Es conocido mundialmente como el Padre del Circuit Bending o Encorvamiento de Circuitos, una técnica que descubrió azarosamente allá por los años 60's la cual hoy ha llegado incluso a nuestras tierras en donde no-músicos experimentales devoran/abren diversos aparatos para extraerles sonoridades inéditas. Reed Ghazala es en realidad uno de los pocos genios aún vivos de las jornadas sesenteras y setenteras.
"Reed no tuerce las reglas. Simplemente nunca las aprendió" (Perfect Sound Forever dixit). Su campo de trabajo no se restringe solo a lo sonoro, también interviene diversas fuentes visuales además de ser un alucinante pensador en sintonía con la naturaleza y las plantas sagradas. Sus creaciones forma parte de colecciones como el MOMA de New York, el Guggenheim y el Whitney. Sus famosos instrumentos circuit bendeados han sido construidos para Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, Pat Mastalotto de King Crimson, Faust, Chris Cutler, Towa Tei, Yann Tomita, Peter "Sonic Boom" Kember, Blur y muchos otros. La obra de Reed Ghazala ha sido difundida por medios masivos como ABC Television, The Discovery Channel, MTV, Disney, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired Magazine, Option, Billboard y Computers & Music.
Para empezar a celebrar este 2014 los 10 años de existencia de este mi preciado blog, he tenido el placer de realizar una extensa entrevista para PeruAvantgarde a quien considero uno de los héroes de la música electrónica experimental actual. Un hombre del Renacimiento, un alma de colores, el siempre genial QUBAIS REED GHAZALA. Enjoy!
Traducción x Arturo Breña.
-------------------------------
He's known throughout the world as the Father of the Circuit Bending, a technology he discovered by chance on the years 60's which today has come even to our lands where experimental non-musicians devour/open up diverse devices to extract unknown sonorities from them. Reed Ghazala is actually one of few still alive geniuses of the 60s and 70s journeys.
"Reed does not twist the rules. Simply he never learned them" (Perfect Sound Forever dixit). His work camp is not restricted only to the sonorous thing, he also controls diverse visual sources besides being an amazing thinker in tune with nature and sacred plants. His creations take part of collections as MOMA of New York, the Guggenheim and the Whitney. His famous circuit bend instruments have been constructed for Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson's Pat Mastalotto, Faust, Chris Cutler, Towa Tei, Yann Tomita, Peter "Sonic Boom" Kember, Blur and much others. Reed Ghazala's work has been spread by mass media like ABC Television, The Discovery Channel, MTV, Disney, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired Magazine, Option, Billboard and Computers and Music.
To start celebrating this 2014 the 10th anniversary of my precious blog, I have had the pleasure of doing an extensive interview for PeruAvantgarde to whom I consider to be one of current experimental electronic music's heroes. A man of the Renaissance, a soul of colors, the always brilliant QUBAIS REED GHAZALA.
Enjoy!
Traducción x Arturo Breña.
-------------------------------
He's known throughout the world as the Father of the Circuit Bending, a technology he discovered by chance on the years 60's which today has come even to our lands where experimental non-musicians devour/open up diverse devices to extract unknown sonorities from them. Reed Ghazala is actually one of few still alive geniuses of the 60s and 70s journeys.
"Reed does not twist the rules. Simply he never learned them" (Perfect Sound Forever dixit). His work camp is not restricted only to the sonorous thing, he also controls diverse visual sources besides being an amazing thinker in tune with nature and sacred plants. His creations take part of collections as MOMA of New York, the Guggenheim and the Whitney. His famous circuit bend instruments have been constructed for Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson's Pat Mastalotto, Faust, Chris Cutler, Towa Tei, Yann Tomita, Peter "Sonic Boom" Kember, Blur and much others. Reed Ghazala's work has been spread by mass media like ABC Television, The Discovery Channel, MTV, Disney, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired Magazine, Option, Billboard and Computers and Music.
To start celebrating this 2014 the 10th anniversary of my precious blog, I have had the pleasure of doing an extensive interview for PeruAvantgarde to whom I consider to be one of current experimental electronic music's heroes. A man of the Renaissance, a soul of colors, the always brilliant QUBAIS REED GHAZALA.
Enjoy!
Es un verdadero honor para nosotros hacerte una entrevista para nuestro portal. Eres el “padre del circuit-bending” (encorvamiento del circuito) una técnica bien consolidada en la actualidad. Por favor dinos ¿cómo y cuándo fue que surgió la idea de curvar o encorvar el circuito de algo? ¿Qué ocurrió entonces?
Gracias Wilder, por tu interés en mi trabajo. ¡Y un gran saludo a todos mis amigos en Perú, que me gustaría visitar!
Ok. Era un adolescente cuando el momento mágico sucedió. El año: 1966. Estuve buscando algo en los cajones de mi mesa, cierro el cajón y de repente la habitación se llenó de sonidos electrónicos raros. Me quede alucinado y confundido… pero amaba los sonidos fantásticos. ¿Qué ocurrió?
Un pequeño amplificador de pilas había generado un corto circuito ante un ítem de metal en el cajón. Lo dejé con su parte trasera apagada, electrónicamente expuesta y algo de metal había caído en el circuito, configurando un nuevo circuito de casualidad.
Un oscilador había sido creado. El sonido barría hacia arriba una y otra vez. Y pensé si esto podía ocurrir por accidente, cuántos sonidos más podrían ser creados si yo corto circuito, tan arbitrariamente aquí, allí y ¿en cualquier lugar?. Lo que luego denominé como “circuit – bending” o encorvamiento del circuito había nacido.
La casualidad en lugar de la teoría se convirtió en la prueba del ácido. Pronto configuré este circuito en un sintetizador táctil, el primero de una serie de instrumentos diseñados alrededor de este amplificador voluntariamente en “corto circuito”. Podía gruñir como un perro, ronronear como el gato, piar como un pájaro, y hacer un sinfín de poderosos y salvajemente abstractos sonidos de sintetizador, cíclicamente hacia arriba y chillando. Aquí hay una foto de esto, una generación después en su actual caja de vidrio, su lámina contacta cableada a grandes cuerpos de contacto fuera del armazón para instalaciones de observación-participación. Uno puede tocar ese antiguo instrumento todavía, hoy.
----------------------
It's a real honor for us to make you an interview for our site. You are "the father of circuit bending" a technic nowadays well established. Please tell us how and when did you first came to the idea of circuit bend something? What happened then?
It's a real honor for us to make you an interview for our site. You are "the father of circuit bending" a technic nowadays well established. Please tell us how and when did you first came to the idea of circuit bend something? What happened then?
Thanks, Wilder, for your interest in my work. And a huge hello to all my friends in Peru, I would like to visit!
OK. I was a young teen when the magic moment happened. The year 1966. I'd been digging around in my desk drawer for something, closed the drawer and all of a sudden the room was filled with strange electronic sounds. I was amazed and confused… but I loved the fantastic sounds. What happened?
A small battery-powered amplifier had shorted-out against a metal item in the drawer. I had left its back off, electronics exposed, and something metal had fallen into the circuit, configuring a new circuit by chance.
An oscillator had been created. The sound was sweeping upward, over and over again. I thought, if this can happen by accident, what other sounds might be created if I shorted the circuit out, just as arbitrarily, here, there and everywhere? What I later named as "circuit-bending" was born.
Chance, instead of theory, became the acid test. I soon configured this circuit into a touch-synthesizer, the first of a series of instruments designed around this shorted-out amplifier. It growled like a dog, meowed and purred like a cat, chirped like a bird, and made endless, powerful, wildly abstract synthesizer sounds, cycling and sweeping and screaming away. Here's a pic of it a generation later in its present glass case, its foil contacts wired to large body contacts outside the housing for viewer-participation installations. One can still play that early instrument today.
.jpg)
Sintetizador de contacto corporal, “el antiguo sintetizador de contacto corporal de Reed, 1968.”
Body contact synth, "Reed's early body contact synthesizer, 1968."
A diferencia de todos los notables diseñadores de sintetizadores del momento, yo era un niño, no tenía padre en mi casa, tampoco un respaldo académico, sin efectivo, ningún entrenamiento formal en electrónica ni nadie que pueda conectarme con el campo. Nadie para ayudarme a publicar mis descubrimientos. Sin mentor, sin becas, sin círculo de profesores y técnicos en los cuales apoyarme. Entendí que si me iba a mantener en mi campo, mi trabajo sería considerado renegado, o aún peor. Sería rehuido por los diseñadores tradicionalistas, mi trabajo seria convenientemente descartado. Pero me mantuve. Los circuitos antiguos parecían magia, era suficiente. Y como resumen: el DIY-“Hazlo tú mismo” no era una elección—era un mandato.
(Tenía 14 años durante este período de descubrimiento; Bob Moog tenía 33, Nam June Paik de 35, Tom Oberheim tenía 31, Raymond Scott con 59, Donald Buchla 30, Michael Waisvizs 19--- Michael estaba asistiendo a STEIM y todos estaban rodeados por expertos en electrónica, su trabajo sostenido por compañeros brillantes, universidades e instituciones).
