Fredrik Rasten: acoustic guitar, voice

Svevning is a Norwegian word meaning levitation or flying, in the sense of flying without
effort – like when a bird is fully supported by the airstream, merely gliding.

Svevning also refers to interference or beating, the acoustic phenomenon that occurs when
two tonal sounds differ in pitch only slightly. When two tones are sustained with stability, their difference in frequency manifests sonically as a pulsating pattern of vibration. As the difference in frequency between the two tones increases, the speed, or frequency of the pulse increases correspondingly until a point or
area is reached where the difference is no longer heard as a pulse, but as a tone. This is
what is known as a difference tone.

I do not know how the two meanings of ‘svevning’ (in German, Schwebung) relate to each
other etymologically, but I find a latent poetry in their combined meanings and connotations.

Svevning is an extension of my earlier piece Limn. The music unfolds as an ever-changing continuum of chords, propelled by open strings and their harmonic nodes, slowly interwoven by retuning, patterns of plucking and occasional
voice.

Fredrik Rasten, July 2021, Berlin




all rights reserved 
credits
released October 5, 2021

Recorded by Fredrik Rasten at CityLAB Berlin on March 3 & 5, 2021.
Mixed by Sam Dunscombe.
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi.
Cover artwork and design by d’incise.
Thanks to Marcus Pal, Mareike Lee, Adam Asnan, CityLAB Berlin, Sam, Giuseppe and
d’incise.

Released on INSUB records

buy download or cd here:

fredrikrasten.bandcamp.com/album/svevning

Svevning I

Fredrik Rasten is a guitarist and composer (b. 1988) working in the field of experimental music, both improvised and composed. His main focuses are exploring and utilizing the acoustic possibilities of the steel string guitar. The last years he has been working extensively with just intonation, taking an extended concept of consonance as a point of departure. He has studied in this field with  Catherine Lamb and Marc Sabat in Berlin. In his work he is also inspired by wandelweiser music, traditional british folk and early music.



contact: fredrikrasten(at)gmail(dot)com