passages
by EMERGE plays Gerald Fiebig
The passage of time, the passage from one imaginary space, and from one mind (or computer) to another – these are the passages that give this album its title.
Of course every piece of music passes from mind to mind as the ideas of its creator(s) become audible waves, enter another's ear and get decoded in the brain of this listener. But in this case, the passage was already part of the composition.
After a decade of collaborations both in live improvisation and co-composition, EMERGE and Gerald Fiebig decided to experiment with a new creative challenge. The selection of materials and the composition were to be split between them.
For this piece, Gerald Fiebig collected a variety of sonic objects – field recordings, found sounds, instrumental parts, electronic sequences, both archival and original – and passed them on to EMERGE. Most of the sounds held autobiographical significance for Fiebig, but as no background information was supplied to EMERGE, the passage of sounds from one to the other allowed the sounds to free themselves of that limitation.
Nevertheless, the sounds were 'thematically' grouped in sets of twelve, in view of the memory banks of the Roland SP-404 samplers used by EMERGE, but without any prior agreements on the choice of material or restrictions imposed by Fiebig on how to use the sounds. EMERGE set himself the challenge to integrate all the supplied sound files into the resulting compositon.
Working through the diverse groups of sounds, he created five pieces of varying duration and very different character. The listener can choose to follow the imaginary passageway that connects these five sonic and atmospheric spaces, but they can also choose to find their own paths by listening to the pieces in a different order.
With every passage – from Fiebig to EMERGE, and from EMERGE to every listener – the sounds lose old meanings and acquire new ones, creating – between all the listeners – an ever larger virtual network of references precisely out of the things that are not communicated in language, but only in sound. As such, the compositional process behind „passages“ is something of a sonic utopia of human cooperation, because, als Walter Benjamin wrote: „Progress does not reside in the continuity of the passage of time, but in its interferences.“
EMERGE (b. 1977) and Gerald Fiebig (b. 1973) are two sound artists based in Augsburg, Germany. Since 2007, they have collaborated on numerous performances, installations, and recordings. Other joint projects include the radio piece Chinese Whispers for WDR Studio Akustische Kunst (2014), the concert series echokammer (2007-2009), and Fiebig's work for EMERGE's record label attenuation circuit (since 2010). Information on their individual activities can be found on their websites emergeac.wordpress.com and www.geraldfiebig.net.
EMERGE has been a major presence on the European experimental music scene for two decades, releasing music on labels such as Drone Records, tâalem, and many others, touring extensively throughout most of the continent since 2010, and curating the re:flexions sound-art festival.
Gerald Fiebig has created radiophonic artworks for stations around the globe, including ORF Kunstradio, Arte eletroacústica on Radio Televisão Portugal, and Soundproof on ABC. His installations include work for Vienna's TONSPUR_passage and the Música Viva festival in Lisboa.
1033
factory-produced CDr in Digisleeve
Released in 2023
limited to 50 copies
price: 10.00 EUR (excl. postage)
gebrauchtemusik ° gm039
attenuation effect ° 1033 ° 2023
attenuationcircuit.de ° attenuation-circuit@web.de
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cassette version released by Red Light Studio ? in 2023
redlightstudio.bandcamp.com
played, recorded and mastered by EMERGE
all original sounds and artwork by Gerald Fiebig
geraldfiebig.net
emergeac.wordpress.com
video: live version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTV6jC4_AbQ
Also available here: http://www.discogs.com/seller/dependenz?sort=price&sort_order=asc&q=attenuation+circuit&st
VITAL WEEKLY
The next collaboration is between those powers that be Attenuation Circuit records. Is it a collaboration? Perhaps not. Gerald Fiebig handed in a collection of sounds (called 'sonic objects'), be it field recordings, found sounds, instrumental parts, electronic sequences, "both archival and original" (which, I gather, means that the archived ones aren't his making), and that many of these have a personal meaning to Fiebig, which he handed to EMERGE, the musical project of Sascha Stadlmeier. There is something about how he organises these sounds and samples, but I found that a bit too complicated to understand, and I didn't see the relevance to the outcome (or maybe, I am lazy or suffering from heat). Emerge comes up with five pieces of music. In my opinion, the three pieces that are over ten minutes (one is over twenty) are the best ones. EMERGE builds these pieces slowly, adding minimal elements to the mix and slowly changing the action. Overall, the sound is quiet for reasons I am unsure about. Especially in the fifth passage, the music drops quite a bit in volume. I would think that things would sound different with a bit of mastering. The music is somewhere at the crossroad between musique concrète and industrial music, with the occasional sidedish of drone music. EMERGE applies a collage-like principle to the music in the two shorter pieces, but it does not always work here, staying too much in a mix of shortish sounds and loops. 'Passage 3' sounds very much like Asmus Tietchens' recent music, but without the tension. I am happy with the three long pieces as they are.
