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Following on from Jean’s Piano (harbourcalm) this collection is similar to the previous though created over a much shorter time frame in January 2023. The main difference is in track duration, a somewhat relaxed summer lent a slowness in pace. There’s more layering in these pieces too, and in general more manipulation of the sample going on (compared to harbourcalm). Washing over the ear, changes are subtle. Maybe you are lying in the ocean, or drifting into a dream.
Expert Sleepers Crossfade Loop synth is the main tool for these pieces, alongside a midi controller enabling live manipulation.
The numbers in the titles relate to the sample being used, the letters usually how many takes it took to get there.
As written in the intro for harbourcalm:?
These sounds originate from a recording of my grandmother playing piano. She loved to play, & was often tinkering away, playing by ear & singing – at home in Whitianga, Coromandel, Aotearoa New Zealand. I’d always intended to create something from the recording.
Here’s how I went about it. A phrase of the original recording is selected, it becomes a ‘sample’, a couple of bars that will loop forwards & backwards. Now the sample can be played via a midi keyboard. Playing the sample is like playing any instrument – different pitches, notes are layered, new chords and combinations form. Plus you control the ‘envelope’, meaning, how fast a sound starts (attack) and finishes (decay). You form a new piece with a new sound. The resulting sound can also be processed, by adding reverb, echo, filtering, & oscillation. It’s instinct you’re going on. You record what is played.
Remembering your grandmother’s joy at playing piano, you have fun also.
Piano: Jean Albrecht
Sound: Marc Chesterman
Mastering: James Edward Armstrong
Released by Expert Sleepers