Recently I've been experimenting/tinkering with various tape loops and have documented two of my personal favourites for your listening pleasure: I am Sitting in a Room (30 Second Tape Loop Version): I was inspired to create my own shortened version of Alvin Lucier's classic 'I am Sitting in a Room' (a personal favourite of mine!) with two Sony TCM-939 Cassette Recorders and two 30 second tape loops. What surprised me is how quickly my words become unintelligible, with the tones/resonant harmonies of the room taking over. Tree Branch Lo-fi Noise Tape Loop: I used a contact microphone hooked up to a cassette recorder to document the creaks, groans and bustle of leaves as a tree swayed in the wind near our house. Fragments of the raw recording were looped with a small branch/twigs becoming a handy capstan for the magnetic tape. Experimentation with a Boss DD-3 thrown in for added fun! These extended tape loop pieces are great fun to create, especially finding unusual objects for the tape to loop around.
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I'm very excited to announce the release of 'Microcassette From A Greek Answering Machine' 3″CDr compilation on Quagga Curious Sounds, this is the result of a call-out I put out on EC in November 2018. Blow you can listen to streaming audio 320 kbps mp3 and download the six tracks in WAV file format!
Just to recap: the idea behind this compilation came about when Manolis Pappas (Coherent States) found a damaged microcassette whilst out walking in the suburbs of Agia Paraskevi (Greece). He very kindly sent me the microcassette and upon receiving it just over three minutes of lo-fi audio was discovered: frenzied messages, background music/noise and your typical beeps and chatter from the answering machine itself!
I invited EC members to download the found audio and rework it anyway they liked. Six artists responded: Frank Audiffret, Mike Nobody, Rinus Van Alebeek, Rafael González, Dylan Houser and myself, the result is an eclectic and amazing mix of experimental audio art! A massive thank you goes out to the contributing artists!
One aspect of running a DIY label I enjoy is working on the packaging and art, this project was no exception. The cover and one of the inserts are derived from collages created from fragments of degraded posters and leaflets I found on the street, inspired by how the microcassette was found. The CDr itself is embellished with a rubber-stamped microcassette inspired design.
If you wish to purchase the 3"CDr, prices in GBP (including shipping) are: £4.00 (UK) £6.25 (Europe) £7.00 (rest of the World).
Please contact: mike-ridge[AT]hotmail.co.uk
1. Frank Audiffret — Gambatam
2. Mike Nobody — Ken's Airplane Fridge Vacation
3. Rinus Van Alebeek — Watch Your Nose
4. Rafael González — Untitled 12-08-2018
5. Dylan Houser — Fresh Carbonation
6. Michael Ridge — Message From The Background Noise
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Michael RidgeAs an artist I create works in various formats, but most often it involves sound and found objects. Archives |