Six Moving Guitars
is the musically and conceptually ambitious debut record from
composer/guitarist Fredrik Rasten. The recording was made by Rasten and
five collaborators -- both musicians and dancers -- at a church in Norway
in 2018. The performance is an interactive sonic exploration of the space
in which it was recorded, each performer wielding an acoustic guitar tuned
in just intonation, a manner of tuning wholly different than how
instruments are typically tuned. A choreography is played out with the
guitars, which was developed as a way to link the unique sound of the
guitars in just intonation and the space they were being played in. Rasten
developed material and various playing techniques that are played out by
both musicians and non-musicians. This is intentional, as Rasten refers to
the music as "
a study in how people, without necessarily being trained musicians, can
act together in a musical situation based on awareness of listening and
spatial orientation."
Musically the record is filled with seemingly simple plucked and
strummed guitar patterns. The six voices bounce small ideas off one
another, thoroughly in conversation, and ultimately create a complex
fabric of sound. It is slow moving, steady and consistent, breathing
gradually and moving between sections. Before you know it the music has
reached a new section, bled into from what came before it. This is
music that very successfully invokes elements of Minimalism, and nearly
New Age.
Rasten has created a hypnotizing, beguiling listen, both in part to the
aforementioned way the music unfolds, as well as the textures coming
from the non-traditionally tuned guitars. Overtones abound -- they
wobble and throb, and often it is hard to place from where a sound
came. There is a spareness to the recording but the sound is
nonetheless full, aided in part by the waving. encompassing chordal
textures.
Though separated into five tracks, Six Moving Guitars is
really one long piece. Consistent throughout is the footsteps and
incidental noise generated from the movement of the performers. This
becomes an essential part of the recording, an element not unlike the
clinking of glasses of music recorded at a club. It acts as well as a
near percussive drone, shuffling under the guitars like a quiet cymbal.
The pulse really only changes during the fourth piece "Running," during
which the choreography seems to be the namesake for the piece, as
rhythmic running steps beat quickly in time, achieving a tone different
than what came before. A phasing effect is even subtly achieved, as the
steps come closer and drift further from the mic. The effect is
mesmerizing.
When listening to Rasten's record one may recall the music of the late
guitarist Rod Poole (as well as Poole's Acoustic Guitar Trio with Nels
Cline and Jim McAuley), a master practitioner of the guitar tuned in
just intonation. Though of a different overall aesthetic and intention,
there is indeed a comparison. Both make shimmering, ringing acoustic
guitar music, that achieves a feeling of boundlessness among many sonic
worlds. Rasten has released a beautiful debut record, and I'm excited
to see what comes next for him.
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