lucio capece
The latest in the Salford Concerts Series at Islington Mill was a solo performance from Lucio Capece. The turnout was really disappointing with probably a dozen people there. If you weren't there - and statistically you probably weren't - you missed a fantastic evening.
The instruments used were not especially exotic, and the techniques not especially showy. But the resulting sounds were amazing.
I don't want to give a minute description of what happened in what order because there's not much that's more pointless than a written description of a piece of sound art. However, I will discuss the techniques used and the sounds made, and hope that it's enlightening. In addition there are a couple of areas I want to touch on. I previously mentioned that I distrust claims that music and sound art describe physical spaces. This is still the case, but with a slight modification inspired by this performance which I'll explore. Also the role of quietness and slow development of themes.
First the kit used. His set up was pretty minimal by some standards. He had a tiny saxophone, a bass saxophone, a variety of cardboard tubes, some mutes, a couple of balls/marbles, a plastic (?) disc, a violin bow, a ring modulator, some filters and a sruti box. The pieces he played sounded as though they were composed rather than improvised, and the text on the flyer suggested as much, while also confirming that they were part of the same sequence.
One of the things which most impressed me at the time, and which has remained with me very strongly across the days since, was Lucio Capece's use of breath. Both blowing through the saxophones while deliberately not playing a note so that all you heard was the breath, and the fact that he appeared to be utilising circular breathing (which I've been trying intermittently to master with limited success for a while now). To use such a basic, quiet and apparently unmusical sound as a major texture - as the first texture - of a piece shows a great deal of confidence. That confidence probably comes from skill and control. This was a very controlled performance without being uptight or mechanical. Breath and the physicality of noise, of the instrument, of the artist were crucial throughout.
So far as I can recall the saxophones were only played with the cardboard tubes in place in the mouth of the instrument, usually with a mute on top, but sometimes not. The plastic disc mentioned earlier was placed over a tube at one point and held in place with one finger to give a tapping sound. At other times round hollow containers were placed over the instrument mouth and balls/marbles rolled round the edge to create another sound, either in conjunction with the breath or not. Although I said that the techniques weren't especially flashy they were obviously impressive feats of dexterity and control - imagine holding a small saxophone with one hand and using that hand and knee to rock the container over the mouth of instrument, sending the marble spinning round, while holding the container in place with the other hand, and using circular breathing for a prolonged period. Other techniques used included bowing the mutes and parts of the saxophone.
Although audible the ring modulator and whatever filters were used were not intrusive and acted as though they were merely extensions of the sound being created. In fact most of the time you could forget they were there. Instead the sound appeared wholly untransformed. But that aside the techniques used sometimes seemed to be analogue methods of achieving effects that might normally require an array of pedals. For instance the ball/marble rolling is a sound that I would probably create live on a loop and then leave playing to allow me to move onto something else. Usually it was exactly that, a durational dedication to making a particular loop live for as long as it was needed rather than relying on a more predictable but ultimately less organic or responsive recorded loop. Obviously this approach heightened the sense of physicality and control already mentioned several times.
I indicated earlier that I would discuss quietness and the slow development of themes. The entire work was relatively quiet, and each piece assembled itself only slowly. It might start with merely the sound of breath through a saxophone with no notes present. Then there would be a silence. Then as if starting again there would be breath. This breath might also end, or a slight variation might be added, a brief tone for instance. Often, even as the evening progressed, a sound might seem to be accidental only to resolve itself as intentional as it emerged again with additional elements. There seemed to be no sense of hurry, no concern to move on immediately to the next element once one element had been introduced. Without wishing to make comparisons, or introduce too much of a personal note, this is something that I am finding hard in my live performances of especially semi-improvised work. My timing and control is not yet such that I can take the time I would like, or operate at a lower volume. These concerns were already on my mind, and as some of the techniques - breath and bowing - are things I've dabbled with, the evening was a really useful study for me.
The flyer suggested that the piece was composed in response to Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev (which I have yet to see). And at times I found myself thinking that the sounds could almost be descriptive, or part of a soundtrack. And yet as I've previously said I have serious doubts about so literal a reading of music or sound art. But the sounds were never quite descriptive - breath was never wind or water rushing through pipes, pattering was never leaves blowing or rain falling. It was more that the sounds had a non-musical, furtive and yet physcal nature that suggested a world beyond the instruments being played. I'm not quite sure what I'm reaching for here - it was not so simple as the sounds being descriptive or even metaphorical, more that they were textures that would fit into a location or a sequence of images of a location and somehow enhance it. This is something I need to think some more about.
