CD – XI Records

From the first two compositions, “G” and “note, rest”, lasting five and seven minutes, we notice some timbre and microtonal differences. The protagonist of the tracks is the bassoon, empowered by microphones used to give life to a continued, stratified, hypnotic or, if you prefer, meditative sound, as a minimal mantra. The following tracks are gradually longer and always very repetitive, inspired by the modal-tonal tradition, of which Leslie Ross now seems an honest interpreter. Her initial musical background was classical and later improvisational, until she moved to the experimental fields. The New York musician recently moved with all her workshop and recording studio to a rural area of Maine. We should not be surprised to know she is an appreciated and internationally recognized maker of music instruments. The basic inspiration of this double album is the analysis and the intimate comprehension of the multiphonies of the bassoon and the slight changes made with the keys of resonance during the reproduction. In Drop by Drop, suddenly, all the recordings are taken in single shot, where the four speaker channels and the room microphones are mixed in stereo. All the processing is made in real time, not after the recording. Some tracks were not subject to any sound treatment. In others, the electronics were created on purpose for the specific compositions with the MAX / MSP program. Just for one track there are 15 microphones in use. The fact that a maker of baroque bassoons makes experiments with those kinds of contemporary music should not surprise us so much: the insisting variation of the melody or the monodic writing with the continuous bass were main features of the music tradition during the 17th and the first half of 18th century, and Leslie Ross seems to know these kind of sounds well, a clear influencer of this project. The permutations of the single tunes have a special and progressive charm, thanks to the great variety of acoustic effects made even with only one wind instrument. Despite the essential instrumentation, thanks to the usual technique of circular breathing, Ross explores the single tunes in their multiple sides and in the consonances and dissonances, even in the hardly perceptible timbre differences. This confirms, once again, that the need today to make music in a serious way, is still able to find many ways and methods good for the purpose.

 

Leslie Ross – Drop by Drop, Suddenly