A collection of iterative cello performance that foregrounds shaking as a generative subject and explores the harmonic pulses of the instrument.
For her first album releases as a soloist, nomadic Australian cellist and composer Judith Hamann presents two collections of her sonic inquiries into shaking and humming.
Her LP, Shaking Studies, is a collection of iterative cello performance that foregrounds shaking as a generative subject. In addition to an arsenal of techniques for registrable shaking, Hamann's conception of the term emphasizes micro and macro pulsing, including tremors, vibrato, wolf tones, and complex partial activity. Hamann begins with a sphygmological reading of the pulse of her cello, inciting it to shake audibly and visually as a symbiotic basis for determining the rate of her own left hand's tremor and consequent direction of resonant frequencies. Following a thorough harmonic investigation of her shaking practice in two parts, she directs us to look outwards, combining beating chordal structures with electronics and recordings of real world shaking. From inner pulse to more macrocosmic quaking, Hamann's alternative conception of shaking rejects measurement and regularity, order and control, instead alluding to a more responsive and intuitive mode of convulsive sounding.
Judith Hamann is a cellist and performer/composer from Naarm/Birraranga (Melbourne), Australia, now based in Berlin. She has “long been recognised as one of Australia's foremost contemporary-music cellists” (RealTime Arts). Her performance practice stretches across various genres encompassing elements of improvised, contemporary classical, experimental, and popular music. Currently her work is focused on an examination of expressions and manifestations of 'shaking' in her solo performance practice, a collection of new works for cello and humming, and ongoing research surrounding “collapse” and the “de-mastering” of instrumental practice.
Judith Hamann has studied contemporary classical repertoire with renowned cellists including
Charles Curtis and Séverine Ballon, as well as developing a strong practice in improvisation and sonic arts through collaborative projects both in Australia and internationally. She has worked with artists and ensembles including Australian Art Orchestra,
Oren Ambarchi,
Dennis Cooper, ELISION ensemble, Sarah Hennies,
Graham Lambkin,
Alvin Lucier, Toshimaru Nakamura, The Necks, Áine O'Dwyer,
Stephen O'Malley,
Eliane Radigue,
James Rushford, Wadada Leo Smith, Ilan Volkov, Tashi Wada,
La Monte Young and
Marian Zazeela. She is a member of Golden Fur, Hammers Lake, The Argonaut String Quartet, the Harmonic Space Orchestra, and has duo projects with Rosalind Hall, Anthea Caddy, and
Lori Goldston.
Judith Hamann is a champion of new and rarely performed music, immersive approaches to sound, and engages with a range of interdisciplinary and experimental projects including collaborative work with visual artists Keith Deverell, Sabina Maselli, and film makers
Joshua Bonnetta and Benedetta De Alessi.
She has performed or composed music released on labels including
Blank Forms,
Black Truffle, Saltern, Pogus, Another Timbre, Caduc, and Marginal Frequency.
