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Seán Mac Erlaine: A Slender Song

March 25, 2015 By guillaume

Currently involved in a multitude of projects – with contemporary folk band This Is How We Fly or with Cork-based experimental group Quiet Music Ensemble among others – Dublin-based woodwind instrumentalist Seán Mac Erlaine has also been devoting himself to improvisation and solo performance since 2006. Playing a wide array of free reed instruments such as the clarinet, bass clarinet, chalumeau, alto saxophone or a free reed Chinese flute, the musician complements and processes the sound generated by the instruments with live electronics using MIDI controllers and software of his own design.

Seán Mac Erlaine - A Slender Song (2014)
Seán Mac Erlaine – A Slender Song (2014)

His first solo recording Long After the Music is Gone (2012) was introduced as a meditation on the Irish landscape. With A Slender Song released on the Ergodos music label in November 2014 last, Seán Mac Erlaine keeps elaborating his own personal cartography: all ten tracks on the record were improvised, performed and recorded live between 2012 and 2013 in venues across the four corners of Ireland.

Adopting a similar approach to German pianist Nils Frahm with his Spaces live record, the musician becomes a sensory receptacle for his immediate environment on the day of the recording. During that “immersive” and physical process, the journey to the venue, the shape, the size and the acoustics of the indoor venue or the dynamics of the outdoor venue as well as the energy exchange taking place between the musician and the audience all impact on the performance in some shape or form.

Long-form immersive improvisation for saxophones and live electronics – Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland:

Quoting the work of psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his research on the notion of the creative flow – “an optimal state of intrinsic motivation, where the person is fully immersed in what he is doing.” – Seán Mac Erlaine notes that

Undertaking improvised music performance brings me to a space entirely distinct from common, everyday life. The quality and intensity of this space is of great significance to me as a performer and often serves as the sole measurement of the success of a performance […] In the presence of this flow state, my observation is that this special state becomes communicated to an audience. This in turn can help foster a sense of immersion and meditative listening. The music is often pitched with this in mind as is the choice of venue, lighting and my overall approach to performance. Seán Mac Erlaine – Redesigning a Performance Practice (2013)

Mirroring this creative flow and experimenting beautifully with the textures of the various woodwind instruments used on the record, subtle electronic loops and rhythmic layers, distortion or digital delays all enrich the sonic tapestry of flowing, fluttering or droning notes.

A haunting collection of slow airs, A Slender Song sometimes plays like an ambient field recording, expressing all the colours, organic nuances and natural sounds of a quiet landscape.

In an effort to capture the unique and physical nature of the performances, A Slender Song was released as a limited edition transparent orange vinyl with the disc echoing the striking dark orange sun on Cork-based artist Craig Carry’s front cover collage.

http://www.seanmacerlaine.com/

You May Also Like:

  • Seán Mac Erlaine: Music for Empty EarsSeán Mac Erlaine: Music for Empty Ears
  • Seán Mac Erlaine: Amhrán na LeabharSeán Mac Erlaine: Amhrán na Leabhar
  • This is How we Fly: Foreign FieldsThis is How we Fly: Foreign Fields
  • This is How we FlyThis is How we Fly
  • Ergodos Musicians: SongsErgodos Musicians: Songs
  • Nils Frahm: SaysNils Frahm: Says

Filed Under: Contemporary, Ireland, Jazz Tagged With: ambient, clarinet, electro, saxophone, Seán Mac Erlaine

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Polly Knowles says

    March 25, 2015 at 10:41 pm

    Wow… what a delightful ecletic mix on the ear..
    In many ways I hear Didier Mahlerbe and so many more wonderful influences
    in this fabulous piece..

    Fantastic..
    Yet another wonderful gem..

    Reply
    • guillaume says

      March 26, 2015 at 10:30 am

      Thank you Polly and yes you are right, Didier Malherbe also experiments with the same range of instruments – another master of the flow

      Reply
      • Polly Knowles says

        March 26, 2015 at 11:17 am

        Good morning.. I have been back as usual for another listen,and it gets even better each time..

        I love this fabulous site,and each time I visit,there is always a treat indeed to listen to,without your site,I would not have perhaps heard,so much wonderful music,and being retired now,it is a new journey,in music for me,and an exciting one at that.

        Thank you so much for making it all possible,and of course,to all the musicians,whom are out there making more wonders happen..

        To myself music is perhaps one thing,that binds humanity together,and long may the music continue…Thank you always. Polly.

        Reply
        • guillaume says

          March 26, 2015 at 3:41 pm

          I think we are on the same page Polly – Thank you for your nice words

          Reply
          • Polly says

            January 29, 2016 at 12:27 am

            You are most welcome.
            Also the work that Sean has created to accompany
            the George Best story,is amazing.I saw a clip of
            how he just sat looking at the images before him,and then
            just played..Wonderful creative work..

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