pesadelo

For years I have been building and modifying sound instruments such as Atari Punk oscillators, Walkmans, and mini-cassette recorders. In all the cannibalized objects I construct, I always reach a kind of impasse, where the process of understanding, modifying, and building leads me to know the machine and its capabilities too well — and, strangely, that makes me lose interest in using it. I play with it a bit, record some sounds, and then leave it in a box or on a shelf, waiting for a new purpose.

I usually take these machines and projects to performances with other people, where I find the true value of building them: letting others who have never touched such a machine venture into the unknown. From these experiences I found the ideal balance between building and using the equipment. Of course, I enjoy showing what they can do, how they can be played, and explaining their functions, but the real magic lies in the unknown. So much so that the first time a machine is used — even when I already understand what it does — it tends to feel special to me.

The work pesadelo is an important part of this whole process. I built an instrument called a tannerin, or electro-theremin, consisting of a wave generator kit with modified potentiometers and additional functions. Even though I understood what the machine did, I connected it to a series of guitar pedals from a friend, and together we created this track while diving into an unfamiliar universe — I controlled the machine, and my friend controlled the knobs and pedal functions. This made the sound completely unknown to both of us in that moment.

The recording process also followed this logic: it was captured on cassette tape, using a modified, worn-out recorder, on an old used tape, and finally played back on another device that digitized the audio without altering its properties. Thus, the digital sound that emerged is a pure sound within the universe of my work. The piece is the sum of all my processes, staying as true as possible to my vision of building an unknown and uncontrollable noise.

The ultimate goal is a noise untouched by digital polish. If it is dirty, slow, faded, or misaligned, it is because it remains faithful to the machines that produced it. I hope the sound takes you wherever it and you want to go. Close your eyes, imagine, use drugs, and enjoy.

♬⋆.˚♬⋆.˚this work is part of proscrypta.mp3♬⋆.˚♬⋆.˚