Sounding Out – the Peak District

The Peak District on my doorstep, it is easy to nip out and see so much beauty. A little further afield, the limestone valleys offer a different type of landscape. i don’t often go that far and so missed the area and decided to return to known places, in the south peaks.

It was wet in wetton. Storm was on the menu, and it did not disappoint. But first, in the day, it was really hot and sunny. Walking up the hills was fairly taxing and many people were out swimming in the rivers.

By the evening, the distant lightning provided a spectacular display; with stars above, flashes lit up gorgeous cloud formations. The flashes were relentless, it was like watching fireworks and the storm being so distant, it was completely silent. Quite a surreal scene. And it took a while for the rain to arrive. And here too, it did not disappoint.

Another magic moment, in the morning, from a nearby bridge, i watched the empty and dry river bed fill up with rain water that slowly had filtered throught the limestone and started flowing, making this most amazing trickle sound, like pebbles coming to life.

But let’s rewind a little to the end of the day, after a wonderful walk in blazing sunshire, and as the weather was slowly turning, i climbed into the imposive stature of Thor’s Cave. Possibly due to the radiant weather, and also to a long period of lockdown, i found the area more busy than usual, and it was a while until there was a quiet moment. i had time to enjoy the golden glowing of slanting light that came into the cave from the side opening. Taking the time to get back in touch with the space i once knew well (a scroll through previous sounding out recordings will show many visits to this site), i could get into the vibe and ready for some improvisation.

As soon as i got the saxophone out and sounded out a few notes into the space, to warm up, the music started to flow. At the end of the session, as the light was diminishing, a single wood pigeon was singing outside the entrance of the cave. I picked up the melody and recorded one last piece.

 

 

the fifth step
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

shadow theatre
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

spin the riff
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

the wood pigeon song
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

 

After a little break, i continued on down the valley, to a tunnel of incredible property. The sound there is just outstanding. After playing in the cave, my lips were starting to tire, but i could not help sending a few notes spinning down that long tube a watch the frequencies merge. Each set of notes shimmers in its own way, creating further overtones, bending notes to align with the tunnel resonance. I could have played triads forever, just listening to the long tail slowly fade. With circular breathing, the tones eventually blend into a mass of sound that slowly modulates overtones. This place has always been a treat.

 

infinite
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
swainsley tunnel

 

 

merger
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
swainsley tunnel

 

 

scats o’long tails
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
swainsley tunnel

 

 

dark skies ahead
alto saxophone, 11 august 2020
swainsley tunnel

 

 

 

On the second day, i wanted to go back to the cave and record some more, explore different textures. I am not sure if the deliberate approach was wise, in any case, i could not really force any ideas as is usually true with this project. I just had to go with the flow. And on that second day, the vibe was quite different. There were many distractions and it took quite a while for things to settle down, and even while playing, there were a few interruptions. Still, even though i found it more difficult to get into the zone, some interesting material came out. And indeed, the results were more high energy flow and abstract than the first session which was predominently melodic. In places like this, i find the vibe and the music that comes out a lot more free and raw than in churches, for obvious reasons.

 

 

another round
alto saxophone, 12 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

bustle in the valley
alto saxophone, 12 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

 

waltzing wood in the wind
alto saxophone, 12 august 2020
thor’s cave

 

PLGD released by Pan Y Rosas Discos

i’ve been sitting on a bunch of tracks for a while that explored live processing. i was trying things out at the time i was working on the album ‘imploding stars’ and in that period, i was recording improvisations that used various sound sources and strings of plugins. lately, i revisited some of those pieces and did new edits and master. the album PLGD was released by Pan Y Rosas recently and already got some nice reviews.

here are a few words by s. victor aaron from something else:

“

Hervé Perez is both an audio artist and a visual artist but the sound art he makes tend to get deeply seared into your consciousness as provocative visual art would. PLGD is the last set of sonorities he’s created using is sax, his voice, electronic effects and Tibetan meditation bowls. The art is how all this disparate sources for sound converge to create an alien but liquid whole.

If you’re looking for harmony, melody or rhythm, this isn’t the place to look. Perez is going for something much more primal than that in the creation of these sound sculptures. Similar to the mission of conventional music though, it uses vibration to give your brain something striking and unfamiliar to process and ponder.

Processed field recordings seems to form the basis for PLGD’s opening salvo “Styfg,” where the sounds of nature are completely blended with otherworldly buzz. We hear Perez’s soprano saxophone for the first time on “Likabrd Inacag” but here it becomes the basis of an overall sonic painting made up of heavy processed sounds of that sax. “Winds of Many Harms” is the sound of flowing air, whether that’s through a heavily altered sax or by other means.

Those meditation bowls hums and chimes on “Lance L’eau Du Lac” are ancient timbres that never sound stale, and if you never heard these resonant instruments from the Himalayas, you’re in for a treat.

Perez take his sax to new, exotic places on “Winds and Humming Buds,” at times making his horn resemble a flute. For “Par Anneaux,” he dubs over his sax several times to make it resemble a flock of geese that over time gets enmeshed into a larger tapestry of dreary sonorities. The sax becomes a percussion instrument during much of “Il Faudrait Qu’on Cesse,” spraying into the void a barrage of false notes.

“Bird in a Bush” uses silence as another instrument, occasionally interrupted by rustling, the bowls, percussive knocks and a barely-perceptible low hum. “Styfg Coda” roughly approximates the distorted sound of storm waves crashing onshore and “Soprano Fields” transits from near-silence to ghoulish to placid.

Hervé Perez makes musique concrète using atypical sources while audaciously pushing his soprano saxophone into uncharted territory. That’s why PLGD is made for ears thirsty for entirely new sounds, even for those ears who think they’ve heard it all.

“

the album is available from Pan Y Rosas Discos.