Innova
1996
music, language and environment
About This Album
This intriguing two-CD set presents six unique environmental sound works of David Dunn, recorded from 1973-1985. For Entrainments II (1985) three vocalists recorded their impressions of the surrounding environment as observed from three mountain peaks, and the descriptions were amplified through small loudspeakers in the center of the performance space. There are also static drones heard from this center, their pitches determined by astrological calculations. Three other performers walk slowly around the perimeter of three outer circles, carrying small self-amplified oscillators. A parabolic microphone scans the space picking up various oscillators, environmental sounds (birds, wind) and voices. This is inputted live to a computer programmed to trigger soundblocks. This creates a magical and complex interactive situation, a strange research project. Skydrift (1977) is a beautiful electro-acoustic piece and empowering social occasion, performed outdoors by ten voices, sixteen instrumentalists (four flutes, four clarinets, four trumpets, four trombones), and four channels of electronic sound. The performers slowly move outward until the perimeter of audibility is reached. Mimus Polyglottos (1976) is an unintentionally humorous study for electronically generated bird-like sounds acting as a stimulus for an actual mockingbird in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. (espial) (1979) is for a solo violinist (the composer himself) specifically to be performed for a duration of over three and one-half hours of continuous playing in the physically harsh environment of the Anza-Borrego Desert of California. The performer responds to events that occur in real-time in the environment and in the performer's body, for example, muscle fatigue. The bare-bones essence of the arid landscape is overwhelmingly present. "The resulting degeneration of the violin sound is to be regarded as an essential compositional factor." Nexus I and Entrainments I are earlier, enchanting studies. ~ "Blue Gene" Tyranny, All Music Guide
Track List

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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