It's a real shame that more people didn't make the effort to attend. If you're one of them I believe the Salford Concerts are back some time in the autumn after a brief hiatus, but as soon as I know more I'll let you know. Make sure you go if you get the chance.
The instruments used were not especially exotic, and the techniques not especially showy. But the resulting sounds were amazing.
I don't want to give a minute description of what happened in what order because there's not much that's more pointless than a written description of a piece of sound art. However, I will discuss the techniques used and the sounds made, and hope that it's enlightening. In addition there are a couple of areas I want to touch on. I previously mentioned that I distrust claims that music and sound art describe physical spaces. This is still the case, but with a slight modification inspired by this performance which I'll explore. Also the role of quietness and slow development of themes.
First the kit used. His set up was pretty minimal by some standards. He had a tiny saxophone, a bass saxophone, a variety of cardboard tubes, some mutes, a couple of balls/marbles, a plastic (?) disc, a violin bow, a ring modulator, some filters and a sruti box. The pieces he played sounded as though they were composed rather than improvised, and the text on the flyer suggested as much, while also confirming that they were part of the same sequence.
One of the things which most impressed me at the time, and which has remained with me very strongly across the days since, was Lucio Capece's use of breath. Both blowing through the saxophones while deliberately not playing a note so that all you heard was the breath, and the fact that he appeared to be utilising circular breathing (which I've been trying intermittently to master with limited success for a while now). To use such a basic, quiet and apparently unmusical sound as a major texture - as the first texture - of a piece shows a great deal of confidence. That confidence probably comes from skill and control. This was a very controlled performance without being uptight or mechanical. Breath and the physicality of noise, of the instrument, of the artist were crucial throughout.
So far as I can recall the saxophones were only played with the cardboard tubes in place in the mouth of the instrument, usually with a mute on top, but sometimes not. The plastic disc mentioned earlier was placed over a tube at one point and held in place with one finger to give a tapping sound. At other times round hollow containers were placed over the instrument mouth and balls/marbles rolled round the edge to create another sound, either in conjunction with the breath or not. Although I said that the techniques weren't especially flashy they were obviously impressive feats of dexterity and control - imagine holding a small saxophone with one hand and using that hand and knee to rock the container over the mouth of instrument, sending the marble spinning round, while holding the container in place with the other hand, and using circular breathing for a prolonged period. Other techniques used included bowing the mutes and parts of the saxophone.
Although audible the ring modulator and whatever filters were used were not intrusive and acted as though they were merely extensions of the sound being created. In fact most of the time you could forget they were there. Instead the sound appeared wholly untransformed. But that aside the techniques used sometimes seemed to be analogue methods of achieving effects that might normally require an array of pedals. For instance the ball/marble rolling is a sound that I would probably create live on a loop and then leave playing to allow me to move onto something else. Usually it was exactly that, a durational dedication to making a particular loop live for as long as it was needed rather than relying on a more predictable but ultimately less organic or responsive recorded loop. Obviously this approach heightened the sense of physicality and control already mentioned several times.
I indicated earlier that I would discuss quietness and the slow development of themes. The entire work was relatively quiet, and each piece assembled itself only slowly. It might start with merely the sound of breath through a saxophone with no notes present. Then there would be a silence. Then as if starting again there would be breath. This breath might also end, or a slight variation might be added, a brief tone for instance. Often, even as the evening progressed, a sound might seem to be accidental only to resolve itself as intentional as it emerged again with additional elements. There seemed to be no sense of hurry, no concern to move on immediately to the next element once one element had been introduced. Without wishing to make comparisons, or introduce too much of a personal note, this is something that I am finding hard in my live performances of especially semi-improvised work. My timing and control is not yet such that I can take the time I would like, or operate at a lower volume. These concerns were already on my mind, and as some of the techniques - breath and bowing - are things I've dabbled with, the evening was a really useful study for me.
The flyer suggested that the piece was composed in response to Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev (which I have yet to see). And at times I found myself thinking that the sounds could almost be descriptive, or part of a soundtrack. And yet as I've previously said I have serious doubts about so literal a reading of music or sound art. But the sounds were never quite descriptive - breath was never wind or water rushing through pipes, pattering was never leaves blowing or rain falling. It was more that the sounds had a non-musical, furtive and yet physcal nature that suggested a world beyond the instruments being played. I'm not quite sure what I'm reaching for here - it was not so simple as the sounds being descriptive or even metaphorical, more that they were textures that would fit into a location or a sequence of images of a location and somehow enhance it. This is something I need to think some more about.
It's a real shame that more people didn't make the effort to attend. If you're one of them I believe the Salford Concerts are back some time in the autumn after a brief hiatus, but as soon as I know more I'll let you know. Make sure you go if you get the chance.
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