A Gentleman's Guide to Entropy

The spike organ or nail chello (sic) is thought to originate from an early middle Europe monastic sect, the Iscariotians. They may have used the instrument to accompany their lengthy rituals contemplating the pain of the crucifixion.  

The Iscariotians are said to have been wiped out by returning crusaders at the behest of emperor Leopold III. Other commentators have suggested that the whole story may have been a constructed  alibi for the defeated crusaders plunder and desecration of the brewery of ..Santa Quaffa...


A possible surviving 'chello' object, made from of lignum vitae and iron, resides in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen. Its interpretation is not without controversy with some critics asserting the object is nothing more than a kind of agricultural implement, though this does not explain its cruciform shape and carved decoration.

In 1972 the scholar . Roland de Févin was granted permission to investigate the Rouen Chello, explore its sound making capabilities and make recordings. his theory was that the instrument was to be played by a rosined bow.  Unfortunately de Févin's playing and handling resulted in two of the nails fracturing and so the investigation was terminated after only one day. The single recording de Févin made was never released but it was played to audiences on an European lecture tour he conducted shortly before his death in 1974. 

It has been subsequently alleged that de Févin's  investigation  coincided with the great fire at  Nantes cathedral. This lead to several occultist conspiracy theories, most notably retold in the pulp fiction novel Blood Nail-(Brownie Dane,1975) much of the plot was lifted for the Italian soft core film Sistero Orgasma (1977) where the action was switched away from a monastery to a scantily clad convent.(citation needed) 

On the film soundtrack, the sounds of the Chello were replicated by experimental electronic synthesiser the achoirorium- itself the  subject of intrigue- as its extremely high operating voltages caused the death of its creator  Luigi soon after the recording session.


This recording was made in 1980 by UK avant geographer Forster Iberix who attended several of de Févin's lectures.  He set about building a replica device and making reconstructions of the Iscariotarian mass based on a column of scribbled numbers  which appear reverso  in one of Leonardo da Vinci's codex's (Coded notebooks). The recording was released on an untitled flexi disk issued by cult French label sordide sentimental -who now deny any knowledge of its existence. It does not appear on their official discography.  Improbably- Haringey local studies library, London, has a copy in their archive. The library does not provide any method of playback for the flexidisc and items from the archive cannot be withdrawn -so some subterfuge was involved in me getting this track taped. Whilst the disk was in my possession an inexplicable number of minor disasters befell me -so I can assure you I hurriedly returned it.

disquiet0385
More on this 385th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Audubonus Instrumentum / The Assignment: Imagine a fake instrument, and make music with it — at:
https://disquiet.com/0385/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Thanks to Paul Harrington for the Latin assistance.
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0385-audubonus-instrumentum/

The Nail Chello (disquiet0385)

Heavy Sky

Track 1 on my new Music Cassette.
https://djdeppenhorst.bandcamp.com/album/15-trivial-miniatures

Music Cassette

A01 - Release the Electronic Ponies

Album "Looking for her" extrait
ratordogjr.blogspot.com/2020/03/no-fi…music-70.html

https://soundcloud.com/yuki-fuji-1

02. Fuji Yuki & Valéry Poulet - NESHAMA 2

Marco Lucchi : ring modulator and generative sounds

22 marzo 2020

bedroom music no. 1

A version of Pharief by Boson Spin. Creative Commons.

Pharief

Boson Spin - Pharief - Spectral Message Remix

A transcendental sound journey into the inner depths...

Endless

Bird (Naviarhaiku 330)

Excerpt from the new album of Adam Majdecki-Janicki, "Eimi" (Snow in Water Records, release date: 06/18/2020).

"Adam Majdecki-Janicki offers outstanding music, like an archive noise, an open breath on a film from another era. An experiment that makes sound a landscape, a sound/space continuum. Yuri Morozov is the great inspiration, the clever and resourceful electronics of these studios piercing the solitude of the bands and official orchestras. There is no commemoration in this tribute to the great Russian composer. Perception alone, the memory of a burning film, a stalker in search of a mirrored universe. Adam Majdecki-Janicki makes textures-cassettes, sound worlds buried in the memory of a sky full of stars. Eimi, or the open sound of a walking talent."

EPK: https://spark.adobe.com/page/adJbPV1Vtzts4/

02. Fuji Yuki & Valéry Poulet - NESHAMA 2

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