Ryan Ferguson has been performing as Electroluminescent for nearly a decade. His music draws upon a variety of influences including Krautrock, American minimalism, and the Osaka noise and improv scenes. Ferguson has spent much of 2009 on tour in support of his recently released album Measures (Black Mountain Music), which spent several months on the Canadian college charts.
Asked what he intends for the New Harbours performance, Ryan is adamant that Friday’s performance will be a unique one. “The cathedral sounds amazing. I’m interested in the way that sound moves around it. If you can get the sound up into the arch of the ceiling, it spills down the walls. I have wanted to play in the space since I heard about [New Harbours]. But I didn’t want to do my usual set in there. It’s going to be an all-synthesizer set. Sort of an ambient set. It’s a composed piece and not an improvisation. It will be specific to this night.” Ryan cites the building’s acoustics as being of particular interest to him. “I’m adding to the traditional PA rental for the church. I’m going to be running two stereo mixes around the cathedral and I’m going to add a sub as well, right in the centre. The bass frequencies are going to be at the very heart of the cathedral. I found that when Gasoline Gathers hands played there and they pointed their amps up to the ceiling, their sound fell down the walls and I found that really interesting. I want to see how I can get the sound to move around a little differently.”
The New Harbours Music Series has consciously sought to examine the acoustic properties of the many different instruments used by the performers. For Friday’s performance, Ferguson will focus on vintage synthesizer technology. “All my old stuff is coming. I’ve actually been drawing a diagram, where pieces are going to fit and where things are going to be inserted into the signal chain and stuff. I’m going to be using to Korg MS-10 and the Moog that I always use. And I’ll be using my Yamaha CS20, which is a dual-oscillator monosynth. Still no polysynths though. The other day, I say a Korg polysynth for about $500. Which is not a good deal, it’s about what you should pay for one. I was really close to buying that just so I could have a polysynth for this show. But I decided not to. The other synth that I’m going to use is the Roland MC-202, which is actually a sequencer, but it has a synthesizer section built into it. I have a Jupiter 6 that I was thinking of bringing, but it’s really heavy and cumbersome, and there are a lot of knobs and switches to figure out. I already have enough knobs and switches to figure out!”
New Harbours welcomes Ryan Ferguson as Electroluminescent along with Atlas of the Universe to Christ’s Church Cathedral this Friday, May 8, 2009 at 8pm, as part of the Art Crawl. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5.
electroluminescent
atlas of the universe
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