"these pieces grew out of my research and interest in just intonation
and prime numbers. during my explorations, i came across some
interesting prime number sets and wondered what they would sound
like. i constructed these pieces using sine wave generators in max/msp.
i chose a base frequency (fundamental) for each piece and multiplied that number by each of the prime numbers in a given set to determine the harmonics / partials / overtones. most of the overtones were transposed down several octaves to fit within a comfortable 2-3 octave range. this became my “scale” or harmonic zone for each piece. i related the panning and metronome speed of each overtone to its frequency. rhythmically, each sine tone / frequency followed its own 3 beat cycle which created overlapping prime number rhythmic patterns.
beat 1 = base frequency for that given overtone
beat 2 = an octave higher
beat 3 = silence (rest)
the lower overtones had faster rhythmic cycles and the higher overtones had slower rhythmic cycles. this was a way for me to relate the rhythm to the prime number sets and integrate it with the harmony while still retaining a musical texture that was interesting to me. i used a simple stereo delay to blur the rhythmic texture to create more of a slowly shifting, patterned harmonic cloud.

these pieces are dedicated to james tenney (1934-2006).
they are an acknowledgment of his extraordinary work with
alternate tuning systems and just intonation.
his musical life should be an inspiration to us all."

-Autumn Records

"'northern songs' is the debut collaborative project between fellow vermonters, chris weisman & greg davis.

chris has been prolifically & quietly writing and recording songs for many years. greg has been involved in all types of music and has made many records for various labels. he is maybe best known for his drone music and his electro-acoustic computer music work.

for this album, chris sent greg some basic songs on 4-track tapes. usually just guitars, vocals, and maybe another instrument here or there. greg dumped the tracks into his computer and overdubbed all manner of instruments, vocals, and used his signature computer processing techniques to further embellish, explode & extend the arrangements of the songs. the result is a strange, fantastic, wonderful, joyous, weird world of songs with many twists and turns & harmonic / melodic / textural surprises. it is a journey from beginning to end. it takes some time to get acclimated to this sound world, but give it a chance to seep in. repeated listenings will reward the listener & reveal more and more detail, depth and beauty.

'northern songs' is the perfect marriage of chris' lyrical imagery & far out song-craft with greg's expansive computer production / arrangement & compositional ideas. we are really excited about this record & we hope that you will enjoy it."

-Autumn Records

"Greg Davis and Sébastien Roux are back with their second collaborative album following the acclaimed release “Paquet surprise”. “Merveilles”, translated from the French word as wonderland, describes the album very fitting as the songs have a very illustrative quality. Where the previous album relied a bit more on sweet melodies and quick changes “Merveilles” explores different sound worlds in depth and illuminates a terrain of diverse emotional scenarios. Silent passages of field recordings are combined with subtle harmonic layers, interrupted by sudden noise eruptions and contrasted by folk like guitar melodies and very concrete sounds, often leaving the listener wondering what the origin of this tone might be.
It is a pleasure to have a documentary of this interesting collaboration in which both musicians are able to realise their grown individual expertise. Sébastien Roux, working at the IRCAM and well known for his success in continuing the French line of music concrète in a new and contemporary way, clearly helps to establish the abstract narrative form of this record with arrangements of cut and edited pieces of concrete recordings. The influence of Greg Davis, often described as the anchor figure in the forming of the laptop folk scene, is clearly audible in melodic guitar lines and the construction of dense harmonic drones. But the strength of this collaboration is the fact that Greg Davis and Sébastien Roux combine their musical ideas creating a very unique approach of their own. This record clearly combines elements of serious and popular music in a highly thoughtful and contemporary way, widening the edges of by now established stylistic fields that Davis and Roux once helped to define.
“Merveilles” consists of edits of live recordings made during a tour through Europe and the US in 2005 - it is the pleasant proof that electronic music of such richness in detail can be played and composed live."

-ahornfelder

"a truly fine and austere statement from our favorite electric troubadour, greg davis and the percussive fog known as steven hess. decisions is a collection of real-time processed percussion, of aural snapshots, really -> the photo is taken by hess and developed by davis. not unlike radian in a blender on puree."

-Longbox Recordings

"The act of conjuring remarkable sound from found objects is at the very heart of this recording from American musicians Greg Davis and Jeph Jerman. Having met in Arizona some years back, Davis and Jerman commenced working together on a series of recording projects.

Improvising with a range of implements and devices ranging from sticks, stones and lo-fi electronics to prepared instruments, gongs and broken percussion, the pair sought to develop a personal language that reflected their individual approaches but also created a shared sensibility and aesthetic quality. Placing their work in a range of environments, most of which orbit around Jerman’s ranch in Cottonwood, Davis and Jerman create a richly textured array of sounds from the most modest of sonic tools.

Each of the works featured here collects together multiple improvised sessions, which have been edited to create a flowing sense of movement and space. These tempered post-concréte works resolve a joint interest from these two musicians in the act of freeform found sound improvisation and experimentation."

-Room40