BY KIYA VAN DER LINDEN-KIAN
Shimmer Raga
Zoltan Fecso
Melbourne Recital Centre Salon, October 5
We live in a time when artists are encouraged to cross fields, and take inspiration for new ways of creating from other disciplines.
This cross-section of art and music, and some of the creative processes behind them, has manifested itself in Zoltan Fecso’s work. Taking inspiration from the fine art technique of pointillism, and artists such as Georges Seurat, Zoltan’s music is created by capturing resonance and then playing it back at various delays to create an atmosphere that can only be described as pointillism in music.
The concert was completely improvised and set in the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon, the perfect venue for an intimate performance. It was a very informal and serene experience; Zoltan spoke to the audience between each new work and explained some of his influences and the concepts behind them. The conversational approach and way Zoltan utilised the space – by seating himself in the middle and having the audience arranged in chairs around him – allowed the concert to break away from formalities and create an inviting atmosphere.
The entire concert was performed on a custom guitar. It allowed him to capture the resonance of notes by attaching what looked like a synth pad to the base of an acoustic guitar. Because the timbre of an acoustic guitar is generally gentle, the synth pad only captured the resonance of the notes played, and not the original articulation of the sound. This let all of the notes wash over the audience, and naturally decay, before being activated again.
The feature work of the evening Shimmer Raga was an exploration of resonance and delays that resulted in an almost trancelike composition that played with the boundary between simplicity and complexity.
One of the things that empowers musicians like Zoltan to create their own instruments is the lower barrier to cheap and accessible technology. Zoltan’s custom guitar and other unique instruments help to expand the horizons of music and what can be achieved in an electro-acoustic setting. This combination of different artistic processes and technology is fascinating to watch unfold, and promises to only get more interesting in years to come.
READ NEXT: Zoltan explains the influence of pointillism in his musical style.
Image supplied. Artwork Shimmer Raga by Claire Lefebvre.
