Radiolaria is a superb suite of Buchla synth music composed and played by Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, Parisian-born now living in Montréal. It began life as improvisations performed on the Buchla 200 — a 1970s model which probably induces frissons of excitement among vintage-synth buffs — when she was able to get her hands on its knobs and cables in Sweden. She used these recordings as “raw material” for the composition here, which has ended up as a very coherent compelling suite in eight parts. While sequestered in Sweden, she also clobbered the EMS night watchman with a cosh so she could break into a locked cabinet and start tinkering with an analogue spring reverb unit (frisson #2, see above). But no equipment fetishist she, rather the plan here is to create a plausible and sympathetic sound portrait of plankton and other microscopic forms of marine life. About time too — they’ve been neglected in experimental music for far too long, although Thomas Tilly has come close with his detailed field recordings of water-bound insects. Ana Dall’Ara-Majek has evidently made some close studies of plankton if her well-informed liner notes are any indication, and each track is also the springboard for further avenues of exploration and thought — ideas about the environment, life-cycles, industrialisation… fascinating observations about movements in the water and preparing for a mighty wave, the sound of weird clicks under the ocean, the way that diatoms are so numerous that they colour the entire ocean and can be seen from outer space… phenomenal insights, and an excellent set of music, composed and realised with consummate care and skill, and distilled into a concise package of information.

One of the most iconic modular synthesizers of the 1970s, the Buchla 200, continues to attract musicians, sound designers and experimenters from different backgrounds, almost as if time has stood still between the first analog electronic avant-garde movements and the present day. It has been well documented how Ana Dall’Ara-Majek’s synths were engineered to facilitate an unconventional approach towards creating complex and random textures. Part of the Californian synthesizer’s undeniable charm lies in its ability to bring us back to that seminal era of sounds never heard before. By not using a traditional keyboard, the tactile experience of the Buchla 200 evokes a sculptural dimension of composing, a characteristic that continues to inspire sound creation in the digital age – the creative freedom of modularity suggests new, more open and non-linear ways of composing, which for many musicians offers an advanced form of improvisation. Ana Dall’Ara-Majek’s work on Radiolaria rests comfortably in this category.

Inspired by marine life, both at a microscopic and macroscopic level, the Italian-Canadian artist shows herself to be sensitive and meticulous in articulating fruitful mixtures between technology and the organic world, and in doing so, points towards a revival of the conceptual natural-artificial dichotomy. The tracks on Radiolaria immerse us in a soundscape constantly oscillating between different poles. The opening track, Mare Buchlae transports us to a liquid-like environment, where voices and sounds evoke the flow of currents and the presence of mysterious organisms. Improvisus B200-1 offers fragments of an uncontrolled and unstable language, suggesting almost imperceivable lifeforms. Perpetuum spirae introduces a repetitive movement, a sound spiral that refers to the infinite growth and cyclical rhythm of the natural world. ‘Parasiti fluxique’ creates a sense of tension that recalls the struggle for survival that animates the world of marine microcreatures. Canticum asphodeli moves in a more contemplative direction, almost like an ancient song for creatures of the abyss. The final track, Ostinato micromacro, returns to a circular movement, expanding into a hypnotic, layered, almost orchestral crescendo – a profound reflection on the beauty and complexity of being, reminding us how the synthetic and inhuman can possess a life of their own, one that is capable of resonating with the essence of the natural world.

Yet another new name to me, and the first of three female artists on empreintes DIGITALes featured here. Ana’s a Montréal, Canada, based composer, and this would seem to be her second album, after the 2018 release Nano-Cosmos which I haven’t heard as yet.

Featuring eight tracks in its 62 minutes, Radiolaria ranges from a 1-minute piece of electronic gabble through to three much bigger works in the region of 11 to 14 minutes, and four more of a moderate length. The release starts with the startling sonic scatters of Mare Buchlae, which is quite possibly what the title implies, water sounds processed through the credited Buchla 200 synthesizer. That method of working seems to be the basis of much of the music here that mixes acoustics and electronics, some of it composed, some of it improvised. In all, it makes for quite different empreintes DIGITALes release.

Radiolaria, uscito per empreintes DIGITALes, è un ciclo di lavori elettroacustici creati utilizzando il celebre Buchla 200, iconico sintetizzatore modulare diffuso soprattutto negli Anni Settanta. Tutti improvvisati e caratterizzati da una partecipazione particolarmente viva ed energica da parte della sua autrice Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, questi autorevoli bozzetti sono acquarelli graziosi e variegati ispirati alla vita acquatica, in particolare al plancton.

In Radiolaria la visione del mondo di Ana Dall’Ara-Majek emerge in tutta la sua vivacità, tra meraviglia e sogno, tra speranze e concretezza. Lo scopo di Dall’Ara-Majek in questo suo nuovo progetto era quello di creare dei “sound colours”, dei colori sonori, che rappresentassero le varie specie di plancton esistenti sul nostro pianeta. Questo tentativo di dare ordine e diversità a un universo larghissimo e molto diversificato al suo interno è gestito e costruito in maniera ingegnosa e magistrale grazie all’utilizzo del Buchla 200 e al modo in cui la compositrice lo usa, piegandolo alla sua poetica sonora e lasciandolo occupare gli spazi intorno a sé finché non li ha resi una creazione tanto propria quanto dell’artista. Lo strumento, insomma, diventa una proiezione della compositrice e della sua visione del mondo.

