Patrick Lysaght
For The Birds
Label: Holidays Records
Format: Digital Audio
Genre: Experimental
DRM-free download included when purchasing the physical product
Edition of 250. Deluxe edition + insert. For eighteen months, between 1984 and 1985, Patrick Lysaght played flute, strings, and percussion inside the Rainforest Birdhouse at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His audience and collaborators: 150 birds of 42 species.
The result is one of the earliest and most radical documents of interspecies improvisation. Predating the current wave of sound ecology by decades, For The Birds sits comfortably alongside the biophonic research of Bernie Krause, the ornithological field recordings of Jean C. Roché, the Deep Listening practice of Pauline Oliveros, and the interspecies experiments of Jim Nollman. A missing link unearthed.
Lysaght didn't record the birds. He played with them. On Downstream, the talking drum establishes a backdrop while the birds take the lead. On Mourning Music, a threnody for his father, the birds seemed to be respectfully listening. On Light Sensitive, delicate percussion triggers avian response. Complex clouds of point notes build to rich density, following what the original notes call "the excitement of chance and the probability of experience."
Originally released in 1985 on Frank Records, Santa Fe. Now reissued with mastering by Giuseppe Ielasi and lacquer cut by Daniel Krieger at SST Frankfurt.
During the past 18 months, Lysaght has been playing music in the Rainforest Birdhouse at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque. This interactive environment, populated by 150 birds representing 42 species, has provided more than an interesting background for music; rather, the birds have contributed to the resulting compositions on an equal level with the musician. Complex clouds of point notes build to a rich density, as mutual interspecies stimulation assumes a path based on the excitement of chance and the probability of experience. The material on this record has been selected (from recordings 9/23/84, 3/23/85, and 5/17/85) with emphasis on bird responsiveness and instrument variety within the aesthetic parameters of blending with and enhancing this unique sonic atmosphere. In order to preserve the naturally wide dynamic range of birds, it was necessary to master this record at a lower level than most commercial records. It is suggested that you set the volume control higher than usual for a full listening experience. This record would be another distant dream if not for cooperation and support of John Moore, Director, Rio Grande Zoo. Very special thanks to Roy Durfee, Suzi Flenniken, and Mike Wolfe for making the pre-dawn recording adventures a reality.
