatlantic
James Ilgenfritz and Pauline Oliveros Improvisations
Five Improvisations - James Ilgenfritz & Pauline Oliveros
Thollem McDonas/Stefano Scodanibbio: on Debussy's piano and...
Anyone who has heard Thollem or Scodanibbio as a soloist might well imagine what a combination of their unique genius could produce. Now you can hear it for real on Debussy's Piano...yes...the same piano the magical, marvelous and world-changing Claude Debussy once owned and played himself. And Debussy's spirit certainly hovers here in the auras of ferocious demoniacal energies and delicate impressionistic shades of vibration emanating from these mesmerizing, polished structures.
Stefano Scodanibbio, for many years now, has redefined and expanded greatly the techniques of playing the double bass. He has made this instrument speak in ways never before experienced and has unleashed a sonic arsenal for this instrument that has inspired composers like Cage, Berio and Stockhausen to heap praise on this wonderful 21st c. Paganini. On this recording he burns through Thollem's structures with fire and elegance.
Thollem's keyboard flights unleash cascades of notes of seemingly impossible velocity and no matter where he goes tonally, it always seems right, fresh and satisfying. He should be on everyone's listening list who appreciates great piano music. As an improviser, he inhabits a world uniquely his own, rhythmically, harmonically and formally. A true original. Debussy's Piano, Thollem and Scodanibbio. An imaginative idea, wonderfully realized with virtuosity, improvisational mastery and intuitive communication of deep sensibility all residing here in the magical marriage of their artistry - Terry Riley
15th Annual Dream Festival Tee Shirt
Special offer for Ione's 15th Annual Dream Festival Tee Shirt!
Limited Supply.
