the good page
this episode:
volker meitz
composer & musician, berlin
nine duos
2024
photo © volker meitz
the synthesizer, a proud technological innovation and spearhead of a post-war era striving for liberation in all musical directions, today finds itself archived in museum documentation that showcases a wide variety of user approaches. whether presented as an early musical sedative for toddlers by raymond scott in a disempowering fashion, gleefully stabbed with knives on stage by keith emerson, or smoothed into the style-defining musical petting zoo of an entire decade à la depeche mode, history teaches us there is more than one way to gently caress keys or enthusiastically twist knobs. in its digital form, executed as a plugin by the bedroom producer generation post-2000, the misery seems endless, culminating in embarrassing loops of caramelized, castrating rework-tech versions of overly familiar earworms.
as a reformed supplier of musically pandemic-induced debilitation, stephan schmitt leaves the software stronghold native instruments to found nonlinear labs, a forge for genuine hardware devices. with the synthesizer c15, schmitt inspires volker meitz—himself a keyboard wizard and lecturer on such instruments and sound design—into an extensive exploration of the device’s sonic potential. meitz’s finely tuned blend of musical mastery and technically forensic precision draws breathtaking sound creations from the electric wonder box. what the keyboard geniuses of 70s rock history dare only in the smallest demonstrations on vinyl or slightly more ambitiously in live performances, finds no boundaries with meitz. he gives it all—truly, everything.
the highly sociable musician meitz, eager for multifaceted solo explorations on the c15 sound map, hungers for more. he invites a who’s who of berlin’s jazz and experimental music scene to the already half-set table. berlin jazz prize, german jazz prize, and new german jazz award winners set aside their medals and, with this keyboard dynamo, cook up a masterful menu. our collective musical memory allows us to share in echoes, quotations, or reinterpretations of a long-dormant musical golden age, particularly that of atonal soundtracks. vangelis, jerry goldsmith appear before us—or perhaps we before them—while avant-garde luminaries like iannis xenakis and edgard varèse peer curiously through our time window. intuition, improvisation, and passionate playfulness greet us unexpectedly but also challengingly in an era of tonal apathy.
the partners on the tracks…
one. oborozuki with taiko saito – vibraphone – member of trickster orchestra, potsalotsa xl, koko, berlin mallet group, trio san. studied classical marimba in tokyo and jazz vibraphone in berlin – berlin jazz prize 2023, german jazz prize 2024.
two. kalan paluu with kalle kalima – guitar – kalima’s bands: klima kalima, kuu, johnny lamarama; worked with tomasz stanko, greg cohen, simon stockhausen, christian lillinger, jim black, ensemble resonanz – new german jazz award 2008.
three. my heart ringing with almut kühne – vocals – performs jazz and contemporary music, solo and in various ensembles, working with dresdner kammerchor, ensemble neue musik berlin, johanna borchert, stefan schultze, tilo weber and many others.
four. staggered with eric schaefer – drums – schaefer’s own projects: hayashi, the shredz, kyoto mon amour, played with michael wollny trio, joachim kühn; compositions for orchestras and chamber music ensembles – five-time echo jazz award winner.
five. emulsion mist with lucy railton – cello – composer & performer of classical & new music, various solo recordings, worked with kit downes, peter zinovieff, michiko ogawa, curator of kammerklang series, london contemporary music festival.
six. orbitalfransen with silke eberhard – alto sax – eberhard’s own projects: trio, ensembles potsa lotsa; worked with aki takase, günter baby sommer, ulrich gumpert, hannes zerbe, henry theadgill – german jazz award 2023, jazz award berlin 2020.
seven. beware of… with susanne fröhlich – recorders – interpreter of early, classical and new music. worked with quartet new generation, ari benjamin myers, ensemble adapter and many more; phd in technical development of the helder tenor recorder.
eight. heart and soul with matthias müller – trombone – performer & composer of contemporary and improvised music, various solo, duo and trio projects, played with splitter orchester, john butcher, tobias delius, nate wooley, axel dörner, olar rupp.
nine. guanajuato at night with kent evans – vocals & lyrics – poet, spoken word artist, author of several books, singer/guitarist with bands epic fail and dust industry. the only one of the duo partners not living in berlin, but in mexico and the usa.
iir, december 2024
Der Synthesizer, stolze technologische Neuerung und Speerspitze einer sich in allen musikalischen Richtungen befreien wollenden Nachkriegszeit, kann in seinen mittlerweile museal archivierten Dokumentationen auf eine ganze Vielzahl diversester Nutzerzugriffe verweisen. Als frühzeitlich musikalische Beruhigungspille für Kleinkinder durch Raymond Scott entmündigend vorgeführt, von Keith Emerson hämisch meuchelnd auf der Bühne mit Messern attackiert oder als stilprägender, musikalischer Streichelzoo eines ganzen Jahrzehntes à la Depeche Mode glattgebügelt, gibt es, so lehrt uns die Geschichte, mehr als eine Art, Tasten weich zu streicheln oder Reglern munter den Kopf zu verdrehen. In der digitalen Variante als Plugin der Bedroomproducer-Generation ab 2000 final hingerichtet, nimmt das Elend kein Ende und findet seine beschämende Endlosschlaufe in karamelisierend, kastrierenden Rework-Tech-Versionen allzu bekannter Ohrwürmer.
