Sam Dunscombe // Two Forests LP

This is a record released by Sam Dunscombe, an experimental musician from Berlin, Germany, on the Australian experimental label Black Truffle in November 2023.

Contains two sound collage/drone songs processed from field recordings of the forest and the sea.

Below is a commentary by the label.

Two Forests begins in a redwood forest in central California.Bird songs and insect calls are processed with various time-based processing methods (slicing and recombination, primitive granular synthesis, delay, etc.) to remove the linear, documentary character from field recordings and to reduce traces and echoes. reconstructed in a fascinating web. Dunscombe analyzed the pitches contained in the original recording and generated a large set of just-intonated pitches.These sounds are slowly woven into the field recordings, gradually increasing in density and complexity, transforming the forest into a surreal space of infinite proportions.At the end of the song, we emerge from this cosmic expanse and find ourselves in the Amazon rainforest outside Manaus, Brazil.As Dunscombe writes, the work creates "a strange sense of place, where space and time simultaneously expand and contract across octaves, miles, and minutes."

On Oceanic, various beach recordings fade in and out, the rhythm of the waves and the depth and distance of each recording creating a homogeneous yet ever-changing texture.The tones, related in simple proportions to the average rhythm of each beach, overlap each other, coloring the field recording's white noise texture with shifting hues.Both works,Dunscombe rejects the easy consonance of contemporary ambient music and embraces richer harmonic arrangements derived from extended tuning practices and spectralism.The result suggests a hitherto undreamed-of encounter between the rolling sonic masses of Laduresque and the discreetly processed location recordings of Irv Teibel's "psychologically extreme" Environments. .Beyond the narrow-mindedness that can plague experimental music culture,Dunscombe's work makes a moving statement about the healing power of a wide range of approaches to sound and music.Beyond psychedelic therapy, frequent immersion in Two Forests/Oceanic is almost certain to have psychologically beneficial results. "

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12 "black vinyl.

Tracklist:

1. 2F 19:30
2. O 18:14

Text excerpt via Black Truffle:

"[...] 'Two Forests' begins in a central Californian sequoia grove. Bird songs and buzzing insect life are treated with a variety of time-based processing methods (slicing and recombination, primitive granular synthesis, delay, and so on), which strip the field recordings of their linear, documentary character, reframing them in an enchanted web of traces and echoes. Analysing the pitches found in the original recordings, Dunscombe used them to generate a large Just Intonation pitch set. These tones are woven slowly into the field recordings, gradually building in density and complexity until the forest has been transformed into an unreal space of infinite proportions. Emerging from this cosmic expanse in the final minutes of the piece, we find ourselves in the Amazon rainforest outside Manaus, Brazil. As Dunscombe writes, the piece creates 'a sense of place-gone-strange, of space and time simultaneously expanding and contracting across octaves, miles, and minutes'.

On 'Oceanic', several recordings of different beaches fade in and out to create a texture both homogenous and constantly shifting in both the rhythm of the waves and each recording's sense of depth and distance. Tones relating in simple ratios to the average rhythm of each beach float over each other, coloring the white noise texture of the field recordings with shifting hues. In both pieces, Dunscombe forgoes the easy consonance that bogs down much contemporary ambient music for a richer harmonic array informed by extended tuning practices and spectralism. The end results suggest a hitherto undreamt-of meeting of Radulescu's undulating sonic masses and the discreetly processed location recordings of Irv Teibel's 'psychologically ultimate' Environments. Looking beyond the insularity that can afflict experimental music culture, Dunscombe's work is a moving argument for the healing power of expanded approaches to sound and music. Even outside of a psychedelics-assisted therapy, frequent produce immersion in Two Forests / Oceanic is almost guaranteed to beneficial psychological results. "

Artist: Sam Dunscombe

Label: Black Truffle