KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Tongue-Touch-Terrain by David Moss
Analog Audio
Event Type
MusicOrigin
KPFAIdentifier
P.MOS.DAV.01Program Length
27 minDates
| broadcast| 402 | created
Description
Recorded by David Moss in October of 1979, in preparation for his solo percussion and voice landscape album which was eventually released in 1980 under the title of “Terrain.” This 26 minute section is composed of about 13 smaller fragments which were, according to the composer, given their general structure and instrumentation beforehand, while the internal structure of micro-rhythms, momentum, attacks, silences, surprises, and endings were all improvised live in the studio. Surprisingly, the only multi-tracking is found in the opening section (also repeated at the end of the tape), and in the third section, which all include four tracks of vocals. All the other parts of the tape were recorded in real time by the composer/performer. Moss, who was born in 1949, and studied percussion at the Hartt College of Music and the Hartford Symphony, has since gone on to have a successful and prolific career as a jazz, and avant-garde, percussionist, vocalist, and composer. “Terrain” was to be only his second solo album, and this tape, representing essentially a draft version of one of his earliest works, is a valuable record of his development as a musician and his gradual exploration of the limits of percussion and solo vocalization. In his own words, Moss often thought “of music in terms of languages - indecipherable, yet etched with intent.”Genres
New musicMusical Selections
Tongue-Touch-Terrain, for percussion and voice (1979) (25:55) / David MossPerformers
David Moss, percussion and voiceSubjects
Percussion musicTape music
Percussion and voice