Composed and performed by Graeme Leak, the piece relies on the artistry of the performer to absorb and learn the rhythms - transcribed directly from Vietnamese speech - then fashion a unique realisation. To buy the score and tape visit www.graemeleak.com

And Now for the News (1984), multi-percussion and tape

Quartet for marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, multi-percussion and mp3 playback.
'Hello?' is a theme and variations on four Nokia ringtones that were popular in the year 2007. It was commissioned for performance by the B'Tutta ensemble as part of the Musica Viva In Schools program.

18 Hello  (a Ring Tone Fantasy) (2007)

I Love Jazz is a story with marimba accompaniment in the style of the African Griots, running approximately 5-6min (although this performance is 8m30s...an early version.
The text, written by Frankie Lee, contains verbatim conversations overheard in Sydney nightclubs.
Although first written and performed in 1991, the issues in the story (around music likes, dislikes and the extent that these are linked to fashion and image) are just as relevant today. 

The performer is encouraged to work with an actor, vocal coach or theatre director to develop a relaxed, confident and conversational delivery.

I Love Jazz, Melbourne Premiere 1991

Two reel-to-reel machines and an open mic were available for the public to play with as part of LISTEN!, an installation and performance event at Watford Colosseum, 2-4 July 2015. This audio edit is of the spontaneous responses elicited by the work.

LISTEN! Reel to Reel installation - audio from public interaction

DRUMSONG (1989) was written for the Sydney band Jump Back Jack and was first performed at Kinsela's nightclub as part of the music/dance celebration Gravity. The four drum parts from high to low fit together to become a mesmeric, joyful, communal groove. It can be played with just four players or parts can be doubled ad infinitum for larger ensembles

The arrangement is called by a leader, who can either play one of the drum parts or add an optional double bell pattern.

The piece is primarily about feel and groove and needs lots of repetition in rehearsal to get to the point where the players are relaxed.

This recording is a lounge-room realisation for demo purposes and is probably a bit too fast...

DrumSong Demo

An African-inspired piece featuring a guitar played with a stick and prepraed harmonicas, as well as Marimba, Xylophone, Melodica, drums and shakers. Written for the legendary percussion group SYNERGY and premiered at the Sydney Opera House in October, 1990. This recording at the second performance at the Rocks Theatre, now the Sydney Visitor Information Centre.

RUBADUB (1990) percussion quartet

March 12 St Albans Noise Orchestra participants performed some seaside atmosphere - birds, wind, the ocean (pretty wild that day) and a squeaky sign. Introductory sound scape sessions are very popular with the younger members of the group. For this recording we used whistles and bird calls, seeds rolling in trays for the ocean, conduit pipe for the wind and for the the squeaky hinge we used..a squeaky hinge.

Noise Orchestra Seaside Atmosphere

A collage of audio from the 2015 Belgium season of Furious Folly captured over several nights on multiple Zoom recorders. 

What is Furious Folly?
In Furious Folly, Mark Anderson leads a team of artists that, in the spirit of the Dadaists, attempt to respond to the inconceivable madness of the First World War.

Taking place, as night falls, in the no-mans land between the two sides, the audience are immersed within an open-air collage of sound, kinetic devices, pyrotechnics and performance.

Anderson draws on the anti-war sentiment of the Dadaist movement of the early 20 century. The madness of the battlefield and the futility of the Great War as a whole, led these artists to answer with a new artistic language, one that deliberately eschewed structure and meaning rejecting everything that had gone before.

Furious Folly uses the Dada ethos to shape a powerful work that rails against the inhumanity and senselessness of conflict past and present.
Commissioned by the Town of Poperinge in association with Corn Exchange Newbury's Outdoor Arts programme and OCM. Built at 101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space.



Furious Folly Radio Edit

a very short demo of samples taken while testing the prototype rig for the Girgarre Sound Fence

April 2017

15 April Girgarre Sound Fence samples edit

A CACTUS has a hidden world of sound. It can be played as an instrument, not unlike the African thumb piano (or mbira). The sound is watery (the cactus membrane is a water storage tank) and percussive, like a cross between a marimba and a drum. The different length cactus spines have distinctive tones and pitches. Every cactus is a totally unique instrument.

The very first time a cactus was amplified in Australia was in 1985 for a concert at the Sydney Opera House. Michael Askill, director of the seminal percussion quartet Synergy of which Graeme was a founding member, premiered the John Cage piece ‘Child of Tree’ at a subscription concert.

Graeme Leak was the ‘cactus tech’ for this Australian premiere performance and realised Cage’s amplification instructions. Graeme and Michael Askill recorded the instrument on the day it was hooked up, amazed at the extraordinarily beautiful sound world they had found. Using a multi-track cassette recorder they each played a stereo take. This is that original recording from the 4-track cassette tape, Sydney, 1985

First ever recording of Cactus in Australia 1985

Graeme is a musician | maker | creator with a history of eclectic projects. To find out more visit www.graemeleak.com

Graeme Leak

Popular tracks