http://www.vitalweekly.net/1390.html
BAD ALCHEMY
Für EMERGE plays GERALD FIEBIG: passages (attenuation effect 1033 / gebrauchtemusik 039) hat der gebrauchtemusik-, Text- & Ton-Macher Fiebig dem AC- & Klangkunst-Macher Sascha Stadlmeier Zugang gewährt zu einer Auswahl von mit Erinnerungen und Gefühlen verbundenen Feldaufnahmen, Fundstücken, instrumentalen und elektronischen Sequenzen. Als ein Akt des zutraulichen Anvertrauens, ohne Vorgaben, was der daraus mit seinen Roland SP-404-Samplern macht. Die 'Entfremdung' der Klänge und wie sie da in einem anderen Licht erscheinen, wird als Objektivierung und 'Befreiung' akzeptiert. Sie macht im Grunde auch nur bewusst, was immer geschieht, wenn Persönliches, als Kunst oder sonstwie, öffentlich wird. Der 'Sender', sein Innerstes und seine Intentionen stoßen auf 'Empfänger' wie frisch geschlüpfte Schildkrötchen auf ihre Fressfeinde, wie Ware in der Auslage auf die kundschaftenden Blicke von Flaneuren und Banausen. Intimität? Herzblut? Publiziert ist es immer Naked Lunch. Hier kann man die von Emerge angeeigneten, geformten und weitergereichten Klänge sich auf den Trommelfellen, in den Cochleas zergehen lassen. Nennt es Konsum, Kommunion, kreatives Missverstehen, Kommunikation. Ein Prisma für Mode, Reklame und Prostitution (im weiteren Sinn), um auf die Passagen-Obsession Walter Benjamins abzustellen, der hier natürlich nicht fehlen kann und auch nicht fehlt. Fiebigs Assemblagen-Artwork deklariert den Prozess als 'antifaschistisch + gemeinnützig', und verweist mit 'S.I.' auf das Dérive und Détournement der Situationistischen Internationale und ihre Warnung vor der Rekuperation. Emerge wirft dazu eine Turbine (Heizung, Lüftung, Honigpumpe) an, deren wie durch schwankenden Bedarf helldunkel moduliertes Dröhnen zuletzt beschnarrt, beploppt und mechanisch zerzuckt wird (1). Tropfen werden mit Daumen jaulend zerrubbelt und lachhaft bequiekt (2). Monotone Impulse und bestialisch rumorende durchstoßen die Stille (3). I-A-O wirft flötende Wellen, eintönig bepulst, bebrodelt, beorgelt, impulsiv und verkehrslärmig aufgewühlt, brummig und Ziegel zerscheppernd geloopt, und die Spieluhr klimpert die 'Internationale', an Gräbern, statt an Wiegen (4). Vögel piepsen, Schüsse fallen, das Meer leckt sich die Lippen, zu Atemzügen schnurrt es motorisch, meckern Ziegen. Durch eine schläfrige, leise Delle hindurch dämmert die Erkenntnis, dass ein Menschenleben sich durch Natur und Technik, die jetzt wie ein Lastwagen dröhnt oder surrig bebt, seine Passage bahnt und notorisch Arnold Stadlers Mahnung ignoriert: Einmal auf der Welt. Und dann so?
www.badalchemy.de
brezenstudio engine