Dirk Serries – Microphonics XIV

It gives me great pleasure to announce a live performance from Dirk Serries recorded live in concert on July 4th 2010 at the Kinky Star Club, Gent (Belgium) exclusively for Fluid Radio…

“Instead of going for a mix of several excerpts, snippets and bytes I stayed truthful to the core of Microphonics, namely the straightforward, direct and real-time registration of my music.

Starting out with a combination of a few simple tones, the songstructure is created on the spot by interacting with the variable movement of the real-time loops and motifs.  These opening tones are the catalysator in what becomes Microphonics towards the end of the performance.

All is created live using a 1976 Gibson Les Paul custom, a selection of pedal effects and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amplifier.

Recorded by soundengineer Ronald Mariën, live in concert on July 4th 2010 at the Kinky Star Club, Gent (Belgium) using 2 sm58 microphonics for room ambience and a Sennheiser e606 in front of the amplifier.  No PA amplification was used and the natural reverberation and bass response is achieved by playing on a wooden stage.” – Dirk Serries 2010

The artist:

Most people will typically associate the set-up of one man and his guitar with folk music. For Microphonics, however, Dirk Serries, the creative force behind vidnaObmana and Fear Falls Burning, has his mind set to different horizons. Equipped with nothing but a Gibson Les Paul, a few effect pedals and a tube amplifier, he turns clubs, art galleries, unusual performance sites and concert houses into intimate spaces of sonic echoes and shimmering overtones.

Allowing for the music to grow from the moment, each performance is unique and makes full use of the ambiance and acoustic characteristics of a venue. You can see Serries ‘capturing’ his own reflections and sending back replies, twisting and turning his guitar to shape the air around it. Ranging from tender, minimal ambient pieces to disturbing cinematic soundscapes, his tracks are based on slowly evolving themes which gradually combine into melancholic melodies and gracefully flowing harmonic patterns. Microphonics is all about drawing the full potential from a  reduced instrumentation – evoking associations with electronica, avant-garde and improvisation alike.

www.microphonics.be