1. Beyond a Spell 2. On Suuri Sun Rantas Autius 3. Aquarius 4. Läksin Minä Kesäyönä Käymään 5. Cassiopeia (feat. Jean Paul Celea) 6. Dark Room 7. Sing On 8. Astral Plane
DESCRIPTION
Crystal sound project combines sculpture and music. bilyana furnadzhieva (artist), Viktor Benev (composer) and Selma Savolainen (Finnish singer), use sculptures made in porcelain as musical instruments. The works in porcelain are objects with different capacities of specific sound resonance which is obtained by using various metal oxides. The oxides are pure metallic particles which add unique timbers and sounds to the sculptures.
The singing drums are percussive instruments. They also serve as resonance boxes for the vocals in this album, where the voice excites certain frequencies through vibration. The chênecelaine is a 6-string instrument made out of oak wood and a porcelain bowl, serving as a resonance box. The gong drum is a longer resonating percussive instrument, mostly featured in Astral Plane.
As an artistic direction of confronting the sculptures with an existing acoustic instrument the album features the renowned French double bass player Jean Paul Celea on the track Cassiopeia. Celea is known for his work in Ensemble Accroche Note, Ensemble Musique Vivante and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Involved in the "free jazz" movement, he has produced a number of albums with original music.
Crystal sound project mixes traditional and contemporary music, spoken or whispered words, different languages and unique sounds to invite the listener in a captivating and immersive audio-visual world.
Crystal sound project's debut is a concept album. All used sounds are either acoustically produced or sampled and electronically treated variations of the porcelain sculptures' sonic possibilities.
CREDITS
Viktor Benev - chênecelaine (1,2,3,4,6), singing drum, gong drum (5,7,8), back vocal (7) Selma Savolainen - vocal, singing drum (2,3,4,6,7) bilyana furnadzhieva - singing drum (2,3,6), voice (1,3,6) Jean Paul Celea - double bass (5)
All compositions written by Viktor Benev Lyrics written by Selma Savolainen (6), bilyana furnadzhieva (1,3,6) "Sing on" based on Christina Rosseti's poem "When I'm dead my dearest"
Art direction and design - bilyana furnadzhieva
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Philippe Teissier du Cros in Studio Boxson, Paris