Le otto tessere del puzzle che è Radiolaria sono affascinanti e ipnotiche, levigate al punto giusto da risultare improvvisazioni meditate e al tempo stesso spontanee e tentacolari, in grado di muoversi liberamente e di esistere sia come frammenti sia come indizi di un quadro più ampio e concettuale che è l’intero disco. Dalle magmatiche pulsazioni di Parasiti fluxique ai tre episodi, vivaci e misteriosi, di Improvisus B200, dalle vibrazioni preistoriche del pezzo che apre il disco, Mare Buchlae, alla conclusione espressiva e pregevolmente precaria di Ostinato micromacro, peraltro tutti titoli che rimandano al latino e che si inseriscono in una visione che sa unire tradizione e avanguardia, Radiolaria centra in pieno gli obiettivi della sua creatrice.

Nella sua audace e intrigante impalcatura, Radiolaria è un ciclo di composizioni che pretende dall’ascoltatore concentrazione e impegno ma che, una volta che questi le vengono concessi, ripaga pienamente le aspettative e le richieste. È un progetto ambizioso, stratificato e totalizzante, che ti catapulta in uno spazio di intenzioni e di passioni che sin da subito ti conquista e ti avvince, coerente e geometrico quasi come una sinfonia.

Der modulare Synthesizer Buchla erlebt seit einiger Zeit eine Renaissance. Ana Dall’Ara-Majek hat ihn als Quelle für ihre Arbeit genutzt. Ihr Zyklus Radiolaria ist dem Leben und den Strömungen im Meer gewidmet. Dass der „Ton Steine Scherben“-Schlagzeuger Wolfgang Seidel auch elektronische Musik komponiert bzw. damit experimentiert, auch mit einem Buchla, ist mir neu und umso größer die Überraschung, hier seine Experimente zu hören. Die musikalische Nähe zu seinem Freund Conrad Schnitzler ist nicht zu überhören. Church Andrews und Matt Davies loten die Möglichkeiten des Zusammenspiels von Schlagzeug und Synthesizer aus, was stellenweise sehr populär klingt. Dennoch überwiegt der experimentelle Anteil. Ein wichtiges Element in der Musik von Ludwig Berger ist die synthetische Stimme, die uns Geschichten über das Ökosystem und das Aussterben von Arten erzählt. Seltsame Sphären erklingen.

Radiolaria ist ein Zyklus elektroakustischer Werke mit Klängen aus dem Buchla 200, dem legendären modularen Synthesizer aus den 1970^er Jahren. Ich habe im Sommer 2022 während eines Aufenthalts im Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm (Schweden) eine Reihe von Improvisationen auf diesem Instrument aufgenommen, die ich dann als Rohmaterial verwendet habe.

Der Zyklus basiert auf dem Leben im Meer, insbesondere dem Plankton, das aus einer großen Vielfalt mikroskopischer und makroskopischer Tier- und Pflanzenarten besteht, die von den Wasserströmungen mitgerissen werden.

Mein Ziel mit dem Buchla 200 war es, eine Sammlung von Klangfarben“ zu schaffen, die die verschiedenen Arten des Planktons repräsentieren sollten. Die ursprüngliche Natur der modularen Synthesewellen spiegelt die Einfachheit der einzelligen Organismen in den Ozeanen wider. Ich experimentierte auch mit dem Raum, indem ich mit dem analogen AKG BX20 Federhall des Studios experimentierte, um die Bewegungen der Wellen und die allgegenwärtigen Unterwasserströmungen darzustellen.

Die 8 Stücke des Zyklus Radiolaria wurden 2022 im Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm (Schweden) und 2023 im Studio Blue Spider in Montréal (Québec) realisiert. Vielen Dank an das gesamte EMS-Team. Die Realisierung dieses Werkes wurde durch den Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) ermöglicht.

Ana Dall’Ara-Majek studeerde zowel in Parijs als in Montréal, waar ze in 2016 met een doctoraat compositie op zak haar parcours als artiest en componist vervolgde. In 2022 voltooide ze een residentie in de Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm met onder meer een tot de verbeelding sprekende Buchla 200 tot haar beschikking. Daar creëerde Dall’Ara-Majek een diverse collectie klanken waarvoor ze zich liet inspireren door het maritieme leven. Terug in Montréal, synthetiseerde ze alle ideeën tot de prachtige elektroakoestische luisterplaat Radiolaria — de zee en haar organismes in klank vervat. Parasiti fluxique is een duet tussen microscopisch klein plankton en menselijke activiteiten.

Anfang Mai bringen die frankokanadischen empreintes DIGITALes das zweite Soloalbum der ebenfalls in Montréal beheimateten Komponistin und Musikerin Ana Dall’Ara-Majek heraus. Auf knapp über einer Stunde enthält Radiolaria acht als Zyklus konzipierte Stücke auf der Basis eines Buchla 200-Modulargeräts aus den 70ern, denen zwitschernde, blubbernde, brummende, zirpende Sounds keine Scheu haben, ihre Plastizität in besonderen Momenten in Richtung Lärm und kleine herausfordernde Hochtöner auszuweiten.

• Pedja Kovačević, Soundologia, 20 août 2024
• Rigobert Dittmann, Bad Alchemy, n^o 123, 1 avril 2024