Liner Notes by Ken Waxman

As sophisticated sound experimenters become more comfortable with the variety of expressions that can be extracted from computer-based electronics, high-quality sessions like MentalMess are the result.
These eight tracks, recorded in one afternoon at Manhattan’s Harvestworks centre for evolving technologies, are completely improvised using the sonic sources engendered by New York resident
Hans Tammen’s self-defined endangered guitar plus Vienna-based composer Karlheinz Essl’s m@ze°2 Max/MSP software instrument. More intrinsically, the key to creating stimulating sounds like these isn’t what theories are proven or which electronic gizmos are attached. It’s how profound, inventive and thought-provoking the end product is. In this case Tammen and Essl, who jokingly titled the session with a contradiction of their names rather than a definition of their emotional state, generate dazzling interactions.

A track such as “Prelock” for instance, begins with what could be effervescent spurts and watery drips resulting from bottle opening, with the tones then pulling back to reveal reed-like snorts and tongue stop-replications plus purported cymbal slaps and keyboard pressure. Crackling static presages what could be an abrasive thunderstorm which oscillates, judders and finally fades. Meantime, while “Friggle” mixes an approximation of downwards slithers of a toy slinky with guitar strums, mouse-like squeaks and half-heard melodies, “Kalister” is more percussive and less playful. Harsh twangs from electric kalimba cut through the blurry interface to isolate string snaps and vibraphone-like resonations. Another highpoint is “Nomisola”, built around staccato drones, as snatches of piano, double bass and even full orchestra samples intermittently reverberate. Until the finale, blustery synthesis intercuts between instrument replications and nearly impenetrable grinds.

Both improvisers create while using software programs that sample while processing, with the sample themselves often manipulated as well.

Tammen’s endangered guitar is an interactive hybrid between guitar and computer that processes in real time as sounds are created, with added control sources a proximity sensor and an iPhone’s accelerometer data. For his part, Essl’s m@ze°2 uses a keyboard, a mouse, several MIDI controllers and a webcam to pan, harmonize, pitch-shift and transpose samples from a database, mixing them with
what he and Tammen create in real time. Omnipresent is an ostinato of glitches, static and clicks.

As this session evolved, it gradually dawned on the players that the interaction was breeching further sonic definitions. Essl’s electronically created samples for instance seem to derive from so-called real instrumental tones, while Tammen’s guitar intonation has an unmistakably electronic feel. The Austrian, who often speaks of “the magic of the moment”, appears comfortable, conscious of references, yet negotiating a method of real-time playing.

It’s the same for German-born Tammen. Conceptually he has concerns about defining improvisation. He’s discomforted by players who say they’re creating original sounds when merely recreating so-called improvisations they’re played before. At the same time he distrusts arbitrary playing which gives the improviser too many choices. “The more experienced you become in your playing, the more you conclude that there are really only one, or at most two, perfect choices for any given musical situation,” he declares.
That’s what happens with MentalMess and why so many fruitful inventions are exposed here. Although in the past both Tammen and Essl have collaborated on an irregular basis, with this session they’ve achieved matchless technical and sonic unity.

Ken Waxman
Toronto, December 2011

Two Musicians, less than as much music

Live laptop/guitar duo recorded at Harvestworks in 2010
[ February 4, 2012 / Department: downstream ]

In a clear case of more allowing for less to occur, the team-up of powerhouses Karlheinz Essl and Hans Tammen is a rich improvisation between the former’s laptop and the latter’s computer-processed guitar. To listen is often to hear neither, and to forget frequently that anyone, let alone two people, is playing. The opening track, “Brutz,” is often little more than flittering nuances. The guitar evaporates in the laptop’s processing, and the dual computers yield slivers of sound, drones that might just be the result of an ungrounded line, effects that could be artifacts in the sound recording. There’s a moment, for example, in a track titled “Prelock” when it sounds as if we’ve left the concert hall (the work was recorded live at Harvestworks in New York City back in May 2010) and wandered down to the subway. Elsewhere, there’s a point in “Nomisola” when piano chords are heard, but they drift away, subsumed in the nether-absence of obfuscating noises and general compositional entropy. Later, in the same track, what might be a guitar chord but resembles an archival orchestral recording gets tossed here and there like seaweed as it nears a shore, where it will soon dry and, soon enough, flutter away

Get the full set as a Zip archive. More information, including helpful liner notes, at the modiste.com netlabel. More on Essl at essl.at, and on Tammen at tammen.org.

By Marc Weidenbaum / Disquiet.com – see here.

Remix of recordings made during an art project that was part of the 1998 documenta city program of the city of Kassel, Germany. The street “Treppenstrasse” in Kassel is located in the middle of one of the first pedestrian zones in Germany. Originally it was planned as a symbol for the pride of the Third Reich, an axis from the city’s main train station to the biggest square for the presentation of marching nazi troops.

