.. untitled states ..dulais_duck

Duck

whitehead:

I find a place in the bend of the river overhung by the roots of a large ash tree, and duck the neck of the guitar into the river here, covering the machine heads and lower strings. Next I plug in the mini amp: the water resonates through the strings, producing gentle harmonics. I tie the guitar to the tree in this position, balancing the body against the tree with a small stick. The sound is made both by the movement of the water, an occasional gust of wind, and birdsong along with the almost imperceptible movement of the tree. I attach the microphones to small branches and sit on the river bank to listen.

I send the field recordings to Barnaby Oliver. Keeping their timeline, he mixes the sound for CD.

oliver:

Starting with the complete, unedited recording, I add layers of treatments - a mixture of non-realtime digital processing, and live manipulations using my Revox reel-to-reel tape machine and spring reverb. Illuminating and magnifying the harmonic undulations of the guitar, I sink deeper into the sound in meditative stillness.

The CD is available as part of the book Walking to Work.

Dulais Wade / Duck was presented as part of a solo show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park September - November 2006 and at the Sonic Arts Network Expo in Plymouth July 2007.

sound:

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