resound / unsound (vinyl)

resound / unsound is a project partially funded by the Research/Creative Activity and Professional Development Grants from SUNY College at Oneonta.

Recorded in the spring of 2017 at  Dryhill Recording Studios in Oneonta, NY with Brett Masteller Warren and Andris Balins, resound / unsound is a limited edition 12″ vinyl with original photo intaglio prints by Rhea Nowak on the front cover of each album (available in dark blue, dark purple, or orange ink) and the album information hand stamped on the back cover. 

resound – uses time lag accumulation technique with a xylophone to create sonic landscapes that vary from seas of unidentifiable sound to passages where one may recognize the source material. Time lag accumulation refers to a process that was developed in the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the early 1960s, and was used by Steve Reich. The process involves two tape machines. The first machine records on to the tape; the same tape travels to the second machine and the sound is then sent back to the first machine allowing an infinite amount of delayed repeats of the program material. This method is open to modulation between the two tape machines, allowing for a variety of effects to be achieved in addition to the delays. 

unsound – custom made contact microphones were connected to the edge of a wind gong and the head of a bass drum. The signals were sent into a modular synthesis rig via Music Thing Modular Mikrophonie preamps. The signals were then split and sent to a Doepfer A-124 “wasp” filter while simultaneously being sent to a Zlob Modular T.H. SVF. Both modules output a bandpass filtered signal (whose center frequencies are adjustable and were manipulated in real-time) and are again split. One set of paths were sent to a Bastl ABC mixer and the other paths sent to a Blue Lantern CMOS ring modulator. The ring modulator output was also sent to the mixer. The main output of the mixer was split and sent to contact speakers that were placed on the wind gong and the bass drum head. The signals that were being sent to the percussion instruments were also fed to a combination of guitar and bass amplifiers that were projecting sound in the same room. The reason for this is two-fold, to create an additional feedback loop in the system and to make the sounds available to be captured by room microphones. Julie Licata (manipulating and unactuating the gong and bass drum) and Brett Masteller Warren recorded three successive improvised takes to an Otari 8-track tape machine operated and engineered by Andris Balins. Brett performed the mix down at Dryhill Studios using the CalRec console and plate reverb. All aspects of electronic processing, recording, and mixing were accomplished in the analog domain. 

To purchase the LP or listen to and download the mastered digital files, visit my bandcamp page.

resound / unsound can also be found at: https://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Noise/