Diego Stocco and students at the Black Bird Academy, Sonic Improvisation.

Описание: This was easily one of the most enjoyable, wild and creative sessions I’ve ever done! A warm Thank You to Mark Rubel and the talented students at the Blackbird Academy for participating in this improvised sonic experience.

If you’re wondering what’s going on here, here’s a recap: It started with a story of a cow arriving at a beautiful country field, where things are quite magical but also a bit strange. At some point, things start to get more intense as a bigger and mysterious animal arrives, but not to worry, because the bigger animal (you can decide what it is based on what the sound inspires you) is a force of good and it is there to have a great time with the cow, in this beautiful country field filled with sounds and rhythm.

To create this sound design/musical experience I picked some instrument based on their timbre, then I put together some processing rigs (some pedals and some plugins in the box) to process the sound of guitars, bass, floor tom, violin, cowbells, bells, a vintage crank organ and my Manual Machine. For the occasion I also built the Big Animal Call, a horn-like instrument made with a vintage Ford Model T horn and a deer animal call.

After pre-recording some elements to create a gentle bed and crescendo, I assigned the students an instrument (also based on their preference and familiarity) and we then proceeded to improvise on top, without a fully defined structure. In essence, an exercise in creative chaos!

The first take was like a primordial soup of sounds where the students had to figure out what was happening. We then talked about what we heard, figuring out what worked best and what could be improved. With those notes in mind, we recorded a second take, where we felt more in sync with each other and our sounds, and grew the whole thing into a powerful crescendo.