sounding out top 10

while working on brand new recordings for the series ‘sounding out’, i decided to look back in time, and review all the locations featured on the soundcloud page dedicated to the project:

 

 

 

 

so here is a sample selection of some of the best acoustics and inspiring spaces i have visited in the recent past. and guess what. YAS woz there.

 

1 – Ilam church. hidden gem. beautiful and intimate. my relationship and my playing have evolved with many visits.

 

2 – Dore Abbey. place of magic and history in the golden valley, gently spoken through the stone of its old walls.

 

3 – buxton dome. ex-hospital now university property with unique sonic magic. reverb + delay + whispering gallery.

 

4 – Clachan Church. plain chapel in the mist of remote applecross. energy like mountain streams wild raw beautiful.

 

5 – smoo cave. cascade and cathedral chamber. strong character, challenging response and inspiration in gentleness.

 

6 – stoney middleton. unusual architecture and shape. great for sound. subtle, bright and soft.

 

7 – St Catherine. out of this world experiences in this chapel at the top of a hill. plain, bare, expansive.

 

8 – Rydal cave. lifted out of this plane of existence into fluffy clouds. all is sound.

 

9 – Cathedral cave. exposed to elements. dark damp raw edges. the sound takes you to a different reality. soft suspension. pure bliss.

 

10 – St Sardos. surprisingly generous village church. plain dark appearance. sound gently-powerful and sophisticated, wide and brilliant.

 

this last track is a sneak preview…:

the new series of recordings i am currently working on are from the very recent trip to France. it features some outstanding locations. small village churches with surprising character and large abbeys, abbatiales, cathedrals… it has been a real treat and i am very excited to share all this with you. so keep your eyes peeled as some great sounds are coming your way here, on soundcloud or my website (visit field rec / sounding out).

and as usual, i’d love to hear from you.

cheers

rv

 

 

Pike Watts memorial: surrender

Sounding Out. An exploration of natural acoustics, architecture and sacred sites.
in situ improvisations, inspired by the spirit and the special characteristics of a location.

I visited several churches on that day. recorded in some of them. Some were closed. It was a bit of a strange day. And i never quite hit it. A bit too this or a bit too that. Cold and windy. Not quite the spring feeling we just had (just for a few days. and that’s it for this year. blew all records for temperature and sunshine and that’s the quota for this year. now, back to normal british weather, ta). Yeah. Blame it on the weather.
By the time i got to Ilam, it was seriously threatening to rain. No hood and a shaved skull. We’re not having this. For the church, and it just will have to be open.

The many cars and several coaches piled up on the street should have got some bells ringing and sure enough, as soon as i took the saxophone out of its case, a group of tourists piled in. I knew it just wasn’t the day. Me give up.

So i headed for the tea shop to get something warm inside me. A much more appropriate activity for this kind of weather than lurking in the dark corners of old churches, making weird noises. And so it was that i warmed by fingers on a hot cup, soon followed by the tourists. This is when i started to believe they were following me! But considering they mostly were the age of my granny, it did not quite occur to me they were fans of radical free improv noise squeals… Not quite.

And i guess it was the hot drink. But quite certainly, the spirit of surrender, which helped that when i chanced back into the church, it felt just right. Peaceful and quiet. I was alone and had no expectations. No idea of scale or mode, no idea of what to play of even if i could play. And once i had surrendered to the moment, it felt just right. And silently i placed the reed and started the recorder. And silently i contemplated the place. And, not so silently, i played.

I really like this place. The memorial which was erected inside (yet separate from) the church must have been built (for Pike Watts?) by a very loving soul. It is a very simple space but beautifully made and lit. The statue of pure white gives a sense of admiration and compassion. But also, the quality and the character of the sound here is just outstanding. Much love, care and attention has been put in designing the place.

And it is with much respect and reverence that i approach playing here. The first time, i hardly dared whispers and a few single, long notes. Indeed, the reverb (and the place) is so grand and humbling that one just cannot blare out the usual licks.
And today, humbled and having surrendered to whatever was going to happen, sounds just came out without having to even think.

This was a special moment for me. I am not sure how it will translate as a recording. But as an experience, i think this is one of my favourite church soundings. It felt that i was then ‘sounding out’ the right place and it was finally the right moment, once i had lost all expectations of if , where, when, how.

A shakuhachi master explains how, to play true music, one has to leave all thoughts for the world behind, all expectations, all sense of playing the ‘right’ note or even playing ‘in tune’ – if there is such a thing.

I think i am caressing the feeling.

Pike Watts memorial, Ilam church 04 04 2011

pike watts
memorial

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, ⓒ 2011

Dovecote tunnel: it’s happening now

Sounding Out. An exploration of natural acoustics, architecture and sacred sites.
in situ improvisations, inspired by the spirit (and the acoustics) of a location, and by the now.

