« Back to Recording Highlights
Bamboo Silk and Stone
Randy Raine-Reusch, Bamboo Silk and Stone
Za Discs • 2005
Synopsis by Jay O’Keeffe
Artist Profile
Bamboo, Silk and Stone, is an album of original compositions and electro-acoustic works for zither written by Randy Raine-Reusch. The disc features collaborations with world renowned saxophonist John Gibson, sonic synthesis pioneer Barry Truax and stellar kumungo playing of Jin Hi Kim.
Session Notes
This project was originally to be a quick mastering job, however when I had the opportunity to critically listen to the original 2 track masters I realized that a lot more work would be needed to create a sense of continuity and cohesion between all the very diverse material on the album.
As a compilation of archival works, Bamboo, Silk & Stone presented some very intriguing technical challenges. The source material had been recorded both live and in the studio over the course of many years on numerous formats by engineers with varying degrees of ability and sensitivity to the instruments and the composer's intent. In most cases all we had to work with was the final two track mix from the original session as most of the multi-track masters had been lost.
When first listening to the original masters as a collection it became quickly apparent that most of the recordings were static, one-dimensional and lacked a lot of the harmonic overtones characteristic of the original instruments. The recordings also lacked a spatial relationship and ambience, two textures that are critical to successful experimental electro-acoustic music.
There had been a tendency during some of the original tracking sessions to hyper-exaggerate the fundamental tonal centre of the instruments through the use of EQ. Also, as Randy noted, having not seen or heard the instruments used in the sessions before, the recording engineers tended to apply a rock and roll aesthetic to the recordings. A kuyugem does not sound like an acoustic guitar used in a mid-80’s power ballad, yet it was recorded as if it was one.
The first task of the re-mix was to develop an artificial room tone that would compliment the principle instruments and could be applied to each of the pieces. This was relatively simple task for the purely acoustic works but for the compositions with electro-acoustic elements, as well as tracks that were pre-effected, this posed a completely differrent set of challenges.
The difference between developing a room tone and simply picking a reverb is in trying to create a 3 dimensional sense of space. If you place a group of musicians in a large room, the over-all reverb and tonality of the room is consistent collectively for all instruments. However, the reflection patterns and incumbent response envelopes of each individual acoustic source, relative to position in the environment, responds differently in the space, creating a sense of breadth, depth and blend to the music from the listener's perspective. A reverb unit simply emulates the sound of an instrument as perceived from a single point source and perceived from a single perspective, and by panning an instrument to a position in the stereo field of a recording only partially generates the illusion of events occurring in a space.
For Bamboo, Silk & Stone I used 5 different reverbs and one multi-tap delay to form the basis of the album's “room tone.” Lexicon and TC electronics algorithms formed the cornerstone of the overall room tone, with about 20% of the TC verb and the Lexiverb cross fed into each other. The multi tap delay was used to emulate primary, secondary and tertiary early reflections. By using the input pan location in the stereo field to trigger different delay sequences, when coupled with the reverbs this creates a greater sense of auralisation and abstract localization of the source material. The remaining reverbs were used in three principle manners, one was frequency triggered, one was velocity triggered and the third responded to the multi-tap delay. All of the reverbs cross fired into one and other to a small degree and all had stereo inputs.
Having developed a room tone, I would also use additional reverbs, choruses, harmonic emulators, equalization and delays to further alter and enhance the individual instruments. This mostly took the form of short, concise effects to reinforce the tonality of a specific instrument or to emulate lost or obscured harmonic content. The irony is it takes a lot of synthesis to make the acoustic elements of the album, as originally recorded, sound “real.”
Aside from the kuyugem, the original recording of the sho and ichigengin on the track October Moon was particularly devoid of tonality. As originally recorded, the sho essentially sounded like a wounded bagpipe with a broken reed and the ichigengin had the attack of a vicious guard dog and the tonality of a three tine fork scraping across chipped cheap china.
Essentially a plucked zither played with a bone slide, the ichigengin as an instrument is very bright, stark and harsh sounding as the initial attack is very prevalent. However as the attack envelope diminishes and the initial note resolves to a new tone created by the motion of bone against string, there is a very subtle series of high overtones and low resonances that flirt about the periphery of the fundamental — this is the heart and soul of the ichigengin, which is often lost in recording.
To revive the ichigengin’s heart, I needed to run the track through several compressors and selective EQ’s in order to restore the instrument's tonality. I also used subtle delays to enhance the tracks stereo imaging thereby creating a sense of motion to the original mono source. It requires a lot of patience when using short delays to ensure that any comb-filtering effects or destructive interferences inherently created by this process are ultimately complimentary, in this case the desired presence of these psycho-acoustic phenomena was intentional.
The sho is perhaps the most sonically complex acoustic instrument that I have ever heard. Imagine a grand church organ, with its pipes and bellows creating a sound that envelopes a room and shakes you to the core, now compact the some aural density into a small ceramic or steel bowl nestled gently into your hands, with a forest of meticulously sculpted and lacquered bamboo stalks rising above the rim like straws at a soda stand, and replace mechanical air engines with the gentle breeze of human breath and the sound of the sho will spread forth.
I for one have yet to capture in recording the subtle shifts of colour that emits from the sho, so I empathize with the fellow who recorded this track. This Japanese court instrument is an ever shifting torrent of harmonics and overtones, if you were listening with eyes closed to a solo sho being played directly in front of you, you would think that you were surrounded by a series of musicians as the sound of just one instrument encompasses the entire listening area. Notes flit back and forth, and some seem to originate well above your brow or even behind your head.
