these pieces together make up the last two parts of a three-part suite called mountains.* the common characteristic of all these pieces is the combination of three elements: contrabass, field recordings, and something else - other instruments, a particular performative aspect - that challenges and enriches the first two elements. the contrabass becomes a figure on a ground, encountering a familiar and welcome other. 

1. a valley of unfold

in a valley of unfold, the contrabass is prominent against the field, and the other it encounters is a hall-of-mirrors of both itself and fretless bass guitar. the ground against which these elements move is tricky terrain, with rushing waters and crashing scrap metal. avou was performed live, with all but one bass part pre-recorded, and all material assembled on the fly with a bass and computer.

recordings from holyoke ma, and iceland, combined with live and pre-recorded acoustic bass and bass guitar. original 8-channel cube version recorded live at the school of the museum of fine arts at tufts, boston, ma, on 23 september 2018.

2. a mountain of reveal

this work consists of three scenes, or acts, with an epilogue.

the heart of this piece is a recording made at a lake tucked among the pyrenees, where a children's party across the lake competes with fishermen's nearby mutterings, combined with hydrophone recordings from a small waterfall; rumbling bass drums and contrabass (this time lurking underneath all) flutter and ripple across the burbling scene like thunderheads over the ridge. the piece concludes with a hard drift sideways across surprising memories.

field recordings made by mb in ariege, france; bass drums recorded in new york city with percussionists sandy gordon & sean meehan. voices: participants at camp residency, aulus-les-bains, france, september 2018; working from pauline oliveros' sonic meditations, which were used by permission of the pauline oliveros foundation. original 8-channel ring version premiered at diffusion festival at the red room, baltimore md, 15 december 2018.

"avof recorded live by jerry macdonald, luke damrosch, and jose rivera; mixed and mastered by luke damrosch. amor recorded, mixed and mastered by mb at ears in space, holyoke, ma."

*the first part was a mountain (coming around), released on homophoni in 2010.

thanks to:

james, sarah, claire, clutch, erika, luisa, nicolo, and oona at camp for their voices, ears, and opportunities. the people and land of the ariege region. jeff carey and diffusion festival for hosting the premiere of amor, and susanna bolle and non-event for hosting the premier of avou. sean and sandy for their mastery of bass drums, soups, and donuts. carole ione and the pauline oliveros foundation for the kind permission to use pauline's sonic meditations.