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Listening Sky

by John Thayer

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1.

about

John Thayer
Listening Sky

"In May of 2018 I journeyed to north eastern Nevada with my partner and collaborator, Lea Thomas, as artists in residence for the Montello Foundation. Upon arrival, the Great Basin presents an intimidating silence, it's rugged terrain seemingly void of animal life. Yet, with focused attention and a willing stillness we are invited into a wondrous ecological soundscape, an orchestra of biodiverse sound. Fauna, including our singing meadowlark neighbors, howling coyotes, and the occasional curious cow provide accompaniment to the swaying Juniper and frequent rains. With less aural competition each sonic occurrence becomes an opportunity for deeper listening; the clanging of intense hail on the tin roof, or the soft, percussive crunching of grass under foot as we narrowly outpace an imminent thunderstorm. I spent many sunny afternoons sitting out on the small deck watching the clouds drift across a limitless sky, from peak to valley over miles of desert sagebrush. The sheer expanse of the Great Basin, with its patient gravity, gave me a feeling of deep reverence and connection. I felt immense gratitude to be a guest in such a remote and wild space. I thought of the people throughout time who lay under the same sky and about the animals and plants whose existence depended on the rains provided only by the clouds - an entire ecosystem working in harmony."

"“Listening Sky” is an offering to this timeless place. The music for this piece was composed using a Wurlitzer electric piano, a Moog synthesizer, a 1/4 inch reel-to-reel tape machine, tape echoes, digital software, and field recordings made during my residency with the Montello Foundation. I repeatedly performed a number of processing techniques on a singular musical theme; stretching it, pitching it, shortening it, degrading it and using reverberation and time delay to create new dimensions in the stereo field. Through these studio manipulations, layers of minimal melodic phrases bloom into liminal ambience, evoking the ephemeral and ever-evolving cloud formations in the Nevada sky."

“Listening Sky” was originally composed as a commission for the Southern Utah Museum of Art & The Montello Foundation for a show entitled “This Earth”.

credits

released January 21, 2022

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by John Thayer

Tape Loops, Field Recordings, Wurlitzer, Moog Matriarch, & Lexicon Prime Time

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