For this blog post, I asked Mathias Lystbæk to walk us through his new album Faint Structures; providing insight into how each track was made, its features, ideas and anything else he could share. You can also see some studio photos he sent me, both in the post or as part of a mini music video I've put together of these. Mathias' album is available now on Whitelabrecs, under his artist pseudonym Circa Alto. You can check this electro-acoustic beauty out by hitting play on any of the embedded Bandcamp track players within the post, or at the bottom of this page.

For Reeds: This track is based around the sounds and textures of the clarinet. I tried to capture the breath, spit, pressing of the keys etc and introducing it slowly, waiting to include the actual tone and timbre of the clarinet as we know it. Another consistent sound here is the sound of a cork stopper hitting a lightbulb. The actual motif is played by the guitar, but the foundation of this track is all about the clarinet and lightbulb. I did most of it as improvised and layered takes to keep a live feel. Harmonically I tried to keep it simple, allowing the elements to blend together in each their own tempo and I think of this as sort of an unorganised canon.

For Lamellae: The main soundsource for this track is a homemade lamellophone. I guess I was feeling restless or bored and just hitting random things in a workshop, when I found out I could adjust the pitch by extending or shortening the length of screws attached to the clamp. I then made and recorded a short melodic theme, pitched it down, and from there started to add more voices and elements. Actually this is what started the idea for the following tracks that would eventually end up as this album.

For Alloy: ‘For Alloy’ is based on a drone made up of sustained chords from an electric piano and bowed cymbal in various pitches. I like the eerie quality it made when I dragged my violin bow across the edge of a cymbal. I tried recording the cymbal both upclose and further away, and most of the reverbs you hear is how they naturally occurred and were captured by the standard condenser mic I use. Again there are hints of motifs from the guitar on top of what you could call a loose chord progression. The main focus here though is the bowed cymbal drone and so I tried to keep everything else minimal and sparse and low and muddy in the mix.

For Resonance: I guess this is me getting a bit impatient and wanting to let the guitar breath a little more freely and aggressive. I made the initial sounds by using an e-bow on a low pitch viola string and then improvise a guitar take on top. The effects surrounding those elements consists of a loop that is also recorded and manipulated though guitar pedals in a live take to create some dynamic to the track overall. I don’t remember if that was done before or after the guitar take but somehow I found it to work well together.

For Argent: I recently discovered that I tend to make harmonic endings to albums. I’m not sure why, but maybe it’s a way for me to finish a project, like a conclusion to the album. Perhaps it’s a way to finally relax after going through 40 minutes of messy and mysterious music. ‘For Argent’ is based on a fairly simple flute arrangement and flageolets from the guitar. I think of it as a lullaby without a melody. There’s a field recording underneath, that may be from the same day as I built the lammelophone. That would also be coincidental - as with most things on this record - but for the sake of the concept, let’s say it’s from the same day. A coincidental full circle.

If you like the sound of what you hear and read in this blog post by Circa Alto, you can follow his work here:

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Label: A Quiet Room Recording

'Faint Structures' is available now in a limited edition run of gatefold vinyl-effect CDrs, as well as a range of high quality digital formats. You can take a listen and buy a copy in your preferred digital format by clicking HERE!