CD – empreintes DIGITALes

One of the most iconic modular synthesizers of the 1970s, the Buchla 200, continues to attract musicians, sound designers and experimenters from different backgrounds, almost as if time has stood still between the first analog electronic avant-garde movements and the present day. It has been well documented how Don Buchla’s synths were engineered to facilitate an unconventional approach towards creating complex and random textures. Part of the Californian synthesizer’s undeniable charm lies in its ability to bring us back to that seminal era of sounds never heard before. By not using a traditional keyboard, the tactile experience of the Buchla 200 evokes a sculptural dimension of composing, a characteristic that continues to inspire sound creation in the digital age – the creative freedom of modularity suggests new, more open and non-linear ways of composing, which for many musicians offers an advanced form of improvisation. Ana Dall’Ara-Majek’s work on Radiolaria rests comfortably in this category. Inspired by marine life, both at a microscopic and macroscopic level, the Italian-Canadian artist shows herself to be sensitive and meticulous in articulating fruitful mixtures between technology and the organic world, and in doing so, points towards a revival of the conceptual natural-artificial dichotomy. The tracks on Radiolaria immerse us in a soundscape constantly oscillating between different poles. The opening track, ‘Mare Buchlae’ transports us to a liquid-like environment, where voices and sounds evoke the flow of currents and the presence of mysterious organisms. ‘Improvisus B200-1’ offers fragments of an uncontrolled and unstable language, suggesting almost imperceivable lifeforms. ‘Perpetuum spirae’ introduces a repetitive movement, a sound spiral that refers to the infinite growth and cyclical rhythm of the natural world. ‘Parasiti fluxique’ creates a sense of tension that recalls the struggle for survival that animates the world of marine microcreatures. ‘Canticum asphodeli’ moves in a more contemplative direction, almost like an ancient song for creatures of the abyss. The final track, ‘Ostinato micromacro’, returns to a circular movement, expanding into a hypnotic, layered, almost orchestral crescendo – a profound reflection on the beauty and complexity of being, reminding us how the synthetic and inhuman can possess a life of their own, one that is capable of resonating with the essence of the natural world.

 

Ana Dall’Ara-Majek – Radiolaria