Pure Water Construction is a six part electroacoustic composition generated in the studio jointly by Archer and Fell. The five main sections are based on solo improvisations which have been computer manipulated, electronically stimulated, and orchestrated with additional improvisations, samples and written parts. The Prelude introduces each improvisor in turn over an electronically treated percussion ensemble. Part One multitracks air escaping from the tuba at different speeds, orchestrated with pinpoint drum machine sounds. Part two features only piano sounds, filtered and ring modulated in hommage to Stockhausen's early work. Part three pits the natural harp sound against overdriven organ, and introduces a melody for double bass, bass guitar and bass clarinet. Part four is a string trio of violin, cello and double bass, all subjected to some of Archer's most extreme electronics to date. Part five is a marathon guitar workout over bass and electronic percussion, closing with a section which reprises the previous parts. Features the players named above plus Archer, Fell, Charlie Collins (woodwind) and Gino Robair (percussion). Recorded and released with financial assistance from the Arts Council of England.
Technical note included with press release.
Both Simon and myself have worked over the last few years with the idea of creating composed works by collaging improvisations made by different players at different times with our own prearranged material, and this basic idea carries into the current work. The general availability of well designed digital editing software such as Pro-Tools or Soundscape makes working in this way much more viable than working to tape, as different ideas can be tried out very quickly in real time. This has enabled us to work in a spontaneous way in the studio as we have put these compositions together.
Part 0 was composed as an afterthought, the original idea being simply a suite of five pieces each featuring a different principal improvisor. The piece introduces each improviser's sound in turn, as samples from each of the following improvisations are used to play Simon's melodic material. Each of these is framed by sampled bursts of activity from Stefan. These melodies then combine into a more extended arrangement in the final section. The percussion part combines Martin's reprocessing of a Gino solo improvisation (using a midi-triggered filter to superimpose new rhythmic patterns onto Gino's original playing) with a simple part for tubular bells, which carries a blues connotation.
Part 1 is based around a structural idea from Simon. The principal sound heard is Robin's solo exactly as he played it (close miking of airlocks inside the tuba gradually being released, leading to orgasmic release (twice)), overlaid over a half speed version of the same material, plus additional samples of more traditionally articulated gestures. Additional textures come from analogue synth (deliberately excluded from sleevenotes in case people thought it was ALL synth) and Gino heard at quarter speed, both buried in the mix. The high percussion part is played on two SR16 drum machines which play the same material on two different sounds, and which move in and out of synch with each other. The percussion part was actually composed for part 3, but ended up here instead. (The same part also appears (with a different sound) on Disconnected Bliss by ASK (Discus 8CD)).
Part 2 again works to a structural plan put together by Simon and modified in the studio as we went along. Martin made several re-recorded versions of Chris's solo, using multiple effects units and filters, and the piece is sculpted out of these blocks of sound. The true piano sound emerges only in the middle and at the end of the piece. The sound world of this piece is deliberately somewhat retro, but we really love these sounds.
In Part 3 we hear Rhodri's solo pretty much as played subject to some editing and overlaying. This is paired with an organ part originally intended for the Stefan piece. Martin suggested the idea of a written melody for the bass instruments on this, which Simon composed. Live bass, clarinet and saxophone improvisations give a more realistically organic feel to this piece. I'd originally intended to feature saxophone extensively on this record, but this is as extensive as it got.
Part 4 is built around radical sound processing by Martin of the string trio. Jenni's slow melodic improvisation (first heard after about 2 1/2 minutes) was re-recorded to give a sense of large space, and the filtering gives the impression of an additional process of bowing superimposed on Jenni's original performance. Simon supplied some previously recorded bass improvisations which were given either a low-fi treatment, or had their resonance boosted to give the synth-like tapping effect in the centre of the piece. The opening sound in the composition is a violin drone distorted by LFO driven filter. The extremely high sounds akin to a dentist's electric polisher are also played on violin, and I was very pleased to be able to recreate one of my favourite sounds from the real world. The structure was developed jointly in the studio as we went along.
In Part 5 we left Stefan's solo unedited except for a brief drop-out near the start, where he makes way for a Varese-like interlude. He's heard first against a percussion part from a reprocessed Gino improvisation and an SR16 (note the stereo spread which recalls Ringo's eccentrically recorded part on Penny Lane), before Simon joins on played-live bass guitar. The structure dictated itself, (being traditional guitar solo, bass solo, drum solo (cymbals only)), before the closing section. Gino's reprocessed hi-hat kicks it along before subsiding into the density of the mix as chance procedures take over to reprise sounds from previous sections before Stefan's unaccompanied coda takes it out.
