Really captures the essence of nature, very relaxing!

the tuscany sketches deserve artistic expression..  come on.!!  it would be a visual audial delight..   get it on no mates,,  I DEMAND IT.

Roll 'em! Sonic Walk of Fame reinforced--Congratulations Mat! Crunchy footsteps that incite mental hunger pangs...The development of this is an incredible lair for a cinematic psychological thriller!  I love this stuff under your command! You do well with Italy! ;)  Astounding performance!  🙌🏼🎥🔥🎯💯💯💯💯💯💓📺🔁

Such stunning textures and sound effects... Very gorgeous experimental work, Mat!

impromptu 2025-04-18

music: mike brosco
image: suzanne rinehart / mike brosco

Trailing Half-Night

"She sat beside him, their shoulders almost touching, yet a canyon of unspoken volumes stretched between them—longing for what could have been and mourning what never was.  Each silence echoed with a thousand words neither dared to speak, the air heavy with the ache of both wanting and withholding.  In the quiet, their hearts told stories their lips never would—have missed chances, of the right words arriving too late, or not at all." 

There's this Flemish/Dutch expression "het spreekt boekdelen" which means something like "speaking volumes". In Flemish it means saying a lot, not with words but with a look or a gesture, usually in emotionally heavy situations. I wondered how one would put it if these emotions, however very present and clear to all concerned, would not be expressed at all. Hence the title "unspoken volumes".
I was reading about synth architecture then and wondered how an electric piano would sound like if I had to program it with a DX7. So I tried to emulate it using FM synthesis. The "unspoken volumes" theme came to me while messing about on the keyboard. The choir seemed like a fun contradiction to this idea of something unspoken.

unspoken volumes

Another snippet from Caligo Paean, darker in tone to evoke the power Of Caligo, who wasn't just in charge of mist but ruled the domain of chaos. 

Caligo Paean is a 1 hour long sound piece installed on river front property in the town of Franklin, Tasmania as part of the exhibition "When The Fog Clears". It formed part of the Ten Days on The Island Festival March 2025.
The work was installed in several locations across the property including a stack of subs under an old bus, in the main exhibition space and in an abandoned shed some 40 metres from the main area . The speakers were 'tuned' quite differently depending on their location and the sound was not delay corrected with the result of each mini-installation merging with each other in odd sonic ways - kind of calling the listener from one spot to another. The the work features field recordings, percussion, piano, bass guitar and Intonarumori as well as this special one off choir : )

Caligo is the Ancient goddess of Chaos. Born of the fog she controls the darkness, dwells in the void and is as old as the primordial matter that created the universe. This work is a tribute to the goddess as she continues to influence our lives and, in the case of this installation, the site and concept informing the show.

Official press release below for The Fog Clears

Every day, the mists of the Huon Valley perform a seductive dance, gently obscuring and revealing contours of the fertile land and waters. Situated in The Watershed Franklin, When The Fog Clears features six artists from lutruwita / Tasmania exploring the region’s iconic mists through a variety of mediums including installation, sculpture, illustration, sound, and video.

Developed exclusively for Franklin, this exhibit extends from the waterfront itself into the chambers, kilns, and rafters of the shed, inviting visitors to consider fog as an atmosphere that can cloak us in unexpected ways.

Caligo Paean (The Abyss Calls)

Mohniat

released in Jan 2025 - nomatesensemble.bandcamp.com/album/i-am…m-with-you.

Then She Reaches for the Gun was formed in 2021 by Mat Ward. At its essence is sound collage, Ward invites musicians, sound artists, poets and anyone interested to send him files to be used, abused and showcased ‘as suggested by the work’. They are not always musical but field recordings, spoken word, engine noises and drunken rants. Animals participate a lot too! The raw material is arranged with one phrase asking for the next in an alchemical and intuitive process that will most often feature dozens of tracks weaving in and out of each other, colliding, harmonising, arguing and laughing along the way.

Both the aesthetic and the compositional methods use what Frank Zappa called Xenochrony - the mixing together of separately recorded and rhythmically opposing musical phrases to create polyrhythmic and polytempi compositions.The work also features fragmented story telling with the human voice (in many languages) appearing unannounced throughout the tracks offering up snippets of thoughts, conversations, jokes and existential angst. The absurdity of humanities desperate claim to have any real understanding of its place in the universe is revealed through the recorded follies and genuine emotions of the artists. The project is a celebration of chance, diversity and community. It pays homage to all musical tastes and genres whilst maintaining a sense of humour and irreverence that is needed to stay sane in the climate of 21st Century contemporary culture.

