Squidco Blurb

David Peck, aka PEK, took advantage of the down time from his typically busy performance schedule with the Boston-area collective of bands centered around Leap of Faith to record a number of solo performances, using a variety of reed and wind instruments and the arsenal of unusual percussive instruments at his disposal, recording the 3 full CDs of new material presented in this set.

Squidco Staff

Liner Notes by PEK

Every once in a while, there is a break in the crazy schedule here at Evil Clown and I have some time to do a solo album. Our grand olde pal, the Corona Virus has provided such a break in spades…. At the beginning of the year, it appeared that the year would be our busiest yet… We did a bunch of albums in January, February and the first weeks of March, and then I was forced to cancel a bunch of wonderful performances scheduled for the months that followed. So, I caught up all my old business: web site, social media, distribution, and the other non-musical activity required to drive the enterprise. Then I took a month off… my biggest rest since I started up in 2015 after my long hiatus. In mid-May I started up again, conceiving some new means of producing some of the enormous output normally achieved by Evil Clown.

I did some solo performances in the 90s period which presented a few interesting problems since I like to perform in a very long format with many instrument changes. So, I developed a few techniques for continuing the improvisations across instrument changes. Since the Evil Clown reboot in 2015, some of my solo albums have used these methods, but most of them have involved the construction of a mix of electronically processed samples. The samples are made from excerpts of performances by the various Evil Clown Ensembles and some specially recorded in the studio. The mix is completed before the solo track is added and then I make decisions in real time during the improvisation regarding whether to include the sample track or not, and if present, how loud it is relative to the solo. This was a satisfying way to meet my aesthetic intent to make all the decisions in real time – a key element of my Pure Improvisation aesthetic. I also have used similarly prepared mixes as accompaniment tracks for Metal Chaos Ensemble, Mekaniks and other Evil Clown Ensembles.

The shear amount of time made available by not working with other musicians presented opportunity for a different approach to solo records. I decided to leverage compositional concepts used in preparing my graphic scores for the Leap of Faith Orchestra. The scores layout long (75 minutes) forms using simple symbols, and English language direction on a timeline and then the orchestra interprets the directions with the aid of a large sports clock. The result is a sequence of sonorities (textures) resulting from the interpretation. The score is meant to address a fundamental problem of improvisations by large ensembles where the tendency is to produce a wall of sound with insufficient development. The resulting work is both compositional and yet fully improvised, since no melodic, harmonic or rhythmic details are specified.

I realized that I could create large scale improvisational compositions for myself to perform using studio overdubbing techniques with the tools that I already had on-hand. This new compositional concept also bridges the gap between composition and improvisation, but from another direction. I devised a methodology for constructing such compositions which premiered with PEK Solo – Schisms, released in early April. I created large groups of short (2, 3 and 5 minute) improvisations with 4 to 8 tracks of overdubbing with carefully selected sets of instruments – mostly of homogeneous texture (for example: low reeds, metal percussion, all clarinets, etc.). I then selected from this large set of short pieces and arranged them in an 80-minute sequence, with some gaps in between and some layered together to create thicker textures.

The next step is to perform two tracks through the entire duration with supporting texture. These tracks each use a ton of instruments arranged all through the studio, so that I can make rapid changes in sonority to match or contrast with the prepared accompaniment mix. This is a fundamental difference from the regular studio overdubbing technique of recording single instruments for short durations – perhaps even taking many attempts to settle on a final take.

The last set is to perform two tracks through the entire duration with solos and some additional supporting texture. I set up a bunch of horns, electronics and percussion instruments and make many instrument changes throughout the duration. In some ways, this is very similar to a performance with other improvisors where you react in real time to the sound produced by the others and seek an ensemble equilibrium. In other ways, it is completely different, since the other sounds are previously produced, and further, I can watch the wave form on the computer screen and see dynamic events in advance of their occurrence, allowing a level of event synchronization greater than typically achieved in pure improvisation and not unlike some of the events presented in my Frame Notation Scores for the Leap of Faith Orchestra. Also, the other sounds were produced by me utilizing my phrasing approach to improvisation and it is very simple for me to imitate and interact with myself.

I was super happy with the results of my effort for Schisms before my little vacation and set out to follow up on its core concepts when I finished my rest and resumed working. So, I devised a new system for producing short pieces for the first main construction step: I recorded many short works like before with 4 to 8 layers, but this time, I made multiple mixes of each: one with all the layers, but also several with sub-sets of the available layers. This gives an even greater selection of material for producing the primary accompaniment mix and more options for varying the density of the Phase 2 mix. In fact, I produced so much material in Phase 1, it was immediately clear that I had enough for several albums. Rather than making several records, I decided that I would compose a Trilogy: A single composition of 3 eighty-minute movements on 3 CDs. The result: Some Truths are Known…

I play many instruments: Some, like saxophones, I studied formally for long periods. Others, like Sheng, I acquired and learned technique without formal training or the detailed cultural references which are ordinarily available to performers of that instrument. I call my approach to these instruments naïve, meaning that my language for that instrument is derived from my language on other families of instruments and my general aesthetic, and not through formal study. In an ordinary public or live-streaming performance I use 10 or 12 horns, some percussion selected from the huge arsenal, and perhaps some electronic or string instruments. For Some Truths are known, I used by far the biggest selection of instruments ever: I list about 110 instruments in the credits. The combination of the core compositional concepts with a such a long duration work and such a huge arsenal of instrumentation have produced my newest major work, equal in transformational capability and complexity to the 6 performances of my Frame Notation Scores for the Leap of Faith Orchestra utilizing 18 to 25 improvisors.

PEK 7/13/2020