Sander Roscoe Wolff

Artists, cultural leaders, musicians, business owners, and others talk with me about arts and culture in Long Beach.

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I volunteered to do some sound design work for a fledgling theater group’s 2nd annual 6 play festival. One of the plays took place in Heaven, Earth, and Hell. I created a soundscape for Heaven using trombone and voice, and one for

using audio from a live performance by sound artists SMGSAP. The director decided not to use the tracks I produced, but I rather liked the piece I created, so I thought I’d share it here:

I’ve received quite a few mixed reactions from folks who have listened to it. Most find it pleasing, but decidedly unheavenly. That’s ok. It feels reverential, peaceful, and heavenly to me.

Please feel free to leave comments.

I was unhappy with the photos I took a while back of the completed Sandblaster guitar, so I gave it another go:

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Some time ago my dear friend Mike gave me a non-functional Kalamazoo Series 2 Amp. It is a small thing, just 8 watts, made by Gibson in 1965. It was a low-end, entry level, guitar amp that used a British style tube design, and was made with the cheapest materials available. The box was particle board, the covering was a paper thin tolex-like material, and the speaker was probably made by CMI.

I handed it off to Mark Cox of Anything Audio and he rebuilt it, making a number of modifications I requested along the way.

After I got it back, and began to realize just how much of a wee screamer it was, I decided that living in it’s cheap and disintegrating particle-board home was just too sad. I knew a fellow, Larry Bott, whose artistic wood creations I’d greatly admired. I asked him if he’d be willing to fabricate a cabinet from scratch, and he said yes!

It’s not quite done yet, but it’s very close. He used beautiful African Mahogany, and is finishing it with a classic French shellac. I took a few pictures just so I could show it off, and here they are:

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A few weeks ago Carl, my collaborator in Ain Soph Aur, emailed me a short audio snippet with the request that I come up with some parts that might sit well with it. The part was strange, with an unusual meter and a chorused bass part that felt elusive. I immediately recorded several guitar tracks, burned them to a CD, and gave them to Carl within the next few days.

Several weeks passed and, to be honest, I’d pretty much forgotten about it entirely. In my email in-box came an MP3, where Carl had taken his original loop, my guitar parts, and added several more tracks as well. I began to get really excited. He then gave me 14 stereo WAV tracks that made up his mix of the tune, and I began playing with those, adding more tracks, processing existing ones, and generally going crazy.

The result is a 33 minute epic of sonic goodness. Now, Carl hasn’t heard this long-form version yet, and it really isn’t complete. I have no doubt that, when he hears it, he’ll be inspired to respond in some way. I can’t wait!!!

Still, he’s away right now, and won’t be back for a while, so I felt moved to share this as it is, knowing that, down the road, it may change significantly.

So, without further ado, behold “Dancing Upon A Foaming Sea.”

[note: this is a very large, 31 MB, file. People with small hard drives or dial-up connections should wait for the CD release]

The title, which comes from Alister Crowley’s description of the Princess of Cups in his Egyptian Tarot book, The Book of Thoth, may change too, btw.

I’ve also posted a screen shot of the project in my Cubase SX3 audio software.

To the best of my knowledge, the track contains the following: Bass, organ, guitar, cornet, recorder, tin flute, bells, voices, plastic tubes, shakers, metal bowls, dog collars, field recordings of seals and birds, a live performance snippet, kalimba, hand drum, synth drums, and a few other things. See if you can find them all!

Karloff and I were invited to perform at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in the heart of Santa Ana’s Artists’ Village. Opening the show were “Between Ravens and Crows,” followed by Ain Soph Aur and, closing the show, was Madamn Grislee.

Due to an oversight on my part, the audio recording captured ambient sound where Karloff and I were seated, but not the sounds the audience heard. While not capturing what I intended, it still produced several nice sections, one of which I’m including here:

The First and Fourth Intellects – Part 2

Karloff can be heard playing organ and bass, and I the lap steel guitar, shaker, and maybe even some voice.

Please feel free to leave comments.

Last night Karloff and I were joined by Jeremy Morelock and Nial Morgan. We opened a wonderful show at Koos Art Center. We were followed by John Schneider’s breathtaking performance of microtonal music for refretted acoustic guitar, written by legendary American composer Lou Harrison. Following John’s performance, Master Ho’s Pin Peat ensemble performed Khmer Classical Music with intensity, precision, and passion. The room was thrumming with the energy flowing from the stage.

Ain Soph Aur’s performance was 30 minutes, but I excerpted two parts. The first is from the beginning, and the second from the end.

In A Strange Country – Part 1

In A Strange Country – Part 2

Please feel free to leave comments.

We are proud to present an evening of spectacular music.

Ain Soph Aur presents:

Threads of a Tonal Dream Tapestry

The Microtonal Compositions of Lou Harrison
Performed by John Schneider

Khmer Classical Music
Performed by Master Ho Chan’s
Pin Peat Ensemble

Intercontinental Improvisation
Performed by Ain Soph Aur
& Friends

Saturday July 5th, at 8 PM
$8
Koos Art Center
530 E Broadway
Long Beach, CA
90802

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