Culmus by Franki Wals & Chang Deng-yao

released February 1, 2025

Chang Deng-yao: erhu
Franki Wals: no-input mixing board, field recordings

Recorded live at Jiang Shan Yi Gai Suo (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
Field recordings taken in Nan’ao Township (Yilan, Taiwan)
Recorded and mixed by Franki Wals
Mixed and mastered by Patrick Quinn
Drawing by Paco Gonzalez Wals
Photograph by Stephen Bradley (urbantells.bandcamp.com)

---

This work is based on a duo improvisation by Franki Wals (no-input mixing board) and Chang Deng-yao (erhu), who both are based in Taiwan. And afterwards they overlaid field recording sounds on the recording of the improvisation. The title [Culmus] is Latin for 'stalk', and in this work they explored the relationship between experience, perception, and environment.
This album has both improvisational and compositional styles by blending the sounds of performance and field recordings. With the restrained electronic sounds of the bass passages and the quiet creaking of the strings by the erhu, a delicate but rich sounds are organically intertwined.

本作はともに台湾で活動するFranki Wals(ノーインプットミキシングボード)とChang Deng-yao(二胡)によるデュオでの即興演奏がもととなっている作品。演奏の録音後にフィールドレコーディングされた音が重ねられている。タイトルとなっている[Culmus]は「茎(stalk)」を意味するラテン語で、この作品のなかで彼らは経験と知覚と環境の間の関係を探究した。
演奏の録音とフィールド・レコーディングの音が混ぜ合わさったことにより、インプロビゼーションとコンポジションの両方のスタイルをミックスした作品となっている。通奏低音のような抑制の効いた電子音と二胡による静かな弦の軋みにより、静かながら豊かなサウンドが有機的に絡み合っている。

---

Chang Deng-yao
Chang Deng-yao (b. 1984, Hsinchu City, Taiwan) enjoys making his erhu sound like it is about to break and easily enters a medium-like state on stage. His most committed creation to date has been running Jiang Shan Yi Gai Suo (a.k.a. Jiangshan Art Cafe), a compact cultural complex in his home town.
www.facebook.com/dengyao.chang/

Franki Wals
Franki Wals (b. 1989, Córdoba, Spain) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses sound, video, text and other means of expression. Some of the main concerns approached through his work include experience, perception, environment and the myriad lines that crisscross between them, employing strategies such as disciplined listening, field recordings and electroacoustic improvisation to engage with them. In his performances, he typically uses a configuration consisting of a laptop, no-input mixing board and other sound-making devices.
www.frankiwals.com