INSTAL 09 line up so far

[3um]

Phil & Richard (and anyone else who was there), what was your feeling about listening to this music with such large audiences? People have already mentioned a couple of downsides (people walking out, people snoring, whiney kids) & I imagine that in many ways I'd rather listen to it as part of a smaller, more concentrated group. But then 300/400 is pretty impressive and I imagine it could be exciting in a way. Any thoughts?

I'm pretty sure there weren't 300 people on Malfatti/Filip concert (and I think even less on Unami/Meehan), but being concentrated on the performances wasn't a big problem for me. Thinking now, maybe it was due to were I was standing/sitting that I feel those two concerts differ. I was standing at some distance from the stage during Malfatti/Filip and was thinking about the whole situation - I mean that I was perceiving all sounds as equally important as all being "the concert". While during Unami/Meehan I was sitting in the first row and I felt that it was all about those things that musicians were doing, that only this was important, not the ambient sounds.

[cheapmachines]

Phil & Richard (and anyone else who was there), what was your feeling about listening to this music with such large audiences?

As I mentioned, I haven't been to an Instal previously and the audiences were by far the largest I've been part of for this kind of music. I think the only session where it really occurred to me that the room was too large and the audience disinterested/distracted enough to be a problem was Sean and Taku's set which would probably have benefited being held in the chapel on the Friday night. Klaus Filip and Radu played in the same room on Saturday and performed a similarly barely-there set and the audience size didn't really impinge on me at all... I'm sure there where plenty of audience comings-and-goings during that set as well that I wasn't aware of.

On balance, I didn't find the larger audience caused me any real problems when trying to engage with the quiet sets. Maybe that says something about the high overall quality of the performances?

[Richard Pinnell]

I'm not sure how many exactly sat in for the individual quieter sets as I tended not to look back behind me, but certainly far more than usual and there were easily 300 people in the building every day. There were several rooms and a bar however.

I've been thinking about how I feel about the audience / room size versus the quieter sets and will write something more elsewhere, but seeing as we are all being civil here...

For me (and this sounds bad but I can't think of any other way of describing it) there was a naiveness about how to react to the music from a small percentage of the audience. The worst culprits were the camera clickers to be honest, (some of whom) who might (I don't know) have been hired in to document the festival and were quite often somewhat intrusive. Then there were mobile phones going off in nearly every set, and one well-meaning and misguided mother who brought a very young child into several sets. Oddly the child's exclamations worked really well in Seymour's performance but were just annoying and distracting in the Houben and Julius.

The thing is, to have played the music in smaller halls in front of a smaller "select" few would have flown in the face of the very admirable approach of the festival to try and invite in people that would perhaps not usually attend, and breaking down some of the perceived elitism about the music along the way. If you were lost at the back of the room I guess you probably didn't get the best experience, but at least you got some kind of experience.

the interesting thing to me will be what happens in Glasgow now. Our mate Jez is playing a (I imagine quiet) solo gig there next weekend and it would be nice to think that maybe one or two people that were introduced to the music through Instal could be in the audience.

[mudd]

i'm pretty sorry i missed this one. after all the work interference, my boss came by today and asked why i wasn't on vacation after all.

it all sounds more and more intriguing to me. just something i want to mentioned based on sean/sachiko here in houston that might also apply to sean/taku: when i saw that show it seemed perfectly correct and right that some people decided there was a moment for them to leave. not just because they shouldn't have to sit through something they did not enjoy, but also the sound of their departure- delicately standing, carefully stepping, and then a slow abandonment of all cautions as they neared the door - was an important part of the experience for me.

i'm not saying this was necessarily the case, but i think sean and taku would enjoy if it were.

i look forward to having a more careful read over richard's blog later.

m

[cheapmachines]

one well-meaning and misguided mother who brought a very young child into several sets.

Yeah, not to harp on or labour the point but this was easily the most distracting thing for me. I can tune out creaky chairs and snoring but this genuinely spoilt the Julius set - fourtunately I wasn't into to it anyway...

Hopefuly the little cherub will grow up enlightened and culturally enriched musically. That, or fiften years down the line will deliberately be into whatever the 2024 equivalent of The Pussy Cat Dolls is out of spite.

[Richard Pinnell]

Hopefuly the little cherub will grow up enlightened and culturally enriched musically. .

When I talked to Seymour a little about this he said something like "that was me once upon a time" meaning the child....

[Richard Pinnell]

i'm not saying this was necessarily the case, but i think sean and taku would enjoy if it were.

You may well be right. I did see Taku get very fed up with the camera clickers though. Before and during the quartet show on the Friday he threw some seriously vicious looks in the direction of one persistent individual.

[mudd]

yeah, camera clicks just don't have the same sort of caution. in the show i'm referring to, cameras were basically verboten.

m

[cheapmachines]

Before and during the quartet show on the Friday he threw some seriously vicious looks in the direction of one persistent individual.

I noticed that. He does a nice line in killer looks... he shot a particularly evil look towards a chair creaker during his set with Sean too.

[treble ahead]

First of all, I loved the whole festival. The atmosphere and the whole modus operandi the organizers went for was very nice and friendly, welcoming everyone - and making room for everyone - very admirable and one of the best festivals I've ever been too. The programme was both quite to the point and a good read (actually they had two I guess, a shorter one with not as many French philosophers mentioned in it) - really trying to explain the reason why each artist had its place on the programme.