A Blue Box was located in the middle of the Treppenstrasse. For two days artists Detlef Landeck and Hans Tammen confront pedestrians from inside the box with the street’s eventful history, using a sound system to juxtapose historic sounds with the sounds of today.

Reporters from “Freies Radio Kassel”, a regional radio station, roam the area interviewing pedestrians, and capture a wide range of friendly and hostile opinions. This remix, broadcasted a year later, juxtaposes excerpts from the interviews and recordings of the live performance. See the Soundcloud comment section for an explanation of the German remarks.

AHA 1101, recorded 2011, released 2011 on Acheulian Handaxe. Total Time: 46:23 Minutes. Christoph Irmer – violin, Hans Tammen – endangered guitar + violin live sound processing. Recorded by Filipe Chagas, Harvestworks, New York.

Since their first performances together in the beginning of the 80s, Christoph Irmer (violin) and Hans Tammen (guitar & violin live sound processing) have developed a unique style for improvisations with violin and electronics. Their music changes frequently between soundscapes and fierce sonic outbursts, and draws extensively from their 30 year long collaboration. Following their 2005 release Oxide (on Portuguese Creative Sources label), this recording focuses extensively on live sound processing of both instruments, their sounds transformed into an alien world of bizarre textures and jarring Euclidean rhythms.

Cover Image “Mein lieber Scholli” by Ulla Riedel - http://www.ur-art.de

RICARDO ARIAS

Artists: Ricardo Arias, Diego Chamy, Luis Conde & Gabriel Paiuk, Pascal Boudreault, Dafna Naphtali & Yasunao Tone, Sean Meehan, Jefferson Rosas & Juan Sebastián Suanca, Roberto García, Daniel Leguizamón, Daniel Prieto & Rodrigo Restrepo, Nate Wooley & Hans Tammen, Tim Feeney & Vic Rawlings.

Special thanks to Carol Parkinson & Harvestworks, the Issue Project Room, Gisburg, Jim Staley & Roulette, and the Music Department at the University of Los Andes.

Selection edited by Audition Records. Picture by Ricardo Arias. Design by Aniana Heras.

Listen to the works here: http://www.auditionrecords.com/ar044.html

TRACKLIST CREDITS

1-2. Sol Sonoro & 3×3

Ricardo Arias, bass balloon kit, cracklebox; Roberto García, electronics; Daniel Leguizamón, amplified acoustic guitar; Daniel Prieto, electric guitar, laptop; Rodrigo Restrepo, amplified homemade instruments, laptop. Recorded in 2008 at the music department, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá.

3-4. Cuarteto Agregado
Ricardo Arias, balloon kit; Diego Chamy, drums, percussion; Luis Conde, tenor sax, bass clarinet; Gabriel Paiuk, piano. Recorded by Gisburg live at Roulette (228 W. Bway), New York City, October 27, 2001.

5. Miscelánea en General
Ricardo Arias, interactive mapophone, recordings; Pascal Boudreault, computer; Dafna Naphtali, sampling and processing; Yasunao Tone, wounded CD’s. Recorded by Jim Staley live at Roulette (228 W. Bway), New York City, March 26, 2000.

6-7. Ricardo Arias, bass balloon kit; Sean Meehan, snare drum & cymbals; Jefferson Rosas, tuba; Juan Sebastián Suanca, laptop.
Recorded at Avila musical st., Bogotá, February 29, 2009. Engineered by Nestor Acosta. Mixed and Mastered by Ricardo, Juan and Jefferson.

8-9. Ricardo Arias, balloon kit; Nate Wooley, trumpet; Hans Tammen, endangered guitar, processing. Recorded in concert at Harvestworks, New York City, July 23, 2010.
Recorded in concert at Harvestworks, New York City, July 23, 2010.

10-12. Tim Feeney, amplified percussion; Vic Rawlings, surface electronics, amplified prepared cello; Ricardo Arias, bass balloon kit. Special thanks to Stephan Moore.
Recorded live at the Floating Points Festival, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, New York, July 21 2010.

“Five of the freakiest, most out-there experimental guitar pioneers talk about wielding bizarre implements— everything from chopsticks to electric fans—in a tireless quest to discover new modes of 6-string expression.”

