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George Fero
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Claude
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  • Streaming + Download

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a beautiful 6-panel gatefold with liner notes and technical details about the making of BRDLND. Digipak design by George Fero, Jr.

    Includes unlimited streaming of BRDLND via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    edition of 200 
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      $11.99 USD or more 

     

1.
Flight I: Mote 02:55
2.
Bird Rhythm I 01:16
3.
Flight II: The Magnetic Sense 08:12
4.
Bird Rhythm II 02:41
5.
Flight III: Flyway Hypnosis 06:16
6.
Bird Dream Interlude 02:43
7.
Flight IV: Night On Earth/BRDLND 20:48
8.
Bird Rhythm III 00:57

about

BRDLND is a suite of chance-guided soundscapes presented as a sort of Earth-music symphony; both a paean to and lament for the planet, composed——with an assist from certain hollow-boned earthlings——by the planet itself, as it was constructed from a score organized along the paths of migratory birds as they intersect with maps of the Earth’s magnetic fields.

BRDLND’s many individual drones, loops, and other improvised sounds were generated by three prepared guitars, electric bow, a homemade spring-reverb/bass instrument called BBOX, various preparations and unconventional plectra, and a birdsong-triggered drum machine——all routed through a small phalanx of effects pedals.

The aforementioned score was created by superimposing eight bird migratory paths over eight different maps of the Earth’s magnetic fields, transferring that information to a spreadsheet, with each column representing the distance traveled along segments of the migratory paths as they stretch between the contours of the magnetic fields, then transposing those distances into time.

Using chance procedures and information from the maps, the spreadsheet’s columns were populated with various directives and limitations before being transferred to handwritten flashcards, from which 211 individual segments were recorded in random order (within eight instrument groups, one for each migratory path) then reassembled according to the score.

Finally, following the natural ebb and flow of the base composition, BRDLND was organized into four main sections which play out in overlapping cycles, gliding through dark ambient atmospheres and waves of cathartic noise, while three shorter bird/drum solo pieces provide a lively counterpoint to the long motions of the primary tracks.

credits

released October 14, 2022

BRDLND was:
-conceived & composed April to November, 2021
-recorded March 13 to May 22, 2022
-arranged, mixed, & mastered June 11 to August 1, 2022
by George Fero, Jr, in Uptown, Chicago, IL, USA

All design elements and CD packaging designed by George Fero, Jr.

Tracklist:

1. Flight I: Mote - 2:55
2. Bird Rhythm I - 1:16
3. Flight II: The Magnetic Sense - 8:12
4. Bird Rhythm II - 2:41
5. Flight III: Flyway Hypnosis - 6:16
6. Bird Dream Interlude - 2:43
7. Flight IV: Night On Earth/BRDLND - 20:48
8. Bird Rhythm III - 0:57

All guitars (3) and BBOX* were recorded live via contact mics routed (with FX pedals) through a Tascam 4-track PortaStudio and captured as solo audio tracks in Ableton.

Birds and drums are a combination of Ableton 808 drum rack and an external Alesis SR-16 drum machine, both controlled by MIDI-converted birdsong audio clips, programmed to repeat and/or randomize within a limited range (with some cues from the score), controlled live with Ableton Push 2 controller and routed through external effects pedals and back to Ableton in the same manner as the guitars.

Analog FX pedals used: tc electronic Ditto Looper X2, EarthQuaker Devices (EQD) Avalanche Run delay and reverb, EQD Life Pedal distortion, ProCo Turbo Rat distortion, Vox wah-wah, Ernie Ball volume pedal, Boss OC-2 octave, Ibanez AD9 analog delay, MXR Dyna Comp compression.

Ableton FX/plugins used** (no more than two at a time, controlled live with expression pedals, Push 2, and MIDI footswitches): Erosion, Distortion, Autofilter, Echo, Resonator, Beat Repeat, Waves Audio Vocal Bender.

Guitars (Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG, Fender Stratocaster) and BBOX prepared and/or manipulated with: EBow (3), bundled dried Dracaena leaves, wooden dowel rods, aluminum tube, glass slides, spider capos (mic’d), graphite pencil (under Tele strings), wooden spoon (under SG strings and as a mic’d mallet with BBOX), “Crackle Flaps” (six lengths of paper attached to a cassette case, mic’d, used with Tele and BBOX), “Dingle-Dangle-Revolution” (fidget spinner with six lengths of pull chain attached, used with SG), and bare hands.

*BBOX is a homemade bass/spring-reverb instrument created just for BRDLND (see bottom right, front cover of this album)

**No additional effects were added in mixdown other than to adjust gain, stereo placement/width, and equalization of individual tracks, as well as to apply audio limiting, EQ, and compression to the master.

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