"Malapert and Erratic''

Or "a peculiar use of language"

Current Obsessions

When approached to put together a release for Linear Obsessional I initially considered providing a
long structured solo soprano saxophone piece. This would have excluded the greater part of my
current activity and interest. In particular my aspiration to remove performance completely and
publish little instructions on the re-creation and manipulation of sound, thereby sharing experiences
for further experimentation.

On the publicity postcard for the "Unclear" CDR I wrote:

It has sometimes felt that I have played the same tune for over half of my life, having involved myself
with the continual refinement of the listening and sound making process and the application of ink or

oil pastel on paper.

I have always had my doubts. I cannot see, and cannot conclude by logic, that there is any virtue in
taking up the pen, an instrument or a brush. Also, I only recognise beauty on occasions, maybe
tasting the air during a thunderstorm over Tarragona, or hearing the hiss of rain as it runs from the
roof of the Duomo di Bergamo, or observing the special position of a special ankle in Slovenia, or the
smell of a red rose in a Paris hotel room, or disquieting days in Clichy, or twilight throws of a dice
amongst crepuscular stars.

I am not sure when an assemblage of words makes a poem, or when form in clay, stone or on
canvas moves beyond artifice, or when the organisation of sounds creates music. I am often moved
by the trivial and remain untouched by the sublime.

And yet, these activities I find compelling. They become raptures. It is as things would be if beauty
were to conquer both time and truth, banishing the lions of regret, obscuring further that that is
already unclear.

Hyperbole! Maybe.

I have not reached the point where I can abandon the performance of music as periods where a
saxophone is not available to play are met with a feeling of irritability at best. I have not attained a
selfless state banishing any fetish for the material products of music, but remain a hungry collector
of recordings. I'm not planning to stop listening to Beethoven, but sound does not stop where the
"music" ends.

Multiplicity

In 1984 100 cassette tapes were duplicated under the title of "Etwas Zu Essen". The material was
recorded during a single day and I did not have the facility to multi-track.

In 2000 I produced the 1^* edition of "The 52 Noisy Little Clouds". CDRs of solo saxophone inventions
produced at a rate of one per week and delivered to 52 recipients. This was followed in 2009/10
with the 2"^* edition. This was a more elaborate affair with each CDR presented in a box with
photographs, postcards and other material. Again the premise was to produce a unique recording
weekly, but in this instance additional "stock" material was incorporated and multi-tracking
available.

"The Unclear" is an ongoing CDR project where only the title is preserved. Sometimes they are
issued with the same material, but as pieces become redundant or a better example becomes
available, a piece may be replaced.

These Recordings

All of the recording was completed over the period between 21^* April 23:00 and 22"'' April 23:00.
The recordings were then edited and assembled over the following week prior to release. I use
headphones a lot and would suggest that this is the best way of listening to these pieces.

The greater part of "Malapert and Erratic" uses a selection and arrangement process with the
equipment I know best (homemade percussion, game call). Each is presented with as much
emotional detachment as I can manage.

1. Cheap Honey Dripping Upon The Chewed Hearts (D-hole acoustic guitar)

The guitar was my first instrument and the one that I received formal training on whilst at school.
Several years ago I purchased a D-hole guitar, a wonderful instrument reminiscent of the type played
by Django Reinhardt. The immediate issue was its incompatibility with the saxophone. I worked at
both instruments together for awhile, but noticed that timings and dexterities became unavailable
or altered subtly on the saxophone. Although these would not be perceivable by an audience, they
became significant within my playing. The guitar is now an occasional instrument but one that isn't
left alone to gather dust.

2. For Your Entertainment, The Hermit Emerges From His Grotto, Cheap Suited, To Bite The
Helpless Purveyor Of Crap (Sopranino "Piranha" Saxophone and metal reverberation)

The piece was recorded with gongs and cymbals hung from the ceiling. The middle section uses a toy
that works as a feedback device. The sopranino saxophone ("Piranha" due to its bite) was my
principle instrument from 2000 to 2005. I abandoned it for a time as suitable reeds were not
available. I was using modified soprano reeds, but these were inconsistent. Recently I found another
maker of reeds that work very well. The gongs are Vietnamese and of various sizes, the largest being
90cm.