The sho track on October Moon was recorded in mono, so it did not even remotely capture the three-dimensional imaging created naturally by the sho. Nor was the track even tempered across the frequency spectrum, there were some null and voids as the engineer attempted to reduce the overtones by exaggerating the fundamentals through the use of equalization. We could not re-track the instrument as it would be according to Randy, “A three day ordeal” just to tune the darn thing, and even so it would not be possible to recreate the same subtle tone colours, variations and intensity of the original recording.
To enhance the imaging of the sho, four harmonic emulators were used, two of which were used to flesh out the existing harmonics, these were tuned to various pitches at interval sets that naturally occur within the instrument. The remaining two emulators respond to amplitude and pitch. By using noise gates as the volume rises or as specific frequencies are struck, the gates keyed open, allowing the sound to pass and trigger the emulators.
The sounds from the emulators would then be delayed, panned, phase manipulated, further chorused and effected in order to create the broad spectrum and imaging of the sho. I also needed to use an aural exciter to re-introduce some of the upper harmonic density lost through the layering of harmonics. The final ingredient was the use of a guitar amplification modeler to add the faintest hint of distortion (nothing like a Vox AC30, for that classic garage band sound) to increase the inter-modulations of the upper spectrum.
Although I did not completely recreate the sound of the sho, we attained a reasonable facsimile and as this is an album of electro-acoustic music, a little sonic deviation is permissible.
Even after I had achieved a complimentary mix, harmonically the two principle instruments on October Moon still struggled for space. The sho and ichigengin still sounded shrill, and the low frequency sustain of the ichigengin was consumed by the sho. While absent mindedly playing guitar along to the track while lying on the studio couch, I noticed that the low notes of the guitar helped support both of the instruments and it occurred to me that by modifying the orchestration we might be able to strengthen the track. The question became, what sort of texture would best be used?
Obviously a fixed pitch or purely melodic instrument would not be suitable. I tried wind gongs and bells, but the sustain and texture overwhelmed the track. Needing something subtle and sporadic, I tried adding some udo, although not entirely the right texture, and suddenly the tracks came to life. Excited, I called Randy with my eureka and he came by the studio for a listen. Although compositionally he disliked the idea, after some comparative listening and a little further experimentation he agreed that adding a frame drum or some other percussive element would enhance the track.
We both agreed that an instrument with a similar decay pattern as the ichigengin would help bridge the contrast with the sho. After a little woodshedding, Randy found the perfect muse in the Korean chang’go which is a two headed hourglass drum commonly used to accompany vocal music. When played, the pitch of the chang’go can be bent, allowing limited melodic movement within the rhythm, and, as the two skins represent the opposing elements of yin and yang, the drum captured and emulated the spirit of both sho and ichigengin.
The low resonances and bent notes of the chang’go when added to October Moon helped shift the tonal centre from the high, piercing overtones of the ichigengin to the mid register of the sho, creating a sense to the listener of warmth and depth to the music.
In adding the drum as a texture meant that Randy had to re-envision the piece, there had never been a compositional intention for rhythmic interplay, only harmonic interaction. The drum brought a completely different element to the music, and although initially reticent to a change to the composition, Randy did a tremendous job of finding the balance between the supporting texture created by the chang’go and his composition.
As recorded, October Moon was un-listenable, so much so in fact that I could only work on the material for a couple of hours at a time before my hearing was exhausted. I must say however that the final result is an amazing contrast to the original, the track has been transformed from nails on a chalkboard to a sonically complex canvas of instrumental juxtaposition. We were able to return a, subtle, meditative quality to the music, re-evoking the ritual elements that had inspired Randy to compose the piece.
Summary
Neither Randy or I envisioned that the mastering of Bamboo, Silk and Stone would become so exhaustive and extensive. As much of the instrumentation is unadorned, creating a cohesive environment for all the pieces was a challenge—in retrospect, one I feel we were able to achieve.
Much of the music and collaborations on the disc have not been previously available and after many years of wanting to present this music, Randy has strong creative and emotional attachments to the work. One of the greatest challenges for both Randy and I was in remaining sensitive to his original vision, while at the same time re-sculpting the music into a presentable form. At times it was difficult for Randy to accept some of my suggestions, in some instances they were celebrated, others abandoned, with some a compromise was struck, and in a few I had to stick to my guns.
We are both fortunate that after working together on so many projects we have developed a good rapport, share a similar aesthetic and have great trust in each other's abilities. And most importantly for Randy, he has a strong and committed collaborator in Mei, as on this project she provided the voice of reason when our heels became too entrenched or when our flights of fancy led too far astray.
Album Credits
Produced by Randy Raine-Reusch
Re-recording by Jay O'Keeffe
Re-mixed by Jay O'Keeffe & Randy Raine-Reusch
Edited and mastered by Jay O'Keeffe
Re-mixed and edited at Profile Studios
Musicians
Randy Raine-Reusch: kayageum, zheng, ichigenkin, nigenkin, sho, hun, suling, chang'go
Jon Gibson: soprano sax
Stuart Dempster: trombone
Jin Hi Kim: electric kumungo
Barry Truax: granular synthesis
William O. Smith: clarinet
Re-mix Format: Protools HD 16/44.1
Reviews
"...as I play this disc I feel I’m not merely listening to sound, but listening to listening. The tiny worlds of these dioramic recordings slowly open up and envelop you, allowing you to hear with the ears of the performer." Mack Hagood,
Far Eastern Audio Review
"The music reaches right out of the electronic media of playback equipment and grabs you and pulls you in." David Mott, Musicworks
Listen to October Moon (Real Audio plugin required)
Back to jayokeeffe.ca homepage
Text © 2005 Jay O’Keeffe
