Stephen Golovnin - Clavier, Wind Controller.
Norm Sohl - Clavier, Wind Controller, Theremin.
Notes by Stephen Golovnin
This is an ongoing improvisatory project between Stephen Golovnin and Norm Sohl. The instruments contained in these chronological recordings, start with Norm on Wind Controller and Theremin, and Stephen on Keyboards. Eventually, we were so taken by what each other were doing that Norm purchased his own keyboard, and Stephen his own Wind Controller. These pieces came from recordings we made during the course of each evening session. Later on they were examined, and those sections found to be worthy were placed under the microscope and gently coaxed into shape. No overdubbing or multitracking additional parts took place in the making of this music.
Piano, Theremin, and WX. A very simple piece that captures these two instruments in a very raw form. Norm switches over to Wind Controller (WX) somewhere around the 4 minute mark.
Pipe Organ run through delays, filters, and loopers. The Loop creates a little “bump” that in turn becomes a rhythmic element, almost like a heartbeat of sorts. Interesting juxtaposition of Wind Controller and Keyboard utilizing a wind instrument type of patch. Later on, the loop is processed through a vocoder which imparts a breathy quality to it. This theme is taken up by the vocal patch that comes in around 9:18.
“…everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning, so that the return may lead to a flowering.”
03 Steppes of Central Fremont.mp3
Title inspired by Alexander Borodin, Wind Controller opens this piece soon followed by microtonal meanderings on the keyboard. Much use is made here of the keyboard ribbon controller.
Piano and Wind Controller. A further exposition on a previous theme, that of Gradual Progress.
Keyboard and Wind Controller. The two instruments are intentionally ambiguous once again as to which one is the keyboard and which one is controlled via breath. Vocoder plays an important role as it modifies and transforms the WX (wind controller).
WX and Keyboard. Many of these pieces illustrate the setting up of a drone, sometimes with a Looper, and sometimes as in this case, with the Sostenuto (or middle) pedal on the keyboard. The Sostenuto pedal allows those keys that are being held at the moment the pedal is pressed, to sustain. While the pedal is being held, additional notes are not sustained, rather they are allowed to be released as the fingers let go. Once this drone is established, the keyboardist is free to go elsewhere within the same patch. The Lydian mode is featured throughout this piece.
Keyboard and Theremin. A quote from Bach’s final opus, a choral prelude, appears around the 5 minute mark. Loopers and delays take a predominant role in setting up this Soundscape. The center section of this piece is reminiscent (to my ear) of the music of Olivier Messiaen.
Keyboard and WX. Instead of the usual Yamaha VL-70 being the sound module for the Wind Controller, Norm is controlling an Emu XL-7 sound module for these four pieces instead. This imparts a different quality to his sound than what he usually achieves.
Keyboard and WX. Here we are both playing with plucked string instrument patches and delay lines. Again, the distinction between a keyboard and an electronic wind instrument is being sufficiently obscured. The type of sound suggests a Chine se Pi’pa, with its nasal qualities.
Keyboard and Theremin. Norm runs his Theremin through a TC Helicon Quintet Vocal Harmonizer. This applies a very human quality of pitch quantization with an allowable variance. What that means in layman’s terms is that a sliding pitch can not only be coerced into discrete pitches, it also puts them into a specific key, like G minor. Then harmonies can be added within the key specified. The allowable variance offers a certain pitch wavering in a vibrato like fashion so it doesn’t sound too rigid.
The acoustic piano sound is supplemented by an electric piano with vocal shadings. Delays and laser reverbs offer a shimmering quality to the keyboard sounds.
29 July 2004
Keyboard and Wind Controller. Featuring the Digitech Time Machine which adds a vibrato-like delay to Norm’s WX. The keyboard plays a vibraphone type of patch in a patiently steady way that slowly unravels. This is First in a series of Solaris pieces. Though not modeled after the music of the film by the same name (the 2002 remake), it shares a certain quality with this most excellent score. Images spring forth of the Sea of Solaris, an imaginary planet first described in the novel by Stanislaw Lem, later made into a film by the incomparable Andre Tarkovsky, and then remade by Steven Soderbergh. This piece is a further meditation on the unique planet of Solaris that is made up entirely of an ocean that has a sentience of its own.
Keyboard and WX. Amazing sounds contained within. I wish I could remember how we achieved them… This piece fits in well with the Solaris theme.
Keyboard and WX. Here the vibraphone sound is looped which allows the keyboard to wander off exploring other pastures… or oceans as the case may be.
5 August 2004
Keyboard and Theremin. Subtle microtonal shadings on the piano arrive around the 3 minute mark. The Theremin is enhanced by the harmonizer and delay units. Orchestral chimes bring closure to this piece.
Keyboard and Theremin. Picks up where the last piece left off. A Celeste type of sound accompanies the Theremin followed by chimes.
