For lovers of the modular synth, here’s Ben Carey of Sydney with his Metastability (HOSPITAL HILL HHLP04230753) LP. It’s virtually a flawless set with no wasted space, evidently created by an experienced master and craftsman.
Carey is very conversant with modular synths, and indeed with inter-active music software, skills which he uses in composing and teaching too. He was able to get access to a 1975 model created by Serge Tcherepnin – a name to conjure with among synth buffs, second only to Moog and Zinovieff – specifically the Serge Paperface owned, I think, by La Trobe University in that part of Australia and housed in the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. Over two artistic residencies in 2019 and 2022, he produced these five tracks, and one wouldn’t be surprised to learn they represent a “distilled” or compacted edition of his composing efforts. There are rhythms, textures, noise, and all manner of artistic gestures executed with a good deal of sensitivity, subtlety, and nuance.
What I’m trying to convey is that Ben Carey is not some novice smitten with old-school synths and “weird” sounds, even if his liner notes do strongly suggest his barely-contained excitement at getting his paws on this “colossal modular synthesizer”. If you open up the gatefold of this sturdy cardboard package (it’s a 45 RPM vinyl release) you can see him faced with a seemingly infinite wall of patches and cables. Yes, the Serge is very much a patch-program device, and our man is not only undaunted, but he also describes his work in terms that make it that shade more accessible to us non-initiates. In fine, he sees the machine as a self-contained “electronic ecosystem”, suggesting that it contains an entire world of co-dependent systems, and when he engages with the instrument, he relishes the sense of collaboration with this “sprawling human-machine network”. One can only guess at the complexity of the multiple combinations available from all these patches; you or I would get lost in short order, but Ben Carey negotiates this jungle with ease.
An extremely satisfying record results, one which I’ll file alongside my copy of Antimatter from 2019. This release includes Apparent Equilibrium, a bonus CD of 30:59 mins of live recordings made in 2022, which builds on the music we hear on Metastability. Not yet heard this binaurally-mixed item, which used some custom software to propel the whole composition, as I am still very wedded to the concision and near-perfection of the LP. Very good. From 31 May 2023.