Bethany Misselbrook - Suite for Violin & Software Abuse

Label: Slow Worm Records - SWR002
Format: Lathe-Cut 10” Clear Vinyl, Limited Edition
Country: UK
Released: May, 2022
Genre: Electronic
Style: Experimental, Violin, Instrumental

In this collision of musical worlds, electronic musician and composer Bethany Misselbrook carves out enough space and light for Kath Roberts’ violin to breathe amongst influences as diverse as birdsong, musique concrète and Indonesian Gamelan.

Suite for Solo Violin and Software Abuse is a collection of nine pieces which share a bedrock of atmospheric granular synthesis. This creates fertile ground for neo-classical violin to harvest some compelling and emotive melody.

This series of recordings was conceived from microscopic analysis of musical pitches – more specifically, extracting fragments of a singular note’s harmonic series, and sewing the pieces together using software into a coherent patchwork of harmony. Due to this process, the resulting musical sequences feel simultaneously micro and macroscopic. The contrastingly natural sound of Violin provides a grounding humanity - the sound of fingers hitting strings set readily across an otherwise Sci-Fi backdrop.

In this exploratory work, Bethany Misselbrook and Kath Roberts take inspiration from iconic British electronic music pioneers such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire, carrying these influences into the digital world. Perhaps it is fitting that the final versions of this suite were recorded remotely via the internet, due to COVID restrictions.

1. Environment 1
2. Duckeggs
3. Automation of Planet
4. Bloomdust
5. Lullaby Circuit
6. Crystal Dance
7. A.i.
8. Pixelcloud
9. Environment 2