Ellen Fullman + Sean Meehan
Ellen Fullman // long string instrument
Sean Meehan // snare drum with cymbals
Longtime friends who had hoped to play together for
some time, Fullman and Meehan were surprised by the
initial efforts of their collaboration. Their instruments--or
rather the sounds of their instruments meeting in the
acoustic space--strongly influenced one another:
combination tones, sympathetic resonances, beating,
and even cancellation of each other's sound.
Mapping routes through this unusual territory would
become the piece presented here in three parts. The
recording was made Easter (R.C.) weekend 2006. It
is an acoustic work, recorded in stereo, without
overdubbing or effects.
Ellen Fullman's long string instrument is a unique
instrument of her own invention. Waist high, parallel
wires, strung in two sets span 14 meters. Fullman
produces rich, microtonal drones by pacing up and
down the wires and applying friction with her fingertips.
Each of her ten fingers precisely finds the appropriate
string and the sound emanates from wooden box
resonators bolted into the wall. At her studio where
this CD was recorded, the strings run through the
patio door and terminate in the backyard: "the extra
length affords me an additional lower octave,"
Fullman explains.
For the last ten years or so, Sean Meehan has been
focusing on playing the snare drum with cymbals. On
this recording he produces long, continuous tones from
them using a dowel and friction.
