CD Companion Introduction

The Art of the Gremlin: Inventive Musicians, Curious Devices

by Sarah Washington

I am sure readers have noticed that I refer to the contributors to this CD as gremlins. That is due to their habit of meddling with machines, in this case for the purpose of the creation of unique sound-making devices. When I began to think about curating this compilation, it was clear that I did not want to limit the remit to a single arena such as that of circuit bending, which I happen to be involved in, or to some other more-or-less narrow definition of audio practice. Instead, I chose to present all manner of unholy instrument builders and also those who prey on a single quality of some fairly ordinary equipment in order to extract the most intricate possibilities from it. The one thing that unites the purpose of these musicians is the desire to find ways of creating and performing sounds that suit their personalities as players.

I focus here on those whose performances involve objects that help define their work, and not on those who primarily convert processes into sound, as interesting or closely related aesthetically as they may be (e.g. Michael Prime's audialization of the bioelectrical fields of plants or Jonathan Coleclough's contact-miked burning sparklers). In the case of Toshimaru Nakamura or Knut Aufermann and Tetsuo Kogawa, there is of course a large reliance on the harnessing of a process---audio feedback---in their work. However, it is the equipment that they use to manipulate this process that interests me: for one, the forensic exploration of a mixing desk and effects units; for the others, a wild game between radio transmitters and radios. The processes that we deal with here are rooted in the instruments themselves, which auto-define a particularity of sound. The players must struggle to suppress, produce and direct these willful sounds. For this project I sought representations of tangible objects that have an intimate connection to their users or creators. I am interested in the wrestling match between person (in this case simultaneously player and composer) and self-made or appropriated device.

The sounds in these recordings vary from crackles, scrapes, beeps and blips to fluid tones. There are encounters between these constructed noises and more familiar sounds---a bass clarinet in the duo of Grace and Delete, and a host of birds on Hampsted Heath that sing along to the bleeps of Moshi Honen. From the modified printer of Dan Wilson to the modified knitting machine of Ivan Palacky via all the chaos of dozens of distorted circuits; in the marriage of video signal and homemade computer in NotTheSameColor, the dance of tuba and talkbox of B¯rre M¯lstad, and the clean resonances produced by Rhodri Davies, there seems to me to be some kind of coherence and unity. I did not intend that to be the case; in fact I was quite surprised as the pieces arrived and I absentmindedly listened through, not always sure where one track ended and the next began. I have followed this happenstance through while programming the CD, thus trying to offer an extra experience that flows from the individual contributions and varies in mood and contrast between pieces throughout.

I do not know if it is at all useful to speculate about the probable multilayered relationships between the works of these different artists. I certainly would not want any terminology to get in the way of appreciating the deeply inspired work that happens quite naturally when artists design their own tools to suit themselves so perfectly. In a fit of fancy about defining this particular field, I asked some musicians in Vienna to offer descriptions of their music. The best answer was from the audio and video feedback artist Billy Roisz. After some thought she described her area of work as "liminal," which she formulated as something "in between." That description goes for everything to be heard on this CD---a riotous flower-bed of noises relating to transitions or inceptions of processes---sounds that remain anchored at or on both sides of a periphery or divide. As to whether that divide is between noise and music, or music and art, or whether this talk of transitions is an intuitive attempt to highlight the subtle areas of (co)operation between the producer, the production and the product (musician, self-designed instrument, sound), I leave the rumination to the listener. I will simply sit back and enjoy this result of a satisfying opportunity to compile a sound-world of choice.

I thank Nic Collins, who continues to inspire electronic instrument builders worldwide. I would like to dedicate this CD to Ed Baxter of the London Musicians' Collective and Resonance 104.4FM in London for enabling a generation of experimental musicians to taste the work of others from across the globe and subsequently to explore their own vocations.

Sarah Washington
LMJ17 CD Curator
E-mail: washsarah@gmail.com.
Web sites: www.mobile-radio.net,
tonictrain.klingt.org,
www.radia.fm,
www.resonancefm.com.

Sarah Washington is an artist and coordinator working with sound and radio. Formerly a director of the London Musicians' Collective, she helped set up the radio station Resonance 104.4 FM. For performances, she creates handmade electronic instruments by circuit-bending toys and utilizes ultrasonic devices and radio technology. She plays concerts of improvised electronic music with various collaborators, including in her ongoing duo with Knut Aufermann, called Tonic Train. Additionally Sarah produces innovative radio works, writes articles on radio and experimental music and teaches workshops for cultural institutions across Europe. She was one of the instigators of Radia, the international art network of independent radio stations. The traveling radio and sound art project Mobile Radio. which she began in 2005, evolves and continues.