[...] Patrick recently reissued three of these pieces, with some of them completely reworked, on the Organised Music from Thessaloniki label. Reissued may not be the correct word as I suspect that, besides myself not too many copies of the original disc exist out there. The new release though is titled Apis Mellfera, moved from and to. The first track, titled moved to, (can you guess what the others might be called? ) is a piece made by playing back a field recording of the bees through metals, drums, surfaces, bottle and rocks. It begins with faintly recognisable sounds, as if we are hearing the bees at the other end of a deep glass bottle, and then gradually through the seventeen minute piece the sound becomes more abstract, drifting off into a series of clingy metallic tones as presumably the sound played back through cymbals and other objects caused them to vibrate and resonate. This piece has been put together in post production from an assortment of recordings made in this way with different objects, so here and there we are reminded slightly of the source material, but often all trace is lost. I do find myself asking if I would have guessed I was hearing honey bees had I not been aware from the sleeve notes and I suspect I wouldn’t, The resulting music is very charming all the same, a simple, slow meditation on a nice idea.
and, the second piece is a straight recording of the bees made with a stereo microphone. I once called Patrick the UK’s answer to Jeph Jerman on a radio programme, and quite recently called him it to his face as well. He didn’t seem to mind so I’ll make the comparison here too. Jerman, a percussionist like Farmer is fond of recording bees as well, though the CD of his that I own only contains straight-up field recordings like this second piece on Apis Mellifera The little five minute busy buzzy interlude works well here coming after the wistful chimes of the first piece. The bees actually sound very close by, sometimes giving the impression they are hovering around your ear, making for a slightly unnerving recording if you are of an apiphobic condition.
The third piece, called fro is assembled using recordings made by attaching contact mics to the underside of the hives. The resulting piece is a peculiarly alien soundworld made up of tiny shuffling sounds, the occasional knock and scratch and here and there a deadened buzzing, presumably made when a bee came close to a microphone, albeit the other side of the hive floor. This piece sounds unlike much else I have heard before, vaguely reminiscent of those moments when someone accidentally calls you from their mobile phone, and on answering you get to hear the rustling of the bottom of their pocket for a while, with only tiny distant glimpses of anything else. I really like this piece because of its seemingly otherwordly feel, but also, not unlike the field recording work of Lee Patterson it reveals the hidden musicality of things usually hidden away from the human ear. (Richard Pinell, The Watchful Ear)
On Apis mellifera, moved to and fro, Patrick Farmer filters a simple, exploitable subject (bees and their beehive) into three separate aural experiences. He answers the following in the process: 1) how does the subject sound, au natural, and does it jibe with the memory of the observer, 2) what are the resonant frequencies of the subject itself and in what sonic area does most of the activity take place, and 3) how would (1) and (2) be experienced if random metallic and wooden objects were used as the medium through which the sounds travel?
For the first piece, “moved to”, Farmer amplified raw recordings of the hive through metal scraps, rock, drums, and glass. Gains were employed such that, at choice points through the 17-minute duration, ringing feedbacks were obtained, never allowed to become completely silent, presumably due to the occasional interactions of the insects. Track 2, “and”, is a field recording in the truest sense – stereo microphones positioned to record the hive. Several times I imagined a very satisfied Patrick Farmer, editing the final mix with swollen patches of red about his arms and face, with randomly affixed band-aids. The mechanical conditions for “fro” (track 3) may have been dangerous, too, as contact microphones were placed directly beneath the hive. These contact mics bring the delicate touches of tiny critters and their occasional buzzing into the audible range in a manner that open-air microphones cannot. And we hear the activity of the hive itself, constantly underway as the residents’ workloads increase and then settle.
The contact microphones and surrogate mediums reveal properties not normally ascribed to bees. En masse, they are loud – not only do they “buzz” in the same frequency band, but they scuttle, build, systematize. Like cyclic Feng Shui, but with economic output pertaining to the bee lifestyle. Recorded as Farmer has done, we’re treated to a sense of how a hive affects its surrounding environment, complete with muffled rhythms and atonality. It’s music borne out of an unusual concept, defying categorization, and quite therapeutic. (Alan Jones, bagatellen)
Although I don't think we reviewed music by Patrick Farmer before, he is, along with Sarah Hughes, the founder of the Compost & Height label (and blog!), and presents here a work of recordings of honey bees. In three pieces he uses either stereo microphone recordings, then one with sound processing and one with contact microphones. The release opens with the processed one, in which the recording is picked up through various means, such as cymbals or rocks. This is a pretty curious recording of low humming, drone based sounds, which is quite nice, but also a bit vague in approach. The untreated recording is great, closely miked recording and if you are afraid of bees, it won't help listening to this. The contact microphone recording holds between the previous two and sounds like a close miked affair too, but more in a mid sound range. Three interesting pieces of field recordings at work here. Three different angles to approach it, and nice to hear. (Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly)
Yes, honeybees. Recorded three different ways, two of which I find very, very beautiful. These are the pair, the first and third tracks, that sound the least apian; perhaps I should appreciate the basic buzzing more, dunno. The first, "moved to", is virtually in Lucier territory, shimmers of sine-like hum but sounding in irregular waves, like sonic auroras, with almost bell-like tones underneath. Just gorgeous. I guess I prefer my bees de-buzzed as the brief second track causes me to swat at my ears more than listen; perhaps the point. The last, miking the base of a hive, seems to catch all the billions of footfalls, chewings, wax-moldings, etc., with a faint hum behind. Quite different from the first, just as entrancing. Lovely disc. (Brian Olewnick, Just Outside)
simply & nicely packaged (as always with this label) we have three pieces based on bee hive recordings. Patrick sent me versions of these pieces awhile ago but it seems to me that a distinct transformation has taken place. At first I wanted to dig out the earlier versions to see if I could work out what exactly has changed (if anything) but then I though better of it & instead I keep sitting back & simply enjoying these new versions.
I have some ideas as to what is going on here - track one I suspect features the core bee recordings being filtered through cymbals, resulting in a shimmering and highly resonant atmosphere - but I think it's important with Patrick's work (& indeed a great deal of music / sound) to stop trying to work it out on those terms. The sound of the bees themselves are obvious for the first 5 or 6 minutes & in a slight return at the very end but most of this track is given over to various tones generated by the filtering methods employed. There's a rough edit at around 4.31 which is a bit of a shame, simply because the piece itself runs an otherwise fluid and engaging path in it's 17 minutes 36 seconds.
The second piece is a dense swarm of conventional bee sounds - recorded in a manner that serves to highlight the fast and fractured nature of thier behavoir patterns. At just 5.08 this track is, as the titles 'and' suggests a bridge between the longer, more abstract pieces.
Track three rumbles and flitters - the sounds here coming from contact mics attached to the hive. There's a strange parallel here with some of the sounds Patrick produces when performing live - with various objects scratching and scraping across snare drum heads and branches moved by small motors. At 14.06 this track is all too brief. However, as he does often in his live performances Patrick plays the part of the entertainer, leaving the audience wanting more.
Impossible to sum up the sound of this disc in words. Buy it, listen to it and be reminded that we can always say a great deal about music & sound & indeed most things, but we simply scratch the surface in doing so. (Jez Riley French, In Place)
