{"id":1011,"date":"2009-02-04T12:53:39","date_gmt":"2009-02-04T11:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2017-01-09T16:00:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T15:00:14","slug":"digital-sound-drawings-reviewed-by-5-against-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=1011","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Digital Sound Drawings\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reviewed by 5 against 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Digital
\nMany moons ago, i wrote a lengthy retrospective of the work of Ryoji Ikeda, creator of some the finest raw digital music yet created \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It’s an unfortunate corollary that Ikeda, like all great innovators, has a sizeable cluster of imitators (‘flattery’ be damned), many of whom form part of the now woefully tautological output from the once interesting Raster-Noton label \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 But something quite new appeared today, from the Cr\u00c3\u00b3nica netlabel that i’ve praised so highly in the past \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Out today is the fifth of their ‘Unlimited Releases’ series: Digital Sound Drawings by the Danish composer Morten Riis \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 The short programme note speaks of these six compositions being “composed through the drawing of images and their direct conversion into sound”, which brings to mind the well-known spectral imagery occasionally used by, among others, Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares & Plaid (about which more can be read here) \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Riis’ compositions are quite different, however, more akin to ‘sculptures’ than anything else, something that becomes strikingly apparent when the music is listened to using audio editing software, as recommended by the composer \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 i found this a fascinating way to listen, proving revelatory about the sound structures Riss has created \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

The opening track, “[d.raw]”, is uncompromising from the outset, hard-edged & frenetic, its material skittering & glacial, sounding precisely how one might have imagined it would \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Not surprisingly, it suggests Ikeda (or Alva Noto, in one of his more inspired moments), & yet there’s an undeniable warmth & richness demonstrated that is quite disarming \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Nonetheless, it’s the kind of opening track that might put off a timid listener; but that would be a mistake, as what follows is markedly different \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

“new.s” presents an immediate shift, opening with a delicate fluttering of blips that quickly yields to a surprisingly gentle noise journey \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 This journey, as the waveform shows, exploits the creative potential of the DC offset, something most sound engineers would seek to avoid \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It’s highly effective, bestowing on the sounds a paradoxical powerful softness, punctuated by sharp jumps in voltage that are also usually avoided \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Already, this is material most unlike the majority of digital sound artists \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

This expressive use of DC offset is taken to further extremes in the surreal but very beautiful “[wav.form]”, the waveform of which betrays clearly its image-based origins \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 The result is rather like bombarding the ears with a ton of feathers, a myriad of light poundings that are forever changing in shape & timbre \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It’s tough at first, but ultimately very rewarding \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

As its name suggests, “[nor.m]” returns to more ‘normal’ sonic territory, this time founded upon stable fundamental voltages \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It’s the most timbrally varied track on the EP, juxtaposing many kinds of noise beside jittery drones & fragmentary high sonics \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 The whole is somewhat reminiscent of Cage’s music involving radios, but without ever alighting on something concrete \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

Extremes of DC offset return in “[raw.d]”, by far the most ethereal track, exploring a microsound landscape worthy of Roden or Hudak \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It suggests the transcendental possibilities of such voltage extremes, simultaneously hovering on the brink of audibility & overload, its unrelenting pressures again taking its toll on the ears (especially through headphones), while never departing far from pianissimo \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

Similar extremes in the final track, “[pic.ture]”, that serves as a suitable (if a little less engaging) denouement & summary of what has gone before \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Once again, dynamic restraint is considerable, submerged in the high pressures DC offset affords \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 i say it’s less engaging, but the way in which the material hovers in a place that defies tangibility is interesting, & perhaps the standout quality of the EP as a whole \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

Available for free download from Cr\u00c3\u00b3nica here, in high-resolution (44.1kHz, 24-bit) AIFF files \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 i recommend listening through headphones (as long as they have excellent frequency response), & with the aid of audio editing software (for those who lack some, Audacity is a reasonably good, free program), in order to follow the trajectories of the sound waves as they progress \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n

via 5 against 4<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many moons ago, i wrote a lengthy retrospective of the work of Ryoji Ikeda, creator of some the finest raw digital music yet created \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 It’s an unfortunate corollary that Ikeda, like all great innovators, has a sizeable cluster of imitators (‘flattery’ be damned), many of whom form part of the now woefully tautological output … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Digital Sound Drawings\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reviewed by 5 against 4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[400,58],"class_list":["post-1011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-400","tag-morten-riis","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1014,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions\/1014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}