■ ■— — m ■ li

3. The Pit Of Sartorial Inelegance (Burnt, blackened and charred piano)

My daughter's piano was condemned by the piano tuner and was wheeled into the garden. I had
wanted to experiment with a piano left out in the elements and this provided the opportunity to
create a series of recordings over a period of months as the instrument's playability decreased. After
a couple of days it rained. Almost immediately the veneer began to peel, the white keys flaked away
and the water swelled the keys making them unusable (unless struck with a hammer). The
instrument was then decorated with flowers and left for a couple of years. In January 2012, The
Alpha Males provided an opportunity for the final demise of the instrument. The piano was set alight
one night and filmed. The results were incorporated within a film that was shown during a concert.

This piano is now a machine of inconsistency. Operations cannot be repeated, as striking the
keyboard in the same place twice elicits different results. Some keys have ceased to work at all. The
strings are loose or non-existent and exhibit unpredictable pitch shifts. The instrument is best
approached from underneath (it is an upright) and bunches of canes were used to scrape, hit and
stroke the strings. The peddles are also redundant, being detached and have no impact on the
sound. Birds, planes and an electric drill can be heard in the background.

Stills from the Alpha Males film:

4. From The Diaries Of Tlie Too Numerous Cursed Poets (Very hot liquids)

This piece was devised for boiling water, hot fat, synthesizer and sopranino saxophone. This is the
second piece I have recorded using this instrumentation and approach and is largely the result of
finding the appeal in listening to Noise IVlusic at low volume levels. The piece uses four frying pans
initially containing only water. Variation is created by allowing the pans to nearly boil dry, adding
and melting fat into the water, and adjusting the gas. The synthesizer uses a touch pad that can be
operated using a small stone allowing the saxophone to be played.

5. Citron Steals The Blue Marble From The Civet Cat In The Garden Of The Bitter Ideal
(Percussion, Game Calls etcetera)

All instruments are well established and reliable friends. Snare drum, Raspy Coaxer, thigh bone
trumpet, broken cymbal, a pair of Chinese cymbals, nails, soil, broken glass, marble and wrapping. Of
the many small instruments acquired over the years, these have had the biggest impact on the
overall performance sound. An exercise in selection and arrangement with each idea abandoned
only after some extended use and little by way of development. Recorded in my shed).

6. Black, With Bleeding And Pale Wing (Environment)

The piece was recorded in woodland called the "Hangings" near Whiteleaf, Bucks. The objective was
to capture some interaction with the surrounding environment. The tapes played on location were
made some years ago and game calls, melodica and harmonica are recorded at various distances
from the microphone. Some days the birds are louder. Some days there are foxes and deer. A day
with a little less wind may have been desirable.

7. Adjusting The Windows In The Loneliness Of My Car So That The Wind Whistles Through
At An III Defined Pitch And Volume (Soprano Saxophone "Castrato")

For many years I have played the soprano saxophone as my primary instrument. In this recording
there was no score and the intent was to demonstrate some typical saxophony utilising the sounds
and techniques that I regard as being at the core of my playing and placing the right sound in the
right place in relation to the other sounds that came before and in preparation for those after.
Recorded at home. I would acknowledge that some semblance of emotive behaviour will have
worked its way into the execution of this piece. I deliberated as to whether to add any reverberation
to the finished piece and withheld, leaving the sound to be dry but honest.

4

Photographs (In order):

1. Scan of a nice Hawaiian shirt that I own.

2. Still from a short promotional film (Isabel Browne pictured).

3. Two stills from the Alpha Males film. Piano appears to be located on Coombe Hill near
Aylesbury. Thanks to Jon Samsworth for the production of this image.

4. Piano before burning.

5. Interior of my shed.

6. Melted wax crayon piece by Eleanor Browne.

7. Bone found on the day of recording at the Hangings.

8. The Hangings.

9. Old pastel drawing.

10. Picture taken by Amelia Browne at a Red Rose Christmas concert 2005.

The remainder were taken on Coombe Hill and feature Thomas Browne's collection of animal bones.

Thanks also to Janice.