De alguna forma, solo, tuve que montar algo de todas mis desventajas. Lo sabía y muchos de nosotros en la música underground lo sabemos. Así que auto-publico, creé un sello casero (Sound Theatre), escribí artículos, di interminables entrevistas, grabe mucha música y seguí construyendo instrumentos. Seguí a mi anti ortodoxia, los diseños de sistemas simples basados en la casualidad… porque tuve que hacerlo y funcionó. Esto estableció un sistema de exploración, un protocolo de descubrimiento en el que “todos los hombres” practican, que abrió grandes puertas para mí así como para otras personas. Extraño en su indiferencia por la teoría, pero seductora y suficientemente fuerte en su inmediatez y los instrumentos eclécticos, resultan en un movimiento musical internacional y la creciente cantidad de instrumentos que vemos hoy.
Por el resto de mi adolescencia seguí este camino y esta técnica, experimentando conmigo mismo, creando proto-synths en el sótano, empalmando cintas rotas para que así pueda seguir grabando en mi casi estropeado reproductor mono riel, imaginando como seria si tuviera dinero ----siempre andaba quebrado.
No fue hasta que los editores reconocieron mi trabajo que tuve que darle un nombre al proceso, identificar sus datos personales para una abierta discusión. Le puse el término “circuit-bending” (encorvamiento de circuito) en 1992 para mi vigésimo artículo serial en la revista: Instrumentos de Música Experimental. Por cinco años doné esos derechos a EMI (Experimental Music Instruments) con el único propósito: incrementar la colección planetaria de instrumentos experimentales. ¿Por qué? Porque siento que hay más poder artístico de expresión en la música y en el sonido, de lo que comúnmente se considera. Instrumentos experimentales (soy un recolector) y la música experimental ayuda a llevarlo a uno, allá.
¡Pues funcionó! Miles de nuevos, instrumentos experimentales han resultado de la decisión de publicar mis técnicas "renegadas". Al final cualquiera puede “encorvar el circuito”. Es divertido, barato, y puedes acabar con un instrumento que no existe en ningún otro lugar del universo. Ya no me preocupo para nada sobre si mis procesos encajan, se amoldan, son tradicionales o lo que sea. En mi libro explico lo que llamo como el “concepto del coco”. Simplemente, circuit-bending es un arte contemporáneo folk, similar a los infinitos instrumentos musicales folk que han sido inventados en el mundo usando cáscaras de coco preparadas. Hoy el circuito es el coco.
-----------------------
Unlike all the notable synth designers of the moment, I was a kid, I had no father in the house, no academic backing, no cash, absolutely no formal training in electronics and no one to connect me with the field. No one to help me publish my discoveries. No mentor, no scholarships, no circle of professors and technicians to lean on. I understood that if I were to continue in my field, my work would be considered "renegade," if not worse. I would be shunned by the design traditionalists, my work would be conveniently dismissed. But I kept on. The early circuits seemed like magic, that was enough. And as outlined, DIY was not a choice -- it was a mandate.
(I was 14 during this discovery period; Bob Moog was 33, Nam June Paik was 35, Tom Oberheim was 31, Raymond Scott was 59, Donald Buchla was 30, Michel Waisvisz was 19 -- Michel was attending STEIM and all were surrounded by experts in electronics, their work sustained by brilliant partners, universities and institutions).
Somehow, alone, I had to make up for all my disadvantages. I knew that, and lots of us in "underground" music knew it. So I self-published, developed a home label (Sound Theater), wrote articles, did endless interviews, recorded lots of music and kept building instruments. I followed my unorthodox, chance-based design system simply because I had to and it worked. This established an exploration system, an "every-man's" hands-on discovery protocol, that opened huge doors for me and, in time, many other people. Strange in its disregard for theory, but inviting and strong enough in its immediacy and eclectic instruments to result in an international music movement and the growing instrumentarium we see today.
For the rest of my teen years I followed this technique, experimenting by myself, building proto-synths in my basement, splicing broken tapes together so I could keep recording on my barely-working monophonic reel-to-reel tape recorder, wondering what it would be like to have money -- I was always broke.
It wasn't until publishers learned of my work that I needed to name the process, to identify its particulars for open discussion. I coined the term "circuit-bending" in 1992 for my 20-article series in Experimental Musical Instruments magazine. For five years I donated these writings to EMI with one main intent: To increase the planet's collection of experimental instruments. Why? Because I feel there's much greater artistic power of expression in music and sound than is commonly achieved. Experimental instruments (I'm a collector) and experimental music help take one there.
Well, it worked! Thousands of new, experimental instruments have resulted from the decision to publish my "renegade" techniques. After all, anyone can circuit-bend. It's fun, cheap, and you can end-up with an instrument that exists nowhere else in the universe.
I no longer worry at all about whether my processes fit molds, traditional or any other. In my book I explain what I call "the coconut concept." Simply, circuit-bending is a contemporary folk art, similar to the endless "folk" musical instruments made around the world from "prepared" coconuts. Today, the circuit is the coconut.
coco
“Circuito y coco, uno y el mismo.”
coconut,
"Circuit and coconut, one and the same."
¿Puedes decirme algo sobre THE ODOR BOX? Estuviste en una banda para entonces y tu invención causaba repulsa a los rockeros más convencionales de los 60´s. ¿Fue esto así?
El instrumento que diseñé antes del Odor Box, mi sintetizador original, fue aplastado por una audiencia enojada. Era un artefacto frágil desarrollado en 1966-67. Toda la electrónica quedaba expuesta, abrochada a paneles como un audio-escritorio y un módulo conectado. Tenía altavoces giradores, los cuales podía parar o girar rápido o lento. Los empalmes del contacto corporal estaban tan electrificados que ciertamente me quedaría en shock al tocar. Ese totalmente salvaje instrumento no tenía nombre. Fue destruido menos de un año después de que lo culmine.
------------------------
Can you tell us something about THE ODOR BOX? You were in a band by then and your invention caused repulsion between the more conventional rockists of the 60's, wasn't it?
The instrument I designed before the odor box, my original synth, was the one smashed by an angry audience. It was a frail device developed over 1966-7. All the electronics were exposed, fastened to boards making up a small audio desk and patch bay. It had spinning speakers that I could stop or twirl fast-to-slow. The foil body contacts were so electrified that they'd seriously shock me as I played. That totally wild, first instrument had no name. It was destroyed less than a year after I completed it.
The instrument I designed before the odor box, my original synth, was the one smashed by an angry audience. It was a frail device developed over 1966-7. All the electronics were exposed, fastened to boards making up a small audio desk and patch bay. It had spinning speakers that I could stop or twirl fast-to-slow. The foil body contacts were so electrified that they'd seriously shock me as I played. That totally wild, first instrument had no name. It was destroyed less than a year after I completed it.
.jpg)
primer sintetizador
“Maqueta de primer sintetizador de Ghazala,1967”, el original fue destruido en una riña.
1st synth,
"Mock-up of the first Ghazala's first synthesizer, 1967", the original was destroyed in a brawl.
Era el baterista en nuestra banda de rock de 4 personas, “The Source” (La Fuente). Al momento elegido dejo la batería y junto con los otros miembros de la banda, ensayando en progresiones de acordes psicodélicos, comencé a tocar el sintetizador. Cerramos el micro de los altavoces giradores y canalizamos el sonido hacia un amplificador de mayor tamaño Vox o Fender.
Los hippies definitivamente lo adoraban. La contra cultura de finales de los 60´s estaba lista para el circuit–bending. Pero esa noche, la noche en que fuimos atacados, el público no estaba conformado por hippies, tocábamos en una dura sección del pueblo, el público quería a Elvis, Country-western, Polka, Bluegrass, LO QUE SEA menos música psicodélica–hippy hecha con sintetizadores.
Estábamos tocando en una pequeña iglesia cristiana que ofreció su escenario a realizadores locales. Ya sé que eso suena raro. Pero estábamos más acostumbrados a tocar en fiestas o en la calle. De ahí que un escenario real parecía una buena idea. Pero pronto las cosas se pusieron feas.
Viéndolo retrospectivamente, no sé cómo los matones para los que estábamos tocando se mantuvieron durante nuestra versión de “Alice Restaurant”, pero de alguna forma lo hicieron. Nuestra siguiente pieza sería la última. Era el ensayo con el sintetizador, comenzaba con algo de rock psicodélico algo pesado. El sintetizador estaba montado al lado de mis Ludwigs*. Como el bajista y el del órgano habían sido relevados, me acerqué al sintetizador y activé los altavoces. Varias personas del público lentamente se pusieron de pie, himnarios y biblias en sus manos. No, ellos no estaban allí para adorar.
Y fue, aunque sus brazos estaban bien armados, que se precipitó el momento en que produje el primer tono-lamento desde mi sintetizador. Textos sagrados volaban sobre nuestras cabezas. Apostaría a que el Buen Libro que tuve que esquivar aterrizo abierto en Las Revelaciones. Estos matones estaban reunidos en los pasillos esperando a que nosotros intentemos dejar el local. Uno llevaba una enorme cruz dorada como un bate de béisbol.
En el momento que dejamos el escenario nos saltaron. Una pelea seria de puños había surgido. Escondí mi instrumento debajo de mi chaqueta, pero estos tíos lo sabían y enfocaban su ira en él, pegándome contra mis costillas en el mismo momento.
