randy gibson: the first pillar appearing in supernova

The two sides of The First Pillar Appearing in Supernova could be considered opposing explorations of the simplest section of my ongoing work, Apparitions of the Four Pillars. When approached by Cassauna to make this cassette, I knew I wanted to use the mechanism of the cassette to create the work. As with my previous work for cassette, Analog Apparitions on The Tapeworm, the sound of the cassette is integral. Cassettes of individual vocal drones were recorded onto a Marantz PMD222. Using the volume and speed capabilities of the Marantz, I worked with a single line at a time to create a dense harmonic world from a simple intervallic source." --Randy Gibson; Randy Gibson is a composer and performer based in Brooklyn. He works with structure, evolutionary compositional models, and improvisation to create enveloping and ritualistic works in just intonation. By presenting his work with visual and ritualistic elements (incense, video, lighting), Gibson encourages the audience to embrace stillness and become absorbed in the sonic experience. Since 2003, Gibson has studied with seminal minimalist pioneer La Monte Young, which has brought great clarity and devotion to his work. Since 2005 he has studied raga singing in the Kirana tradition with La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela. Gibson's music has been presented around the world, including at festivals in Germany, Korea, and Mexico. His works have been commissioned by choreographers (2004-2005's Separate Haven commissioned by Kim Olson/Sweetedge), record labels (2010's Analog Apparitions commissioned by The Tapeworm), ensembles (2010-2012's Circular Trance... commissioned by Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble), and individual performers (2013's Nine Minutes for the Four Pillars in duet with The Paris Drones, recalling The Midwinter Starfield commissioned by Erik Carlson of ICE). In 2010, under a grant from the American Music Center, Gibson traveled to London to premiere The Third Analog Pillar. The performance was hailed by The Liminal as "a moment of pleasingly soporific and mind-emptying purity." His just intonation piano recording, Aqua Madora, was selected by Textura as one of the top 10 albums of 2011. Gibson is the artistic director of Avant Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to collaborative artistic endeavors, and, since 2010, he has curated the annual Avant Music Festival of composer-driven performances.