Saw Cassette
Saw Cassette Live Recordings Vol. 1
1. Play Saw Cassette
2. Slow Dialogic
3. Hades Welcome
4. Fiddle of Orpheus
About Track
After many sessions of recording and playing, one morning I woke up around 7am and started a new session, my mind still not fully awake, but still full of all the midi mappings and their functions. My mind was free of fixed intent nor strong will to impose, only to explore and play Saw Cassette.
About Track
Imagine talking to an entity from a world without light with a different sense of time. For every one of our minutes, only a second passes in theirs
About Track
Ventured into the underworld, arrived at the gates of Hades, the welcoming anthem
About Track
The tale of Orpheus going to the underworld is a sad and tragic one. He went to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife. Hades was so impressed by his music that he allowed it, on one condition while they leave the underworld, he could never look back at her. He failed to do so and she was forever banished to the underworld, never seen again. Imagining what music he played for Hades prior to the recording, this was the outcome.
The “Saw Cassette” is a custom-built instrument I constructed during MA in Experimental Sound Practice at U.C.C. The instrument is primarily made of wood and various other components such as a hand saw, a fishing feel, a coffee press and other miscellaneous objects to provide a varied mix of sound generating sources. Sound is captured using 7 contact mics and is combined with MAX MSP and two MIDI controllers to further extend the manipulation of sound while also adding looping and memory playback functions. This serves to provide an adequate auditory palette of sonic possibilities for solo and group performance.
All the tracks are performed and recorded live in one take. Improvised composition for the Saw Cassette is grounded in active listening. As Pauline Oliveros reminds us, “Listening is directing attention to what is heard, gathering meaning, interpreting and deciding on action.” In my practice, this means allowing intuition to guide how I play, perform, and progress the music. The process is somewhat ineffable: when a flow state develops, the actions and sounds cohere naturally, creating musical sense.
Free exploration without the pressure of recording frequently uncovers unexpected and interesting sonorities. When this occurs, I make note of them, sometimes saving the idea to revisit later, other times using it as the spark for a new recording session. These moments of discovery are central to my evolving experimental practice and inform the on-the-fly arrangement techniques I employ during live takes.
Performance Demos
