Desert Dictionary

On the occasion of the release of the Desert Dictionary LP on arbitrary Boris Baltschun presents a live version featuring modular synthesists Katharina Bévand, Bryan Eubanks, Benjamin Flesser (Berlin), and Xavier Lopez (Cologne). This live rendition repeats the process of translating fieldnotes taken in the desert into a soundtrack in real time. The original score, a multi-track studio composition, gets recreated live with the help of three modular synthesizer systems as well as a selection of voice contributions from the dictionary.

Desert Dictionary navigates sonic territories oscillating between language and landscape, between notation and noise. Voices responding and contributing to a complementary narrative, connecting personal memories, political considerations and psychological effects of a landscape seemingly empty and quiet. Adjacent, beneath and intertwined a modular synthesizer score based on text notations – a synthesized soundscape appearing as imaginary field recordings, at the same time resembling and unalike the place in question.

The LP is out now on arbitrary.
arbitraryproject.com/desert-dictionary