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cdPhotographer, painter, composer and inventor Qubais Reed Ghazala (Cincinnati, 1953) manipulates natural sounds or noise via a set of self-built "instruments". He debuted under the moniker Sound Theater and has released many cassettes and some CDs.Reed's sculptural experimental instruments have been built for Tom Waits, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson's Pat Mastalotto, Faust, Chris Cutler, Towa Tei, Yann Tomita, Blur and many other interesting musicians. Reed's work has been covered and requested throughout the arts "underground" and the major media as well, including ABC Television, The Discovery Channel, MTV, Disney, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The L. A. Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, The Music, Wired Magazine, Option, Billboard, Time Out, Stereophile, The Smithsonian, The ReR Quarterly, Sound on Sound, Computers & Music, Japan's Sound and Recording, and many others. Reed's twenty-article series "Circuit-Bending and Living Instruments" is now being published and translated around the world. Along with many private acquisitions, Reed's work has found its way into the NYC Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney permanent collections as well as numerous other public galleries worldwide. Also member of the great Blacklight Braille.
"Ghazala builts his own instruments through 'circuit-bending' (the creative short-circuiting of various electronic devices) and is now presenting two works on CD, To aptly describe the concept of 'Requiem' I should re-write the extensive liner-notes, but in short: a radio is destroyed, then smashed in an ice crusher, then melted, and then sawed into chunks. Each of these actions result in a 15- minute music piece. The destruction of a small plastic radio is performed with great precision, a slow process, but delivering a great, concentrated musique concrete piece. The contact microphone is then attached to the ice crusher. There is machine drone in the background and small sounds of falling objects. In the third piece, the radio pieces get thrown in a metal container before they are cremated. I suspect some studio treatments are added here, since there is some stereo echo used. The sawing piece is the most 'industrial' piece with its heavy backdrop of rhythmic machinery. Of course there is a lot more to it, than I could describe here, but it remains a fascinating requiem." -- Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly)
Visit his site:http://www.anti-theory.com/
get it here"Ghazala builts his own instruments through 'circuit-bending' (the creative short-circuiting of various electronic devices) and is now presenting two works on CD, To aptly describe the concept of 'Requiem' I should re-write the extensive liner-notes, but in short: a radio is destroyed, then smashed in an ice crusher, then melted, and then sawed into chunks. Each of these actions result in a 15- minute music piece. The destruction of a small plastic radio is performed with great precision, a slow process, but delivering a great, concentrated musique concrete piece. The contact microphone is then attached to the ice crusher. There is machine drone in the background and small sounds of falling objects. In the third piece, the radio pieces get thrown in a metal container before they are cremated. I suspect some studio treatments are added here, since there is some stereo echo used. The sawing piece is the most 'industrial' piece with its heavy backdrop of rhythmic machinery. Of course there is a lot more to it, than I could describe here, but it remains a fascinating requiem." -- Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly)
Visit his site:http://www.anti-theory.com/
This guy's work has opened up a whole new avenue of synthesis. Highly influential in the DIY noise circuit. See also Peter Blasser http://www.ciat-lonbarde.net/ . His 'Shinth' blows my mind!!!
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