RESONANCE: Steel Pan in the 21st Century

RESONANCE

Steel Pan in the 21st Century

© 2007 Alas Seis Music (825479048120)

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The first all electronic steel pan album ever created. Integrating the sounds of electroacoustic, ambient and beat-oriented works, fans of experimental music and modern steel pan music must hear this disc. You won't believe your ears.

tracks

1 Phanopoeiac
2 Sails Set For Senex
3 Autumnal I
4 Asuurinsiniset Teräshiukkaset
5 Communication By Lines
6 Rosenthaler
7 Tomorrow Will Be 5m 21s Shorter
8 Grumble(r)
9 Horizonte Convexo
10 Valley of Wind
11 Ghetto Tuning
12 Calypzo Sunrize

notes

Since its humble beginnings on the streets of Trinidad, the steel pan has risen to international attention as one of the most unique and versatile percussion instruments in the world. The steel pan, also referred to as a steel drum, possesses a rich, somber, and oftentimes haunting sonority that can be heard in Calypso music, pop songs, concert works and most recently-- modern electronic composition.

"This album was created by distributing a recorded session of steel pan performance by pannist Darren Dyke. An array of composers from around the world digitally abstracted these sessions to create their own original compositions. With an impressive compendium presented here, the works on this record explore a variety of sonic spaces from textural ambience to aggressive and abrasive sound design." - waterloo records

Featuring Christopher Ariza, Cory Allen, Mike Vernusky, Thomas Dempster, Paul Russell, Paula Matthusen, Daniel Blinkhorn, Alfredo Barros, Peter Swendsen, Yoshio Machida, Damian O'Riain and Mr. Glitch.

****
"Four Stars!! Resonance will go down in history for being the first electronic music album made with Trinidadian steel pan sounds to ever be produced. Twelve artists from NYC, Austin, Greensboro, London, Brazil, Germany, Oslo, Australia, Tokyo and Belfast received samples of the peculiar sounding instrument by pannist Darren Dyke so they could get down and dirty with them and tweak from dusk to dawn. As you'd expect, there is a lot of the experimental/avantgarde thing going on (random steel pan sounds here and there amidst a bunch of other random noises, presumably all originated from the same sound sources but tweaked to the point where the source is almost unrecognizable) however there are also a lot of interventions where the processing is so heavy that you can't identify the instrument at all. In some instances the artists went to town creating their own beats and producing Warp-esque electro-ambient compositions (a great example of that is Paul Russell's exciting track, no wonder he is from London...). Other tracks go from pushing the limits of saturation to creating dreamy an crystallized ambient tunes or from glitch electronica to nightmarish dark drones." - Chain DLK.com

****
"As you know, I love electroacoustic composition– the thrill of hearing often ordinary elements transformed into, or combined with, otherworldly sounds is endlessly fascinating to me; both for the fun of it, and for the increased perspective about these sounds that I benefit from. At their best, electroacoustic works reveal and highlight existing aspects of the original sound, and can ‘pull them away’ from the source to allow the listener an opportunity for examination. The multi-composer release “Resonance: Steel Pan in the 21st Century,” available through Quiet Design Records, contains many such works. I’m impressed by the ambitious set-up (source recordings of pannist Darren Dyke performing with an original Ellie Mannette steel pan, and source recordings of steel pan construction were provided to a variety of composers) and by the results– a surprising variety of compositions displaying facets of this instrument I had not imagined." WDBX Radio Chicago

reviews

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  • Awakens curiosity about Steel Pan: Gentle ambient, breakbeats and pure sound art
    author: tokafi

    Some people seem to think that interesting compilations need a spectacular and intellectually complex motto. As “Resonance” proves, that is a fallacy. Few samplers have been as inspiring to me this year as this one, despite its decidedly simple and sole conceptual object: The steel pan. This instrument certainly warrants an album of its own, if only for the fact that its possibilities are still only scantly being used. The history of the steel drum and its remarkably quick introduction into the mainstream canon are fascinating stories which take us back to its humble beginnings on the streets of Trinidad and which keep inspiring artists and music fans alike. What has often been overlooked in the general perception, however, is that it is not just an addition to a regular percussion- or drumset. The steel pan has distinct rhythmical facets, but it is a melodic instrument as well and its unique sound enables the open-minded performer to include it in the most diverse styles. On top of this, it is both a solo instrument and part of various band constellations, taking on different roles depending on the context. The latter is an important point to consider when listening to “Resonance”. For this collection, Michael Vernusky of Quiet Design Records asked eleven artists from Berlin to Tokyo and from Brazil to his hometown of Austin, Texas to take a recording of source material by pannist Darren Dyke and to integrate it into their own cosmos, using it for explorative voyages without borders. As is often the case, the genre-spectrum is considerable, ranging from gentle ambient to breakbeats and pure sound art. And yet, there is a strong sense of coherence running through the CD, as the basic sounds keep reoccurring in the most unexpected places and in everchanging functionalities. While Yoshio Machida leaves the main structures of Dyke’s recording seemingly intact, only to send soft shivers of floating undulations through them in his concise dreamscape “Valley of Wind”, Paul Russel concentrates on their percussive potential in a smouldering club track. Similarly, the out-of-this world resonances and shimmering rainbows of Christopher Ariza and Cory Allen are nice escapisms from the raw experimental soundscapes of, say, Thomas Dempster. And yet, Vernusky’s own piece sticks out just a little bit from the rest, simply because he focuses on the sound qualities of the instrument in a five and a half-minute compositions which explores timbral possibilities from endless chambers of reverb to dense clouds of steel-pan drones. If you’ve never heard of these artists, don’t worry, by the way – I hadn’t either. But all contributions awaken curiosity about their creator and the instrument at the heart of the concept of “Resonance”. That is the best any sampler can achieve. By Tobias Fischer

  • ...A role model for pan in the 21st Century!
    author: Pan Jumbie, the Ultimate Online Portal for Steel Pan...

    A product I would like to welcome you to is a new generation of steel pan and electronic music. Electronic composers go straight to the pan to make music, as opposed to having a panist play notes for them. They add a little, or a lot, of coloring to its timbre, and often take it in new directions. Panists who contribute sounds to this album are Yoshio Machida (Tokyo) and Darren Dyke (USA). Yoshio is controlling the music live with his laptop. Darren is playing an instrument handcrafted by the father of the modern steel drum, Ellie Mannette. Mind you, Dr. Ellie Mannette's instrument wasn't afraid to play for such a modern musical experiment, because he made it in order to play whichever music it likes to play! Whether YOU like it or not, you can only find out when you aren't afraid to listen! (In case you are skeptical, as I was) It is well worth a second glance regarding marketing strategy, design, and distribution. Along with its presence on the market, both physically and online, it might be viewed as role model for pan in the 21st century!

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