Radio Silence No More

xx MUSIC & HANGOUTS

Germany / 2007 / 40'
Concert

“There is something in Ulher’s art that
makes her a highly interesting musician.
Sometimes I imagine her trumpet as
some sort of microscope, with a set of
lenses that unexpectedly turns a
grainy image into brocade.”
– Johan Redin

Air, breathe in, breathe out, diaphragm, oral cavity, tongue, lips, trumpet, reflection, composition, improvisation, sound, silence, multiphonics, extended techniques, original preparations of the instrument, room acoustics, digital sound processing, field recordings, extended speakers, quadrophonics, trumpet as transmitter and receiver, as an acoustic chamber, festivals, club scene, original venues, independent and academic scene.

Tomaž Grom

Birgit Ulher uses extended speakers, fed with radio noise in her trumpet mutes. The trumpet functions as an acoustic chamber and modulates the radio noise, thus the trumpet is transmitter and receiver at the same time. She also uses metal sheets as ‘vibrating systems’. By varying the pressure on the metal sheets, which are held against the trumpet bell, she creates multiphonics and splitting sounds. In addition to trumpet and mutes, Ulher’s instruments on the solo album Radio Silence No More are radio and particularly speakers. Also in this area she has stretched the limit for both the speaker’s capacity and its functionality. What remains is an element that could more accurately be compared to percussion. Actually, Ulher’s playing with radio noise sometimes sounds completely electronic, although the music is essentially acoustic.

Organisation: Zavod Sploh. In collaboration with City of Women and Menza pri koritu – ACC Metelkova city.