Como los primeros Beatles, llenos de música y vida, las chaquetas de cuero y las peleas callejeras eran también parte de la escena urbana musical, especialmente si tu música sostenía que los tiempos estaban cambiando. Música o no, las presiones sociales están fragmentando la sociedad. Mis amigos y yo vestíamos “los colores” del cambio. Cada vez que caminamos las calles nosotros invitábamos, simplemente al ser visibles, el acoso, hasta el arresto. Siniestras pero excitantes épocas.
Mi instrumento fue aplastado hasta hacerlo irreparable, salvé el circuito y con esta lección fresca en mi mente reconstruí el sintetizador… dentro de una caja a prueba de público. Y así es cómo y porque The Odor Box (La caja del Hedor) fue creado, ¿sobre el nombre? Juego de palabras tonto. Fue inventado por un amigo que estaba demasiado sorprendido por lo que estaba oyendo para que pueda expresarse a sí mismo en formas convencionales.
-------------------------
I was the drummer in our 4-person rock band, "The Source." At the chosen moment I'd leave the drums and, with the other members of the band jamming on psychedelic chord progressions, I'd begin playing the synth. We'd close-mic the spinning speakers and pipe the sound into a huge Vox or Fender amp.
Hippies absolutely loved it. The late-'60's counter-culture was ready for circuit-bending. But that night, the night we were attacked, the audience was not made up of hippies. We were playing in a rough section of town, the audience wanted Elvis, Country-Western, polka, bluegrass, ANYTHING but psychedelic hippie synthesizer music.
We were playing in a small Christian church that had offered its stage to local performers. I know that sounds strange. But we were more used to playing at parties or in the street. So a real stage seemed pretty cool. But quickly things turned ugly.
Looking back, I don't know how the hoodlums we were playing for maintained themselves through our cover of "Alice's Restaurant," but they somehow did. Our next piece would be our last. This was the synthesizer jam, beginning with pretty heavy psychedelic rock. The synth was set-up next to my Ludwigs. As bass and organ took over, I approached synth and started the speakers spinning. Several people in the audience slowly rose to their feet, hymnals and bibles in their hands. No, they were not about to worship.
It was as though their arms were spring-loaded, triggered the moment I produced the first wailing tones from my synth. Holy texts were flying past our heads. I'll bet the Good Book I had to dodge landed open -- to Revelations. These roughnecks were gathering at the doorways, waiting for us to try to leave. One was holding a huge gold cross like a baseball bat.
The moment we left the stage we were jumped. A serious fist fight erupted. I'd hidden my instrument under my jacket, but these guys knew that and focussed their anger right there, punching it and my ribs at the same time.
Like the early Beatles, full of music and life, black leather jackets and street fighting were also part of the urban music scene, especially if your music stated that the times were a-changing. Music or not, social pressures were factionalizing society. My friends and I wore the "colors" of change. Any time we walked the streets we invited, simply by being visible, harassment, even arrest. Scary, but exciting times.
My instrument was smashed beyond repair. I salvaged the circuit and, with this lesson fresh in my mind, I rebuilt the synth… inside an audience-proof box. And that's how, and why, the Odor Box was created. As to its name? Silly word play. It was named by a friend too amazed at what he was hearing to express himself in conventional ways.
.jpg)
odorbox,
"La Caja del Hedor, 1968"
odorbox,
"The Odor Box, 1968"
El nuevo instrumento era mucho más elaborado que el anterior destruido por ese montón de rufianes. Podía ahora guiar el encorvamiento, usando una serie de resistores (resistencias) y capacitadores a través de un centro rotacional dial. Una foto-célula podía ser sintonizada para variar el tono o el timbre de cualquier interconector.
Dos cacharros fueron agregados, de pequeño y gran tamaño, para direccionar el timbre u oscilar las voces. Le agregué un medidor de potencia, líneas input y outputs, un oscilador con timbre ajustable para drones y notas beat, dos contactos corporales súper-sensitivos para el timbre y la oscilación del tono, y un tiempo después, una vez disponible, agregué LEDS como indicadores de función a varias partes del circuito. Rasgué las cortinas de mi habitación para conseguir ropa de amplificador y pegué nueces enteras en la cubierta para sujetar parches de acordes.
Era un niño experimentando, nunca había oído sobre un “cable interconectado”, “puerto interconectado” o algo como eso. Estaba llevando los cortos circuitos alrededor, y cerciorándome que el instrumento estaba bien blindado, listo para una próxima enojada audiencia.
Solo mucho más tarde aprendí lo frecuente que la violencia acompaña el arte experimental, que mis encuentros han sido clásicos. Pero para entonces simplemente aceptaba el peligro e iba hacia adelante preparado para lidiar con él. Este instrumento sufrió algunos golpes también. Pero sobrevivió.
--------------------------
The new instrument was much more elaborate than the earlier one destroyed by that bunch of thugs. I could now route the bends through a series of resistors and capacitors by means of a central rotary dial. A photo cell could be dialed-in to vary the tone or pitch of any patch.
Two pots were added, small and large value, to pitch-shift or oscillate the voices. I added a power meter, line inputs and outputs, a 6-note, pitch-adjustable oscillator for drones and beat-notes, two super-sensitive body-contacts for pitch and tone/oscillation control and, quite later, once available, I added LEDs as function indicators to various parts of the circuit. I tore my bedroom curtains for speaker cloth and I glued whole nuts to the lid to hold patch cords.
I was a kid experimenting. I'd never heard of a "patch cord," a "patch bay" or anything like that. I was just running the short circuits around. And making sure this instrument was well-armored, ready for the next angry audience.
Only much later I learned how often violence accompanied experimental art, that my encounters had been classic. But back then I simply accepted the danger and went forward prepared to deal with it. This instrument also took a few punches. But it survived.
He oído “Threnody to the new victims of Hiroshima” (1995) y “Requiem for a Radio” (1995) el cual me envió un colega de internet hace 14 años. Estos son excelentes trabajos, muy sónicos y experimentales. ¿Tienes grabaciones con las máquinas de los 60´s o 70´s? ¿algún plan de sacar algo nuevo o material no publicado?
Tengo muchos paquetes de grabaciones en Sound Theater. Sí, espero re-publicar algunas de las grabaciones más rompedoras que se atan con la historia del movimiento. Estas fueron publicadas en casete, pero muchas copias maestras son de alta calidad y propicias para ser re-trabajados. Existe un “Secret Garden”-“Jardín Secreto” (la grabación del primer Incantor sobre la tierra), “A Watch in the sea”–“Una Mirada en el mar” (antiguo demo de instrumentos -encorvados), Voice of America–Voz de América (máquina alófona), ARTIFACTS (ventana de armónicos) y otros instrumentos distintivos, significantes y encorvadores.
Siempre compongo nuevos trabajos, pero soy particular en relación a lo que finalmente publico. Mi Réquiem y Threnody están accesibles en cd a través de Realization Recordings. Revisen mi trabajo en youtube -hay algo de nueva música allí, así como bandas sonoras.
-----------------------
-----------------------
I have heard "Threnody To The New Victims Of Hiroshima" (1995) and "Requiem For A Radio" (1995) which an internet pal sent me 14 years ago. They are really awesome work, very sonic and experimental. Do you have recordings with your machines from the 60s or 70s? Any plan of putting out new or unreleased stuff?
Lots and lots of recording packages then, on Sound Theater. Yes, I hope to re-release some of the ground-breaking recordings that tie into the history of the movement. These were released on cassette, but many masters are quite hi-fi and suitable for reworking. There is a Secret Garden (Earth's first incantor recording), A Watch in the Sea (early demo of bent instruments), Voice Of America (allophone machine), ARTIFACTS (Harmonic Window) and a number of others feature significant bent instruments.
I'm always composing new work, but I'm particular as to what I actually release. My Requiem and Threnody are still available on CD thru Realization Recordings. Also check-out my work on YouTube (Reed Ghazala Channel) - some new music there as soundtracks.
X poster
Ve la película aquí:
X poster
See the movie here:
Por favor dinos ¿cómo te acercaste a semejantes artistas masivos e instituciones como Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel o MTV? ¿Qué es lo que la gente en el mainstream piensa de tu arte y descubrimientos?
Usualmente, la gente lee mis escritos, le entra curiosidad y está en contacto. O escribo a una oficina de negocios y pregunto si los tipos quieren saber de mi trabajo. A veces un músico va a decirme que su amigo famoso está interesado en el instrumento suyo que yo construí. A veces un regalo. Tuve experiencias geniales con estas bandas, mis invenciones parecían complacer.
Así, alguno de estos tíos, mientras son estandarizados en escena, llegan a ser bastante experimentales fuera de escena. Tom Waits ensaya/jammea con Keith Richards. Ni piano ni guitarra, alambrada de púas. Probablemente sea el por qué nos llevamos bien.
Sobre MTV, fui invitado al edificio de MTV para dar una charla y taller, para enseñar a todos los del CEO hasta el reportero el
circuit-bending -cómo encorvar el circuito.
--------------------------
Please tell us how you get close to such massive artists and institutions as Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel or MTV? What those people on the mainstream think about your art and discoveries?
Usually, people read my writings, get curious and get in touch. Or I write to a business office and ask if the individual would like to know about my work. Sometimes a musician will tell me their famous friend is interested in the instrument of theirs I built. Sometimes I gift. I've had terrific experience with the bands, my inventions seem to please.
