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| | | anomalous (usa) #nom not 1 cd dave knott “natura naturans” compact disc - waking up is a good start / the future, pressing in / hear something / courteous bow / embracing held / the dawn of atoms / and the comtemplative return / with crossing bell and whiff / rumble (6:57)
- its decay a sigh (0:37)
- crinkles and dropped rock / hard plucked / walking the stick / found the rattles / a constitution begins / prjngow gow / repetition theme emerges / construction at the untaut ends - periphery sound / string ends and dry cleaning rack duet (8:55)
- short walk (0:47)
- very ripe / the rebellious response to meaningful music / and its obstinate but dedicated end / immediate reprise / looking / found / synchronos with evasive auto / a melodic suite of booweep / a dry cleaner runs through it / in helpless response / the ga (8:14)
- the beginning of the low rumbles / siren with strings / thumbnail scratch tone / resolved to silence, a ding inspires return (4:05)
- a daxophone prayer play / string pedal
- stick melody / when a walk becomes a vibration / friction is beauty
- tone follows (4:30)
- the return of a future pressing / when a sniff enters the music (2:10)
- stringboards want to sing / the autos b(e(l))ow / the idea of repitition returns / resonance revealed and plucking is inspired / breathing calms and helps me to live / phrased by nature, repetition proceeds / converting, it can / naive acting (6:06)
- whiffle / rang and pop / intangled query / listening to harmonics from action / bridging and return / hyperactive cleaners did it / run the string / the waited response to (5:58)
- stringboards in the air (0:54)
- first stoll rhythm with multi harmonic and melodic mood (0:51)
- return (1:35)
- return
- first glow (1:48)
- return (0:31)
- distal ring shimmer and glow
- speak (0:51)
- rhythm decay and final construct / little ring to change / breathing into it / a due perfecto (4:44)
- dramatic imp / gracing phonomono / dropped doorknob / choruses, repetition (4:54)
- goomeygow address with accompaniment (1:36)
- fall dancingly (4:58)
- bathroom oratorio (1:53)
| | click the play button to hear an excerpt of "dropped doorknob" |
| | anomalous press release... |
| dave knott
natura naturans
in 1997, dave proposed an 'installation' in the then store and performance space incarnation of anomalous records. his proposal was to mount various discarded strings (not just from guitars, but other instruments) onto scrap board, and then mount those onto the wall above the entry staircase. the strings themselves were often permanently prepared, and with the wall itself (or the banister in the case one) acting as a resonator, they produced a surprising diversity of sounds, much beyond their simple appearance.
many people trying them or hearing them played were surprised to hear tones like gongs and cymbals, along with others that sounded more like plunked instruments, albeit with a different bent. as they were in an unusual location that people didn't often use, the stringboards were free to stay up for longer than most things, and over the six months or so that they were up, dave altered and added to them (sometimes using things like rocks from the parking lot, sticks, door knobs, etc.).
plucked, strung and bowed by random visitors, they were used to full effect during jeph jerman's weekly improvisations with aaron wintersong, which dave was soon a regular member of. being as they had become a part of the environment for so long (dave even installed one in the bathroom in the end), we decided it would be wise to document them before anomalous left the space, especially as dave had decided to auction them off at the last show. so, dave and i spent an afternoon close mic'ing (no contact mics here, these needed to sing through the air around them) each stringboard in succession.
the playing varied much between very gentle playing letting the notes decay to cacophony of strings assaulted, though did seem to lean overall more towards the calmer side of things. through dave remained aware of his surrounding, the environment for so many past performances, and actually played along with many ambient elements such as noises coming from the dry cleaner below and the sounds of the street outside, which you can hear on this disc if you listen very closely or turn it up very loud.
the resulting 90 minutes we recorded lay for a while, but was in the end painstakingly listened and re-listened to by dave and edited down to this cd. in the listening back, dave made many mental notes and associations with all the sounds, which we preserved by marking several tracks with many index points (a feature very few cds seem to use) and giving each of those a title.
the package is completed by liner notes from jeph jerman and dave, photos of the stringboards, and a beautiful full color painting made for the project by russell w. gordon.
from dave's liner notes:
“at a woodshop i was renting i had been messing with attaching strings to collected throwaway(found) pieces of plywood. i had a collection of used strings of many types: guitar, bass guitar, cello, violin, dulcimer, harp, piano, along with some types of raw wire including brass and nylon monofilament. i had heard ellen fullman's long string instrument and wanted to experiment with making strings in long lengths. i enjoyed using two strings to make a longer combined length and found the results to be shimmering. my woodshop mate peter bonnell and i were bathed in this new sound unleashed - gongs or distant cymbals. some kind of defiance of visual representation - a piece of used plywood with some strings across it. what an anomaly!
even before the sessions, eric lanzillotta had asked me about making an installation with the boards, but i was no artist. installation. just the word would still a creative in the floodlight of expectation. this doe eyed doer needed a push. we agreed that i could put the boards up as i made them and this made the whole project seem possible. i began by installing a couple of the stringboards directly onto the wall making the entire wall a secondary resonator. while the wall changed shape weekly, flaunting a broken window frame with broken window and strings or some other momentarily invented musical object each week along with a perpetual recomposition of stringboards, the final installation consisted mostly of ~10 stringboards ranging in size from 1 to 8 feet in length with an additional two stringboards in the bathroom for potty play.
the stringboards were great fun for both myself and for others who came to the anomalous space. their somewhat dirty (rustic) appearance and illusory sound compels even the mildly curious to give it a pluck. i can't stress how meaningful the whole experience was for me - during and after. getting a glimpse of a music making not founded on "what we can make of this" was nothing short of enduring inspiration for not just those people, that place, that time, but all; it refreshed my appreciation for playing/living/loving. american philosopher suzanne langer talks about an exclamatory music, a music that comes from within and is essentially different than "discursive" music - our tradition of music. whatever the name, this constellation of musical experience sent me to willamette university to study music therapy and gave me practical ideas for projects working with homeless and at-risk youth in both seattle, wa and salem, or (sonic tools).” |
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