10 Euro At The Door

With
Katharina Bévand, modular synthesis
Bryan Eubanks, modular synthesis
Benjamin Flesser , modular synthesis
Boris Baltschun, structure, voices
(due to illness Xavier Lopez had to cancel)

And with contributions by Richard John Forbes, Maja Marx, Phala Ookeditse Phala, Victoria Wigzell, Tubatsi Mpochmoloi, Linda Diederiks, Willem Boshoff, Liza Grobler, Nkosinathi Gumede, Karlien van Rooyen, Mongezi Ncombo, Ivan Messelaar, Gerhard Marx, Lindiwe Matshikiza.

Essay by Bhavisha Panchia

On the occasion of the release of the Desert Dictionary LP on arbitrary Boris Baltschun presents a live version featuring modular synthesists Katharina Bévand, Bryan Eubanks, and Xavier Lopez. This live rendition repeats the process of translating fieldnotes taken in the desert into a soundtrack in real time. The original score, a multi-track studio composition, gets recreated live with the help of three modular synthesizer systems as well as a selection of voice contributions from the dictionary.

Desert Dictionary navigates sonic territories oscillating between language and landscape, between notation and noise. Voices responding and contributing to a complementary narrative, connecting personal memories, political considerations and psychological effects of a landscape seemingly empty and quiet. Adjacent, beneath and intertwined a modular synthesizer score based on text notations – a synthesized soundscape appearing as imaginary field recordings, at the same time resembling and unalike the place in question.
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The LP is out now on arbitrary.
arbitraryproject.com/desert-dictionary