A free download EP on my Found in a Skip netlabel. Originally released in 2009.
(Original post: 16/06/10. Updated: 05/02/11)
Download direct from the label (all tracks and cover): Skip 05
1. Six Lines 2. Buddha Book Taps 3. Three Bands of Static 4. Delayed Trains 5. Accidental Ending.
Named after a problem with a ground-loop ruining any attempts at recording with an unwanted and constant noise that went away as suddenly as it arrived- Ground Loop Problem is an EP of selected live improvised, minimal composition experiments from 2010 and one from 2009. The tracks ‘Six Lines’, ‘Buddha Book Taps’ and ‘Accidental Ending’ are taken from the same recording.
‘Accidental Ending’ is a genuine accident with the main loop cutting off instead of fading out.
The sounds are made with; amplified books, contact mics, broken cymbal, small cymbal, toy xylaphone, wire rack, pill packet, typewriter, breath, 3 band pocket radio, tape recorder, found field recording tape, ‘Steam In The 50s’ tape, turntable with ‘Golden Age of Steam’ record, fence brace, various found objects, reel-to-reel tape recorder, digital delay, Loopstation.
Piece for ...menu for murmur: a small cymbal placed on top of a speaker playing the sound of the cymbal being hit and brought close to the mic from a CD player powered by a small amp unit for which I built the circuit myself. The original idea was for the speaker to vibrate from the tone of itself, which worked nicely on tape but not so well on CD, such is the nature of improvised work. Still the sound and tone is altered by the cymbal placed on the speaker to an interesting effect. One the loudest things in the exhibition. The whole exhibition works really well with some automatic sounds happening regularly, some interactive ones happening sporadically and some pieces that don't make actual sound but get the imagination working on what sounds there could be. The sounds all work together to create a kind of ongoing live composition and performance.
A menu, tables but no food… instead tables laid with objects producing sound.
…menu for murmur is an experiment that will show new and exciting Sound Work, which acknowledges the subtle interactions of different sound work and highlights trust between artists.
As many regulars of sound art will attest, the presentation of such work in group exhibitions can be problematic due to the very nature of noise itself; its ever-penetrating, omni-directional nature resulting in unintentionally overlapping sounds. Rather than viewing the overlapping of noises as a disturbance, …menu for murmur takes such sound bleed as its central concern.
Curators Ben Gwilliam and Helmut Lemke have invited international sound artists to contribute individual pieces that will stand on their own but will also create a new collaborative piece …menu for murmur. The sound objects, which include electorinic devices, rulers and even a desk fan, will consciously be arranged in one space far and near.
Sounds will be heard simultaneously, individually and in collaboration; close listening events as well as more cacophonous ones will emerge throughout the duration of the exhibition, considered by Gwilliam and Lemke to be one continuous performance.
Helmut said: “We have 26 artists from all over the world who are contributing to this exhibition. They’ve had to put a lot of trust in us to create a meaningful piece using their individual creations, but we’ve come up with a truly diverse and interactive piece of work which combines visual and audio art.
