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WER073, June 2024

PABLO LIENHARD Hyperconnected and Happily Panicking Pablo Lienhard - crackle synth featuring: Violeta Garcia - cello Mariana Carvalho - voice, pot, water, hydrophone Alex Riva - plastic soprano recorder, glass ball lamp Mazen Kerbaj - crackle synth Chris Pitsiokos - alto saxophone Audrey Chen - voice, ciat-lonbarde ‚fourses‘ Beat Keller - feedbacker electric guitar JD Zazie - turntables, cdjs Florian Kolb - askomandoura Release Shows: The album release takes the form of a mini-festival taking place at Morphine Records Raum on June 15th, 19th and 22nd. Pablo Lienhard is inviting: Saturday, June 15th Chris Pitsiokos (alto saxophone) Audrey Chen (voice, analogue electronics) Wednesday, June 19th Mariana Carvalho (voice, pot, water) Beat Keller (feedbacker electric guitar) Paula Sanchez (cello) Saturday, June 22nd JD Zazie (CDJs, turntable) Alex Riva (recorders) Florian Kolb (bagpipes) Schrödinger or Boom Boom God (fake industrial folklore) Morphine Records

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Pablo Lienhard, Hyperconnected and Happily Panicking

„Hyperconnected and Happily Panicking“ (Wide Ear Records, WER073) is the new album of Swiss artist Pablo Ulises Lienhard. It features nine duos with artists from the Berlin and Swiss experimental and improvised music scenes, the link between all of them being Pablo’s use of a self-built approximation of Michel Waisvisz' crackle synth.

The nine tracks range from abstract improvised electroacoustic music and noise to experimental drone, showcasing a wide array of less and more common acoustic and electronic instruments, as well as different practices and playing techniques. The fascinating, edgy and slightly obscure DIY instrument serves as a thread throughout the record.

Excerpt from the liner notes: „While researching DIY electronic instruments around 2020, I stumbled upon the crackle synth and decided to attempt building a version. Since I couldn’t source the original schematics of the crackle synth, an instrument that has never been on the market, by the way, I decided to build my own alternate version, an approximation of the instrument including some personal features and twists. For the construction, I based myself on speculations of DIY hackers on how the original instrument could have been built. The result is an instrument that is definitely similar and "crackle" but also quite different from the original in a lovely way.

The crackle synth is a 1970s electronic DIY instrument first built by Dutch sound artist Michel Waisvisz. The instrument is basically some sort of radio circuit that is being misused by circuit bending. The performer will temporarily create absurd connections and feedback loops between electric components using patch cables or their own body. The system is sensitive to touch, temperature, and humidity. The emitted sounds meander between fragile stability and unpredictable pseudo-chaotic behavior.

On one hand, "Hyperconnected and Happily Panicking" is a documentation project. On the other hand, it functions as a sort of concept album, a collaborative body of work, and a network of encounters and conversations. For this album, I ended up playing duo improvisations only. The beauty of the duo context is that both instruments can cut through if they want but can also blend together easily. As opposed to playing alone, having a duo partner who can react smoothly, helps make musical sense of the crackle synth’s lurking unpredictability. The duo becomes actually sort of a trio with the crackle synth being a third entity imposing the piece’s dramaturgy to some extent.

I was very happy to work together with old and new friends and acquaintances that I’ve met in Zürich and in Berlin over the years. Violeta Garc'a on cello, Mariana Carvalho using voice and objects inside a water-filled pot recorded with a hydrophone, Alex Riva on his plastic soprano recorder played inside a glass ball lamp, Mazen Kerbaj performing on an original crackle synth, using prepared speakers and other objects, Chris Pitsiokos on alto saxophone, Audrey Chen using voice and the ciat-lonbarde ‘fourses’ (another pseudo-chaotic DIY instrument), Beat Keller on the feedbacker electric guitar (a very special and custom made electric guitar with a feedback speaker inside the body), JD Zazie on CDJs and turntables, interacting with both digital and physical realms and finally Florian Kolb on the askomandoura, a traditional bagpipe from Crete. Together with Florian, we form the duo "Schrödinger or Boom Boom God“.“

(Pablo Ulises Lienhard)

More information on the project can be found here: pablolienhard.com/Crackle-Synth

photo credit: Pablo Lienhard

Album Credits
Pablo Ulises Lienhard in crackle conversations with nine different artists

A
„the inevitability of Icarus‘ flight towards the sun“ with Violeta Garc'a (cello)
„sirens“ with Mariana Carvalho (voice, pot, water, hydrophone)
„Kreischvögel“ with Alex Riva (plastic soprano recorder, glass ball lamp)
"ghost in the shell“ with Mazen Kerbaj (crackle synth)

B
„Tanz“ with Chris Pitsiokos (alto saxophone)
"daily dose of drama“ with Audrey Chen (voice, ciat-lonbarde ‚fourses‘)
"confusion is ... hyperangelical“ with Beat Keller (feedbacker electric guitar)
"oscillating between horniness and falling asleep“ with JD Zazie (turntables, cdjs)
"enchanted“ as duo ‚Schrödinger or Boom Boom God‘ with Florian Kolb (askomandoura)

all tracks performed on a self-built approximation of Michel Waisvisz‘
‚crackle synthesizer‘ at times combined with a sampler or drum machine

Wide Ear Records, 2024
recorded in Berlin, Bern and Zürich between October 2022 and June 2023
mixed by Varoujan Chetirian | mastered and cut by Rashad Becker
cover artwork by Mazen Kerbaj | graphic design by Pablo Ulises Lienhard
many thanks to Popkredit der Stadt Zürich, Elisabeth Weber-Stiftung and C. und A. Kupper Stiftung for the generous support

Thanks a lot to everyone who supported or helped me in any way during the process. Special thanks go to Léa, Varoujan, Lua, Rabih, Ilia, Marta, Lara, Firuza, Vica, Gleb, Natálie, Xaver, David, Kristina, Nata… and finally to Popkredit der Stadt Zürich for the Auslandatelier-Stipendium in Berlin that actually gave me the time to work on this project and Wide Ear Records for their trust and for adding this record to their beautiful catalogue.

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