David Behrman - Leapday Night (1991 compi of works 1983-90)

The second album by US composer David Behrman continued the computer-music experiments of his first, On The Other Ocean.  The hardware and software had been upgdraded, now coming with a colour graphic monitor and pitch sensors to interact with each musician's semi-improvised performance.  Two suites of this nature were released on LP in 1987, the running order of which corresponds to tracks 6, 7, 1, 2, 3 respectively in this expanded CD edition.

Following the CD programming, we're first given the title suite in its three 'Scenes'.  Supported by Rhys Chatham, the main instrumentalist is Ben Neill, inventor of the electroacoustic 'mutantrumpet' which was designed to easily produce quarter tones and wider sonoritiy and was then further modified by Robert Moog. 

The two parts of A Traveller's Dream Journal that come next are the work new to the CD, and were recorded in Berlin in 1988 and finished in New York in 1990.  As well as the bouncing, twisting electronics, percussion and further keyboards flesh this one out into the most engrossing part of the collection.  Lastly, violinist Takehisa Kosugi fronts Inrerspcies Smalltalk, a commission for a dance piece by John Cage & Merce Cunningham, with some gorgeous playing.  Listening to the whole collection is like a window into some futuristic recording studio with tiny AIs bouncing around the instruments and mixing desk, like zero-gravity balls of liquid.  Highly recommended.

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pw: sgtg

David Behrman - On The Other Ocean (1977)

Been indulging one of my nerdiest interests of late - reading about the history of computers.  Yep, this is honestly the kind of stuff I find endlessly fascinating.  So I thought it was the perfect time to dig this album out.

The little unassuming mid-70s circuit board pictured above is the KIM-1, which in the hands of Sonic Arts Union* associate David Behrman was integral to the recording of this, his first album under his name.  The liner notes for the CD reissue of On The Other Ocean are worth reading in full, not least as an utterly charming piece of biographical nostalgia, but also as an enlightening description of the composing and recording process.  And living up to their name, Lovely Music have obligingly put the full text online.

In brief, then, these two side-long pieces start from a shimmering bed of homebrew synth, overlaid with acoustic instruments which then trigger the computer to further shape the piece.  Possibly quaint sounding now, but a genius idea in its day to have acoustic music truly interact with computer music.  And most importantly, how does it sound?  Absolutely gorgeous; gently and calmly oceanic on the title track, as the flute and bassoon progressively cause gentle ripples in the electronic wash.

On Figure In A Clearing, the wind instruments are replaced by a cello, resulting in a grainier, earthier sound that ever so slightly reminds me of Fripp and Eno - it made me go back to No Pussyfooting/Evening Star and realise that some of the Frippertronic guitar tones were quite cello-like.  Basically, every fan of ambient Eno needs this album in their life - you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

CD reissue cover

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* previously posted at SGTG - Extended Voices, featuring Sonic Arts Union alumni Robert Ashley and Alvin Lucier.