Too, some of these guys, while somewhat standardized onstage, get pretty experimental offstage. Tom Waits jams with Keith Richards. Not piano and guitar. Barbed-wire fence. Probably why we get along.
As to MTV, I was invited to the MTV building to do a talk and workshop, to teach everyone from CEO to reporter how to circuit-bend.
.jpg)
MTV poster,
“MTV -poster encorvamiento del circuito”
mtv poster,
"MTV Circuit-Bending poster"
Blue Man Group me buscaba para darle consejo en reparar instrumentos, Sri Chinmoy llegó aquí para visitar el taller, Faust para equiparse para un tour especial. Muchas y distintas situaciones traían gente hacia mí.
¡Estoy muy agradecido por todas las geniales invitaciones que recibo! Recientemente en Moogfest para aparecer con Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk y otra gente genial, pero mi pre-planificada Música Pink Moon y Festival de Hongos me tendrán en el bosque para ese entonces.
Has explorado también otros campos de Arte como la Fotografía Experimental e instalaciones y te has autodefinido como “un artista del renacimiento científico que ha nacido para explorar todos los secretos imaginados”. ¿A quiénes consideras tus colegas o compañeros de vuelo en esta odisea?¿Que otros artistas te gustaría recomendar?
Mi trabajo experimental visual y escultural al que te refieres es normalmente basado en la casualidad, como el encorvamiento del circuito. Mientras la ciencia de estos experimentos me siga propulsando, la esperanza de resolver el arte de este modo culmina el giro y esto conlleva a la mejor ilustración del principio.
Por ejemplo, el film "Dye Migration/tinte migración" (sx_70 por ejemplo) puede ser manipulado a mano, no cámara o lentes necesarios. Yo innove con esta técnica.
-------------------------
Blue Man Group sought me out for advice on repairing instruments, Sri Chinmoy dropped by just to visit the workshop, Faust to gear-up for a special tour. Lots of different situations bring people to me.
I'm very thankful for all the great invitations I get! Most recently to Moogfest to appear with Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk and other great people, but my pre-scheduled Pink Moon music and mushroom festival will have me in the forest at that time.
You have explored also other fields of Art such as Experimental Photography and Installations and you are self defined as "an artist of the Scientific Renaissance who was born to explore all the imagined secrets". Who do you feel are your colleagues or fellow travelers in this odyssey? What other artists would you like to recommend?
My experimental visual and sculptural work you refer to is usually chance-based, like circuit-bending. While the science of these experiments propels me, the hope to resolve art thereby closes the loop, and this leads to the best illustration of the principle.
For example, dye migration (SX-70 for example) film can be manipulated by hand, no camera or lenses needed. I pioneered this technique:
-------------------------
Blue Man Group sought me out for advice on repairing instruments, Sri Chinmoy dropped by just to visit the workshop, Faust to gear-up for a special tour. Lots of different situations bring people to me.
I'm very thankful for all the great invitations I get! Most recently to Moogfest to appear with Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk and other great people, but my pre-scheduled Pink Moon music and mushroom festival will have me in the forest at that time.
You have explored also other fields of Art such as Experimental Photography and Installations and you are self defined as "an artist of the Scientific Renaissance who was born to explore all the imagined secrets". Who do you feel are your colleagues or fellow travelers in this odyssey? What other artists would you like to recommend?
My experimental visual and sculptural work you refer to is usually chance-based, like circuit-bending. While the science of these experiments propels me, the hope to resolve art thereby closes the loop, and this leads to the best illustration of the principle.
For example, dye migration (SX-70 for example) film can be manipulated by hand, no camera or lenses needed. I pioneered this technique:
.jpg)
Migración del colorante,
“una imagen de la migración del colorante,
ver más en las galerías de flickr de Reed aquí: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157622751570295/
Dye migration,
"A dye migration image,
see more in Reed's flickr galleries here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157622751570295/ and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72057594060627572/
Suminagashi (tinta que flota sobre agua) es otro campo-azar experimental favorito:
---------------------
Suminagashi (inks floated on water) is another favorite experimental chance field:
.jpg)
---------------------
Suminagashi (inks floated on water) is another favorite experimental chance field:
.jpg)
Suminagashi,
Un ejemplo de Suminagashi, ver más en la galeríaflicker de Reed aquí: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72057594063566111
Suminagashi,
An example of suminagashi, see more in Reed's flickr gallery here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72057594063566111
Electro-lumia, como la alucinación de color que induce a la escultura del ojo, está también basada en la casualidad:
------------------
Electro-lumia, like the color-hallucination-inducing eYe sculpture, is also chance based:
------------------
Electro-lumia, like the color-hallucination-inducing eYe sculpture, is also chance based:
Escultura del oJo,
“una post-imagen escultura de luz, el oJo, ver más aquí:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157616322818457 y más de trabajos visuales de Reed aquí: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157594250571321
eYe sculpture,
"An after-image light sculpture, the eYe, see more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157616322818457 and more of Reed's visual work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157594250571321 and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonbear3325/sets/72157610812617298/ "
En Facebook hay grandes artistas mostrando un fuerte arte basado en la casualidad hoy en día. Buscar los grupos “aleatoric” y "glitch" y "G L I T C H".
Todas las personas trabajando al borde de lo conocido, forman el futuro. Estoy constantemente asombrado del trabajo que veo, artístico y científico, alrededor mío y alrededor del mundo.
Oscuro asunto de investigación, teoría de la cuerda, el inusual movimiento de nuestro universo, incluso los misterios de la gravedad están a la mano, aunque bajo llave. Personalmente, yo he viajado en el tiempo (sin uso de drogas, era un viaje fuera del cuerpo hacia el futuro próximo), aprendí a comunicarme con los animales, silenciosamente solo con la mente (deslumbra a la gente ver este trabajo) y desarrollé una cosa llamada “tacto futuro”, un sentido de-lo-que-será-mientras-que-sucedan-circunstancias viene a mi mente. Así, sé que hay más de lo que nos han dicho. Estos no son atributos especiales tanto como son ciencia periférica, fenómenos naturales que no entendemos totalmente.
Y como arte, siento que la casualidad, otra vez, como un
súper-poder, está todavía pobremente entendido y subestimado. Lo mismo que con cualquier otro experimentalismo. Por lo cual preferiría hacer recomendaciones generales en ambos campos.
súper-poder, está todavía pobremente entendido y subestimado. Lo mismo que con cualquier otro experimentalismo. Por lo cual preferiría hacer recomendaciones generales en ambos campos.
En la ciencia, veo luchas hoy en día similares a las batallas durante la Edad Oscura, teología egoísta intentando lo máximo para impedir progreso esencial. Recomiendo separar los dos. La política también. Sacarla de la ciencia. En cuanto al arte, probablemente recomiendo simplemente “apagar Broadway”, si sabes a lo que me refiero. Ahí es donde el nuevo arte surge. Pequeñas y divergentes galerías y espacios para performar actuaciones.
También eres reconocido por ser un amante entusiasta de la naturaleza. ¿Piensas que nuestro hogar, el planeta Tierra, ha tenido una oportunidad de sobrevivir con éxito? Pareciera que los propios humanos somos la enfermedad para todo.
Como toda persona entendida se ha dado cuenta, la única oportunidad que nuestras especies tienen para un largo periodo de supervivencia es dejando el planeta Tierra. ¡Triste pensamiento! Pero verdadero. La evolución de nuestro sol manda eso. En el corto plazo, sí, tenemos controles que no estamos utilizando. Tecnologías limpias a desarrollar. La gente puede trabajar junta y la gente puede cambiar. Si ha de haber un salto conceptual en el interior de nuestras especies, lo mejor ha de ser la previsión. Las calamidades de nuestra ausencia de previsión hasta ahora han sido de momento sobrevivibles. Hemos tenido suerte.
--------------------------------
On FB there are great artists showing strong chance art right now. Search "aleatoric" and "glitch" and "G L I T C H" groups.
All persons working at the edge of the known, shape the future. I'm constantly amazed at the work I see, artistic and scientific, all around me and around the world.
Dark matter investigation, string theory, the unusual movement of our universe, even gravity's mysteries are close-at-hand, yet locked. Personally, I've time-travelled (no drugs involved, it was an out-of-body trip into the near future), I've learned to communicate with animals silently by thought alone (blows people away to see this work), and I've developed a thing I call "future feel," a sense of what-will-be as yet-to-happen circumstances come to mind. So I know there's more than what we've been told. These aren't special attributes as much as they are peripheral science, natural phenomena we just don't fully understand.
And as to art, I feel chance, again, while a super power, is yet poorly understood and under-appreciated. But the same with other experimentalism. So I would prefer to make general recommendations in both fields.
In science I see struggles today similar to battles of science during the Dark Ages, selfish theology trying its best to thwart essential progress. I recommend separating the two. Politics as well. Get it out of science. As to art, I would probably simply recommend "off Broadway," if you know what I mean. That's where new art emerges. Small, divergent galleries and performance spaces.
You are also well known for being and enthusiast and lover of nature. Do you think our home, the planet Earth, has really an opportunity for survive with success? It seems we human beings are the sickness for all.
As all knowledgable people are aware, the only chance our species has for long-term survival is leaving planet Earth. Sad thought! But true. The evolution of our Sun mandates this. In the short term, yes, we have controls we are not using. Clean technologies to develop. People can work together and people can change. If there should be a conceptual leap within our species, the best might be foresight. The calamities of our lack of foresight have so far been survivable. We've been lucky.
