Arbitrary

Established by musician Mads Emil Nielsen in 2014, Arbitrary has published graphic scores (Framework) and visual notations, audio and music on various formats (vinyl, CD) as well as a collection of experimental mixtapes and audio collages (Arbitrary assemblage series) with contributions from German, American and Japanese artists.
Arbitrary presented its "Live + Listening Room" concert series in Copenhagen, combining live performances with listening sessions. Mainly dedicated to the output of Nielsen's own work and collaborations, the imprint has released sound pieces & graphic score interpretations as part of the Framework series by various artists including Andrea Neumann, Jan Jelinek and Nicola Ratti, as well as music by Berlin-based projects Denseland, Chromacolor and The Pitch.

Copenhagen

arbitraryproject.com

20 titles

$Mads Emil Nielsen - Heartbeats (10\$

Mads Emil Nielsen, Chromacolor
Heartbeats (10" vinyl)

2024

Arbitrary presents the second in a series of 10" vinyl remix collaboration releases by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen and Chromacolor.

Denseland
Code & Melody (CD)

2024

On their first album since 2017, the Berlin-based trio Denseland (Hanno Leichtmann, David Moss and Hannes Strobl) instead ventures slowly but steadily into unknown territory.

Mesmer
Terrain Vague (CD)

2023

The debut album of Danish group Mesmer, an environmental project including field recordings, improvisations and live recordings, intrigued by the auditive landscapes of places where nature and culture meet and challenge each other.

Boris Baltschun
Desert Dictionary (vinyl LP)

2023

An imaginary dictionary that navigates between language and landscape, notation and noise.

Chromacolor
Chromacolor (vinyl LP)

2023

Hanno Leichtmann's "Chromacolor" draws on rhythmic minimalism as a guiding principle and might call to mind organic, instrument-based ambient music, but also incorporates jazzy moments as well as Annie Garlids multi-layered vocals that permeate through these nine pieces.

$Antoine Hubineau - Dissolvè / Scillions (7\$

Antoine Hubineau
Dissolvè / Scillions (7" vinyl)

2023

Two works from the same series of compositions, drawn from modular synthesizer recordings which have been reworked, treated and composed in the computer.

Mads Emil Nielsen
Black Box 3 (vinyl LP)

2022

Black Box 3, which showcases a more sample- and grid-based side of the Danish musician/composer’s work, is part of a sequence of publications with music and audio originally made for theatre, radio soundtracks and more.

Mads Emil Nielsen
Black Box 3 (CD)

2022

Richard Scott
Delirious Cartographies (CD)

2022

Part of the Arbitrary's Framework editions, Delirious Cartographies by composer, improviser and synthesist Richard Scott includes three pieces and six printed drawings—as well as a text by Scott—published as a limited edition portfolio folder.

Richard Scott
Delirious Cartographies (vinyl LP)

2022

Part of the Arbitrary's Framework editions, Delirious Cartographies by composer, improviser and synthesist Richard Scott includes three pieces on 12" vinyl and six printed drawings—as well as a text by Scott—published as a limited edition portfolio folder.

$Mads Emil Nielsen - Constellation (10\$

Mads Emil Nielsen, Chromacolor
Constellation (10" vinyl)

2022

A remix collaboration by Mads Emil Nielsen and Chromacolor, a project from the German sound artist and producer Hanno Leichtmann.

Mads Emil Nielsen
PM016 (vinyl LP)

2021

The 2020 remaster & vinyl reissue of PM016 by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen, re-mastered and cut by Kassian Troyer, with cover artwork by visual artist Dane Patterson.

Mads Emil Nielsen
PM016 (CD)

2021

The 2020 remaster & CD reissue of PM016 by Danish musician Mads Emil Nielsen, re-mastered by Kassian Troyer, with cover artwork by visual artist Dane Patterson.

Mads Emil Nielsen, Katja Gretzinger, Nicola Ratti
Framework 3 (vinyl EP + CD)

2020

The latest instalment in Mads Emil Nielsen's sequence of graphic scores and recordings, including the Danish composer's own subjective translations of visual materials and sound pieces accompanied by visual notations: published as a limited edition art print folder, Framework 3 consists of risographed scores and recordings on 10" vinyl and CD—with recordings by Nielsen, along with graphic scores by Katja Gretzinger and contributions by Nicola Ratti.

Mads Emil Nielsen
Framework 2 (2 vinyl EP)

2020

Mads Emil Nielsen continues his Framework series, a collection of open, hand-drawn graphic scores and recordings. The series includes Nielsen's own subjective translations of the visual material and sound pieces accompanied by visual notations, and collaborations—in this case with Andrea Neumann, Jan Jelinek and Hideki Umezawa.

$Mads Emil Nielsen - Refound (10\$

Mads Emil Nielsen, Andrea Neumann
Refound (10" vinyl)

2018

A collaboration between Andrea Neumann (composer, inside piano, mixer) and Mads Emil Nielsen (composer, electronics).

$Mads Emil Nielsen - Black Box 1 (7\$

Mads Emil Nielsen
Black Box 1 (7" vinyl)

2018

(last copies available!)

A 7" vinyl based on an music/audio made by Mads Emil Nielsen made for a dance performance.

Mads Emil Nielsen
SoundTales Collage (CD)

2016

An audio collage based on an archive of carpentry and hardware recordings from Mads Emil Nielsen's "SoundTales" project, released on limited edition CD with three printed drawings by French, Amsterdam-based visual artist Julie Dassaud.

$Mads Emil Nielsen - Percussion Loops (7\$

Mads Emil Nielsen
Percussion Loops (7" vinyl)

2015

Four pieces based on drum/cymbal + synthesizer recordings by Mads Emil Nielsen.

Mads Emil Nielsen
Framework 1 (book + CD)

2014

Framework is a series of graphic scores and recordings by Copenhagen-based musician Mads Emil Nielsen. Framework 1 consists of 14 hand-drawn graphic scores, printed in risograph, with simple instructions and a recording for each score.