Keyboard and Theremin. This piece is the second within the Planet series, (see also Neptune and Venus) this one describes the seventh planet from the Sun, and the third largest. Also referred to as The Magician. There is an interesting juxtaposition of the warmth of the strings with the coldness of the high pitch that comes in around 3:30.
12 August 2004
This session was defined by both of us playing mostly Wind Controllers. Norm with his Yamaha WX-11 and VL-70, and Stephen with his Yamaha WX-5 and Emu XL-7 as sound module. This was the first piece that we recorded that evening.
WX x 2. The title track to this series of collaborations. The high pitches of both wind instruments, combined with a shimmering reverb effect, combine to weave a web of light.
WX x 2. A slowly meandering piece with timbres that bespeak its Oriental or Middle Eastern influence.
WX x 2, Keyboard, and Theremin. A fascinating acoustic instrument called the Waterphone, originally invented by Richard Waters, is faithfully emulated here by the Emu XL-7. This changes around the 5 minute mark to a primitive horn sound. Norm starts out with a saxophone emulation which quickly evolves into the Theremin. This was the final piece of the evening.
14 October 2004
Keyboard and WX. The keyboard layers vibraphone, electric piano, pipe organ, and acoustic bass into one sound that constantly changes. The Wind Controller mostly lays down some very low pitches.
WX x 2 and Keyboard. This shows some of the amazing versatility of the Yamaha VL-70 sound modules when controlled by the WX-5 controller. Register breaks, lip vibrato, and flutter tonguing figure nicely into this piece. Keyboard comes in around 1:30 with a Vocoder as sound modifier.
Keyboard and WX x 2. Chronologically third in the Planets series, Venus is the second planet from the sun. To listen to Neptune, visit the Bosphorus webpage.
Both instruments are being run through their own loopers to create a very full and slowly evolving palette. Some of what sounds like looping is in actuality only judicious use of the sostenuto pedal.
Stephen uses a Kurzweil PC2X as his main keyboard. This includes the ribbon controller and 5 pedals (2 volume type and 3 piano type). Additional sounds are produced by the Emu XL-7 containing the following ROM’s: Xlead, World, Proteus 1/2/3, and Composer. Each patch change on the Kurzweil opens up a complementary patch on the Emu. Sometimes this is a similar patch, as in one type of electric piano matched with another similar electric piano. Other times a contrasting patch is used, such as an electric piano matched with a plucked string instrument. These two sounds combine together to sound as one instrument with the attack of a plucked string and the body of an electric piano. Additionally, the Roland MT-100 (which is just an MT-32 with a sequencer attached) is used for its Recorder sound.
For wind synthesis, he uses a Yamaha WX-5 and WX-7 wind controller. Sound modules include the Yamaha VL-70m (Virtual Acoustic Emulator), the Yamaha TX81Z (similar to the original DX-7), and the Yamaha MU-100R (A VL-7 with an extra sound engine and a vocal harmonizer).
The sound modifiers include several of the modules made by Electrix: the Mo-FX, which includes distortion, flanging, tremolo, and delay, the Filter Factory which is a two pole stereo filter or 4 pole mono filter (analog), the Warp Factory which is a vocoder, and the Repeater which is a digital 4-track looper. Additionally, the Digitech Time Machine is used as a mono delay line with vibrato pitch shifting.
Norm uses a Big Briar (Moog) Etherwave Theremin, and Yamaha WX-11 and WX-5 Wind Controllers. The Theremin is run through the TC Helicon Quintet and the WX’s drive the Yamaha VL-70m sound module. Also put into recent service is the Kawai K5000w Additive Synthesis keyboard. The WX, the keyboard, and the Theremin are then run through a TC Electronics M300 for delays and reverb as well as looping, and then on to a Rolls line mixer before being sent to the main mixer.
The Yamaha WX-5, WX-7, and WX-11 wind controllers are used along with the Yamaha VL-70m sound module. The VL-70m is a radical departure from all other synthesizer sound modules because it creates a digital waveform based on acoustical principles of actual wind and string instruments. In conjunction with a Wind Controller (which is basically an electronic saxophone), it can call forth some amazing sounds. Each of these sounds can be modulated in real time, in ways that previously were only possible on an acoustic instrument.
All instruments are then mixed through a Mackie 3204 line mixer, with auxiliary sends feeding the sound modifying modules. The mix is then sent through an RNC compressor and finally through a BBC Sonic Maximizer before being sent to the computer for recording via Adobe Audition 1.5 software. All pieces were recorded in real time as a stereo mix and then later edited in Audition. This means that the balance between the instruments and effects needed to be perfect during the recording as it could not be adjusted later on in the editing process.
For CD orders or any questions, please contact Stephen: (Vsyevolod at Yahoo dot com).
By choice no copyright.