Henry Birdsey // Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court LP
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Henry Birdsey (Old Saw, Tongue Depressor), a pedal steel player from Connecticut, USAThis is a record released by the country's experimental label POOLE in October 2023.
Contains 5 hardcore acoustic drone songs using a modified overtone harmonica. DL code included.
Mastered by Andrew Weathers.
Past workIs also recommended.
Below is a commentary by the label.
"Henry Birdsey is a master of duality. He writes music that is both fundamental and complex, serene and intense, conceptual and yet accessible. His music often reflects the vast, isolated regions of his home state of Vermont. , a reflection of its vast natural splendor, and is often about purely spontaneous sound creation, with friends or alone. His love and interest in geology is most evident when thinking about Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court.
Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court is a work of dense layering, mysterious proportions, and geological time.Rather than a harmonica recording, this is absolute music that feels like looking at the side of a sedimentary basin.Throughout each movement, time feels suspended in space, carved by breath but supported by the air between notes, flickering harmonics, and wavering combination tones.The sharp teeth of the semitone cluster and the sparkle of the whole tone push upwards, often reinforced by wider intervals at the lower end of the chord.It is music that rises, diffuses, distorts, cracks, and refracts.Tuning began when he accidentally flipped over the reed board of a diatonic harmonica while cleaning it, and discovered a previously impossible arrangement of pitches.Normally, musical instruments are constructed so that only half of the reed is blown out to produce the sound, while the other half is produced by sucking in air.On a diatonic harmonica, this allows traditional harmonies and melodies to be played without creating unintended dissonance, but Birdsey flips one of the plates so that the air only goes in one direction. He had inadvertently created a distorted, throbbing stepchild harmonica that could play all the notes at the same time. "
Labels and other worksplease use this form. ///Click here to see more Poole Music releases available at Tobira.
---------------------------------------------
Includes DL code. 12" black vinyl.
Tracklist:
- Seriya Limb 08:08
- Bent Reed 04:26
- Seriya 37 07:02
- Seriya 17 07:53
- Comb Drift 08:39
Text excerpt by Liam Herb, 2023, via the label :
"Henry Birdsey is a master of dualities. He writes music that is both fundamental and complex, tranquil and fierce, and conceptual yet familiar all at once. His music often reflects the expansive and isolated regions of his home state of Vermont with its vast natural splendor , both lush and harsh, haunting and entrancing. It is also often about nothing more than the pure spontaneous creation of sound with friends or alone by himself. This all being said, when thinking of Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court, his love and interest in geology is what felt most notable.
Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court is a work of dense layers, mysterious proportions, and geological time. It is an absolute music that feels more like gazing at the side of a sedimentary basin than a harmonica recording. Time feels suspended throughout each of the movements — marked by breaths but sustained by the air between the sounds, shimmering harmonics, and fluttering combination tones. The sharp teeth of semitone clusters and the glimmers of the wholetone relationships push upward, often bolstered by wider intervals in the lower end of the chords. It is a music of rising, diffusing, warping, cracking, and refracting. The tuning began with a mistake — accidentally flipping the reed plate of a diatonic harmonica while cleaning led to the discovery of a previously impossible arrangement of pitches. Ordinarily, the instrument is constructed so that only half of the reeds can be sounded by blowing out, the other half by drawing air in. In a diatonic harmonica, this allows for conventional harmonies and melodies to be played without unintended dissonances, but by flipping one of these plates, Birdsey inadvertently created a warped and beating stepchild of a harmonica that could produce all of its sound simultaneously with the air traveling in one direction..."
Artist: Henry Birdsey
Label : Poole Music
Henry Birdsey (Old Saw, Tongue Depressor), a pedal steel player from Connecticut, USAThis is a record released by the country's experimental label POOLE in October 2023.
Contains 5 hardcore acoustic drone songs using a modified overtone harmonica. DL code included.
Mastered by Andrew Weathers.
Past workIs also recommended.
Below is a commentary by the label.
"Henry Birdsey is a master of duality. He writes music that is both fundamental and complex, serene and intense, conceptual and yet accessible. His music often reflects the vast, isolated regions of his home state of Vermont. , a reflection of its vast natural splendor, and is often about purely spontaneous sound creation, with friends or alone. His love and interest in geology is most evident when thinking about Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court.
Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court is a work of dense layering, mysterious proportions, and geological time.Rather than a harmonica recording, this is absolute music that feels like looking at the side of a sedimentary basin.Throughout each movement, time feels suspended in space, carved by breath but supported by the air between notes, flickering harmonics, and wavering combination tones.The sharp teeth of the semitone cluster and the sparkle of the whole tone push upwards, often reinforced by wider intervals at the lower end of the chord.It is music that rises, diffuses, distorts, cracks, and refracts.Tuning began when he accidentally flipped over the reed board of a diatonic harmonica while cleaning it, and discovered a previously impossible arrangement of pitches.Normally, musical instruments are constructed so that only half of the reed is blown out to produce the sound, while the other half is produced by sucking in air.On a diatonic harmonica, this allows traditional harmonies and melodies to be played without creating unintended dissonance, but Birdsey flips one of the plates so that the air only goes in one direction. He had inadvertently created a distorted, throbbing stepchild harmonica that could play all the notes at the same time. "
Labels and other worksplease use this form. ///Click here to see more Poole Music releases available at Tobira.
---------------------------------------------
Includes DL code. 12" black vinyl.
Tracklist:
- Seriya Limb 08:08
- Bent Reed 04:26
- Seriya 37 07:02
- Seriya 17 07:53
- Comb Drift 08:39
Text excerpt by Liam Herb, 2023, via the label :
"Henry Birdsey is a master of dualities. He writes music that is both fundamental and complex, tranquil and fierce, and conceptual yet familiar all at once. His music often reflects the expansive and isolated regions of his home state of Vermont with its vast natural splendor , both lush and harsh, haunting and entrancing. It is also often about nothing more than the pure spontaneous creation of sound with friends or alone by himself. This all being said, when thinking of Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court, his love and interest in geology is what felt most notable.
Two Harmonicas in the Jeweler's Court is a work of dense layers, mysterious proportions, and geological time. It is an absolute music that feels more like gazing at the side of a sedimentary basin than a harmonica recording. Time feels suspended throughout each of the movements — marked by breaths but sustained by the air between the sounds, shimmering harmonics, and fluttering combination tones. The sharp teeth of semitone clusters and the glimmers of the wholetone relationships push upward, often bolstered by wider intervals in the lower end of the chords. It is a music of rising, diffusing, warping, cracking, and refracting. The tuning began with a mistake — accidentally flipping the reed plate of a diatonic harmonica while cleaning led to the discovery of a previously impossible arrangement of pitches. Ordinarily, the instrument is constructed so that only half of the reeds can be sounded by blowing out, the other half by drawing air in. In a diatonic harmonica, this allows for conventional harmonies and melodies to be played without unintended dissonances, but by flipping one of these plates, Birdsey inadvertently created a warped and beating stepchild of a harmonica that could produce all of its sound simultaneously with the air traveling in one direction..."
Artist: Henry Birdsey
Label : Poole Music
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