seven seven zero
this is truly a sublime album. capturing and re composing the sustain from a piano is pure genius. its harnessing the energy of sound just as it dissipates into silence.
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When I first moved to Ireland I was unexpectedly met by thousands of vacant churches. Massive halls formed a hollow emptiness which persisted for several months that eventually turned into years. This record was made in one of those churches on an antique, Blüthner grand piano. I worked and recorded on this piano most days, for an entire year. While working on compositions within the modern-classical realm, I fell in love with the fullness of the reverb that each note echoed throughout the room. I eventually shifted my focus entirely and decided to record just the reverb sustained on the end of each note. I did this with a variation of chords and single notes, capturing only the sustain. All of the tracks on this album were made using these recordings.
The piano is over 100 years old. The age of its parts contribute additional elements which reflect their use and time. Its sustain offered a unique, imperfect timbre with an action occasionally finishing in a deep, low rattle. Sometimes this would cause problems while recording other works. Instead of removing this additional noise from all of my previous recordings, deeming them imperfect, I borrowed them all for this concept. I increased the length of each sustain, even some of the rattling, and wove them together like an orchestra. Very little has been done to change or manipulate the analog notes you hear on the recordings. My goal is to capture this piano exactly as it was in the space and time it was played in. Some notes are mildly stretched or pitch shifted, but most are not. These minor changes to some of the notes revealed a character within them delivering expressions that are unmistakably human to the ear. It was discovered through these sessions that the unexpected sounds mentioned - which occasionally pronounce themselves as an animalistic growl - exist. The piano is capable of producing them. Upon allowing many of the notes to sit primarily as their analog form, paired with some minuscule pitch and time alterations, it is evident that these “new” sounds are not manufactured by effects but simply revealed, or conjured during the process of this arrangement.
credits
released March 8, 2024
Composed, produced and engineered by Jasmine Wood
Mastered by Noel Summerville
Recorded between 2020 & 2021 at St. Finian's Church in Dublin, Ireland on an antique, Blüthner grand piano
Additional instruments:
Yamaha Reface CP (“Friends”)
Tin whistle - Seán Power, recorded in Galway, Ireland (Track “IV”)
Field recordings taken near St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin
Church Bells - Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Photograph by Cáit Fahey
Tape design by Pavel Milyakov
Art direction by Jasmine Wood
Suono assente è ben presente nelle mie avventure notturne. Mi aiuta ad evadere dalle preoccupazioni quotidiane ed entrare in un mood tanto nostalgico quanto leggero. Complimenti per la produzione di ottima qualità dall’inizio alla fine. Diego Suarez
Feels like a natural progression from his Hessle Audio release not too long ago but with 2 amazingly ambient pieces which are just to die for! Thanks for another lovely release Olof :) past-times
As the title implies, the latest from Lebanese artist Yara Asmar combines ambient synths with treated accordion in dreamlike songs. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 31, 2023
Melancholic pastoral instrumentals made from cello, piano, and acoustic guitar, interwoven with field recordings for a spooky undertone. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 17, 2023
Just beautiful ! Melancholic and uplifting - been playing it on a daily basis online for the past 3 months, and finally received a copy of the repress. Now hoping for a repress of Whities 029. Pete C