{"id":8877,"date":"2017-01-10T16:50:10","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T15:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=8877"},"modified":"2017-01-10T00:45:37","modified_gmt":"2017-01-09T23:45:37","slug":"massimo-ricci-on-jos-smolderss-nowhere-exercises-in-modular-synthesis-and-field-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=8877","title":{"rendered":"Massimo Ricci on Jos Smolders’s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nowhere: Exercises in Modular Synthesis and Field Recording\u00e2\u20ac\u009d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Those who have seriously attempted to operate a synthesizer know from experience how easy getting lost in the meanders of programming is. In a plurality of parameters and wave shapes, finding a way to produce a decent result \u00e2\u20ac\u201c let alone a\u00c2\u00a0beautiful<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0one \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is not exactly a walk in the park when the necessary practicality is missing. Moreover, in order to achieve that goal a whole life of intense listening and, in turn, a thorough understanding of the constitutional particles of sound are required. Unsurprisingly, the large part of synth-based contemporary wallpaper exploits presets, either in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mode or with the slightest modification. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an ever-expanding blob of mediocre homogeneity with a risible percentage of artistic meaningfulness.<\/p>\n

The decision of leaving intuition primarily in charge of a process of creation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c thus putting the mind temporarily out of business \u00e2\u20ac\u201c can be problematic. The border between dignity and irrelevance is a dangerous place: chaos is acceptable if a regulating entity is ready to break in. In the work of Jos Smolders, the awareness of the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153inside structure\u00e2\u20ac\u009d defining every intelligent human being represents a decisive factor. His music is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153free\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the widest acceptation of the adjective, but still characterized by a high degree of compatibility: not only with a hypothetical audience, but also with surrounding environments that may range from utterly silent to heavily vociferous. Smolders\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s choice of combining synthetic emanations with vague apparitions of reality certifies a truth: what we really hear \u00e2\u20ac\u201c be it from an instrument, a recording, or the outside world \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is often determined by our interior extensions rather than the actual source.<\/p>\n

In that regard,\u00c2\u00a0Nowhere<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0straightens up the wrong tendencies of the psyche which, given man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self-damaging nature, would reject anything not organized according to individual preferences. Some of these textures bring instant comfort, captivating as they are in their glowing warmth. Elsewhere, a quantity of unconscious analysis is needed to capture the vibrational impact of the intrinsic pulses; rarely intricacy and naturalness look so entwined. Smolders extracts luminousness from blackness; delineates cosmic implausibility with considerate gestures; reinforces with radiant tones what was born inconsistent. After silence falls, what remains is an almost tactile integrity: something that can neither be taught, nor described in mere words.<\/p>\n

Massimo Ricci<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n