Skrima Tapes

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by the far off, faded, almost muffled sounds, melodies and harmonies coming into my room from outside sources. I would record these sounds, with a recording device and microphones of various quality levels, and then modify them with various effects over many years - this was my secret passion. I called this kind of work, with those old tapes, ""the sound from next door, or, the neighbour's sounds"". Over the years, the instruments I use to complete the sound layers haven't changed - I continue to use various defective Casio keyboards, a semi acoustic Hofner bass, a myriad of effects and cables, and an old analogical, multi-effect Ekomultitone from the 1960s. Listening again to the tracks for the finalisation of this
album, it was interesting to see that my conception hasn't changed over the years, despite my exposure to many kinds of music, from all different genres and times.

Diva
Inspired by the 1981 film of the same name, this track features the voice of an opera singer recorded on a tape
which is then treated with a cotton swab covered in light sandpaper. In the background, certain harmonies are
layered together, picked up by the microphones almost incidentally.

Tune Casio
This track celebrates the twilight of the last noisy appliances, destined for extinction. My favorite sound was a
Bosch refrigerator from the 1960s, subject to electrical surges that created irregular and minimal rhythms. The
ideal background for the faulty Casio keyboards I used at the time.

Tick soul
This composition revolves around the buzzing of flickering Christmas tree lights, captured as the interference from various appliances. The original recording has been subjected to repeated reworkings with an EkoMultitone.

Iddu / Eetnaa / Vacuum
The audio material for this triptych was taken from a series of recordings made at Stromboli by placing microphones in the crevices of volcanic rock, in order to capture the force of the wind and the rumbling of the active volcano. The other sounds in the background come from a soundscape recorded on the street where I lived at the time called, not surprisingly, Via Industriale.
All the tapes were recorded between 1981 and 1983. The added effects and mixing on four tracks was done between 1983 and 1986.