Extended techniques by Fred Frith, Keith Rowe, Roger Kleier, Stian Westerhus, and Hans Tammen.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Oct/Avant_Guitar_101_Alternate_Attacks.aspx?Page=1

Composer, Conductor, Violin: Jason Kao Hwang

Violin:  Trina Basu, Sarah Bernstein, Charles Burnham, Julianne Carney, Fung Chern Hwei, Mark Chung, Rosi Hertlein, Jason Kao Hwang, Gwen Laster, Marlene Rice, David Soldier, Curtis Stewart, Midori Yamamoto, Helen Yee
Viola:  Leanne Darling, Nicole Federici, Judith Insell, Eric Salazar, David Wallace
Cello:  Martha Colby, Loren Dempster, Daniel Levin, Tomas Ulrich, Shanda Wooley
Acoustic Guitar:  Cristian Amigo, Bradley Farberman, James Keepnews, Dom Minasi, David Ross, Tor Snyder, Hans Tammen
String bass:  Michael Bisio, Ken Filiano, Francois Grillot, Clifton Jackson, Tom Zlabinger, James Ilgenfritz
Drum set: Andrew Drury

See more information here: http://www.jasonkaohwang.com/

From Jason’s website:
Spontaneous River is an orchestra of over 35 string improvisers plus drum set.  It is only in recent years that so many string players have engaged in the art of improvisational music. Spontaneous River is an ensemble and a community that represents this emerging movement. The power of Spontaneous River is drawn from both the sonic unity of strings and the undeniable individualism of each musician’s “voice.”

Mr. Hwang composition, Symphony of Souls is a spontaneous flow of notated passages and conducted improvisations that express stories abundant with flora, fauna and dreams of the human spirit.

Symphony of Souls was recorded on April 24, 2010, at Systems II in Brooklyn. The outstanding musicians of Spontaneous River donated their artistry to unite and create this extraordinary music. Mr. Hwang’s violin improvisation provides the preface and epilogue toSymphony of Souls, which is approximately one hour.

Spontaneous River has performed in New York City at Vision Festival, Living Theater, Galapagos and Project Reach. In Ann Arbor, a Spontaneous River of local and festival musicians, performed at Edgefest.

Spontaneous River includes Ken Filiano (string bass) and Andrew Drury (drum set), who are members of Mr. Hwang’s quartet EDGE. Spontaneous River, which is multi-generational and cultural, is only possible because of the faith these artists have in each other to inspire and create this extraordinary music.

A Day of Luxuriant Listening at Sounds Elemental
Submitted by Jessica Clark on Tue, 06/14/2011 – Original Link

The first thing producers attending this week’s Sounds Elemental workshop noticed when they walked into Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center was the fish. Each swam across its own spartan tank, monitored by a dedicated camera hooked to a music stand. What did it mean?

As the opening day of this unusual workshop progressed, the significance became clearer. The three goldfish were the stars of an audio art installation [by Greg Pucillo], which tracked their movements and translated them into sound. Such quirky inspirations threaded throughout the pieces that Sounds Elemental instructors Hans Tammen, Brenda Hutchinson and Michael Schumacher played to “open the ears” of the six workshop participants.

Learning to luxuriate in sounds—to find inspiration in both exotic and everyday sources and build them into compelling works—is the point of this week-long intensive. Harvestworks has been hosting Sounds Elemental workshops since 2007, each keyed to a particular natural element: fire, water, earth, sky. This week’s theme was metal. But before we could start gleefully remixing banging and bonging and grinding gears, we had to spend some time listening—and learning how to talk about what we heard.

Harvestworks’ Tammen, an experimental composer and educator, laid out the blueprint for the week—listening and instruction sessions in the morning, and audio production labs in the afternoons. Hutchinson, a sound artist and radio reporter, then tuned us into the sound of the room: whirring fans, scratching pens, and muffled footsteps which became the backdrop for many more sounds to come. Together, the group explored a variety of ways to describe each subtle noise.

For the rest of the morning, Schumacher, who directs sound art gallery Diapason, led the group through their reactions to a varied series of pieces, interspersed with heady conversations about the theory and science of sound, the history of experimental audio performance, and the assumptions imposed by Western musical history. By the time NYU student Greg Pucillo arrived to play the results of the fish’s watery wanderings, we were ready to decipher the role each played in the mix: one controlled pitch, the second timbre, and the third, levels of feedback.

Workshop attendees spent the afternoon creating, airing and commenting on pieces they composed from a shared bank of metal-inspired sounds, with hands-on help from instructors. This first afternoon of creation would serve as a warm-up for compositions they’d be perfecting throughout the week. (Listen to the creations that emerged from earlier earth and sky workshops for a sense of what might emerge.)

While I couldn’t stick around for the week, I was thrilled to spend a few hours in a supportive environment teaching myself to edit audio using iPhone app VC Audio Pro. (A big perk was that instructors were willing to work with whatever editing tools we selected.) This piece by Sounds Elemental alum Alicia Zuckerman gives a sense of how the rest of the week’s sessions will unfold.

Intrigued? The theme of the next Sounds Elemental workshop, December 12-16, is wood. Learn more here.

Support for the Sounds Elemental intensives comes from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYCSA) and the 800 members of AIR.