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Re: [microsound] Re: niblock



On 13/05/2005, at 1:56 AM, P. Lasell wrote:

Since posting I read up on Niblocks methods a bit, and I think his
music is totally applicable to microsound.  He apparently samples or
tapes musicians playing acoustic instruments, then removes the attack
and sustain from the sample, leaving a seamless edit of sound which he
then layers.

Right. For his live rig, he tends to use a powerbook with realtime de-tuning plug-ins ( written in MSP, i think, but hosted in another app as plugins). Depending on the system and space, he plays with the tunings differently. People are often baffled when they see him play... this 72 year old bearded guy either staring into his laptop or getting up at random and going for a slow walk around the space, seemingly disinterested in the audience.... This is characteristically 'niblock'. He also likes to start playing before the audience come in. The performance can therefore have an installation aesthetic about it.


Regarding removing the attack, that's often true, but sometimes he leaves the articulations in - which creates these subtle pulses in the texture as notes are randomly re-attacked. This is seriously nice.

On 13/05/2005, at 5:21 AM, scott allison wrote:

From the comments about him playing loudly

-Yeah Niblocks performance is pretty amazing, I saw him a few years ago knock out an amazing three hour drone-a-thon, sans any visuals.

Niblocks set was a harmonic orgy of sound. From what I gather by pushing the levels as high as possible, you really start to hear all kinds of unplanned overtones, for me this is one of the most interesting aspects of his work, making something so dense and thick that at the same time is totally minimal in how it slowly evoles and changes, very very focused listening.

Yes, this is Phill's own view... he is very concerned to ensure that he gets substantial volume, as he says the interactions are only audible above a certain volume.


I experienced this first hand, as Phill asked me to upmix his old works to 5.1 surround for the Extreme DVD. This involved me spending several days in a studio with his material from the 70s and 80s, working out the best way to up-mix it. I found myself monitoring pretty loud (and having to take regular breaks), as its true you miss a lot of the detail when the music is played at a 'normal' level. The other serious issue (for mixing) is that if you move even a few inches, the phase relationships all change and the mix sounds completely different. This, of course, is exactly what is supposed to happen, but it demands a completely different approach to mixing - you are going for an interesting and engaging set of variations in the sound field, rather than a definitive mix per se.

To re-inforce this principle, I also did a number of gigs with Phill, playing e-bow guitar in his 'Guitar Two, For Four' piece. The piece was completely different in each venue. It almost bore no similarities from one night to the next, other than it was a wall of electric guitar sounds. The overtones/harmonic transformations were unique to each space.

For this reason, the best thing to do at a Nibs gig is to get up and change positions from time to time (preferably during the same piece), spending some time listening to a different set of phase relationships.

If you ever get the chance to see a performace in his space in downtown, dont miss out, that place is like walking into a barn out in the country from the 60's, total brain drain awesomeness.

One of the last vestiges of 'real' manhattan loft culture (or perhaps the romantic notion of it) - also one of the old John Cage haunts. Not wanting to panic people, but I know he has had great difficulty keeping the space going in recent years, given the overall gentrification of that area of town. There is a lot of pressure to get him out, Even in the time I've known him (about 12 years) the building has gone from being filled with sweatshops and artist lofts to stainless steel fronted architectural design firms and the like, I think Phill's loft is the only artist space left in that building. Some switched-on philanthropist should come in to the rescue (maybe Thomas Buckner?).


Super nice guy to boot.

Indeed... a true gentlemen and a very generous one at that.


On 13/05/2005, at 5:31 AM, tobias c. van Veen wrote:

in front of Phil and an
audience cramped into every nook and corner of the loft, and about 10
minutes in, I blew the amp. He said it was the first performance to do that.
Heh.

Ha! You blew the amp on the industrial strength system with those home-brew W bins? They have survived almost 30 years of loud drones. This is quite an achievement, worthy of a t-shirt, in fact... 'I blew NIblock's PA and survived'. He'll have to shuffle down to Canal St now.... or dig out another one from behind the projection screen.


Anyone in the NYC area should support Phill's space - keep it going.

http://experimentalintermedia.org/index.shtml


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