for Paetzold contrabass recorder and accordion

Commissioned by Tabea Debus and Samuele Telari, with funding from Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien as part of NEUSTART KULTUR.

Recording from 2022 - Sam Stadlen (Stadlen Productions)

Tabea Debus (contrabass recorder)
Samuele Telari (accordion)

As part of 'Sounds of Now: Rotations' at Music in the Round, Sheffield
Film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpV8ClWuDAo

slowly, turning (2022)

Zwischen den Räumen

2023-06-21

Rescue Operation - First Find

Esmeralda (For Quasimodo)

Inverted Meadow Fountain

2023-11-01

Oscillation

Ativeld

All music written, recorded and performed by Ryan J Raffa in Taipei, Taiwan during late 2021 on moog matriarch, modular, fender rhodes, snare drums, cymbals, percussion, op1, tape machines, and field recorders.

Every sound was captured for this specific occasion

Mastering by Taylor Deupree
Vinyl cut by Barry "Baza" Grint at Alchemy
Layout by Drew Heffron
Photographs by Ryan J Raffa

4 e and a is about the infinite spaces between. As a classically trained percussionist, Raffa sat in front of a metronome for the majority of their life. And in their mind, they would play with the spaces between those clicks. In especially challenging times, Ryan would attempt to expand and stretch those spaces into forever. Just existing in the between. This record is about these moments (and places) when we are living in those infinite spaces.

That time of intense musical focus was also Ryan's first introduction to an analog synthesizer. As a teenager, their drum teacher was Herb Flower, an incredible human with light beams of creative energy pouring out of him and his musical family at all times. A parent of another student of Mr. Flower’s was an electrical engineer who had recently been laid off during large cutbacks at Carrier, one of the major employers at that time in Syracuse where Raffa grew up. This parent, with their newly acquired free time, hand-built a drum machine, housed in a large wooden cabinet with 8 or so unmarked knobs, and they gave this synthesizer to Mr. Flower. The sound from that machine was glorious. And Mr. Flower, their drum teacher, would turn a few knobs, make a pattern and have me play along with it during rehearsal. These moments were such a gift, and I know those moments are still reverberating today. Raffa thinks about that time of experimentation, of exploration, of shared love of sound and music as a place that they can go to, a place we can all go to, whenever we choose.

4 e and a

Thoughtful In Late Nights

Solo Synth Piano.  Created in Real-Time LIVE at St. Wenceslaus Church, St. Louis MO.

Year of Music: July 28, 2025

A collection of tracks I made in the last couple of years that resonated with me, showcasing a more ambient and lyrical side of my project

It can be envisioned as the soundtrack of an imaginary video game, movie, or a meaningful experience about growth

Some of them had early incarnations in the exclusive mixtape I did a while ago for Ex Magazine: soundcloud.com/ex-magazine/ex002-zero-crossing-point-1

cover made using Midjourney and a bunch of product and fashion pictures as references

On your own (initiative)

Piano M 7966 4:48 06-08-2025

https://youtube.com/@Mr.AndrewsGarden?feature=shared 
Mr. Andrew's Garden was across the street from our house when we lived in Seattle.
This was in 1959, before the World's Fair and the Space Needle.
We would visit the Garden when we could, and every day was different.
The Chinese would visit on weekends, in the afternoon.

It was a  huge garden and the Andrews were always busy working in it.
Avery and Sarah, Mrs. Andrew's grown children, lived there with them.
Sarah lived above the garage and Avery lived in the garage.
Avery fought in Korea and had a habit.
Cradle Needle was written for him.
Sarah was just wrong.

Everything in our selections is a memory of what happened. Do not become confused. The Garden is as deep as your imagination.
We hope you enjoy your visit.



Mr. Andrew's Garden-

Robert and Mary Andrew
Avery Marshall Chalk
Sarah Elizabeth Chalk
Joshua (Sarah’s infant son)
The Chinese
Susan (She lived next door with her parents.) 
Elana Magnet (Susan's older sister)
John (The part-time Gardener)
Iris (John’s wife)

Instruments used on "Mr. Andrew's Garden"
Yamaha CS 70M
Yamaha CS 40M
Oberheim Two Voice
ARP
TX81Z
Lexicon 
Sequential Circuits 610
M-100 Modular Synth
Telecaster Deluxe
Digital Design’s LS161 Monitors
Klipsch Heresy Speakers 1979
Various Garden Tools...

Esmeralda (For Quasimodo)

Mr. Andrew's Garden

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