Degrees of freedom

It's all free improvisation at SoundOut, but there are degrees of freedom. It's usually played on musical instruments, sounding as expected (and intended?) or not. Sometimes it's played on anything, with mics and various noise sources. Or the instruments are prepared with cloths or bells or clips or other so the strings or bells or tubes don't sound as normal. The sticks on strings and between strings and the clothes line clips and perhaps blutack as classics. Then the range goes through to instruments played as instruments, with various atonalities and implied all. Here I can see the references, the skills and the rest that I admire. Or I think I can. I remember asking a pianist whose playing I'd admired about keys and such technical matters. Nope, nothing. I'd been fooled. Or maybe they just don't talk of that. The workshop talked of all manner of things, but assumed players "know their instruments": a big ask but not the matter of concern. There were several groups who played with noise, with non-instruments or newly electronics.

First up Alexandra Spence, Bonnie Lander and Goh Lee Kwang. Close listening to match voice, (for a little time) drone clarinet, electronics and papers and a mobile phone ap (presumably a sequencer of some type) triggering tones to an old radio as amp. Odd but small, quiet and an easy lug. Then a quartet of Ben Drury, Casey Moir, Julia Reidy and Millie Watson. I was blown out by atonal piano laying by Millie (and singing by Jennifer Nell who sat next to me for this set) at the SoundOut workshop but none of that here. This was plucks and sweeps on piano strings with lightly suggested rhythm from 12-string guitar and double bass noise and restrained but very inventive effected vocals from Casey. Again, fairly quiet but listening. Psithurism Trio are Rhys Butler, John Porter and Richard Johnson and are locals. They played a set with Alexandra Spence, this time on clarinet, and altoist Georg Weissel. A free, open, listening thing with plenty of noises, removed mouthpieces, clacks and drones and taps: noise informed by real instruments. These were the obscure, open, relatively quiet improvs of the Sunday afternoon at SoundOut 2018.

Alexandra Spence (clarinet, electronica), Bonnie Lander (vocals) and Goh Lee Kwang (electronics) performed at SoundOut 2018. Ben Drury (bass), Casey Moir (vocals), Julia Reidy (guitar) and Millie Watson (piano) also performed. Psithurism Trio played with Alexandra Spence (clarinet) and Georg Weissel (alto) at SoundOut 2018. Psithurism Trio are Rhys Butler, John Porter and Richard Johnson.

Texture

SoundOut is our annual local opportunity to be immersed in experimental music and here is SO2015 and some regulars and a string of new faces.

I managed two sessions this year and they divided neatly into two styles. The first was Saturday afternoon. The program featured several trios and one solo performer. There was a similarity in search for texture and tone. There was none of the standard melody, harmony or rhythm to speak of, at least not as envisaged by theory of Western music, although I did feel some sense of harmony in pairings of tones at various times, perhaps two saxes or accordion and sax or laptop and sax or even output from a single laptop. Or a single voice, when throat singing. But this search from tonal and ranges of sound from instruments was central, as was the texture of interacting instruments in a space. These sets were almost consistently meditative, slow, often quiet or with long, long crescendos and diminuendos. Nothing was quick here. All was space and listening and tonality. Psithurism was the first trio. Richard, Rhys and John are locals, mostly playing alto, tenor and soprano saxes, airing and spacious, speaks and squalls and reverse attacks and tonguing and rippling notes and burbling and tones like controlled feedback. Then Jason Kahn sang solo. This was firmer, long phrases from well-used lungs, exploring vocal tones and vowels, vibratos and slow pitch changes, worldly tones of North American natives and throat singing with polyphony. I wondered at the effect on his vocal chords, at times. I smiled to think how easy it was to travel with this instrument. I wondered if some of the sounds were so personal they should only be heard by a partner. But I josh. Then another trio, piano sax and guitar. Meredith playing virtually always under the lid, strumming or thumping strings, perhaps with a right hand on the keyboard holding notes or damping, and again a search for texture from Christian's sax and guitar, with Sam's guitar just once edging to break out into more standard soloing. Then a final duo, of Klaus and Paul on two laptops with Monica on piano accordion. Again, this was a set of texture. Monica playing long, steady chords or notes that would grow and withdraw with the bellows and the electronics finding and moving pure tones. All very meditative, slow, searching, trancelike, perhaps slumberous.

