CD - Nonvisualobjects
The hackbrett - or cimbalom - is a chordophone, trapezoidal in shape, with 90 to 125 metal strings. The bass strings are arranged in groups of 3 which are tuned in unison and are copper over-spun. The strings are stretched in an order that allows different groups to overtop the others on each side alternatively. The cimbalom is typically played by striking two beaters against the strings with meticulous precision. Heribert Friedl is a peculiar musician who in his performance has often performed minimal iterations and phenomena provoked by subtle movements. These are meticulously designed to favour a specific "order" of the events. In this 'Recherche' he is only partially focused on the traditional acoustic instrument, because the real 'processing' - in reality - is performed by a Yamaha CS-40M synthesizer, interpreting only the more 'spiritual' and 'abstract' characteristics of the acoustic instrument. The result is a collection of ethereal "skinny" sounds, ticking, frequencies and whistling, that is fed by field recordings and additional information. A work permeated by perhaps deliberately 'ephemeral' concepts but splendid because of its musicality and involvement.
Aurelio Cianciotta