Some of the quiter sets did provide a lot of problems though, at least for me as a listener. The passing trains I have to admit did more harm to me than the little kid (admittedly I wasn't as the Julius or Wright-gig). Perhaps they're more easily accepted since they're an outside source and pretty much unavoidable at The Arches. I don't know what it was about the Meehan/Unami-set but apart from the huge number of people that left (they tried to do so very civilized I may add) the chairs really were noisy on my side of the venue. Perhaps I noticed them more since I couldn't seem to get what the two upfront were trying to do. This was probably the set I had the highest hopes for, having high regard for the two musicians involved. It just didn't fit that night I felt. However elegant the rubber stamp Meehan used might have been, I sat on the third row and couldn't understand what it was - I assume Richard must have brought his binoculars or something. Then again, these people aren't alchemists - they can't make gold every night and I appreciate the chance I got to listen to this duo. Now, that little let down aside - I really appreciated the just-as-quiet Filip/Malfatti set the day before. And my golden moment seems to be everyone else's one too, the last set in the chapel on friday. Thankfully, no passing trains then.

The hotel with the dried tomato juice on the walls wasn't too bad either.

[d.at]

I think I chose a bad position for the Taku/Sean set as Sean was almost completely obscured by Taku from where I was. So things like the stamp on the drum passed me by.

I wish I could explain more about why I couldn't jive with the handclaps but it's perhaps just a sound that doesn't do anything for me.

Anyway, fun discussion, and I wish I'd known so many people from here were going to be there (i.e i wish i'd been here a few more times in the past few months. oh well!)

[Gaendaal]

yeah, camera clicks just don't have the same sort of caution. in the show i'm referring to, cameras were basically verboten.

m

What really annoys me is people with clicking digital cameras at gigs. TURN THE SOUND OFF! IT'S NOT DOING ANYTHING!

[patrick farmer]

what a wonderful festival. am very tired at the moment, megabus will do that i guess, but a lot of thoughts where going through my head last night after reading what some of you had to say here, thoughts i should've written down. I hope to get back on here and try and write something about the three days soon.

really can't fault the festival in any way.

x

[Dustin Hurt]

let me also add one more voice to the chorus saying how appealingly this was presented. i love the tone of the website and all the media and the general "this is interesting stuff - here's why!" feel.

This branding/marketing/presentation is really what sets INSTAL apart and delivers the big numbers of people. The overall campaign is quite appealing both visually and in content and it's managed to find a perfect balance in tone between 'serious' and 'accessible'. I snagged some programs, posters, and such so the Philly folks can check em out...

I'm curious how this will all compare to the MaerzMusik in Berlin later this week.

[Dustin Hurt]

Lots and lots to say about the music and the festival overall. It was great to see meet so many people in person. I took a bunch of pictures as well - and would like to post them shortly - but I'm still traveling and it's pretty hard to imagine working on my laptop while I'm in London.

BTW Richard - I went to the gig at Cafe OTO that you recommended. As you said, London seems to have a pretty great scene right now. There's a really strong sense of community. It was good to meet and talk with many of the young players, but it was also good to see older established artists like Eddie Prevost and Steve Beresford in the audience as well.

[jkudler]

BTW Richard - I went to the gig at Cafe OTO that you recommended. As you said, London seems to have a pretty great scene right now. There's a really strong sense of community. It was good to meet and talk with many of the young players, but it was also good to see older established artists like Eddie Prevost and Steve Beresford in the audience as well.

what was the show?

-j.

[Dustin Hurt]

BTW Richard - I went to the gig at Cafe OTO that you recommended. As you said, London seems to have a pretty great scene right now. There's a really strong sense of community. It was good to meet and talk with many of the young players, but it was also good to see older established artists like Eddie Prevost and Steve Beresford in the audience as well.

what was the show?

-j.

Seymour Wright organized the event - at least in part.

It was three sets of young Londoners that have met through the monthly workshop led by Prevost. A violin, violin, violin, cello set, a 3 people inside the piano set, and a trumpet and electronics duo.

Maybe Richard can chime in with the names - but I doubt they'd be know to any of us in the US. Yet.

Grundik Kasyansky was also there - I totally forgot he now lived to London - so it was nice to an old friend again.

[jkudler]

i found it - http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/programme/Work ... eries.shtm

don't ross lambert and matt milton post here? or have? i like the little bit of matt's stuff i've heard a lot.

that newlondonwhat thread turned into such a crack-up that i didn't end up saying this, but from my perspective (chair in my desk at work), london does seem to be an exciting place right now. regardless of whether something truly incredible is happening or there are any real amazing records yet (i wouldn't be able to say, though wright's solo CD obviously KILLS IT), i think the conditions are in place for good things to happen. people develop their music when there is opportunity in a nice community, usually when there's some kind of audience. the kind of fervor and hard work that i can see (via richard's blog, myspace, some random websites, audition radio RIP, and a small bit of personal correspondence), it seems that london is certainly primed for some great music. perhaps more important, it seems like a very fertile community these days.

-jesse

[mudd]

there isn't anything wrong with that new london thread.

m

[Richard Pinnell]

Maybe Richard can chime in with the names - but I doubt they'd be know to any of in the US. Yet.

Here you go;



It was good to spend a little time with you up in Scotland Dustin, enjoy Berlin!

Edit: Jesse found it first. I'm getting slow.