SoundOut is a challenging listen and increasingly that's something we need, in Canberra and in Australia, as little thinking shrinks our broad and educated minds. For without those broad and educated minds, Canberra is little more than the country town that many (mistakenly) claim it to be. While music suffers in Canberra, SoundOut remains vibrant. It's an international community that's daring and welcoming to its visitors and this can only broaden the life of our city and enhance our international integration. And, if we must talk dirty, even enhance our music tourism and international recognition.

Psithurism comprised Richard Johnson (soprano sax, drum skin, cornetto), Rhys Butler (alto sax)and John Porter (tenor sax). Jason Khan (vocals) sang solo. Meredith Maloney (piano), Christian Kobi (tenor sax) and Sam McAuliffe (guitar) played a trio. Monica Brooks (piano accordion) performed with Klaus Kilip (electronics) and Paul Heslin (electronics). SoundOut 2015 was held at the Drill Hall Gallery.

SoundOut2014/2 (Saturday afternoon)

It's the most glorious of sunny days and I wonder why I'm going inside to listen to music. This will be recognised later in the afternoon session with some music in the Art School garden, but in the meantime, it's into theatre dark.

The first performer is setting up a complex piece of kit as I arrive. Ross seems to keep adjusting it throughout the performance, because he doesn't really play this, the gear plays itself, but he moves and adjusts and mixes to allow and then manipulate the sounds. There's a loose spinning string forming sine-like curves when it doesn't hit an object in its path. Ross has placed various objects in its path and these seem to have pickups which transfer to a few little mixers and at least one foot pedal. The objects are a zither and various home-built timber panels with nail-like protrusions, and later a set of cow bells. It's a complex sound of percussion and drone, changing pitches with zither movements, various rings and springs and the like. Visually it's strange and aurally, too, but mesmeric. Home-made instruments making intriguing sounds.

The basses are back, this time in two separate outfits, and that's influenced the sessions I attended. Firstly Slawek with John alto and Dave guitar. Dave started with sparse notes, but it's Slawek who bores into this music and leads with prodigious energy. He's a big man with impressive mane. He rocks searching for inspiration before he so much as plays a note, then pizz, bow, thumps, slides, always forceful, unrelenting. Guitar goes through single notes, eBow, feedback and tenor through tonguing and flaps. Slawek stopped for the feedback, loud and simple, still rolling on his feet, then strong notes, heavy vibrato, 5th, 6th intervals, strong German bowing. This is powerful bass. I was not surprised when he told me of a background in punk. Unrelenting and overwhelmingly assertive bass.

Next was bassist Clayton playing a free jazz set with pianist Cor and drummer Evan. Evan is Evan Dorrian well known to the local modern jazz community. He's delved considerably into free and new musics for years, but a strong drummer in jazz and presumably other fields. Cor is from the Netherlands, but apparently now resident in Sydney. Clayton is ex-Sydney recently Berlin. More traditional, if you can say this of free jazz (I think you can). They warmed up, jokingly, with another fast swing although hardly a standard. Then into a delicious set of hard swing, recogisable but malleable harmonies (I found the chords refreshing) that moved in symmetrical steps, diminished or whole tone, piano played with the felt over the keys (strange, this), piano played by directly manipulating the hammers, deliriously free keyboard. Bass moved through swing and walks and tapping and bows to a fabulously effective section as a percussion instrument with drums (sticks placed between strings, other stick tapping, flapping first stick). Stunningly in confluence with Evan. And Evan, explosive, riding, following with body and eyes. These were stares through that percussion passage, and there was close contact here, although not with Cor whose piano was positioned so he couldn't easily glance. A fabulously effective free jazz set and my favourite for this SoundOut.

The three picked up instruments (Cor took a guitar; Evan one tom) and they moved with audience to the garden outside. Some playing with background birds, then a merge into Radio Celeste and her laptop and turntable created musical environment. Earthy sounds; seemingly of the garden we sat in. Pretty and involving and of nature, although perhaps less of a sunny day like that one.

So, that's what I heard of SoundOut 2014, other than one last appearance. I was listening to ABC FM after 11pm, listening to some fascinating modern classical recordings. The I recognised Julian Day's voice, then later SoundOut. He played two tracks from the Friday evening session, Psithurism Trio + (Richard, Rhys, John, Krista, Rosalind) then the trio set of Viv, Melanie and filmist Lousie. More in mid-Feb.