.jpg)
--------------------------------
On FB there are great artists showing strong chance art right now. Search "aleatoric" and "glitch" and "G L I T C H" groups.
All persons working at the edge of the known, shape the future. I'm constantly amazed at the work I see, artistic and scientific, all around me and around the world.
Dark matter investigation, string theory, the unusual movement of our universe, even gravity's mysteries are close-at-hand, yet locked. Personally, I've time-travelled (no drugs involved, it was an out-of-body trip into the near future), I've learned to communicate with animals silently by thought alone (blows people away to see this work), and I've developed a thing I call "future feel," a sense of what-will-be as yet-to-happen circumstances come to mind. So I know there's more than what we've been told. These aren't special attributes as much as they are peripheral science, natural phenomena we just don't fully understand.
And as to art, I feel chance, again, while a super power, is yet poorly understood and under-appreciated. But the same with other experimentalism. So I would prefer to make general recommendations in both fields.
In science I see struggles today similar to battles of science during the Dark Ages, selfish theology trying its best to thwart essential progress. I recommend separating the two. Politics as well. Get it out of science. As to art, I would probably simply recommend "off Broadway," if you know what I mean. That's where new art emerges. Small, divergent galleries and performance spaces.
You are also well known for being and enthusiast and lover of nature. Do you think our home, the planet Earth, has really an opportunity for survive with success? It seems we human beings are the sickness for all.
As all knowledgable people are aware, the only chance our species has for long-term survival is leaving planet Earth. Sad thought! But true. The evolution of our Sun mandates this. In the short term, yes, we have controls we are not using. Clean technologies to develop. People can work together and people can change. If there should be a conceptual leap within our species, the best might be foresight. The calamities of our lack of foresight have so far been survivable. We've been lucky.
.jpg)
Ala manchada luna,
“fotografías de Reed del ala de una polilla Luna”
Luna wing spot,
"Reed's photograph of the wing of a Luna moth"
Somos afortunados de tener una abundante biósfera, todavía pululando con vida (incluso durante el medio de un período de gran extinción). Simplemente no es civil dañar nuestro medio ambiente mientras intentamos sobrevivir. ¿Cuán distante es esa lección? Un nuevo concepto se necesita.
Veo a toda la vida en el planeta como compañeros, todos viajando juntos. Cuando estudio a los animales y descubro emociones inseparables de las nuestras, la idea de usarlos para el deporte sería absolutamente impensable. De hecho, hay una observable perogrullada aquí: conoce a una persona por cómo trata a los animales. Si podemos evolucionar aquí, colectivamente como especie, muchos otros temas (y soluciones) socio-ambientales caerán por su peso. Nosotros somos, después de todo, los más sensitivos “terraformers”**, como un capitán de su nave, veo nuestro trabajo no solo como el de cuidar de la nave, sino de todos los pasajeros también. Claramente, es lo correcto por hacer.
A fines de los 90´s tuviste una discusión pública en línea con Sonic Boom (E.A.R, Spectrum, Spacemen 3) con algunos emails que iban y venían donde básicamente te quejabas de recibir pocos créditos por tus invenciones utilizadas en el Data Rape de E.A.R. ¿Que ocurrió finalmente con ese tema del Data Rape? ¿Has fumado el porro de la paz con Peter Kember?
Tocaré este triste tema no porque trate de Peter y yo, pero sí porque trata de la historia de mi más revisado instrumento, el Incantor. Actualmente mucha gente piensa que Peter Kember inventó el Incantor, cuando él no tuvo nada que ver con su descubrimiento. Es un hecho que Peter llegó al Incantor dos décadas después que la historia del instrumento había comenzado.
Desarrollé el Incantor el mismo año que Texas Instruments (TI) editó el primer Speak&Spell público, en 1978, como 20 años antes que conociera a Peter. Con el paso del tiempo “encorvé” todos los modelos domésticos que TI producía. Mucho estudio, trazado, tomar nota, dibujo de circuitos, fotografía, grabación, artículos escritos, publicación, éxito y fracaso involucrados, todo culminando en una fiable y aleatoria línea de sintetizadores basados en la casualidad cuya personalidad ayudara a conformar la cabeza espacial del encorvamiento del circuito, una importante revolución en el diseño hoy en día reconocido como el primer movimiento electrónico artístico. El Incantor es como las primeras máquinas Buchla o Moog, como declarante de una especie. Así, ello y su historia, son importantes.
Bueno, Peter Kember vio mis Incantors mientras visitaba USA a finales de los 90´s. Ensayamos juntos. Fue divertido. Me caía bien. Y él amaba los instrumentos. Tenía diversos que funcionaban a través de la PA, incluso dejé a Peter que tocara uno y marqué a ese como “DATA ATAK”.
------------------------
We are fortunate to have so lush a biosphere, still teeming with life (even while in the midst of a great extinction period). It simply isn't civil to harm our environment while attempting to survive. How distant is that lesson? A new concept is needed.
I see all life on the planet as partners with me, all journeying together. When I study animals I discover emotions inseparable from ours, making the idea of using them for sport absolutely unthinkable. In fact, there is an observable truism here: know a person by how they treat animals. If we can evolve here, collectively, as a species, many other socio-environmental concerns (and solutions) will fall in place. We are, after all, the most sentient terraformers here. Like the captain of a ship, I see our job as not only taking care of the ship, but taking care of our fellow passengers as well. Clearly the right thing to do.
Back in late 90's you had a public on-line argument with Sonic Boom (E.A.R., Spectrum, Spacemen 3) with some e-mails coming and going where you basically complained about receiving small credit for your inventions used on E.A.R.'s "Data Rape". What happened finally on that "Data Rape" issue? Did you smoke the joint of peace with Peter Kember?
I'll address this sad issue not because it involves me or Peter, but because it involves the history of my most noted instrument, the incantor. To this day many people believe that Peter Kember invented the incantor when he had nothing at all to do with its discovery. Fact is, Peter arrived on the incantor scene two decades after the history of the instrument began.
I developed the incantor the very year TI released the first Speak & Spell to the public, 1978, about 20 years before I met Peter. Over time I bent all the domestic models TI produced. Lots of study, charting, note-taking, circuit drawing, photography, recording, article writing, publication, success and failure involved, all culminating in a trustworthy chance-based aleatoric synthesizer line whose personality would help shape the head-space of circuit-bending, an important design revolution now recognized as the first electronic art movement. The incantor is like like the early Buchla or Moog machines in as much as declaring a species. So it, and its history, are important.
Well, Peter Kember saw my incantors while visiting the USA in the late 1990s. We jammed together. It was fun. I liked the guy. And he loved the instruments. I had a set of several running through the PA, including one I let Peter play that I'd marked "DATA ATAK."
.jpg)
------------------------
We are fortunate to have so lush a biosphere, still teeming with life (even while in the midst of a great extinction period). It simply isn't civil to harm our environment while attempting to survive. How distant is that lesson? A new concept is needed.
I see all life on the planet as partners with me, all journeying together. When I study animals I discover emotions inseparable from ours, making the idea of using them for sport absolutely unthinkable. In fact, there is an observable truism here: know a person by how they treat animals. If we can evolve here, collectively, as a species, many other socio-environmental concerns (and solutions) will fall in place. We are, after all, the most sentient terraformers here. Like the captain of a ship, I see our job as not only taking care of the ship, but taking care of our fellow passengers as well. Clearly the right thing to do.
Back in late 90's you had a public on-line argument with Sonic Boom (E.A.R., Spectrum, Spacemen 3) with some e-mails coming and going where you basically complained about receiving small credit for your inventions used on E.A.R.'s "Data Rape". What happened finally on that "Data Rape" issue? Did you smoke the joint of peace with Peter Kember?
I'll address this sad issue not because it involves me or Peter, but because it involves the history of my most noted instrument, the incantor. To this day many people believe that Peter Kember invented the incantor when he had nothing at all to do with its discovery. Fact is, Peter arrived on the incantor scene two decades after the history of the instrument began.
I developed the incantor the very year TI released the first Speak & Spell to the public, 1978, about 20 years before I met Peter. Over time I bent all the domestic models TI produced. Lots of study, charting, note-taking, circuit drawing, photography, recording, article writing, publication, success and failure involved, all culminating in a trustworthy chance-based aleatoric synthesizer line whose personality would help shape the head-space of circuit-bending, an important design revolution now recognized as the first electronic art movement. The incantor is like like the early Buchla or Moog machines in as much as declaring a species. So it, and its history, are important.
Well, Peter Kember saw my incantors while visiting the USA in the late 1990s. We jammed together. It was fun. I liked the guy. And he loved the instruments. I had a set of several running through the PA, including one I let Peter play that I'd marked "DATA ATAK."
.jpg)
incantor,
“DATA ATAK Incantor, 1992”
incantor,
"DATA ATAK Incantor, 1992"
Peter tocaba los Incantors y esa noche comenzó a preguntar por esquemas/planos. No puedo culparlo. Todos quieren saber cómo construir uno. No he publicado ningún esquema aún, así que le describí exactamente qué hacer para encorvar el circuito de un Incantor, y cómo encorvar el circuito en general.
