Da Nessuna Parte was a strange beast. On one hand, it was a quick process, very straightforward in terms of album structure and how to allocate studio time. On the other, it was a brave thing to do.
It all started when Goffredo Plastino, Reader of ethnomusicology at Newcastle University, managed to get a recording project approved: Paolo Angeli, a wonderful free improvisation performer, and builder of a one of a kind instrument (what he calls “sardinian prepared guitar”) would have teamed up with a few students of the university to record an album.
I got in as the only undergraduate student who was allowed to participate to the actual recording. A great honour, indeed!
Preparation
Almost all the material was freely improvised in the studio: I think Yellow Ring was the only thing that had some preparation in advance.
For that particular piece, I thought it would have been interesting to challenge Paolo to get out of his usual routine, and set him up against a pre-recorded soundscape. I contacted Paolo and briefly discussed the matter; he liked the idea, so it got the green light from Goffredo.
I created an “unfinished” sound collage, over the course of February 2008, using old field recordings of sardinian folk music. Paolo listened to the collage before arriving to Newcastle and spent the afternoon before the recording session imagining how he could best respond to the tape, completing it.
Recording Sessions
Being Italian like Paolo, I acted as a kind of chaperone for him, bringing him about in Newcastle to eat during breaks or showing him around.
I recalled Paolo was a bit concerned after the first day in the studio: the sessions had started slow and a bit unproductive, and he didn’t feel everyone was feeling at ease. We discussed a bit how free improvisation was approached at Newcastle University and he seemed more relaxed.
Paolo was much happier after the second and third day of recordings, so I guess everyone got loose… or they simply managed to use the energy of the sessions to engage in a more constructive musical output.
Yellow Ring
Yellow Ring was actually the easiest piece to get to tape. If I recall correctly, it was recorded in a couple of passes during the afternoon of the second day of sessions.
Paolo came prepared and added his chemistry to the track, playing his prepared guitar and a host of other objects… including a plastic bag!
It was really engaging to see how he entered in a dialogue with my unfinished piece, filling the “holes” with his inputs and taking it to the next level.
I was really pleased with the result. I was a bit less please with the final mix, in which Paolo’s part came too much to the fore, undermining the “dialogue” that was the basis of the whole piece.
Thankfully, the mastering readjusted the levels so that Yellow Rings sounds true to what it had become during the sessions: a piece to be appreciated on different levels, but still managing to be entertaining and lively!
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