Max Eastley

Max Eastley graduated from Middlesex Polytechnic in 1972 with a degree in Sculpture. After completing a one year fellowship in the Light/ Sound department of Exeter College of Art, publishing a book on his work and exhibiting in Exeter, he returned to London where he contributed to the first edition of a series of books on New/Rediscovered musical instruments, the contributors to which were featured on I.T.V.’s ‘‘Aquarius’’. While teaching Sculpture at North East London Polytechnic he completed a programme on work songs based on material from B.B.C. Archives to be broadcast in the future and is at present working on another programme on an aspect of his work concerning a newly invented Aerophone.

For the visual artist who attempts to use sound the problems are formidable. For example, sound has a relatively slow speed and so at a distance a sound separates from the movement that caused it, whereas light is of such a high frequency that for all practical purposes it is instantaneous. There is the problem of materials. Some are visually fascinating while acoustically they are (as far as the human ear is concerned) inert. Conversely, if the composer should decide to attempt something which is sculptural he may find the inertia of the material he chooses too cumbersome to realise his conception. Lastly, the Musical Instrument maker, who has been aware of these problems for some time, finds the conflict between appearances and performance increasingly difficult to resolve as the technology of sound advances.The work I am involved in is an attempt to resolve these problems. It is a synthesis of the simultaneous study of Kinetic Art, Music and Musical Instruments. These are my sources. What proceeds is neither one nor the other. My aim is perfect synthesis and emancipation of these elements into a new form.


David Toop

David Toop – born May 5, 1949 – Enfield, Middlesex.

The entire sequence of dance music included on one side of this disc is divided into three sections. The structure is as follows:

‘‘Do the Bathosphere with David and the Cetaceans" solo voice/David Toop.
The Cetaceans/Chris Munro, Brian Eno, Phil Jones.

o come on and do the bathosphere
o come on and do the bathosphere
you know you can do the bathosphere
if you would only hear
hear about the bathosphere
so open up your ears to the bathosphere
you needn’t have any fear
visions would appear
you could be a seer
if you would only learn to do the bathosphere
so come on and hear about the bathosphere
yes come on and hear about the bathosphere
you won't shed any tears when you’ve
learned to do the bathosphere
o won’t you do the bathosphere
o won’t you do the bathosphere
o won’t you do the bathosphere
o won’t you hear about the bathosphere
o won’t you hear about the bathosphere
o won’t you hear hear about the bathosphere

‘‘Do the Bathosphere’’ written 1973/first performed for solo voice 24/9/73. Frequently performed in public – David Toop/voice + Paul Burwell/bamboo pan-trumpets. To continue the line whose peak may have been in Alvin Cash and the Crawlers.

‘‘The Divination of the Bowhead Whale’’ David Toop/prepared electric guitar + bowed chordophone.
Frank Perry/3 Japanese resting bells.
Paul Burwell/3 bass drums + large lorry hub + 2 string fiddle.
Brian Eno/prepared bass guitar.
Hugh Davies/grill harp.
‘‘Divination of the Bowhead Whale’’ written Spring 1975.

Concerning pitch as a function of time. Structured in 7 parts: before its beginning / after its ending / 3 slow moving blocks of sound/2 silences. Division was achieved by the means of signal gongs - the duration of silences determined according to the physical properties of these gongs. These silences may appear lengthy to the casual listener but in fact were brief. The extraordinary sustaining power of Frank Perry’s temple gongs, his acute hearing and the
nature of studio acoustics ensured that the decay time prior to the silences was enormously long given the adoption of an acoustic struck instrument as signal device. The piece refers to the Bowhead Whale / mysticetus Linnaeus / whose song occurs within an approximate frequency range of 5 to 500 Hz. Extremes of frequency are of interest as examples of a significantly perceptible relationship of time to human physiology. ”The music of Korea has proved continuously fascinating in this respect” – the basis of music as an inescapably time-based medium being asserted throughout many cultural forms, whether Court Music, with its extremely attenuated melodic lines and curious percussion measures; Kayageum / Changgo duets with lightning fast rhythmic responses between two performers over extended semi–improvisations or Buddhist Music – words sung very slowly, climbing through strange and moving melismas. Five stringed instruments are used in the piece – two of them orthodox 20th century instruments / prepared by attaching crocodile clips to the strings – a method of masking discovered in 1973 / and three unorthodox instruments. The bowed chordophone has a barrel resonator with paper membrane. A string can then be stretched from the centre of the membrane to any negotiable length. This can be bowed to produce low pitches – tightening the string produces a dramatic glissando – fairly similar in principle and effect to the Indian Khamak. The two-string fiddle is an instrument made from bamboo by Paul Burwell. The strings are tuned in unison. The grill harp was invented by Hugh Davies. It consist of a small metal grill. A single string is stretched from foot to grill / another single string is stretched from grill to hand / the whole is held in tension / the upper string is rubbed by the free hand.The piece exists as the first in a series of statements which run parallel to an investigation of communications within restricted frequency bands. Such communications include the signals of bats, human whistle languages and speech surrogates and the poignant songs of the Bowhead Whale.

‘‘The bearded seal nets the ghost of the grey seal
they invoke the australian frogs
the chairs story
the chairs story
the chairs story’’

David Toop/solo voice + flutes + water.

the road of dreams
the music of the rocks
the echo beach
the shifting of the sands
the chairs story
the chairs story
the chairs story

The song ‘‘The Chairs Story’’was written at some point in time between 1970 and 1972 and has been performed in public frequently and on radio once since that time. The piece on this disc which utilises this song is structured according to three repetitions, each repetition being a transformation of the skeleton. The flutes were all made by myself. In the first transformation they are chosen for their relative high pitch / transverse and end-blown flutes / ; in the second for their percussive quality as well as their deep but elusive fundamental pitches / stopped end-blown flutes / ; in the third for their low pitch/ notched end-blown and duct flutes played into water / .