Creo que no hice un buen trabajo del todo. Incluso ya en Inglaterra, Peter iba preguntando por mis esquemas específicos. Aún no sé por qué no estaba satisfecho con la información que satisfacía a todos los demás, siendo un techno–amigo explorador de audios él mismo. Pero no lo estaba. Continuaba presionándome para que le envíe los esquemas.
Finalmente me rendí. Fuera del respeto por el trabajo de Peter en el campo, le envié un precioso dibujo a bolígrafo de color mostrando el cableado del Incantor, ¡el primer esquema del Incantor que iba a salir de mi taller! Un momento algo emotivo para mí. Y porque Peter seguía pidiendo cómo componer con un Incantor, un instrumento basado en la casualidad, también le envié mi cinta: "Secret Garden" (Jardín secreto) (primera grabación del Incantor en el mundo, muy dinámico, siempre recibió buenas críticas). Aunque sé que recibió este paquete (él lo niega), nunca supe más de Peter (no más peticiones de esquemas). E incluso si no recibió el paquete, él sabía la historia, el nombre, el inventor del instrumento, ninguno de los cuales permitió sobrevivir su injerencia.
Luego el tour del Data Rape y el cd aparecieron. El cd, un remake débil de mi antiguo "Secret Garden", se negó a incluir referencias reales (pueden imaginar, sin referirse al origen de la música, técnica o historia, ¿tan pobremente?) Pero lo que me molestó más fue lo apagado y sin emoción de la presentación del Incantor en el cd de Peter. Para mí y muchos otros críticos parecía que había sido apresuradamente introducido en el mercado. Y lo estaba. No se trata de esperar un trato como un violín de Paganini en este caso. Pero fue tan pálido y monótono. El instrumento es capaz de semejantes tonalidades y variedad de dinámica. Fue tan decepcionante.
Por un momento pensé que quizás Peter había ignorado algunas cosas en las notas de su CD. Entonces, amigos que fueron a los conciertos del Data Rape me contaron que, después de los conciertos, Peter recolectaba fans, exhibía algunos Incantors y dejaba que la gente pensara que se trataba de su invención, sin mencionar su origen real. Y es así como la gente piensa que Peter inventó el Incantor. Mis amigos estuvieron disgustados. Yo no estaba excitado.
En arte usualmente todo lo que tenemos es solidaridad. Solo figúrense al pobre Peter. “Ah amigos, mi primo americano me enseño cómo construir, tocar y componer con estos incantors, espero que les guste el concierto”. Se necesita una gran persona para hacer eso. No obstante, apostaría que esta confesión podría hacerse en un buen estilo, una parte orgullosa del continuum del encorvamiento del circuito. “He visto esos Incantors en América, me dejaron alucinado y mi colega Reed ayudó a construir el mío. Es un tipo de casualidad electrónica llamado circuit-bending. Estoy contento de traerlo para vosotros.” El concierto empieza, la gente asombrada. Peter está genial con el mundo, con sus fans y con el karma. La integridad de su catálogo está sin compromiso.
Pero el encorvamiento de circuito es poderoso. Y el poder puede corromper. Peter Kember no es el único individuo que ha sentido correcto incautar mi IP o historia. Como resalto en mi libro, hacer esto es muy peligroso. Peter ha puesto su cuerpo entero de trabajo “original” en cuestión con esta composición copia–mimo y menos que próximo reporte.
Quiero pensar que es todo el pasado. Pero, hasta este día, literatura promocional del Data Rape circula redactada como para endurecer la asociación de Peter con el instrumento, enterrando la historia al substituir los términos pantalla-de-humo, como cambiar “fooling around/hacer el tonto” por “circuitbending”.
Peter lo sabe bien y puede reparar esto. Vergüenza.
---------------------------
Peter played the incantors and, that night, he began asking for schematics. Can't blame him. Everyone wanted to know how to build one. I hadn't published any schematics yet, so I described to him exactly what to do to circuit-bend an incantor, and how to circuit-bend in general.
I guess I didn't do a good enough job. Even once back in England, Peter kept asking for my specific schematics. I still don't know why he wasn't satisfied with the info that satisfied everyone else, being a tech-friendly audio explorer himself. But he wasn't. He kept pressing me to send my schematics.
So I finally gave in. Out of respect for Peter's work in the field, I sent a beautiful, psychedelically-rendered color-pencil artwork depicting incantor wiring, the first incantor schematic ever to leave my workshop! Kind of an emotional moment for me. And because Peter kept asking how to compose with an incantor, a chance-based instrument, I also sent him my Secret Garden tape (world's first incantor recording, very dynamic, always received great reviews). Though I know he received the package (he denied it), I never heard from Peter again (no more schematic requests). And even if he hadn't received the package, he knew the history, name, and inventor of the instrument, none of which he allowed to survive his touch.
Soon thereafter the Data Rape tour and CD appeared. The CD, a weak remake of my earlier Secret Garden, did neglect, as you mention, to include real references (can you imagine Nonesuch addressing a music, technique, or history so poorly?) But what bothered me more was the drab and emotionless presentation of the incantor instrument on Peter's CD. To me and many other reviewers, it seemed rushed to market. And it was. Not that I expected a Paganini-violin relationship here. But so pallid and monotonous. The instrument is capable of such nuance and varied dynamics! So disappointing.
For a while I thought maybe Peter had just overlooked things in the CD notes. Then friends who went to Data Rape shows told me that, after the show, Peter gathers fans around, displays some incantors and allows people to think they were his invention, mentioning nothing at all of their actual origin. And this is why people think Peter invented the incantor. My friends were disgusted. I was not thrilled.
In art, often all we have is solidarity. Still, picture poor Peter. "Ah, mates, my American cousin taught me how to make, play and compose with these incantors, I hope you like the show." Takes a big person to do that. Nonetheless, I'll bet this admission could be done in good style, a proud part of the circuit-bending continuum. "I saw these incantors in America, they blew my mind and me buddy Reed helped me build my own. It's a type of chance electronics called circuit-bending. I'm pleased to bring it to you." Show starts, people are blown away. Peter is cool with the world, with his fans and his karma. The integrity of his catalog is uncompromised.
But circuit-bending is powerful, and power can corrupt. Peter Kember is not the only individual who's felt it OK to commandeer my IP or history. As I point out in my book, doing so is very dangerous. Peter has put his entire body of "original" work into question with this copy-cat composing and less-than-forthcoming reportage.
I'd like to think it's all in the past. But to this day, Data Rape promo literature circulates worded so as to calcify Peter's association with the instrument, burying history by substituting such smoke-screen terms as "fooling around" for "circuit-bending":
http://www.allmusic.com/album/data-rape-mw0000314545
Peter knows better and could fix this. Shame.
---------------------------
Peter played the incantors and, that night, he began asking for schematics. Can't blame him. Everyone wanted to know how to build one. I hadn't published any schematics yet, so I described to him exactly what to do to circuit-bend an incantor, and how to circuit-bend in general.
I guess I didn't do a good enough job. Even once back in England, Peter kept asking for my specific schematics. I still don't know why he wasn't satisfied with the info that satisfied everyone else, being a tech-friendly audio explorer himself. But he wasn't. He kept pressing me to send my schematics.
So I finally gave in. Out of respect for Peter's work in the field, I sent a beautiful, psychedelically-rendered color-pencil artwork depicting incantor wiring, the first incantor schematic ever to leave my workshop! Kind of an emotional moment for me. And because Peter kept asking how to compose with an incantor, a chance-based instrument, I also sent him my Secret Garden tape (world's first incantor recording, very dynamic, always received great reviews). Though I know he received the package (he denied it), I never heard from Peter again (no more schematic requests). And even if he hadn't received the package, he knew the history, name, and inventor of the instrument, none of which he allowed to survive his touch.
Soon thereafter the Data Rape tour and CD appeared. The CD, a weak remake of my earlier Secret Garden, did neglect, as you mention, to include real references (can you imagine Nonesuch addressing a music, technique, or history so poorly?) But what bothered me more was the drab and emotionless presentation of the incantor instrument on Peter's CD. To me and many other reviewers, it seemed rushed to market. And it was. Not that I expected a Paganini-violin relationship here. But so pallid and monotonous. The instrument is capable of such nuance and varied dynamics! So disappointing.
For a while I thought maybe Peter had just overlooked things in the CD notes. Then friends who went to Data Rape shows told me that, after the show, Peter gathers fans around, displays some incantors and allows people to think they were his invention, mentioning nothing at all of their actual origin. And this is why people think Peter invented the incantor. My friends were disgusted. I was not thrilled.
In art, often all we have is solidarity. Still, picture poor Peter. "Ah, mates, my American cousin taught me how to make, play and compose with these incantors, I hope you like the show." Takes a big person to do that. Nonetheless, I'll bet this admission could be done in good style, a proud part of the circuit-bending continuum. "I saw these incantors in America, they blew my mind and me buddy Reed helped me build my own. It's a type of chance electronics called circuit-bending. I'm pleased to bring it to you." Show starts, people are blown away. Peter is cool with the world, with his fans and his karma. The integrity of his catalog is uncompromised.
But circuit-bending is powerful, and power can corrupt. Peter Kember is not the only individual who's felt it OK to commandeer my IP or history. As I point out in my book, doing so is very dangerous. Peter has put his entire body of "original" work into question with this copy-cat composing and less-than-forthcoming reportage.
