conduit... by mnortham

A proposed 7" for KLANGGALLERIE - and once again cancelled after four years of non-communication.

Recorded in DDR nuclear powerplant that was under construction when the DDR dissolved. Therefore was left dormant and never completed.

Side A is a recording of several strips (2+ meters long) of metal 'played' in the core chamber in near total darkness. These strips of metal moved through water gathered on the floor and struck some welding tanks laying about. The resulting sound (recorded by John Grzinich) reminded me of the energy that was to be created in this chamber -- but never did. I gave the title 'conduit' as I felt, as I often do, that I am a kind of conduit of sound and the resulting sounding experience is not something I can 'claim' as such - but rather of a more or less efficient 'conduction' of a creation.

Side B is a remix I made some years later in Oregon returning to the original source material.

This work was selected and composed as requested by Klanggallerie for a 7" record. I completed the work and design - and only after four years was I informed by the label that they would not publish the piece. The reason stated was that my music would not sell - hmm, I wonder if four years were really making a difference in this? But certainly I don't think that this kind of music is one that is intended to make a person rich by selling! Another case of an over enthusiastic publisher.

Active & published internationally, for the past two decades Michael Northam has been cultivating a personal style exploring experience through the sound. His compositions are based on alternative techniques for sound recording & mixing where improvisations on unusual electro-acoustic instruments, including self-designed ones, are interwoven with recordings from various locations around the world.

orogenetics.org