David Maranha - Piano Suspenso

piano suspenso
CD, 1998 ed. Sonoris (france) SON21 CD

http://www.myspace.com/ossoexotico

The best of the three new CD's by Sonoris I'd saved for the last. David Maranha, one third of Osso Exotico, recorded a hauntingely beautiful piece in New York, using four motors and a violin bow to play the grandpiano. The motors create rich textures of overtones that slowly go in and out of phase and make unknown harmonies audible. The bow plays something like the melody off and on. There is a very special thanks to Phill Nilblock (sic) and if you know his music, then you know what to expect as it fits his tradition of minimal music very well.
Frans de Waard
Vital
Ever since American composer Henry Cowell first emptied a bag of screws into a piano, it has became de rigueur for cheapjack avant gardists to ‘treat’ instruments with lowly hausehold objects in pursuit of that wild, elusive sound. But David Maranha’s application of four motors and violin bow to a piano is motivated less by a desire for novelty than the internal needs of his music.
After a tentative opening consisting of damp harmonic scrapes, the piece takes off like a single-engined light aircraft when Maranha kickstarts his four-motored piano effect and then starts to tease single notes from the bubbling background with his bow. This is a great and physically affecting slab of sound, where the slightest minimal shift causes tectonic plates to groan. It’s gravy train stuff for fans of Maryanne Amacher, Arnold Dreyblatt and – perhaps Maranha’s major influence – Phill Niblock.
David Keenan
The Wire, August 1999

"David Maranha is the leader of Osso Exotico. This is his second solo CD. During his stay in NYC at the Intermedia Foundation, he has recorded live in excellent conditions a work for motor bowed piano and violin. As usual, it's a work on the exploration of the capacities of acoustic instruments. This CD can be considered as a long journey into sound inspired by Phill Niblock and other American minimalist artists."
Forced Exposure


Premier enregistrement d’une nouvelle collection du label Sonoris consacrée aux longues pièces sonores, “Piano Suspenso” de David Maranha (membre d’Osso Exótico) est une pièce de longue durée (71’31’’) pour piano, moteurs électriques et archet. Depuis Henri Cowell et John Cage le corps du piano (son anatomie) intéresse les avan-gardes musicales, dans l’approche iconoclaste, déconstructive, du geste fluxus (cf. le “Piano Activities” de Philip Corner), ici dans celle minimaliste d’un geste se dépliant sur un temps indéfini, rappelant “Five more Strigs Quartet” de Phill Niblock. Le piano quitte son statut de représentation social bourgeoise pour devenir ce curieux object détaché de ses rites liés à la performance technique, pour se transformer en générateur de durée, d’espace. Pratique de détournement d’un object Qui pourrait répondre à celui du tourn-disque des DJs, notre siècle aura redéfini l’utilité de ses objectes en lui inventant d’autres usages remettant en question la norme et la sclérose qu’elle induit.
Maranha développe une architecture harmonique très dense, vibratoire,loin d’installer un mur sonore statique, mono-tone, c’est un paysage déplié sur des ensembles fluides, vivantes, des champs sonores vibrants, craquants, avec ces bruits de moteurs Qui imprègnent le son. Cordes de piano frottés par l’archet qui prennent de l’ampleur, s’accumulent à la façon de masses nuageuses, l’orage ne viendra pas, tombera une légère pluie mécanique. La musique de David Maranha (tout au moins sur cet enregistrement live) emporte la conscience du temps, de l’être là dans l’occupation des sols, ramenant les différentes sphères de sensations et de consciences aux corps, corps ouverts sur l’espace intérieur. Un prochain enregistrement de In Be Tween Noise (a.k.a. Steve Roden) est annoncé pour la collection.
Michel Henritzi
Revue e Corrigée
Nº34

A single, one hour and twelve minute track by Portuguese composer David Maranha, performed live in New York in 1998. Using only a grand piano, four electric motors and a violin bow, Maranha "excites" the strings from within the piano to produce a beautiful, continuous drone that subtly shifts in emphasized overtones. The motors -- small, garden variety, electric motors -- are placed on the ends of microphone stands with what appear to be small brushes affixed to their business ends and set over the strings. Maranha adjusts the dynamics and pitches by the amount of pressure the motors apply to the strings and slowly moving the locations of the motors to the strings. On top of this Maranha adds various bowing techniques to augment the overall color. All in all this is an excellent cd, reminiscent of Coleclough & Chalk's "Sumac" or the works of Troum and other dronologists. Highly recommended.
Uno de los animadores detrás del notable colectivo portugués Osso Exotico, David Maranha es uno de los más destacados artistas dedicados al "sonido continuo" en los últimos años. En Piano Suspenso, Maranha explora la sonoridad continua extraída del interior del piano usando unos pequeños motores vibratorios de tal modo que el cordal es "tocado" en forma permanente. También usa como elemento adicional arcos de violín para accionar las cuerdas, generando una "nube" donde conviven los suaves sonidos del metal ( el piano originario) y la rugosidad propia de los motores. Disco de especial interés para aquellos que conozcan las experiencias del norteamericano Phill Niblock. En Circunscrita, David Maranha recurre al aporte de varios colegas, entre ellos la integrante de los exoticos, Patricia Machás y el gran guitarrista Manuel Mota. Armonio hindú, guitarras eléctricas frotadas con arco, contrabajo y violín para construir paredes sonoras de densidad y duración variable. Una búsqueda centrada en el color instrumental y –de acuerdo con lo que indica el propio Maranha– para ser escuchada a volumen muy alto.

Solo outing for Osso Exótico-affiliated mastermind David Maranha, or rather it's a mechanized quintet for piano with Maranha the sole living constituent. For his contribution to a Electronic Arts Performances Series in Troy, NY, Maranha with bow in hand and his four-strong fleet of motors took to the insides of a piano for some churning drone action. His motorized system maintains a delicate balance where even the slightest shift ushers in a dramatic change in timbrel activity, residing somewhere along the lines of Remko Scha's take on Lubomyr Melnyk's continuous or Charlemagne Palestine's strumming music.
Twice Zonked!