Richard Lerman

Press, 30 July 1986, Page 8

Richard Lerman

Richard Lerman, sound artist, presented by the Arts Centre at the Centre Gallery, July 29, 8 p.m. Reviewed by Philip Nor* man. Most composers would agree that composition is the art of welding sounds together. Few would think of using a blow torch for such a purpose. Not so Richard Lerman, but then again this visiting Boston-based composer prefers to use the term "sound artist” to describe his particular brand of music-making.

What does the process of sound artistry involve? The sample of wares offered by Mr Lerman at the Centre Gallery last evening suggests it is a matter of finding an interesting sound and presenting it as art Alas, judging from the puzzled looks on Mr Lerman's face during "Entrance Music” and “Piano Piece,” the difficulties of even entering the first phase of the process can prove to be insurmountable. The random, dis- , jolited, generally unat- ®

tractive textures and timbres offered in these works tended to confirm this impression.

Mr Lerman has a fascination for quiet sounds, sounds that are barely audible without external amplification. He considers the microphone to be an aural microscope; tiny tones that would otherwise remain unheard or be ignored can be brought to general attention and scrutinised with the aid of this instrument.

The most enticing examples of this occurred in "Changing States.” By aiming a blow torch at various metal strips and amplifying the results, the intriguing sounds of metal expanding and contracting could be heard. These sounds of flexing metal could have provided fertile material for an absorbing composition. Sadly, apart from feeding the results through a looping device, little attempt was made at organisation of the raw material. The sounds were simply left dangling unattached to one another; after a time,

the effect palled on the ear.

“Music for Plinky and Straw” proved to be a different kettle of fish. The appealing sounds in this were cleverly structured, with the result that the work succeeded in sustaining attention. A definite sense of progression and of momentum gathering was evident as Mr Lerman used a succession of methods on his chosen instruments. Metal antennae attached to a microphone were plucked, stroked, and then blown upon through a drinking straw.

A selection of straws were then bent, twisted and stretched — in short, treated to all manner of amplified indignities. The climax of the piece saw the straws being subjected to a series of radical amputations. Each time the scissors struck home, the pitch of the resultant popping sound rose in a crescendo of anguished squeals. On that good-humoured note, the concert, and the last straw, came to an abbreviated end.