Lithophonica

A new double CD produced in association with Ars Subtilior

Stones, the instruments featured on this album, are joined by sounds of bells, sticks and Young’s stringed instruments as Harley expands their resonance, shaping sounds through granulation, layering, trans-position, delays, and spatialisation. Bells resonate with stones, stones rock on strings, and resonant sticks bounce on strings.

Young’s collection of resonant stones from the shores of Newfoundland, resonant sticks from abandoned beaver lodges in Ontario, played with bells and assorted hardware, are combined with stringed instruments she designed and built.

As hex-bolts are rolled over stones resting on strings, their vibrations cause the strings to sound. Signal processing simultaneously expands the depth and frequency range, adding complexity through layering and subtle shifts over time.

When Young walks along a beach she watches for flat stones, usually rounded by waves.

She tests each stone for tone, tapping it with another stone while holding it at its nodes to let it vibrate. Stones can play each other and can be set on strings so that both the strings and the stones are heard.

All compositions by James Harley and Gayle Young

Produced by James Harley, Gayle Young & William Blakney for Art Subtilior