Then She Reaches For The Gun is

Humans

Adam Meredith - Ford XD with XF front mods/Voice
Ambient Annie - Electronica/Field Recording/Voice
Andrew Harper - Field Recordings
Angostura Elwar - 2 x Behringer CRAVE analog synths/Yamaha P200 electronic piano
Antonella Eye Porcelluzzi - Text/Voice
Ariad Music - Clarinet/Percussion/Piano
Axel Weiß - Electric Guitar/Robot Voices
Banalytic - Experimental Electronics
Belial Pelgrim - Digital Strings/Electronica
Brendan Corey Benson - Electric Guitar
Carolyn Wigston - Voice
Chicago Word Brigade - Electronica
Dan Hewins - Bass Guitar
Dane Renshaw - Drums/Voice
Dani Kirby - Keyboard/Piano/Voice
Dylan Banks - Intonarumori/Voice
Frank Wilke - French Horn/Trombone/Voice
Garbage Truck Disco - Drum programming/Electric Guitar/Joyous Pop Punk
Glenn Ward - Electric Guitar/Skyhooks
Hakan - Moog Voyager XL
Hverheij- Drums/Electric Guitar/Synth
Johnny Python- Bass Guitar/Drum Programming/Electric Guitar/Text/Voice
JZsuperstar - Electric Guitar/Field Recordings/Keyboards
Lady ElectroTrek - Organ
Libby Laksmi - Jazzy Loops/Synth Bass
Loop(c)y - Electric Guitar
Malo Bernard-O’Meara - Drums
Maxx Black - Guitar/Ukulele
Minimal Drone Girl - Cat Wrangling/Field Recordings
Oberlin - Eurorack/Piano
Paolo D’Emilio - Electronica
Paul Miller - Electronic Percussion/Keyboards/Phat Electro Bass
Phil Bywater - Saxophones/Voice
Raul Mainer - DAW Programming/Heavy Metal
Robert Jefferson - Akai Rhythm wolf/GakkenSX-150 ll/Korg Kaosilator/Percussion
Rosin Dust - Violin/Field Recordings
Sarah Megahertz - Speedway Noise
Scratch Kelly - Beats/Electronica
Stan Magendanz - Electronica
Ten Atmospheres - Field Recordings/Synths
Texmex Shaman - Electric Guitar
The Windscale Blues Experiment - Clarinet/Flute/Saxophones
Timothy Korstad - Demons/Electronica
Thomas Bergheim - Bass Guitar/Electric Guitar
Tobias Schmitt - Electronica/Processed Organ/Text
Tuonela - Demons/Electronica
Vartch - Drones/Things/Trousers (not T-shirts)/Voice
Widar’s Spiritual Front - Electronica/Ms Pacman
W:I:L-o’ the-wisp - Bass Guitar/Electric Guitar/Electronica
Wivresse - Electronica/Voice
Zanshin - Acoustic and Processed Drums

Mat Ward - Arrangements/Bass Guitar/Double Bass/Field Recordings/Intonarumori/Marimba/Noise/Percussion/Piano

Dogs
Boogie
Brophy
Buddy
Hancho
Jack
Momo
Neska
Poldo
Senna
Shyamsundara
Star
Oily (cat)
And many cows from Milis, Sardinia

Cooking Hard Boiled Eggs in a Cheap Motel In Adelaide Part 1

Delight

the image is AI generated based on my description

cheap city digs

August 2025 Currently on residency in Italy !
These are the 2nd batch of 3 short sketches using field recordings captured around Montegiovi, Tuscany. With these little works I am experimenting freely with what can be produced from each days sounds - manipulating them and stitching them back together with the aim of producing a long format work at the end of the residency. I have done a dozen or so since arriving a fortnight ago but not sharing them all (some are pretty rubbish). The idea is to have them done by the end of the day (or night) then move on to something fresh the next day. 
I am truly thankful for this opportunity that has been provided for me by the Salamanca Arts Centre in Tasmania and Cultivate Projects/La Baldi residency in Italy and The USA.
And of course the wonderful people of Montegiovi !

Tuscany Experiments 4- 6

Synesthesia

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Music and things that might sound like music by Mat Ward. Noise Art/A  Piano and Bass Duet with Dani Kirby/A 50 plus member Art Ensemble called Then She Reaches The Gun/Deep Research Into Luigi Russolo and his Intonarumori .. thats just the stuff I post regularly : ) Thanks to everyone thats ever stopped by. Music is The Best!

Tuscany Experiments 4- 6

No Mates Ensemble

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