Dawn Chorales
As an artist working with sounds that tend to be science adjacent, one phenomenon that I’m continually intrigued by is the concept of the dawn chorus – both with regard to the ornithological sense of the term, as well as the electromagnetic – not to mention the various confluences that the two may engender. In the case of the former, while not a birder, or at least not one as devoted as numerous colleagues, the avian dawn chorus is an interesting measurement of the ecological health of a region – simply put, barring some exceptions, more birds equals a healthier ecosystem – and on several occasions, one can track a noticeable difference in activity as human development encroaches farther and farther into the few remaining wild spots left on this planet. With that in mind, I find myself continually compelled to document these moments of birdsong whenever I can, which, in this case, typically manifests as an early morning activity (possibly triggered by my own personal response to the electromagnetic dawn chorus) that I typically start my day with while on holiday in the tropics.
Tracklisting:
- The Black Blood of the Ordovician
- Onward to the next locality, equally devoid of the blood of snow
- Automated pleasure constructions designed to simulate authenticity entirely outside of indigenous norms
- Manuel Antonio, 5 AM, nearly 20 years after my last encounter
Vaux Flores
Travis Johns is a sound artist residing in Ithaca, NY, whose work includes performance, interactivity, installation, and printmaking, often incorporating eco/bio-based themes and electronic instruments of his own design. As an improviser he performs primarily on electric bass and electronics; with studies in the field conducted under the tutelage of Fred Frith, Joelle Leandre, and Butch Morris, among others. Active in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, Johns moved to Costa Rica in 2011 where he collaborated extensively with visual artist Paulina Velazquez-Solis on Raro, an immersive installation that represented Costa Rica in the 2013 Biennial of the Central American Isthmus (BAVIC).
Since returning to the states, he’s continued to apply his trade as a composer, educator and instrument builder under the nom de plume of Vaux Flores, with clientele and collaborators ranging from museums, theatre groups and dance troupes to Academy award-winning film composers and Grammy award-winning musicians. He holds a B.M. in Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studies conducted with Tom Lopez, as well as an M.F.A. from Mills College in Electronic Music and Recording Media, studies conducted with Chris Brown, Les Stuck, Hilda Paredes, and Pauline Oliveros.
ALMA DE LUZ: Glitch delay module
Vaux Flores is the designer of the exclusive Alma de Luz which you can read about and buy > HERE
+ Lo-res-2 second delay.
+ Overclockable for fancy chirps and whatnot.
+ Switchable modulation section that mimics flickering lightbulb.
+ Switchable rungler for extra instability.
+ Modulation depth control to track from subtle to extreme with a couple surprises along the way.
+ External modulation input.
+ Control voltage output of flicker circuit that operates independent of the input -meaning you can use this as a clocked delay and a chaotic cv generator at the same time.
Reviews
Silence and Sound
Like a distant rumble rolling down the slopes of a snow-capped mountain, Vaux Flores ' album is an object with elusive structures, a moment of ghostly instability with impermanent beauty.
Dawn Chorales does not resemble much, developing its own semantics and its own rules, where the layers and the noises, the melodies and the rhythms play at treading on each other's toes with a surprising softness, while establishing a moving power, far from our inhabited sphere.
We are literally caught up in these snippets of loops linking one to the other to form luminous halos escaping from velvet depths.
Vaux Flores plays with the magic of materials, creating floating atmospheres, wrapping fallen angels with their wings, happy to touch the surface of the earthly world, with their carnal texture. An inhabited album, full of naturalist poetry and permanent wonder. Superb.
Roland Torres
Original review > HERE
Organ Thing
Vaux Flores – Dawn Chorales (Audiobulb) – “As an artist working with sounds that tend to be science adjacent, one phenomenon that I’m continually intrigued by is the concept of the dawn chorus – both with regard to the ornithological sense of the term, as well as the electromagnetic – not to mention the various confluences that the two may engender” – an almost 43 minute long album, four pieces, the tone is set with the slow movement of the twelve minute opening piece, The Black Blood Of The Ordovician – actually, the tone is set with the title of the opening piece and it would be easy to start talking of wind blowing through the metal of an old abandoned industrial building as the sun comes up or the filmoid sense of things, of the brooding drama and if there is a dawn chorus here then it is a kind of dark one and the birds are kind of keeping a sharp eye out. The third of the four pieces is titled Automated Pleasure Constructions Designed To Simulate Authenticity Entirely Outside Of Indigenous Norms, once again that is a more than healthy clue. Four pieces of complex music, dense layers of sound, pulses, left-field bits of colour…
“The avian dawn chorus is an interesting measurement of the ecological health of a region – simply put, barring some exceptions, more birds equals a healthier ecosystem – and on several occasions, one can track a noticeable difference in activity as human development encroaches farther and farther into the few remaining wild spots left on this planet. With that in mind, I find myself continually compelled to document these moments of birdsong whenever I can, which, in this case, typically manifests as an early morning activity (possibly triggered by my own personal response to the electromagnetic dawn chorus) that I typically start my day with while on holiday in the tropics”.
Mechanical dawn chorus maybe? Machine driven industrial organicness? he’s hearing the dawn in a different way. Do like the way these peices grow around you, kind of take over without you really noticing they have (the silence afterwards is almost deafning)
“Vaux Flores is Travis Johns, a sound artist residing in Ithaca, NY, whose work includes performance, interactivity, installation, and printmaking, often incorporating eco/bio-based themes and electronic instruments of his own design. As an improviser he performs primarily on electric bass and electronics; with studies in the field conducted under the tutelage of Fred Frith, Joelle Leandre, and Butch Morris, among others. Active in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, Johns moved to Costa Rica in 2011 where he collaborated extensively with visual artist Paulina Velazquez-Solis on Raro, an immersive installation that represented Costa Rica in the 2013 Biennial of the Central American Isthmus (BAVIC). Since returning to the states, he’s continued to apply his trade as a composer, educator and instrument builder under the nom de plume of Vaux Flores, with clientele and collaborators ranging from museums, theatre groups and dance troupes to Academy award-winning film composers and Grammy award-winning musicians”.
It is something I say rather a lot, I’ve probably already said it on this page, his work is very painterly (but then I am a painter, I tend to think in paint, not sure about the cover artwork, but then, maybe?). These four musical pieces do feel like warm inviting paintings and there is a lot to explore, to get lost in. Dense, gentle pulses, many of them, the buzz of birds, insects, flies, mechanical ones, each piece slowly evolving, revealing, opening up, I’m not going to tell you what colour the paint is this time, I might have already done that with the next piece down, and it is all rather subjective and well this is feeling rather uplifting now, it does feel like you do if you do manage to get up in time. before the machines get up… Bandcamp
Original review > HERE