My new work that I will perform on turntables alongside the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is a series of live, acoustic and electronic manifestations that all collide, interact and expand in-the-moment. Whilst the orchestral material is scored and has a specific and fixed structure, I freely improvise the turntable material, as I live-compose the electronic sounds in direct response to what I hear in the space: I respond to the orchestra, the acoustic space and all the energies within the concert hall. This is my own form of live turntable-manipulation, using the turntable as my personal instrument to infinitely transform recorded material into new dimensions of live electronic sound. And so, no performance of the composition is ever the same twice, and the audience, the live moment, and the space all become a part of the manifestation of the music, creating a special one-off experience. Whist the sound of the orchestra projects outward from the stage, the ambisonic turntables completely immerse the audience and orchestra in spatial sound that moves and glides within space, as intangible sound objects. The end result is the music going in directions even I cannot predict; a spontaneous, cosmic dance of energy, based on the essential and physical nature of sound interconnecting with anything and everything.
The metaphors in 'Sama-zan Trip'
Sufi whirling (or Sufi turning) (Persian Sama-zan, Sama, meaning listening, from Arabic, and zan, meaning doer, from Persian) is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa'i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes (also called semazens, from Persian سماعزن) aim to reach the source of all perfection, or karma. This is sought through abandoning one's nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one's body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun.
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from Persian: درویش, Darvīsh) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (tariqah), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persian and Turkish (Derviş), corresponding to the Arabic term faqīr. Their focus is on the universal values of love and service, deserting the illusions of ego to reach God. In most Sufi orders, a dervish is known to practice dhikr through physical exertions or religious practices to attain the ecstatic trance to reach God. In folklore, dervishes are often credited with the ability to perform miracles and ascribed supernatural powers.
