This month’s podcast is a behind the scenes peek into how I prepare for a show.
For a solo electronic performance I need to devise a system to improvise with that will produce (manageable?) unexpected results that I can respond to. (When improvising with other musicians, this takes care of itself.) In this case I had in mind creating a fairly minimal, droney, textural soundscape so used the Strega, which is excellent for drones and the Wingie2/Blippoo Box which is a great source of randomness. I also incorporated some field recordings for additional texture (played on a Kaoss pad), and harmonica to add an element of breath. Everything could be sent to an Eccos delay in sound on sound mode via an effects send to create slowly evolving/dissolving loops.
There are three improvisations presented here, the first two are me exploring strategies for the performance in my studio and the third is the final live performance recorded at Greenkill in Kingston, NY on January 13, 2025.
António Caramelo and me (craig) performing at Darc (photo João Paulo Daniel)
That’s followed by recording from a visit to the studio of Adriana Sá who played her custom zither. We were joined by her student Gabriel Worm on acoustic bass guitar.
Adriana Sá in her studio
Finally there’s a sort of hybrid field recording I made on the Alfa Pendular train; I improvised to the sounds of the train and passengers on the trip from Porto to Lisbon.
This was my recording studio on the Alfa Pendular train.
This month’s podcast features experimental musician Mathieu Sylvestre from Berlin.
My first meeting with Mathieu was recording for this podcast. I really enjoy getting to know someone by making music together and our collaboration turned out to be quite interesting. I play guitar for part of it and then switch to electronics. Mathieu works with looping, spectral processing, noise and field recordings, creating amazing textures. Right after recording for this podcast, we embarked on a 5 day tour in the Northeastern U.S.
Mathieu performing at Neverending Books in New Haven, CT
This was a fun adventure! I packed up a battery powered synth (softpop) and amp, and my binaural mic and hiked out to Hidden Lake in Putnam County, NY with David who brought a hydrophone and some speakers along with his clarinet and iPad.
We made some sounds inspired by what was happening below the surface*. The results are strange and surprising!
David Rothenberg at Hidden Lake. (Also pictured, Binaural Mike.)
*Mostly plants photosynthesizing and an insect called the lesser water boatman. (Check out David’s book to learn more.)
This month’s podcast features three live recordings from 2023, all of which include either bowed, or circuit bent instruments.
It begins with a performance with conceptual cellist Irman (who also contributes some keyboard) which was recorded at Telephone in Pittsburgh, PA.
Then, there’s a recording from drone day 2023 featuring Tamalyn Miller on horse hair fiddle and Thom Uliaz (burnkit2600) on circuit bent electronics.
Finally there is a very quiet performance that took place across a table next to the kitchen in a civil war era boarding house at XFest 2023 in New Hampshire. This one features the circuit bent Casio MT-240 of Cryptwarblr and I am playing a Bastl SoftPop. Both of us are using the instruments internal speakers.
This month’s podcast features Fronds & Fringe, a duo of sound makers from Philadelphia, PA.
Rebecca and Irman came to my studio the day after playing a show in town to record this podcast. I really enjoyed our collaboration, its rare for me to do a studio podcast with more than one musician. There was a lot of good playing and listening happening, and we covered some strange sonic terrain together.
This month’s podcast features composer/clarinetist David Rothenberg, who came to the studio with his bass clarinet, field recordings, samples and electronics for an afternoon of sonic exploration. The results of our collaboration are surprising and delightful!
This month’s podcast is a haunting soundscape suitable for your halloweening needs.
