Semi-modular

A friend gave me a semi-modular unit as a gift, but I didn’t know how to use it so I just stored it away. However, I thought it might be nice if it could make even the slightest noise, so I pulled it out of the closet.

Dave Skipper Live

I went to Oriental Force, a live house in Koenji, Japan, to experience Dave Skipper live. It was cool as hell.

Dave found large pieces of wood, rocks, and tree branches on his desk, which he had picked up from the ocean on his travels. He switched on his modular synthesizer to begin the live performance. This time, the show was divided into three parts and lasted about two hours.

Dave threw rocks at rocks as if to see what kind of sound they would make, snapped and snapped branches, and cut pieces of wood with saws and knives, sometimes with a devil-may-care look on his face. It was such a highly performative live show.

I thought that the part where Dave prepares the sound materials was quite static, and the part where he amplifies those materials with modular synthesizers and plays blasting noise with relentless feedback was overwhelmingly dynamic. The contrast between the two and the effective development of intonation is a masterpiece.

Dave also shakes and mixes fallen leaves packed in a box, so I was very impressed by the primitiveness of the sound produced by the simple friction between objects.

Dave Skipper

I had tea with British musician Dave Skipper in Sakuragicho, Yokohama. Dave happened to see my live performance at Oriental Force in Koenji and sent me a message, which led to our exchange. I feel like this is a miracle of a connection.