Being in the moment is possibly one of the most difficult things in modern times. Playing improvisation certainly helps develop a sense, an ear, a feeling for being present and bouncing off whatever comes your way. Hopefully, since we are talking music here, what comes your way is only sounds. If cans of beer and tomatoes (worse, rotten eggs…) start flying, then it’s best not to be there altogether…!

Presence, is of course, presence of mind, focus, and attention to details, to what one is doing. In a live context, as in life in general, this is really a hard task when so much is happening, on stage but also in the audience. Mixed energies, conflicts of personality, multiple melodic lines and cross rhythms… And as a musician, one has to be open, to listen out and respond to all this…

After many years of this exploratory activity, i have played in many types of locations, outdoor, and also inside churches, abbeys – which i still consider outdoors, to a certain extent. By this i mean that it is away from a controlled environment (home or studio), or from an out of control, environment for that matter (like on stage….!) and at best, are just as cold and damp as it is outside… in winter.

And Dovecote tunnel, in Derbyshire, is one of those special places where i like to return again and again. I cannot say it is a pleasant place, like many of the churches i have visited, aesthetically pleasing and peaceful energy. Still, the tunnel is located in a rural area amongst beautiful scenery. It is long enough to feel sheltered and yet in open air. But mostly, it has an outstanding character, built with stone (not concrete, which helps), and a reverb that lasts more than 6 seconds, with its own idiosyncratic tone and colour.

More than anywhere else, the architecture becomes another instrument one has to be aware of and interact with.

All the Sounding Out recordings are based on this very idea of playing with a space, in the moment. And every location imposes a certain mood, an approach to playing, and sometimes specific tones when they inhabit the environment, respond to its resonant frequency(ies).

But here is something special. A tunnel is simply a long tube. So i am blowing my soprano sax (a long tube) inside another one. And the tunnel as its own resonant frequency and strong character that you simply cannot escape. So much that if one plays a note near enough the formant frequency, the space bends the note until it blends and joins in the ‘correct’ tuning of the place.

The sustain is so long that what you have just played is still interacting with what you are now playing. This is beats paradise. The round shape carries sounds perfectly (so everything sounds clear even at a distance, in spite of the MASSIVE reverb) and all sounds are really amplified. Mega-reinforcement and beatings, immersed in sound, it’s better than a massage… this is brain loving cuddles and blowing sweet kisses into your ear lobe.

Even in the winter season, i just forget about fingers becoming blue and sax being cold and out of tune… i just can’t leave. It’s like walking into your favourite record shops. Which is bad news cos you are lost to the world for hours. Yet, being lost in sound, still implies complete focus on all waves. Like riding on the crest (yes, my surfer friends). Hearing both tiny details and the whole soundscape at the same time. It is like meditation.

Last time i got lost in sound, this happened:

returning home

swainsley tunnel
derbyshire
soprano saxophone, 08 march 2011

Dovecote tunnel, Swainsley 08 03 2011
hervé perez, soprano saxophone, ⓒ 2011

Thor’s cave – coda

sounding out the peak district.

by now, all sense of self has dissolved. i am immersed in the raw energy of the place. sounds flow out in the light. there is no style, no scale, no tuning, no wish…

Thor’s cave – coda from sndsukinspook on Vimeo.

Thor’s cave – coda

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, may 2009

thor’s cave – soaring

sounding out the peak district.

and my favourite… beating hi tones out of the ear drums. raw.

Thor’s cave – soaring

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, may 2009

Thor’s cave – follow suit

sounding out the peak district.

following on from the previous post, this piece was recorded on the same day. slowly becoming acquainted with the place. entering its sound with respect. by the end of the day, the area was becoming quieter. the sun was nearly setting and the atmosphere was just majestic.

thor’s cave – follow suit from sndsukinspook on Vimeo.

Thor’s cave – follow suit

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, may 2009

Thor’s cave – shaman’s dream

sounding out the peak district.

up the Manifold Valley, overlooking the beautiful green stretches of the landscape, near the village of Wetton, you will find one of the few caves of the area worth looking at. or listening to. i have searched most holes marked on the OS maps that calls itself a cave… and finally, this one is bigger than a crack in the rock housing a dead sheep.

It is a splendid spot with a view on both sides of the hill and the acoustics are really nice. sounds carry throughout the nooks and crannies of the cave and change colour depending on the chamber you are in. this is not a massive cave but large enough to wander around. the main chamber is wide and open so it feels grand and yet not claustrophobic. the sound is well contained within the cavity but because the chamber opens on two sides, the acoustics are not so great on a windy day.

the energy here is special. the place has many visitors and tourists, so it is very understated. but there is an underlying wild and raw feeling here that awaits to awaken. playing in the cave when the area is quiet, and visiting at night has always been an experience. lose all preconceptions of aesthetic and styles, this is no place for posing and showing off catchy licks. just raw sound.

thor’s cave – shaman’s dream from sndsukinspook on Vimeo.

Thor’s cave – shaman’s dream

hervé perez, soprano saxophone, may 2009

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for more recordings in the Sounding Out series, see my website.