Als geläuterter Zulieferer musikalisch pandemischer Debilisierung verlässt Stephan Schmitt die Softwareherberge Native Instruments, um mit Nonlinear Labs eine Schmiede veritabler Hardwaregeräte zu gründen. Mit dem Synthesizer C15 gelingt es Schmitt, Volker Meitz, seinerseits selbst Keyboard-Wizzard und Dozent für ebenjene Tasteninstrumente nebst dem damit zu ergründenden Sounddesign, zu einer ausführlichen Erforschung klanglicher Möglichkeiten des Gerätes zu bewegen. Gerade Meitzens feinverzahnte Melange aus musikalischer Könnerschaft mit technisch-forensischer Akribie presst aus des strombetriebenen Wunderkästchens Ausgang atemberaubende Klangerzeugnisse. Was sich die Tastengenies der 70er-Rockgeschichte nur in Kleinstvorführungen auf Vinyl oder ein winziges Quäntchen mehr noch bei Liveauftritten trauen, findet bei Meitz nicht Tür noch Tor – und er gibt alles, wirklich … alles.
Den äußerst soziablen Musiker Meitz gelüstet es nach mannigfaltig geschlagenen, solistischen Wegerkundungen auf der C15-Klangkarte nach mehr, und so lädt er ein Who’s Who der Berliner Jazz- und Experimentalmusikszene an den schon halbgedeckten Tisch. Berlin-Jazz-Prize-, German-Jazz-Prize-, New-German-Jazz-Award-Gewinner legen ihre Medaillen ab und köcheln mit dem Tastenquirligen ein meisterliches Menü. Unsere musikalisch kollektive Erinnerung lässt uns teilhaben an Anklängen, Zitaten oder Neuinterpretationen einer seit einem halben Jahrhundert darbenden musikalischen Hochphase, vor allem die des atonalen Soundtracks. Vangelis, Jerry Goldsmith betrachten wir – oder sie uns – aber auch die Avantgarde mit Iannis Xenakis und Edgard Varèse schaut angeregt durch unser Zeitfenster. Intuition, Improvisation und leidenschaftliche Spielfreude begegnen uns überraschend, aber auch anstrengend in einer Zeit tonaler Apathie.
the partners on the tracks…
one. oborozuki with taiko saito – vibraphone – member of trickster orchestra, potsalotsa xl, koko, berlin mallet group, trio san. studied classical marimba in tokyo and jazz vibraphone in berlin – berlin jazz prize 2023, german jazz prize 2024.
two. kalan paluu with kalle kalima – guitar – kalima’s bands: klima kalima, kuu, johnny lamarama; worked with tomasz stanko, greg cohen, simon stockhausen, christian lillinger, jim black, ensemble resonanz – new german jazz award 2008.
three. my heart ringing with almut kühne – vocals – performs jazz and contemporary music, solo and in various ensembles, working with dresdner kammerchor, ensemble neue musik berlin, johanna borchert, stefan schultze, tilo weber and many others.
four. staggered with eric schaefer – drums – schaefer’s own projects: hayashi, the shredz, kyoto mon amour, played with michael wollny trio, joachim kühn; compositions for orchestras and chamber music ensembles – five-time echo jazz award winner.
five. emulsion mist with lucy railton – cello – composer & performer of classical & new music, various solo recordings, worked with kit downes, peter zinovieff, michiko ogawa, curator of kammerklang series, london contemporary music festival.
six. orbitalfransen with silke eberhard – alto sax – eberhard’s own projects: trio, ensembles potsa lotsa; worked with aki takase, günter baby sommer, ulrich gumpert, hannes zerbe, henry theadgill – german jazz award 2023, jazz award berlin 2020.
seven. beware of… with susanne fröhlich – recorders – interpreter of early, classical and new music. worked with quartet new generation, ari benjamin myers, ensemble adapter and many more; phd in technical development of the helder tenor recorder.
eight. heart and soul with matthias müller – trombone – performer & composer of contemporary and improvised music, various solo, duo and trio projects, played with splitter orchester, john butcher, tobias delius, nate wooley, axel dörner, olar rupp.
nine. guanajuato at night with kent evans – vocals & lyrics – poet, spoken word artist, author of several books, singer/guitarist with bands epic fail and dust industry. the only one of the duo partners not living in berlin, but in mexico and the usa.
iir, december 2024
