When I lived in Tucson, Arizona one of my favorite things to do was wander around the Tanque Verde Swap Meet. One of my best finds there were a series of Super 8 films made in the late 50s or early 60s, home movies depicting a couple’s lives in Japan and the Western United States (with a notable detour to some ice fishing perhaps in the North East). I compiled some of the films and made a soundtrack based on a piece I wrote in memory of a dear friend who passed. The film has a kind of dream-like melancholy that matched the memorial nature of the piece.
Ambient Artifact (Live)
Ambient Artifact is a soundscape project that records directly to tape, using the tape as a painter might use different media for textural and color saturation possibilities. On January 11th, 2021, I was asked to do a video and audio recording for a class on virtual presentations for CalArts by John Baffa. The session is a look at my process for the Ambient Artifact series, of course without the benefit of tape saturation. John’s playing with the color saturation helps get the feel of tape even if the capture is digital.
Journey to the Habitable Planet
Recorded “compositions in the moment” by trumpet player Noah Thomas, Journey to the Habitable Planet presents six pieces exploring themes of inner and outer space travel. It was recorded in an eight hour period at TV Tray Studio, Casitas Springs, CA, engineered by Grammy award recipient John Baffa (CalArts). The album features the haunting interplay between electronic textures created on theremin and analog delay effects with trumpet work reminiscent of Don Cherry, late ’60s Miles Davis or the free playing of Booker Little.
Playa Pelicula
https://soundcloud.com/poeticelectric/ppatrk2