This two-movement piece is an excerpt from a series of tone collages composed and recorded at the S.T.R.U.M. Studio at the University of Minnesota in the Fall of 2008. The piece demonstrates a recent audio fascination of mine: the sounds produced by found toy electric keyboards. The main source of the sound material here is an old no-name toy electric keyboard that I purchased from the Goodwill for $2.99. The keyboard has a wonderful “8-bit” sound that contains distinct microtonal characteristics. I ran this particular keyboard through a loop pedal, which morphed the keyboard sounds into a series of rhythmic patterns that I recorded and then mixed into sections. In addition, I recorded a number of metallic pipe objects to add contrasting timbral colors to the mix: tuned wind chimes, untuned wind chimes, grandfather clock chimes, and even the metal legs from my 1970 Wurlizer Electric Piano. One can hear a melodica in the mix as well, and I used many elements of my own voice, which I manipulated using the looper pedal, Soundhack plug-ins, a granulator, and other filters. This piece experiments with the interaction of these contrasting timbres as they move about the stereo space.
For a copy of the recording, please email me at paulfrasermusic@gmail.com
