Expanse
Amplitudes
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… Not long ago, David reached out and said he was ready to do some sessions again, so I set up this one with 4 of the 5 players from the Expanse meets the JMDE Quartet sessions and with newbie Kelsey Gallagher replacing Jimmy Zhao on clarinet. David, Eric and Michael played a lot together as a unit with a lot of subtle and quieter sounds. The origins of Expanse explored this territory, but as time has gone on, we have trended a bit towards larger ensembles and bigger sonorities. Amplitudes returns to this space, having a lower mean dynamic than most Evil Clown sessions so the quieter sounds speak clearly. We all enjoyed this quintet lineup for Expanse, and I will calendar this Expanse Edition for more performance in the future.…”
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA
3 January 2026
1) Amplitudes – 1:11:29
2) Intensity of the Fluctuating Quantities – 5:27
PEK – clarinet, bass, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto & tenor saxophones, shenai, piccolo oboe, contrabassoon, melodica, bass flute, bass ocarina, brontosaurus & tank bells, spring & chime rod boxes, 17 string bass, [d]ronin, lfo percolator, drone boxes, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, ms-20, prophet, syntrx, soma pipe, gongs, plate gong, wood & temple blocks, triangle chimes, guiro, ratchet, log drums, Englephone, danmo, triangle chimes, Tibetan bells. chimes & bowls, almglocken, array mbira, kalimba, cow bells, balafon, xylophone, orchestral anvils, chimes, & castanets, seed pod rattles, shaker
Kelsey Gallagher – clarinet, mouthpiece & barrel, melodica, xylophone, balafon, seed pod rattles, shaker, Tibetan bowls, almglocken, balafon, orchestral anvils, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, drone boxes, triangle chimes, lfo percolator, log drums, wood & temple blocks, brontosaurus & tank bells, glockenspiel, crotales, 17 string bass, syntrx
David Welans – piccolo, boehm C flute, dizi-boehm flute, ocarina, prophet, nord stage 3, balafon, xylophone, Tibetan bowls, log drums, crotales, wood & temple blocks, chimes, brontosaurus bell, rubber chicken
Eric Dahlman – trumpet, overtone voice, game call, Tibetan bells, almglocken, moog subsequent, novation peak, Linnstrument controllers, nord stage 3, prophet, almglocken, balafon
Michael Knoblach – the excessive washboard, sheep shears, vintage childrens rattles, clock chime, jar of nails, cast iron skillet, pitchfork, balloon inflator, egg beater, tit-fers, wooden billiards trigangle, water filled mason jar, native American turtle rattle, acme siren whistle, sand blocks, small native American drum, majik wands, horse’s assophone
Joel Simches – live to 2-track recording, real-time signal processing
Evil Clown Album Page
Full Video
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Liner Notes by PEK
In May of 2021, I opened Evil Clown Headquarters to other fully vaccinated musicians, and the first session of the new age was scheduled for the second set of the Expanse sound world. Michael and I both enjoyed the auspicious first set right before the pandemic shut down and collaboration became an ongoing Evil Clown project, both as a duet for some sets and as a larger unit for others. As an ongoing project, it needed a permanent name, so after some thought I came up with Expanse which evokes space and restraint, the central idea behind this ensemble at its inception.
Michael has been our most frequent percussionist across the Evil Clown Ensembles and Expanse has had a number of different approaches over the last few years. Amplitudes is somewhat a return to some of the early Expanse sessions. When Michael came on board he had a regular working group called the JMDE quartet which included Jimmy Zhao on Chinese instruments, along with David Welans and Eric Dahlman. The JMDE Quartet came to Evil Clown Headquarters and did 2 sessions in fall of 2021 as Expanse meets the JMDE Quartet and subsequently, Jimmy brought other Chinese musicians to Leap of Faith Chinese Orchestra sets and David Welans came to a number of Turbulence Orchestra sets in 2022. Jimmy and David both fell off the radar after a while, which is not unusual in the Evil Clown Roster.
Not long ago, David reached out and said he was ready to do some sessions again, so I set up this one with 4 of the 5 players from the Expanse meets the JMDE Quartet sessions and with newbie Kelsey Gallagher replacing Jimmy Zhao on clarinet. David, Eric and Michael played a lot together as a unit with a lot of subtle and quieter sounds. The origins of Expanse explored this territory, but as time has gone on, we have trended a bit towards larger ensembles and bigger sonorities. Amplitudes returns to this space, having a lower mean dynamic than most Evil Clown sessions so the quieter sounds speak clearly. We all enjoyed this quintet lineup for Expanse, and I will calendar this Expanse Edition for more performance in the future.
I was expecting this to be a great session, and I was not disappointed.
PEK, 4 January 2026
Paul Brennan Photos
and Video Screen Grabs
