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.
This month’s podcast is a collbo with Scary Mountain Wizard who brought his hybrid modular synth/guitar rig over to the studio for some ambient explorations.
I’m very pleased with this one, it has a nice mellowness and there’s a feeling of gentle exploration. At times it gets very slow, almost to the point of stillness…
This month’s podcast finds me wearing my wormlogo hat and creating deep drones with the Strega Synthesizer and tape.
The Make Noise Strega is one of my recent instrument acquisitions, and I’ve enjoyed exploring its capabilities as a drone machine. These are three of those explorations.
(this is one of the podcasts that i think works best listened to very quietly… or extremely loud.)
This month, having just passed the five year mark, I’m taking a look back with the intent of creating a sea of tranquility for you to submerge yourself in. The source material is from three sessions going back to 2015. This podcast uses previously unreleased parts from those sessions.
It starts by revisiting a collaboration with saxophonist Brad Hubbard (ES Podcast #24) playing the Electronic Wind Instrument. Brad is a fantastic and thoughtful improvisor, and here he brings some nice synth tones and textures to our musical conversation.
The middle section is from an all day solo performance (installation?) in 2015 during Newburgh Open Studios (ES Podcast #6). These durational performances really let me take my time and slow waay down. I try to get to a similar place in my shorter performances, but its always a challenge. This one is cascading and minimal, it reminds me of watching little waves rushing to shore, or gentle raindrops.
Finally there’s more contemplative improvisation this time with vocalist Ella Ray Kondrat (ES Podcast #34). This recording was literally the first time we played together. I think at the time I edited the original podcast I may have thought it was too raw, but listening to it now I find it has a sort of fragile beauty.
This month’s podcast is a solo studio experiment inspired by the concept of Slow-wave sleep. It’s an exercise in extreme slowness and is best experienced at a barely audible volume, while horizontal. Hopefully it will send you someplace restful and pleasant.
This is also podcast sixty; that’s five years of Errant Space podcasts! Thanks for listening, and please revisit some past podcasts to see how (if) things have evolved.
Here’s my current pedal set up, for any of you (nerds) who are interested.