A terrific drone album here, on this first solo-release, Werner Durand presents six works all dealing with the buzzing phenomena. This phenomena is found in many musical cultures around the world as an integral part of the sound, eg. with chinese and korean flutes, ethiopian and basque string instruments and also the Indian tanpura. The results are stunning: dense drones with pulsing, buzzing, dizzying movements swarm with an intoxicating cadence. Recorded in multi-track, the sounds are sometimes treated with loops and delays, although the characteristics of the sounds themselves are not altered by filters and additional effects. In some cultures it is said that it brings out the soul of the sound. After using traverse flutes with buzzers in the mid-eighties, he started to experiment with other types of wind-instruments and eventually the use of resonators while working with percussionist Pierre Berthet in 1991. He also did two pieces for buzzing ensemble including buzz-clarinets and -flutes, buzz-guitars, frame drums, tanpuras and the buzz-chime built by Bob Rutman. All pieces are recorded in multi-track, sometimes using delays and loops without changing the characteristics of the original sounds. The instruments used here are pvc-pipes with sax-mouthpieces. Except for piece 3 "Honey", all buzzing effects are created using a pvc-tube as resonator with a plastic membrane (from a shopping bag) at the lower end. In "Honey", flower pots are used as resonators and tin-foil plates create the buzzing effect. On tracks 5 and 6 an iranian ney is added.

WERNER DURAND is a composer, instrument builder and performer based in Berlin. His interest encompasses many musical traditions: he performs his own music for saxophones, iranian ney, and self-made wind instruments since the late seventies. He studied with Ariel Kalma in Paris, La Monte Young in New York, Indian classical music in India and Berlin (with Kamalesh Maitra) and Iranian ney with Ali Reza Asgharia.
His personal, mininalist style is characterized by the rich layers, textures and rhythmic effects he achieves using digital delays. Durand has received numerous awards such as a grant from the city of Berlin for the Cité des Arts (Paris), a residency at Podewil (Berlin) and a grant from the Worpswede artist colony.