Ross Manning (string instrument) played the first set. Then a trio of Slawek Janicki (bass), John Porter (tenor) and Sean Baxter (guitar). Then another trio of Cor Fuhler (piano, guitar), Clayton Thomas (bass) and Evan Dorrian (drums). An end in the garden with Radio Celeste (radiophonics).

SoundOut2014/1 (Friday night) continues...

Continues ...

I was particularly interested in the paired bassists, especially given one was playing my bass. Slawek and Clayton, both bass, with Cor piano and Sean drums. This was a more conventional format, and the masculine side of the night. Strong from the start, then into tortured, pressured, intense, manic playing. Piano was punctuated and with some harmony; the basses were bowed, pizzed, explored, tapped, loud and intense; the drums were sometimes rabid, never steady, all fills and explosions and space and just some quieter passages. I was interested in the tones and the aggression of it all while somewhat fretfull for what the instruments were enduring, respectful for the search for newness, aware of the excessiveness and volume of it all, dismissive of some of the techniques. (This was an early and wrong impression. I was pleasantly surprised by the bass chops I heard next day from both bassists. But as I've found before, manic intensity at this level drives out the staid traditions and correct techniques of many arts; often, but not always, with justification). If these guys were playing their own basses, I may have relaxed and warmed to it, but as it was, I didn't relax enough to enjoy in this performance. (BTW, the bass was perfectly OK, as promised).

It still perplexes me that new music is so often played on old instruments. Given the traditional instrumentation, I warm to a musician who displays impressive traditional technique or knowledge. I noticed this with bassist Clayton when he was warming up for the end-of-session jam with a very steady and nicely developed bass groove, and also with his traditionally-styled pizz and ostinatoes during that jam. The harmonies and feels may have been new, but the techniques and groove were of long established. The group development was more unitonal and textured and atmospheric, but here was a family or historical connection with other music. So too, Richard's baritone sax in this set, that picked up on the groove and permuted it. The first set had Richard on soprano sax and drum playing with clarinet, two altos and one tenor sax. The whole merged in my ears into a melange of tonguings and tones and drones, but in openings I could pick out some wonderful ostinato lines from Richard, fast, clear, nicely structured around a quick passage and a long note, with slow minimalist change. This was impressive chops and lovely, understated accompaniment. It was not always obvious and sometimes hidden in the mix, but impressive when it appears. So too, with bass clarinetist Krista in this session. She had classical tone, toyed with varying lengthy intervals that sat so intriguingly and gloriously, even contrapuntally, in this busy mix. The distinct tone helps. In another set, Kim's guitar was somewhat a crossover in technical matters. I felt it held its session together with sweet fingerpicking and regular strumming, although only sometimes of chords; othertimes it was open strings or harmonics, so undefined harmonies. But this worked, especially interspersed with a similar-sounding zither-like instrument. It worked also due to clarity of the instrumental mix. Richard on gourdaphone and Reuben on trumpet and these are distinct sounds. This is also where I appreciated the skilled techniques in much new music. I know Reuben as both a bopper and a more experimental musician. Here it was all breath and tongue and unformed notes and mutes. It's a technique requiring competence and training, although not traditional. Not surprisingly, it can take knowledge of the instrument and the form to understand its complexities. Knowing a crossover artist can help.

SoundOut is our local incarnation of this worldwide branch of new music. Not easy, always a test to these ears, but a worthy wakeup call to your own conservative tendencies. Looking forward to another session. ABC FM were recording, Julian Day was MC-ing. You can hear SO performances over coming weeks on Julian's New Music Up Late.

Psithurism Trio + played the first set, Richard Johnson (soprano sax), Rhys Butler (alto sax), John Porter (tenor sax), Krista Martynes (bass clarinet) and Rosalind Hall (alto sax). Second set was Slawek Janicki (double bass), Sean Baxter (drums), Cor Fuhler (piano) and Clayton Thomas (double bass). Last set was Kim Myhr (guitar), Reuben Lewis (trumpet) and Richard Johnson (gourdophone, drum, soprano sax). The end-of-night collective improvisation comprised Richard Johnson (baritone sax), Rhys Butler (alto sax), John Porter (tenor sax), Clayton Thomas (double bass), Cor Fuhler (guitar) and Reuben Lewis (trumpet).