The Darkening Scale is one of the solo project of David Janssen, better known for
his work with the experimental duo Renaldo and the Loaf . From 1970, until the
group's demise in 1986, David and Brian Poole (aka Renaldo M) worked
together and produced a number of albums for The Residents' Ralph Records label.
David
was musically inactive from 1986 unti 2006, when a reunion
with Brian in 2006 spurred David back into music making. Encouraged by Brian,
David began working on remixing some old Renaldo and the Loaf material It was
a short step from these remixes to working with non-Renaldo and the Loaf samples
and The Darkening Scale was born.
The following recordings are available
for download:
Sonic Archaeology- right click and select 'save as' to download the album
"A kaleidoscope of sampled instruments put into an avant-garde
symphony. Without question, this release shows that sampling is a true art
form …........ during part 2 it turns into what can only be described as bizarre
carnival music, as if one were lost in some Neil Gaiman landscape.” ReGen Magazine
Six Things Recycled - right click and select 'save as' to download the album
Six Things Recycled was a short project recorded just after work was completed on
the second Darkening Scale recording, Sonic Archaeology. The pieces on Six Things
Recycled started life as pieces on The Entomology of Sound, but use quite different
sound samples. This, and also in some cases altering the time signatures,
has resulted in pieces that are very different from the originals. Clues to
the origins of each piece can be found in the titles, which are all anagrams of
the originals.
"While it's hard to really try and compare The
Darkening Scale to any other artist, this release is worth checking out for
the simple fact that it's free and also because it's a breath of fresh air to the
ears. Those looking for something different, dark, but playful should go and
download this today." ReGen magazine
Stone Deaf Mythology follows on from Six Things Recycled and, with the exception
of one track, takes material from The Entomology of Sound and Sonic Archaeology
and radically transforms them into new pieces of music. By using different
sound samples new possibilities are suggested and the pieces evolve in new directions.
For example, Bach's Aria on The Entomology of Sound, transformed
into Casbah Air on Six Things Recycled, which was then transformed again
to become Chamber Axis on Stone Deaf Mythology
The Songs of Langtuhn Hemblu grew out of a particular piece, Black Death, which evolved
out of a sample of some children singing the nursery rhyme 'ring around
the roses' that I got from the Freesound Project. I liked the idea of combining
the innocence of the children's voices with a backing that was quite dark
sounding, remembering the alleged origin of the rhyme from the time of the Black
Death. What came out of this was clearly a song, an event almost as shocking
as when Renaldo and the Loaf first produced a song-like structure after months
of free improvisation. So this set the goal for the project; to keep to The Darkening
Scale's working method of only using samples but to use a lot of vocal
samples to produce songs and other pieces centred on the voice.
Wind In The Wires - right click and select 'save as' to download the album
Wind in the Wires represents a new departure for The Darkening Scale, an album of ‘virtual’ guitar music! The guitar was the first instrument I learnt to play. Back in the 1970’s, when Renaldo and the Loaf was still in the development stage and we couldn't afford synthesisers, we experimented with ways of extending the range of sounds we could produce with guitars using tape manipulation, echo, tape delay, effects units and prepared guitar techniques. Mostly recorded over a period of a couple of snow-bound weeks in January 2010, Wind in the Wires revisits the spirit of those times using guitar samples and guitar-like sounds to create a series of guitar-based improvisations.
Although the recordings are free to download, there is a cost involved in making
the recordings, maintaining the website, etc. Please click on the 'donate ' button!
