2AM. Jungle Gym.

Here is a new track I’ve created for the “capture/construct” part of the PhD (improvised recordings cut and arranged into new compositions).

It’s called 2AM Jungle Gym because it’s kind of strange to be in a playground after dark. It’s one of those very odd contexts where the unusualness of it makes it special. Like playing board games under candlelight with your family in a blackout, or lying down on an empty road at night. There are a few times in my life where I remember being with good friends and ending up somewhere like a playground late at night, and it’s always been sort of a weirdly exciting and unifying moment.

It also reminds me of some times where I have gone for a walk at night to clear my head, and ended up sitting in a park. Kids play there during the day, carefree, and then at night you are in the same space trying to figure your life out. I find that interesting.

My favourite thing about this piece is how much the final chords sound like an upright piano in a living room. Which is exactly what this is. It just feels so homely and honest.

I’m trying to take a sort of John Cage-esque approach to the capture construct set, i.e. embracing the characteristics and imperfections of the sound environment. In this piece you can actually hear our living room clock ticking… It was really loud in the recording, so rather than pulling it down and taking out the batteries, I used it as a metronome for all of my improvisations.

http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F160643382AM Jungle Gym by Chrisperren