I'd like to think it's all in the past. But to this day, Data Rape promo literature circulates worded so as to calcify Peter's association with the instrument, burying history by substituting such smoke-screen terms as "fooling around" for "circuit-bending":
http://www.allmusic.com/album/data-rape-mw0000314545
Peter knows better and could fix this. Shame.
.jpg)
Luna rosa poster,
“Luna rosa poster, 2013”
Pink Moon poster,
"Pink Moon Poster, 2013"
¿Si he utilizado el trabajo de otros en mis creaciones? Somos una sociedad viva y el arte evoluciona en esta forma. Artistas absorben y transforman. El poster Sgt. Peppers fue creado para el último año de Pink Moon, mi recolección de hongos y el festival de música experimental (docenas de adiciones y cambios a las ilustraciones). ¿Ves la línea de crédito? "Cooper/Ephgrave/Ghazala 1967/2013".
Antes de mi nombre cito los artistas originales, incluyendo el pintor de la cabeza de tambor. No porque lo necesite hacer pero para honrar a esos que ayudaron es lo correcto que se ha de hacer. Es como la sociedad se torna más fuerte.
Antes de mi nombre cito los artistas originales, incluyendo el pintor de la cabeza de tambor. No porque lo necesite hacer pero para honrar a esos que ayudaron es lo correcto que se ha de hacer. Es como la sociedad se torna más fuerte.
El porro de la paz que sugieres podría haber sido liado por Peter siendo honesto, durante el concierto o en el cd del Data Rape. Seguramente, aun encendería ese porro con Peter hoy, caducado como esté. ¿Pero Uds. piensan que limpiaría la historia del Cd de Data Rape? Esto ya depende de Peter, yo no soy difícil de encontrar.
Así que no. Peter Kember no tiene nada que ver con la invención del Incantor. Y el CD de Data Rape y el tour claramente crecieron de mi trabajo, ninguno de los dos podría existir sin él. De hecho, Peter tenía considerablemente más ayuda que mucha de las personas en la construcción de la experiencia Incantor, recibiendo instrucciones personalmente de mi parte.
Pues, animo a la gente a que experimente con mis planes. Aun, si utilizas el Moog tú has de decir que usaste el Moog, ¿cierto? Si Peter hubiera trabajado conmigo como todos mis otros clientes, no tratando de disolver mi historia, estoy seguro que hubiera procurado asistencia adicional ayudándolo a promocionar su trabajo y ayudándolo a dominar el instrumento. Hubiera preferido estar allí que en esta conversación. Como dije, un triste tema por donde se mire. Si Peter no lo endereza por sí mismo, pueden estar seguros que los historiadores de la música lo harán.
Siendo un amante del sonido, ¿podrías mencionar 10 discos que consideres trippies*** y alucinantes?
Mientras las grabaciones musicales se mantienen iguales, los oídos cambian. Lo que puede haberme excitado como un quinceañero a finales de los 60´s puede percibirse como plano para el oyente peruano contemporáneo. Así que con semejantes tensiones en mano, aquí hay algunas:
Omicron Visits Earth, 45 RPM kiddies record por Rege Cordic and Company, RCA Victor, 1957
--------------------
Have I used other people's work in my own creations? We are a living society and art evolves in this way. Artists absorb and transform. This Sgt Peppers poster was created for last year's Pink Moon, my mushroom hunt & experimental music festival (dozens of additions and changes to the artwork). See the credit line? "Cooper/Ephgrave/Ghazala 1967/2013." Before my name I list the original artists, including the painter of the drum head. Not because I needed to, but because honoring those who help you is the right thing to do. It's how society grows stronger.
The Peace Joint you suggest would have been rolled by Peter being honest during the show or on the Data Rape CD. Sure, I'd still burn that joint with Peter today, stale as it might be. But do you think he'll tidy-up the Data Rape history? It's up to Peter. I'm not hard to find.
So, no, Peter Kember has nothing at all to do with the invention of the incantor. And the Data Rape CD and tour clearly grew from my work, neither would exist without it. In fact, Peter had considerably more help than most people in their incantor building experience, receiving instructions personally from me.
You know, I encourage people to experiment with my plans. Still, if you use a Moog you gotta say you used a Moog, right? If Peter had worked with me like all my other clients, not tried to dissolve my history, I'm sure I'd have provided additional assistance including helping promote his work and helping him master the instrument. I'd MUCH rather have been there than in this conversation. Like I said, sad issue all around. If Peter doesn't straighten it out himself, you can be sure music historians will.
As being a sonic lover can you, please, mention 10 discs that you consider trippy and mindblowing?
While music recordings stay the same, ears change. What might have thrilled me as a 15-yr-old in late-'60's America could fall flat for Peru's contemporary listener. So with such cultural pressures at hand, here are a few.
Omicron Visits Earth, 45 RPM kiddies record by Rege Cordic and Company, RCA Victor, 1957
.jpg)
Omicron Visits Earth, 45 RPM kiddies record por Rege Cordic and Company, RCA Victor, 1957
--------------------
Have I used other people's work in my own creations? We are a living society and art evolves in this way. Artists absorb and transform. This Sgt Peppers poster was created for last year's Pink Moon, my mushroom hunt & experimental music festival (dozens of additions and changes to the artwork). See the credit line? "Cooper/Ephgrave/Ghazala 1967/2013." Before my name I list the original artists, including the painter of the drum head. Not because I needed to, but because honoring those who help you is the right thing to do. It's how society grows stronger.
The Peace Joint you suggest would have been rolled by Peter being honest during the show or on the Data Rape CD. Sure, I'd still burn that joint with Peter today, stale as it might be. But do you think he'll tidy-up the Data Rape history? It's up to Peter. I'm not hard to find.
So, no, Peter Kember has nothing at all to do with the invention of the incantor. And the Data Rape CD and tour clearly grew from my work, neither would exist without it. In fact, Peter had considerably more help than most people in their incantor building experience, receiving instructions personally from me.
You know, I encourage people to experiment with my plans. Still, if you use a Moog you gotta say you used a Moog, right? If Peter had worked with me like all my other clients, not tried to dissolve my history, I'm sure I'd have provided additional assistance including helping promote his work and helping him master the instrument. I'd MUCH rather have been there than in this conversation. Like I said, sad issue all around. If Peter doesn't straighten it out himself, you can be sure music historians will.
As being a sonic lover can you, please, mention 10 discs that you consider trippy and mindblowing?
While music recordings stay the same, ears change. What might have thrilled me as a 15-yr-old in late-'60's America could fall flat for Peru's contemporary listener. So with such cultural pressures at hand, here are a few.
Omicron Visits Earth, 45 RPM kiddies record by Rege Cordic and Company, RCA Victor, 1957
.jpg)
Omicron 45 rpm record
"Omicron Visits Earth"
He mencionado en entrevistas que empecé a oír música experimental desde que tenía 3 años. Tenía esa edad cuando mi madre trajo este disco a casa. Contenía 4 pasajes experimentales trippies y electrónicos. Aprendí a poner la aguja exactamente sobre estas secciones de la música.
Son Nova 1988 Electronic Music, Arel, Davidovski, Ussachevsky, 12" vinyl, Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center, 1966
Grabado en 1966, este era mi LP favorito a finales de los 60´s. Electrónica bien grabada y experimental, dinámica, emocional.
Delusion of the Fury, Harry Partch, boxed set of three 12" LPs, Columbia Masterworks, 1971
Harry Partch imaginó una música, una escala musical, inalcanzable por la orquesta tradicional. Así que construyó su propia orquesta de instrumentos expresionistas de fantástico sonido. Otra gran pieza de Partch es: The bewitched/La hechizada.
IannisXenakis Electro-Acoustic Music, 12" LP, Nonesuch, 1970
Lado A, “Bohor I” es un trabajo en manipulación de Cintas de grabaciones de Khen (órgano bucal) y varios brazaletes. Muy atmosférico y enganchador.
Extended Voices, 12" LP, Columbia/Odyssey, 1967
Compilación de varios artistas explorando la voz a través de 7 grabaciones experimentales, por Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, John Cage, Robert Ashley, Toshi Ichiyanagui y Morton Feldman. Por primera vez experimenté una canción sueño (cantando mientras dormía en cama) como un niño pequeño, he estado interesado en vocalizaciones inusuales en la música. Bonita selección de diferentes ánimos y técnicas.
Richard Maxfield, Electronic Music, 12" LP, Advance Recordings, 1969
Sensitivo trabajo con la cinta, osciladores antiguos y música concreta. Me gusta el aperturismo de las grabaciones y la forma cómo producían un sentido de teatro.
Apocalypse de Jean, Vol III, Pierre Henry, Prospective 21e Siecle Series, Phillips, France, 1968
Clásico trabajo por Pierre Henry de grabaciones de campo, manipulación de cintas, cortar y trocear música concreta, palabra hablada y un tempranero abrazo de “found sound/sonido encontrado”. Trabajo poético.
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki, various labels and orchestras.
