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CD
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RM 4142CD
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Finnish artist Antti Tolvi operates at the nexus of performance and installation. His work, which is concerned with how sound operates in the spaces that contain it, is a meditation on how sound reveals itself, in time and in space to the listener. Each of the works captured on this edition dwell in the reductive, the subtle and the sustained. The pieces seek to draw attention to microtonal variation and flutter. They arc in a slow reveal that highlights Tolvi's patience and his unwavering desire to create work that invites us to become settled within it.
From Antti Tolvi: "'Spectral Organ' was played and recorded with no over dubs in Kemiö Island, in a 14th century church on 22/9/2019. We have these acoustically amazing spaces even in the smallest villages and towns in Finland. In every space there are these unique and solid, super complex analog wave generators ready to play. You just need to get in and turn the wave generator on. Even this particular, very basic church organ has around 2200 tuned pipes . . . Because of high amount of pipes and the fact they are often not so well tuned, all kind of interesting microtonal intervals are easily found. The idea in this piece is to create static spectral sound sculpture. An invisible, in situ, air sculpture. A sculpture where you can enter, stay and leave. It is a kind of floating architecture inside the visible architecture. This sculpture will always be different in each different church. In this recording I play almost whole piece just by slowly opening and closing the stops. This organ luckily has mechanical stops. In some organs stops work with electricity. Usually this means that stops are either completely open or close, not anywhere between. This limits notably the amount of colors you can get out of organ. You will lose the possibility to slide from tone to tone. The second piece, 'Feedback Gong' is a recording made as part of a sound/light installation I completed in early 2020. The installation was premiered at B Gallery Turku in midsummer 2019. The installation has on-going feedback though a 20" gong cymbal. The cymbal hangs between two microphones and a 15" speaker without any physical contact. 'Feedback Gong' has a pretty similar invisible sculpture idea as the first piece does. Here we give the most delicate decision to the feedback circuit. These small differences and variations make alter the sound and create the nature of the piece..."
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2LP
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FR 092LP
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Antti Tolvi is a self-taught, multi-talented musician. He has played in numerous bands including Lau Nau, Rauhan Orkesteri, and Lauhkeat Lampaat. Born in 1977 in Panelia on the west coast of Finland, he began making music with his brothers, untutored. From 2000-2001 he studied classical Indian music in Varanasi, and this marked a turning point in his perception of music. On returning to his native Finland, he became embroiled in free jazz for a number of years, until a recent relocation to the countryside pushed him ever more towards solo improvisation -- deriving inspiration from, in Antti's own words, "harmonies, overtones, going into sound, no ends, no starts, from nothing comes something, just perfect, peace." Pianoketo can be seen as a culmination of Antti's musical experiences to date. Featuring three extended meditations on a theme, all played on solo piano, it is a sound that defies categorization, with nods towards classical, avant-garde, improvisation, psych, free jazz, and Indian music. A shimmering flux of tones and harmonies, each of Pianoketo's pieces seem to collect notes as they gather momentum, expanding and shifting form as Antti breathes life into them. At times, it is almost as if there are two instruments, the overtones working like feedback, playing counter-melodies as notes weave through each other. Antti's technique combines neatly with the personality of the instrument to convey an evocative, psychedelic nostalgia. He expands: "This record was recorded with binaural microphones, attached to the players' ears. While playing, as you move your body or head, there is a 'flanger' effect -- that's why the overtones are really flying. There's no overdubs, effects, or EQ. My main instruments have been saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and all kinds of wind instruments. On Pianoketo, I play piano as I play saxophone, just using 11 notes. Because I don't have to blow, I can focus more on other things. And actually soon I don't have to focus on anything, just listen to what my fingers are doing. It's amazing to find new melodies, harmonies, drones, rhythms, or whatever. And then I can follow that for a while, and then just let go and wait for a new direction. This piano had not been played for more than 40 years, so the tuning had dropped 'a little.' I tuned some notes, to get more overtones. Most of the notes have found their own resting place over the years, just resonating in sounds and vibes at Grandma's."
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