"a real, resounding eerieness which lies beneath the sound here" / "really draws you into the heart of the music, telling you that these are dark and stormy waters into which you are being drawn" / "oddly perfect winter listening"
"It is rare"... "to hear such a spiky and dynamic record, with such a personality all of its own." / "an agenda and an objective mind all of its own, and is all the better for it" / "constructed as some kind of aural soundscape, to be slowly digested as all the sounds and flavours leak out into your system" / "It will be there for you in your hour of need. It is both comfort blanket and bedrock, just like all the best music should be, and it has a real blade of ice at its centre"
Susan King plays an 11c Baroque Lute by Michael Lowe, Oxford, UK, Recorded at Mt Nelson, Hobart, Tasmania on 22nd June 2012 by Tony Sayer of Megatone Productions (Megatoneproductions@netspace.net.au)
Also on 'Tasmanian Lake' Matthew Leigh Embleton plays a 13c Baroque Lute by David Van Edwards Summer School, 2011 courtesy of The Lute Society.
Susan King plays an 11c Baroque Lute by Michael Lowe, Oxford, UK, Recorded at Mt Nelson, Hobart, Tasmania on 22nd June 2012 by Tony Sayer of Megatone Productions (Megatoneproductions@netspace.net.au)
The Lute - The French Baroque Lute has a special tone quality, resonance and clarity of sound that speaks directly to the heart of the listener. It was developed in the first quarter of the 1600's by lutenists seeking a way to better express what they wanted to say in their music. They believed that the music of the lute was the voice of the gods. What they did was experimental and ground-breaking and paved the way for new directions in music. Today we carry on this tradition of innovation, allowing the voice of the lute and the technology available through the laptop to lead us forward to new horizons. The origin of the lute may be in the past, but this project shows that the lute is an instrument for our times and the future.
The Laptop - In performances of modern art music, particularly Electro-Acoustic, Acousmatic, or Avant-Garde, the Laptop is listed as an instrument in its own right. The contribution that the Laptop makes to the overall sound depends entirely on the guidance from the composer, the interpretation of that guidance by the performer, and the software and how it is used to produce and / or modify sounds as part of the performance. In this project, the role of the Laptop is to provide gentle sonic treatments of the Lute and a harmonic ambient backdrop to the composition.
Susan King - Susan King (Jones) was born in Sydney, Australia on 8th January 1956. She gained her Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Never one to take the obvious pathway, Susan's life has been filled with interesting twists and turns. However in 2008 her love of the French Baroque Lute compelled her to move to Europe where she spent the next four years following her passion for lute playing across several continents. She then returned the her home on the beautiful island of Tasmania where she directs the biennial Hobart Lute Festival. Susan has always enjoyed working with composers in the creation of new music and loves exploring the possibilities this offers with the lute. In 1988, Australian composer Robert Allworth wrote the first concerto written in modern times for the French Baroque lute for Susan.
"The music of this instrument speaks to me in a way that no other music does. When I hold my lute, it is no longer just me and the lute it is neither of us but something else, something that demands to be heard, to speak, to move, to communicate. I play music because I must and I play the French Baroque Lute because it is the sound I desire. When I play from the original handwritten 17th century manuscripts I feel connected to the composer. Across time and space, 400 years apart, we meet, and when I work with living composers, I hear my lute in new ways, which deepens my understanding of the instrument. Working with Matthew has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the lute, truly bringing it into the 21st century."
At 04:34, Minnie Rogers - Side To Side was played on KISS FM, Justin Wilkes Rehab show 4:00-6:00. Available on Kiss Kube 'Listen Again' service. Select genre 'Chill-Out'
15/12/2011 - Snakestyle World Radio review by Jonathan Muirhead
"a real, resounding eeriness which lies beneath the sound here" / "really draws you into the heart of the music, telling you that these are dark and stormy waters into which you are being drawn" / "oddly perfect winter listening"
"It is rare..." "to hear such a spiky and dynamic record, with such a personality all of its own." / "an agenda and an objective mind all of its own. And is all the better for it" / "constructed as some kind of aural soundscape, to be slowly digested as all the sounds and flavours leak out into your system" / "It will be there for you in your hour of need. It is both comfort blanket and bedrock, just like all the best music should be.” / "And it has a real blade of ice at its centre"
This is a film by Derek Levault about spear-fishing and diving in Oahu, Hawaii. It was filmed in 2007, and released in 2008.Featuring several tracks from the album ‘Snakestyle'. A DVD of this film is available from ‘The Kind Productions’
Walnut and ash ribs. Rosewood pegs. Alpine spruce soundboard. Unique rose design. Ebony fingerboard. 63cm Aquila Nylgut strings with nylon top and octaves on 5, 6, and 7. Click on the photos for larger view.
After meeting Susan King at a Lute recital in London, they kept in touch, exchanged ideas, and from opposite sides of the world began working on 'Music for Lute and Laptop', a blend of Neo-Baroque style composition, and modern Ambient Electro-Acoustic sonic treatments.
Matthew has just finished producing a forthcoming album 'Garden Of Dreams' with the group The Psychedelic Manifesto (aka Chris Garland, and Hong Guo).