Escuché este trabajo durante los primeros días del circuit-bending. Mientras me exponía a la música electrónica experimental, el trabajo orquestal de expansiva utilización de cuerdas y tonos micro- tonales combinada con mal uso (crítico) de la técnica (dándole al cuerpo del instrumento con arcos) sirvió como una bonita lección en lo que hasta entonces creía: cada sonido sonsaca una emoción. Que una orquesta pueda hacer semejante cosa me impresiona más que un sintetizador haciendo esa labor. Aunque no tan abstracto, La Pasión de Sn. Lucas es otro trabajo dinámico. Cuando hablé con Penderecki le di una copia de mi Threnody, título inspirado por sus notas espaciadas tocadas al mismo tiempo****(tone clusters). Buen momento.
---------------------
I've mentioned in interviews that I began listening to experimental music when I was three years old. That's how old I was when my mother brought this recording home. It contains four very trippy experimental electronic music passages. I learned how to place the needle exactly upon these sections of the music.
Son Nova 1988 Electronic Music, Arel, Davidovski, Ussachevsky, 12" vinyl, Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center, 1966
Recorded in 1966, this was a favorite LP of mine in the late 1960's. Well-recorded experimental electronics, dynamic, emotional.
Delusion of the Fury, Harry Partch, boxed set of three 12" LPs, Columbia Masterworks, 1971
Harry Partch imagined a music, and musical scale, unavailable via the traditional orchestra. So he build his own orchestra of fantastic-sounding expressionist instruments. Another great listen is Partch's The Bewitched.
Iannis Xenakis Electro-Acoustic Music, 12" LP, Nonesuch, 1970
Side A, "Bohor I," is a work of tape manipulation of recorded khen (mouth organ) and various bracelets. Very atmospheric and engaging.
Extended Voices, 12" LP, Columbia/Odyssey, 1967
Compilation of various artists exploring voice via seven experimental recordings by Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, John Cage, Robert Ashley, Toshi Ichiyanagi and Morton Feldman. Ever since I experienced a song-dream (singing while asleep in bed) as a little kid, I've been interested in unusual vocal music. Nice selection of differing moods and techniques here.
Richard Maxfield, Electronic Music, 12" LP, Advance Recordings, 1969
Sensitive work with tape, early oscillators and music concrete. I like the openness of the recordings and their way of producing a sense of theater.
Apocalypse de Jean, Vol III, Pierre Henry, Prospective 21e Siecle Series, Phillips, France, 1968
Classic work by Pierre Henry of field recording, tape manipulation, cut-and-splice music concrete, spoken word and an early embracing of "found sound." Poetic work.
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki, various labels and orchestras.
I heard this work during the early days of circuit-bending. While I'd been exposed to experimental electronic music, this orchestral work of expanded string section and micro-tonal tone clustering combined with "misuse" (critics) of technique (striking instrument bodies with bows) served as a nice lesson in what I already believed: every sound elicits an emotion. That an orchestra could do such a thing impressed me more than a synth doing such a thing. Though not as abstract, St. Luke's Passion is another dynamic work. When I spoke with Penderecki I gave him a copy of my threnody, title inspired by his tone clusters. Good moment.
---------------------
I've mentioned in interviews that I began listening to experimental music when I was three years old. That's how old I was when my mother brought this recording home. It contains four very trippy experimental electronic music passages. I learned how to place the needle exactly upon these sections of the music.
Son Nova 1988 Electronic Music, Arel, Davidovski, Ussachevsky, 12" vinyl, Columbia Princeton Electronic Music Center, 1966
Recorded in 1966, this was a favorite LP of mine in the late 1960's. Well-recorded experimental electronics, dynamic, emotional.
Delusion of the Fury, Harry Partch, boxed set of three 12" LPs, Columbia Masterworks, 1971
Harry Partch imagined a music, and musical scale, unavailable via the traditional orchestra. So he build his own orchestra of fantastic-sounding expressionist instruments. Another great listen is Partch's The Bewitched.
Iannis Xenakis Electro-Acoustic Music, 12" LP, Nonesuch, 1970
Side A, "Bohor I," is a work of tape manipulation of recorded khen (mouth organ) and various bracelets. Very atmospheric and engaging.
Extended Voices, 12" LP, Columbia/Odyssey, 1967
Compilation of various artists exploring voice via seven experimental recordings by Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Lucier, John Cage, Robert Ashley, Toshi Ichiyanagi and Morton Feldman. Ever since I experienced a song-dream (singing while asleep in bed) as a little kid, I've been interested in unusual vocal music. Nice selection of differing moods and techniques here.
Richard Maxfield, Electronic Music, 12" LP, Advance Recordings, 1969
Sensitive work with tape, early oscillators and music concrete. I like the openness of the recordings and their way of producing a sense of theater.
Apocalypse de Jean, Vol III, Pierre Henry, Prospective 21e Siecle Series, Phillips, France, 1968
Classic work by Pierre Henry of field recording, tape manipulation, cut-and-splice music concrete, spoken word and an early embracing of "found sound." Poetic work.
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima by Krzysztof Penderecki, various labels and orchestras.
I heard this work during the early days of circuit-bending. While I'd been exposed to experimental electronic music, this orchestral work of expanded string section and micro-tonal tone clustering combined with "misuse" (critics) of technique (striking instrument bodies with bows) served as a nice lesson in what I already believed: every sound elicits an emotion. That an orchestra could do such a thing impressed me more than a synth doing such a thing. Though not as abstract, St. Luke's Passion is another dynamic work. When I spoke with Penderecki I gave him a copy of my threnody, title inspired by his tone clusters. Good moment.
ghazala_penderecki,
“Reed Ghazala y compositor Krzysztof Penderecki en el Cinccinati Music Hall, 2007, photo por Nebulagirl”
ghazala_penderecki,
"Reed Ghazala and composer Krzysztof Penderecki at Cincinnati Music Hall, 2007, photo by Nebulagirl"
En suma, en lugar de citar dos álbumes más, dejadme que os mueva hacia una arena radiófona más de acorde y mencionar a bandas y artistas a quienes admiro, bandas con quienes vuestros lectores estarán familiarizados como: los primeros Aorta, Soft Machine, Silver Apples, los primeros discos de Pink Floyd, United States of America (Joe Byrd y compañía), The Collectors, Ultimate Spinach, los dos primeros álbumes de Mothers of Invention, Gong, MX-80, Cpt. Beefheart, Nina Hagen, Danielle Dax, Henry Cow (¡Chris Cutler's ReR Quarterly y todos los Lps son geniales!), King Crimson (y su actual retoño llamado Stick Men), como baterista disfruté los albumes Inner Mounting Flame y Birds of Fire por la Mahavishnu Orchestra y en general encuentro buenas y recomendables las cosas que veo en lo de Tom Waits, NIN, The Residents y pocos más que de seguro me olvido de mencionar aquí.
Bueno Sr. Ghazala, muchas gracias por la entrevista, ha sido un real honor para nosotros. Espero que viva 60 años más creando para buena suerte de la Humanidad. Buenas vibras desde Lima Norte, Perú.
Gracias Wilder y para los benders***** de cerca y de lejos, ¡Gracias por explorar el encorvamiento del circuito conmigo!
Reed Ghazala.
---------------------------------
To sum things, instead of listing two more albums, let me instead move into the more likely "radio play" arena and mention bands and artists whose work I admire, bands your readers might be more familiar with: early Aorta, Soft Machine, Silver Apples, early Pink Floyd albums, United States of America (Joe Byrd and co.), The Collectors, Ultimate Spinach, the first couple Mothers of Invention albums, Gong, MX-80, Cpt. Beefheart, Nina Hagen, Danielle Dax, Henry Cow (Chris Cutler's ReR Quarterly and all the LPs are great!), King Crimson (and current offshoot Stick Men), as a drummer I enjoyed the Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire albums by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and in general I always see good, interesting things from Tom Waits, NIN, The Residents and a few others I'm sure to overlook here.
Well, Mr. Ghazala thanks a lot for the interview, it has been a real honor for us. Hope you live 60 more years creating for the good luck of Humanity. Good vibes from North Lima, Perú.
Thanks Wilder, and to benders near and far, thanks for exploring circuit-bending with me! -Reed Ghazala
Reed en un vertedero del carril ferroviario,
"Reed Ghazala en un vertedero del carril ferroviario con el poeta Jim Reidel y la científica Cynthia Striley"
Reed in railroad dump,
"Reed Ghazala in a railroad dump with poet Jim Reidel and scientist Cynthia Striley"
*Ludwigs: marca de instrumentos de percusión.
**Terraformer: creador-constructor de la tierra.
***Trippy: Flipante.Volador. Viajero.
****Tonecluster: un grupo disonante de notas juntamente espaciadas y tocadas al mismo tiempo.
*****Benders: encorvadores del circuito.
Para más info sobre el trabajo de Reed visita por favor/For more on Reed's work please visit:
Reed on CNN…
Reed Ghazala YouTube
Leonardo Music Journal article by Ghazala
Knock at the front door:
Circuit-bending how-to:
Inside the Anti-Theory Workshop:
Ghazala bio:
Listen to the instruments:
Music reviews:
Music retail, Realization Recordings:
Flickr galleries:
(Chance Art Gallery)
(IBM tape loop machines)
(Tape Canvas)
(chance art: Suminagashi)
(chance art: Dye Migration)
(graphic arts gallery)
(DIY resist sub box schematic)
(Fractal Oscillator with magnetic Patch Bay)
(Ectoplastic Morpheum)
(Various Instruments for Publication)
(How to make a Captain Beefheart Layer Cake)
