MICHAEL BARDON - The Gift Of Silence
Discus: DISCUS125CD
Michael Bardon: double bass, ‘cello
Recorded July 2020 by Michael Bardon.
Track 5, ‘Partched’, in its punning title gives the listener a strong steer towards the approach that Bardon takes on this solo album. For Harry Partch, in whose honour track 5 is named, the traditions of Western music using 12 tones or dividing in octaves was limiting and a deviation from purer musical forms which were more amenable to singing. Partch referred to his approach as ‘just (or pure) intonation’, in which an octave could be divided into 43 tones. This microtonality , and the use of overtones that it implies, produces musical patterns that sound very different to Western music (but could feel quite natural in Eastern and Middle Eastern traditions). To create his music Partch created a set of weirdly named instruments, such as the Quadrangularis Reversum or the Chromelodeon. Bardon does not, of course, use these in his playing but has immersed himself in Partch’s 11-limit tonality diamond tuning system to such an extent that he is able to produce pieces that are reminiscent of Partch’s work (albeit without the percussion - in places recalling, to my ears, the string sections of Partch's ‘Daphne of the Dunes’ ). One would hope that Partch would be impressed. Unsurprisingly, given the complexity of the tuning, many of the pieces have a stately, elegiac quality to them with long drones accompanied by hushed scrapings of bow and rumbling of electronics. In places this can be deliberately unsettling; hence the closing track is called ‘Doom II’, or the ostinato of ‘F#C#A#D#’ has more than a hint of the F, F# pattern the heralds the approach of a well-known shark. Elsewhere the music, in its slow repetitions encourages a meditative state (much like the intentions of another pioneer of contemporary music, LaMonte Young). The cover art has an image of Bardon playing double bass in front on a rocky outcrop and I think this captures the sense of a musician responding sounds bouncing back from the rocks to align with his playing. But calling this album a ‘solo’ recording feels a bit of a misnomer because the ways in which he creates multi-phonic tones from bass or ‘cello and the layers of effects and overdubs often give the recording the feel of a quartet. This is a richly rewarding set and one that repays repeated listening.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Discus: DISCUS125CD
Michael Bardon: double bass, ‘cello
Recorded July 2020 by Michael Bardon.
Track 5, ‘Partched’, in its punning title gives the listener a strong steer towards the approach that Bardon takes on this solo album. For Harry Partch, in whose honour track 5 is named, the traditions of Western music using 12 tones or dividing in octaves was limiting and a deviation from purer musical forms which were more amenable to singing. Partch referred to his approach as ‘just (or pure) intonation’, in which an octave could be divided into 43 tones. This microtonality , and the use of overtones that it implies, produces musical patterns that sound very different to Western music (but could feel quite natural in Eastern and Middle Eastern traditions). To create his music Partch created a set of weirdly named instruments, such as the Quadrangularis Reversum or the Chromelodeon. Bardon does not, of course, use these in his playing but has immersed himself in Partch’s 11-limit tonality diamond tuning system to such an extent that he is able to produce pieces that are reminiscent of Partch’s work (albeit without the percussion - in places recalling, to my ears, the string sections of Partch's ‘Daphne of the Dunes’ ). One would hope that Partch would be impressed. Unsurprisingly, given the complexity of the tuning, many of the pieces have a stately, elegiac quality to them with long drones accompanied by hushed scrapings of bow and rumbling of electronics. In places this can be deliberately unsettling; hence the closing track is called ‘Doom II’, or the ostinato of ‘F#C#A#D#’ has more than a hint of the F, F# pattern the heralds the approach of a well-known shark. Elsewhere the music, in its slow repetitions encourages a meditative state (much like the intentions of another pioneer of contemporary music, LaMonte Young). The cover art has an image of Bardon playing double bass in front on a rocky outcrop and I think this captures the sense of a musician responding sounds bouncing back from the rocks to align with his playing. But calling this album a ‘solo’ recording feels a bit of a misnomer because the ways in which he creates multi-phonic tones from bass or ‘cello and the layers of effects and overdubs often give the recording the feel of a quartet. This is a richly rewarding set and one that repays repeated listening.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
