back



next was a box set of six 100 minute tapes that spanned most of the major recordings of the first 10/(11) years of my audio experimentation, from 1984 through 1994 - the tapes inside this boxed set were held in a hand made tray (made from cassette cases) that was constructed and painted by eric blevins, and had a card attached as a backing that was designed by tac - this tray of tapes was covered by a poster board slip case that was painted, screen printed, and block printed by tac - this was further covered by a nylon mesh sleeve that was stenciled with a design - there was also a hand made booklet inside with the tapes - each tape was treated as two separate sides, with each side covering a different time period or a different project - most of the materials had been released in some form or another in the past, but these materials were edited and remixed for this collection, and were accompanied by unreleased materials from the same time frame or of the same nature as the other materials on that particular tape side - it took about 2 years to complete this package - this set was released by Suitcase Recordings in an edition of 50 copies -



. break down of tapes . & . chronological history .

tape one :

GAM : 1984-85 > contained some of the earliest experiments
in creating and capturing audio/sonic materials, all previously
unreleased -

during this time i was working with any type of equipment i could get access to -
i used home made electronic circuits, radio sounds, discarded electrical devices,
and whatever else i found around me - most were captured on cassette recorders
directly through a single microphone -



SEV : 1985-87 > contained some of the first attempts at
composition, and one of the earliest environmental recordings,
it consisted of the "severe nonsense" tape release, with
some previously unreleased material -

during this time i was working with radio sounds, object recordings, electronic
circuits, and a cheap synthesizer - these types of recordings were put onto cassette,
and played back as i would improvise along with it using similar sources -
all of this (the cassette playback, and the improvisation) was then re-recorded
into a single microphone, or a cassette recorder/player with a built in microphone -
sometimes i would make two different tapes of these types of sources, and then
record them both into separate channels on a cassette deck simultaneously,
so as to create a mix of two mono channels -




tape two :

SIL : 1989-90 > contained some of the first experiments in
processing sounds and use of "borrowed" materials, it consisted
of the "silence, exile, and cunning" tape release -

during this time i started using a borrowed 4-track reel-to-reel tape machine -
i was able to do some processing techniques that i had only thought about before -
i was also able to actually carry out some compositional ideas that i had had
for some time - i was using a lot of the same type of sources that i had used on
past works, as well as being able to start recycling some older materials -



STI : 1990-91 > contained some compositions, further processing,
and some of the first actual attempts at cut-ups, it consisted of
the "still life" tape release, with one additional unreleased track -

during this time i was still using a borrowed 4 track reel-to-reel tape machine, but in a
more advanced way - i was using recycled materials, and laying them out on the
four separate tracks, and then going back and erasing portions of these tracks at
random - sometimes leaving very little of what was originally recorded there
and sometimes leaving a lot - in this way i was able to carry out cut-up type compositions -




between "still life" & "maximum output/minimum effort" there was a period of time
in which i thought i would never record anything again - i guess that is why
i started doing the conceptual pieces around this time - with the "anti-tape series"
and the first of the "cut" audio kits, i was trying to eliminate all the basic elements
of music and composition that i could - when i started to record again i was able to
proceed as if i were starting from scratch, with no regard to what i had done in the past -



tape three :

MAX : 1991 > contained materials of a minimalist-monaural
phase, and a redefinition of approach, it consisted of the
"maximum output/minimum effort" tape release, with some
previously unreleased materials -

i obtained a 2 track reel-to-reel machine around this time, and started carrying out
experiments in monophonic with this machine - i could record 1 track at a time, and
go back and record the other track seperately, allowing me to mix sounds on top of
each other - then i would play this back and run the ouptput through a series of cables
that would mix the sounds into a single monophonic signal to be recorded onto a master
tape - this method was employeed on various sound materials (some old, and some new)
to create audio compositions - on the "maximum output/minimum effort" project i placed
the entire compositions either all on the right channel, or all on the left channel for each
side of this tape -



AWK : 1992 > contained some of the first introductions of materials
from outside artists (in this case sbothi and factor X), and further
processing techniques, it consisted of the "awkward/nondescript"
tape release, with some previously unreleased materials -

continued work with the 2 track reel-to-reel tape machine, utilising materials from
other artists along with my own materials - i was still passing the output through
y-cables to make sure both channels contained the exact same signal - i was
not interested in any stereo seperation at this time - this was in an attempt to
avoid any relation to my past work that had employeed stereo techniques -




tape four :

CUT : 1991-92 > contained variations from several completed
"cut" and "cut 2" audio kits, this material was previously
unreleased in this form -

these two audio kits were assembled from short pieces of recorded materials that
were recycled from old source tapes - i recorded small sections onto a master tape
with each short section being either all on the right or left channel - this was then
dubbed onto each kit cassette before they were then stripped of the tape, that was
then cut into short legnths - when someone was to reassemble the short lengths
together they may put sections together that were on different channels, and
depending on which side of the tape they spliced together it may be backwards
or forward, so there were as many possible variables introduced into the final
configuration as i could put into the kit - the materials used on the "cut2" project
were derived from the results of the first "cut" kit that were returned to me by
Frans de Waard of Kapotte Muziek, and then put through the same process
as was used on the first kit -



ABS : 1992 > contained further work in composition, and a
concentration on object recordings, it consisted of the "abstrict"
tape release, with some previously unreleased materials -

during this time i was still primarily using a 2 track reel-to-reel tape machine -
the recordings used in the abstrict release where mostly recycled materials,
along with some borrowd materials from all fours, and from runzelstirn & gurgelstock -
the tracks for abstrict were directed in a cut-up/minimalist format, with little
concern for composition and structure - most of the recordings done at this
time were still in monophonic -




tape five :

FAC : 1993 > contained collaborative works with factor X, these
recordings were previously unreleased -

shaun robert and myself had corresponded and collaborated together for a few
years at this time, and we had exchanged materials with each other multiple
times - these materials were worked and reworked between the two of us, and were then
integrated into compostions, to be reworked again and again - this was a sampling of
some of these compositions - some of these tracks were made on 2-track reel-to-reel
machines, some were made on 4-track reel-to-reel machines, and always with a lot of
cassette tape processing -



SMA : 1993 > contained collaborative works with small cruel party,
these recordings were previously unreleased -

key ransone and myself collaborated through the mail around this time - we
exchanged tapes and audio materials that we would send back and forth to each other -
this was some of the resulting compositions from that time - most of these materials
that i worked on were processed through tape manipulations, working primarily
with cassette tapes -




tape six :

ODD : 1993 > contained continued works of structured sound,
sound collage, and processing of sounds, it consisted of all
unreleased materials -

during this time i borrowed a 4-track cassette deck from my brother - i
experimented with this for a short time - it had been about two years since i had access
to a 4-track recorder of any kind, so i was ready to try out some ideas i had -
i recorded a few tracks during a weekend and this was the results -



LST : 1993-94 > contained the latest compositional efforts at
that time, it consisted of all unreleased materials -

i purchased a fostex 4-track cassette machine around this time, so i now had
the time to work at my leisure - i was able to develop some techniques that allowed
me to realize some concepts that i'd had for a long time - this was most likely
the closest i had come to achieving my concepts up to this time -





back