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noTnoTesnoTrhyThms by Henry Gwiazda | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 I don't know when sampling became a household term, but it's now so common that it's hard to buy a record that doesn't utilise samples in some form. Henry Gwiazda is recognised as a pioneer of sampling, an art which he dubs "the choreography of noise." noTnoTesnoTrhyThms, released by the American Composers Forum, is a collection pieces recorded by Gwiazda between 1989 and 1995. The sleeve contains a great background on Gwiazda and his work, briefly chronicling his work as a "poet of natural sound," comparing him to Varese and explaining Gwiazda's philosophy of sound and noise. Gwiazda's work falls into the murky void between composition, improvisation and musique concrète. His audio samples are diverse, and the average piece can include a wide range of instruments, animal sounds, machines, human activity and unidentifiable field recordings. Gwiazda carefully constructs the samples he uses himself, and he's credited with the sound effects, sampler, electric guitar and voice. The credits also include Jeffrey Krieger for electric cello, and Ann LaBerge for electric flute. The first track on noTnoTesnoTrhyThms, MANEATINGCHIPSLISTENINGTOAVIOLIN, reminded me more of Frank Zappa than Varese. The effects Gwiazda uses on the guitars, combined with the placing in the track, definitely feels surreal. The sporadic percussion acts as a narrative throughout the piece, and the less identifiable audio samples delicately contribute their character without undermining the artist's musicality. This, however, is evident in every piece: Gwiazda elegantly uses the recorded material in a way that transcends each sound, without resorting to base compositional constructs. For example, WhErEyoulivE demonstrates Gwiazda's more subtle sample manipulations, where vocal samples are gently prolonged and massaged into the overall soundscape. The third track, wM (woman/man), features an interesting interplay between samples and percussion, whether complementing or contradicting each other. It's hard to guess where Gwiazda has manipulated the recordings in this piece, instead they are gently combined according to Gwiazda's acute ear. Gwiazda is also keenly interested in "virtual audio", in which he attempts to recreate three-dimensional space using speakers or headphones. In Track 7, "Speaker Placement Instructions", he explains how to set up your speakers so you can experience virtual audio as it was intended for track 8, Buzzingreynold'sdreamland. Since my speakers are easy to move around, I was able to partly reproduce the holographic effect Gwiazda describes in his notes, although this was largely transient and would have benefited from a larger room. Buzzingreynold'sdreamland was inspired by Dreamland, an amusement park at Coney Island, New York. Inspiration for the piece comes from the fact that Gwiazda partly considers Dreamland as an early attempt at creating a virtual reality. Gwiazda takes an abstract combination of sounds to attempt to explore this notion. The other virtual audio track, ThefLuteintheworLdthefLuteistheworLd, was created with headphones in mind. As a hobbyist musician interested in field recording, I have a modest collection of headphones, and I'm well-versed in the technicalities behind binaural recordings. ThefLuteintheworLdthefLuteistheworLd is interesting in particular, because a large portion of the sounds have been adapted through equalisation and panning to create a binaural effect, rather than recording the instruments using binaural equipment. As with the other pieces discussed in this review, Gwiazda attempts to do this in a way that benefits the piece, rather than for purely technical reasons. This would make ThefLuteintheworLdthefLuteistheworLd a great example for musicians wishing to explore both subtle and extreme panning effects when integral to composition. It's easy to dismiss Gwiazda as eccentric or surreal -- takes a great deal of patience to even begin listening to the virtual audio tracks on noTnoTesnoTrhyThms. Since most people these days seem to listen to music on the movie with digital audio players, the impact of these pieces could be relegated to niche collectors or academics. Conversely, Gwiazda is a sampling virtuoso, and is a great example to those working heavily with samples. There are more musicians than just Gwiazda doing this, but the faith he places in the medium is undoubtedly endearing and promising. Review by Alex Young
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