The Knot by Maurice Rickard

Best wishes to you all for the last Bandcamp Friday of the year. In addition to the weekly ambient improvisations, I've been doing shorter, more direct compositions every week. For the last few years, I've focused on pieces for a few guitars, mostly going direct to the A/D without pedals or inline effects. I've been using this to explore the music more directly, with more emphasis on the touch of fingers on strings.

Recently I found pieces orbiting some common characteristics: time signatures based on 5, 7, or 11. The results have an interesting flow to them and a common sensibility.

There's one exception to the no-effects approach, though: "White Deer Ridge (More Barn)" gets plenty of Ableton's Roar plugin. That piece started as an experiment to write something meeting the requirements of this past summer's emergent genre "Hit 'Em." The genre was revealed to Matmos's Drew Daniel in a dream, specifying that its music was in 5/4 at 212 bpm, featuring "crunched out" sounds--that's the reason for the fuzz. (This one is effectively half-time, and I've added a no-barn option as a bonus track.)

Other pieces emphasize the sounds of fingers on strings, and I'm really happy with these pieces. Wherever you are, I hope you're treating yourself and others kindly. Thank you for listening!

Maurice Rickard is a musician, sound artist, and Deep Listening Certificate holder based in Pittsburgh. He has a long history in improv and minimalist ambient work as snwv, but also abstract electronics. Most recently, he's been composing pieces for small ensembles of guitars.

onezeromusic.com
mauricerickard.com
yoctonaut.com