Fabiana Galante: Composer and Director
Pete Stollery: Electronics
Luis Conde: Saxophone
Steve Brown and Robert Legge: Bagpipes
Jamie Fairbairn: Drums
Bandstand, Top Deck St. Nicholas Centre, Aberdeen
Saturday 25 October 2014
by Alan Cooper
Having just come from Aberdeen Art Gallery where the theme of the performance was “The Drone” and included a bagpipe player, A la pipeta!, which the composer told us was Buenos Aires slang for Surprise!, actually fitted in very felicitously with what had gone on at the previous performance. The idea of the drone was omnipresent throughout A la pipeta! This outdoor performance fitted the bill for several themes that are championed by sound both this year and throughout the history of the Festival. First of all there was the idea of outreach in two forms – being an outdoor performance the music was taken to the general public because anyone passing could hear and see what was going on. Secondly this was a collaboration between Aberdeen and Buenos Aires because some of the sounds in the electronic component of the performance were from Argentina and others from Aberdeen. This performance also fitted in nicely with a main theme of this year’s Festival namely new ways of looking at, and listening to traditional music.
The performance started at three pm on the dot because the final chime of the St. Nicholas Church bell was captured by Pete Stollery and then expanded. The result fitted in perfectly with the sounds of bagpipes including the drone. On the electronic “sound store” were recordings taken of a North East youth pipe band as well as recordings made in Buenos Aires. The two live pipers and drummer provided a background for saxophone extemporisations played by Luis Conde. The whole performance was controlled magnificently by the composer Fabiana Galante herself. Sometimes she would silently mouth instructions to Luis Conde and she also had a series of instructions written on cards which she would hold up to the various performers. I could not tell which sounds were coming live and which from the electronics. This was not a fault – quite the contrary - because it meant that the music was wholly and perfectly well integrated.
Above all, this performance was unusual – not like anything else I have ever seen or heard. It was fascinating both visually and sonically and most important of all - it was huge fun!
© Alan Cooper, 2014
