Metal Lake Reservoir, by Background Noise Ensemble

Metal Lake Reservoir

by Background Noise Ensemble

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comeawaywithemd.com/very-good-haiku-a-2021-music-writing-experiment/ Favorite track: Approaching.

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1.	Metal Lake 03:33	buy track
2.	Pin Cushion 01:28	buy track
3.	Pipe Stream 03:01	buy track
4.	Spawn Upriver 04:41	buy track
5.	Network 4B 02:20	buy track
6.	Approaching 06:36	buy track
7.	Modulations 01:38	buy track
8.	Artifice 04:03	buy track

about

After releasing a grand total of 19 albums in 2020, Full Spectrum kicks off our 2021 schedule with the debut from the Oakland-based Background Noise Ensemble.

Midway through the last year’s spring semester at Mills College, students of Daniel Schmidt’s Instrument Building course abruptly found themselves in an online environment due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis caused the students to rethink how the class would function. They decided they would create a transforming sonic dialogue between them. The outcome is a collaborative album called Metal Lake Reservoir.

Metal Lake Reservoir is composed of songs whose existence emerged from each track's sound source. In the sudden absence of materials, tools and physical space, it became necessary to reconsider the concept and nature of the instrument itself; augmented by signal processing and a framework integrating found sounds as musical elements. It came to exemplify the ways in which the challenges of isolation can be healed by sharing, transforming, and creating as a community – within the sound field and beyond.

Each song began as an array of samples made from recordings of homemade instruments. Each member laid out an unpolished composition using the samples, and then shared their stem collection with the next person, like a game of telephone. Some tracks showcase raw acoustic elements, while others rely on audio synthesis and electronic effects to alter the samples. The resulting record’s construction highlights the power of little sounds, and exemplifies the importance of working together to make something beautiful and healing in uncertain times.

The Background Noise Ensemble features contributions from Chari Glogovac-Smith, Briana Marela Lizárraga, Michele Seippel and Samuel Regan.

credits

released January 15, 2021

composed, recorded, performed, produced and mixed by the Background Noise Ensemble

Background Noise Ensemble is:
Chari Glogovac-Smith
Briana Marela Lizárraga
Michele Seippel
Samuel Regan

mastered by Samuel Regan

album art by Michele Seippel
layout by Gretchen Korsmo

Special thanks to Daniel Schmidt and Sudhu Tewari

FS092

license

about

Full Spectrum Records Littlefield, Texas

Full Spectrum Records releases the works of experimental musicians and sound artists, with an ear towards idiosyncratic tones, extended time frames and unique compositional approaches.

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