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Sprung Strung One

from Body Listen Ambient by craque

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Electro-acoustic improvisation with amplified sound board, tabletop guitar and found objects, modular synths, and other wackiness.

The featured electro-acoustic device is an instrument I built about 20 years ago from a 2x6 plank of spare lumber I had from a construction project. I lived in Chicago at the time and participated in a lot of experimental music shows and dance events. Eric Leonardson had a large studio on my block, and we spent some time together improvising and doing some collaborations. I was inspired by his Spring Board that he used in conjunction with an array looping machines.

I had been playing music with amplified objects since college in Blacksburg and later living in DC touring with Comma and Gray Code across the mid-Atlantic. Seeing the Spring Board pushed me to create a kind of "junk harp" board of my own that I could use as a platform to improvise with amplified objects: the Hunquejarp.

It was the central element of my improvisations for a long time, and went through several stages of trying to get the contact mics and amplification-without-noise just right. I went through 3-4 different variations of onboard impedance matching DIY amplifiers and different ways to attach contact mics with glue, tape, and screws.

Then I moved to California, and opportunities to do free improv in a group setting - even just live music at all - decreased rapidly. Chicago is a much better music city for underground experimentation. After a few limited shows the Hunquejarp was shelved, and quickly fell into disrepair. I'm actually surprised that some of the original parts still worked well.

Last week I decided to pull it out and rework its organs. I took a chance attaching a newly built piezo contact mic to the board with epoxy putty called Milliput, and it works beautifully... nearly no noise at all at high gain, and the little disc of molded putty provides another wonderful tactile surface for found-object noisemaking.

This was also one of those improvisations where I got to the end and hoped that I had been playing for at least 20 minutes, because it felt like it had been barely 10, not realizing that I had been playing for 45. :)

I hope you enjoy this extended electro-acoustic sonic meditation!

credits

from Body Listen Ambient, released January 3, 2024
Original video: youtu.be/7WkycamrpPU

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craque Fullerton, California

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