“In this musical dialogue, I almost never use a language conditioned by logic (reading subservient to the written word). And in the rare cases I do, it’s impossible to make myself understood. That’s why I use onomatopoeia: to channel gesture into sound. Matter and body speak to one another and resonate: one excites the other and vice versa, in a form of communication that is both technological and primitive. Expressing my ideas through concrete material is archetype, origin.”
Artis Records is proud to present “Musica Spontanea – A Tribute to Demetrio Stratos,” the new work by Alan Bedin, a cross-disciplinary composer and performer devoted to Contemporary modern singing, Experimental Vocal Music, and Sound Poetry. “Musica Spontanea,” which connects directly with the historical experiments of Gianni Sassi’s Cramps Records, is a work of New Music originally commissioned by a Japanese label as a tribute to Demetrio Stratos. However, the project evolved into a true manifesto thanks to the collaboration with sound designer Edoardo Piccolo. The pure sound of the voice, through a bold recording process aimed at innovative sound processing, was integrated with synthesis and electronic manipulation, resulting in an unprecedented experience.
Alan Bedin moved from improvisation to electronically processed sound poetry, eventually defining an ensemble-based “New Music” with an international scope. For a project of this magnitude, Alan brought in two giants: Paolo Tofani, the legendary visionary guitarist of Area, and Saverio Tasca, internationally renowned vibraphonist and long-standing member of Opus Avantra. This is how “Musica Spontanea” took shape, finding its ideal home in Artis Records—a label curated by composer Alfredo Tisocco, long dedicated to the synthesis of Avant-Garde and Tradition, and to “Total Music.” The album is released both on collector’s edition vinyl and standard jewel-case CD (the latter includes a hidden track: a solo vocal cover of Area’s “Giro, giro, tondo“), the perfect formats to enjoy the final artistic touch: the cover artwork is a piece by abstract painter Roberto Floreani, named Artist of the Year 2024. It is drawn from his site-specific exhibition project Soglie: Tempo del prima – Tempo del poi. Visual thresholds, musical thresholds, sonic thresholds for a total work.
For the technical realization of the recording at Colosso Room Studio in Camposampiero, Edoardo Piccolo set up three different acoustic spaces: one room dedicated to the “dry” recording of vocals, one for the vibraphone and trikanta veena, and another—called the “sound room”—with three semicircular plates and a bass drum, all equipped with transducers. These contact speakers transmit vibrations through the materials they are mounted on. These disturbed surfaces diffuse sound not in the linear, point-source manner of traditional loudspeakers, but across their entire surface, utilizing resonance modes and the physical properties of the materials (such as dimensions, thickness, and elasticity). The sound was processed in real time during recording, using a variety of techniques ranging from long delay lines to harmonizers and sequencers. The “sound room” was virtualized to allow real-time spatial placement and movement of sound processing using a two-dimensional panpot assigned to each channel. The sense of acoustic space was achieved without the use of any added artificial reverb.
As music historian Renzo Cresti wrote in the presentation of the work:
“The key reference point for Alan Bedin’s new work is the concept of liberation. Many dynamics could be added, such as those relating to John Cage, Walter Marchetti, Juan Hidalgo (Zaj Group), Cramps Records, Fluxus Group, unrefined electronics, Paolo Castaldi (with his spoken solfège), David Tudor, Alvin Lucier, Luigi Nono, improvisational performance, happening, Indian music, and much more. All of it well metabolized and embodied, in order to take a step beyond. Spontaneous music is more than a concept—it is a praxis aiming to realize a direct, immediate, and impulsive approach to sound that does not begin with pre-existing elements, such as jazz standards, but rather celebrates sound through a kind of ritual of evocation.”
Pre-Save the album here: https://bfan.link/musica-spontanea
SIDE A:
Caronte – voce ingressiva 1° movimento
Pendulum – voce perpetua
Pulsionale – voce simpatetica
My Mind – alāp
Segmenti – prime incisioni su lastra
SIDE B:
CONES VIARION TA – poesia sonora
LA PIETRA DEL MAESTRO – ricordando Pinuccio Sciola
ZEPPELIN LZ-129 – Paroliberismo con partitura a fumetti
SPONTANEUS – trikanta veena suite
LE ANIME DI CARONTE – voce ingressiva 2° movimento
Credits:
Alan Bedin / Vocals
Edoardo Piccolo / Sound Processing and Synthesis
Paolo Tofani / Acoustic and Experimental Trikanta Veena, Electronics
Saverio Tasca / Vibraphone, Percussion
Roberto Floreani / Cover Artwork
Artistic Consultancy: Alfredo Tisocco
Foreword by Renzo Cresti
Scientific Coordination: Dr. Giovanna Baracca
Artistic and Performance Coordination: Lorenzo Pagliei
Un tributo fantastico con approfondimenti di ricerca personale coaudiuvato magistralmente dagli artisti presenti nel nuovo lavoro discografico by Artis Records – Cramps Nusic : Edoardo Piccolo, Saverio Tasca e Paolo Tofani . Tutto e’ spontaneamente progressivo abbinato alla scienza dell’evoluzione della mente umana tesa verso l’intelligena artificiale che resta comunque nelle mani dell’istintivita’ e “spontaneita’ ” dell’ Uomo .
Assolutamente mi trovi d’accordo. Gran lavoro di ricerca di temi ed artisti che andrebbero diffusi maggiormente. Io nel mio piccolo ci provo e vedo che le risposte arrivano. Grazie a chi come me supporta la buona Musica. Jacopo
Bravo Alan complimenti….un lavoro unico nel suo genere : “Sponyaneamente m i r a b i l e “
Concordo. Ottimo lavoro.