Krispen Hartung - Acoustic guitar, real-time looping

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"Krispen Hartung's new release, Places, caught my ear from the very beginning. The opening track, Continuum brilliantly sets the mood for the rest of the cd. Hartung's clever use of pulses, looped motifs, swelling harmonies and first-rate improvisation combine to form these unique, all-guitar compositions. The resulting music transcends the monotony of unchanging tempo and tonality, allowing the artist to express himself as if his guitar were speaking its own language - indeed, it spoke to me.

On all eleven tracks, Hartung stretches the boundaries of the acoustic/electric guitar, creating inventive collages of non-traditional sounds, oblique melodies and delightful dissonance. You will find it relaxing, intoxicating and thought provoking all at once. If I must make comparisons, the guitar work is at times reminiscent of John McLaughlin while tracks 5 (Fremmed Sinn) and 6 (Min.7 Sec. Evolution), embrace other-world sounds ala the Kronos Quartet; pick abrasions (like a scratchy violin bow) and the pizzicato effect (simulated by plucking strings above the nut) provide some of the string-like qualities. Even so, this is truly original art. Places is a cd that musicians and non-musicians alike will thoroughly enjoy."

Ben Burdick
Guitarist, Composer, Producer
President, Little House Recordings
www.benburdick.us

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"Much like a painter layers textures of paint to create a piece of art, Hartung does the same with sounds to create a truly unique album of improvisational, ambient music."

The Boise Weekly

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"Rather than merely lull you into a meditative state, Krispen Hartung's New Age instrumentals challenge the ear with improvisational guitar solos that verge on the avant-garde. Creating experimental yet arresting musical moods, Hartung wrings sounds out of his acoustic guitar that you've never heard before."

C|NET DOWNLOAD.COM

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"Idaho based guitar player Krispen Hartungs' new record features his unique approach on the guitar. His compositons reflect his abstract thoughts and uncommon melodies.
An enjoyable listen. Much recommended."

AbstractLogix.com

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"Krispen's album is truly creative, unique and thought-provoking!"

Steven Cravis - Composer and Producer

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I find the cd "Places" a must for music listeners who are seeking a transcendent journey into the avant-garde and improvisational sound.

Mike Oglesbee - Artist

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La musica dei Grandi Antichi

Online le produzioni sonore create da Krispen Hartung e basate sull'immaginario del Maestro di Providence.

Una Vorticella o una creatura lovecraftiana? Krispen Hartung è un musicista statunitense che dalla sua base di Boise, Idaho lancia da anni anomali progetti sonori.
Lo stile di chitarra acustica adottato da Hartung può al primo ascolto venire erroneamente classificato nel vasto mare della New Age ma se si presta maggiore attenzione alle sue composizioni si noteranno elementi estranei e perturbanti, sia per quanto concerne la tecnica (alcune cose possono ricordare Randy Rhodes) che per quel che riguarda le tematiche.
Proprio a questo riguardo risulatano assai intriganti alcune sue nuove produzioni, tutte facilmente scaricabili dal sito personale e fortemente influenzate da tematiche lovecraftiane.

Fremmed Sinn significa mente aliena in norvegese e narra di un mostruoso essere che emerge dal mare per dominare telepaticamente le menti umane.

Lovecraft Resurrected, come è facile immaginare dal titolo, prevede il ritorno dello scrittore di Providence dall'oltretomba per guidare una schiera di spiriti e soggiogare una città.

The Rise of Cthulhu è un allucinato viaggio musicale che tenta di descrivere la risalita della città di R'lyeh dal limo del fondo oceanico fino alla superficie. In questo caso il brano è accompagnato anche da un video assai sperimentale che tenta di associare alle note la figura di un... Non vi riveliamo altro, invitandovi a visitare il sito.

Horror Magazine (Italy)

English Translation

The music of the Great Ancients

Online are the music and video productions created by Krispen Hartung and based on the imagination of the Master of Providence.

A Vorticella or a Lovecraft creature? Krispen Hartung is a U.S. musician from Boise, Idaho, who has produced diverse music projects for many years.

At first listen, the acoustic guitar style of Hartung can be erroneously classified in the vast New Age sea, but if you pay more attention to his compositions you’ll notice something extraneous and somewhat disturbing, both in his technique (some passages could remember Randy Rhodes) and in his themes.

Just regarding these, some of his new productions, all easily downloadable from his own site and highly influenced by Lovecraft themes, are really intriguing.

Fremmen Sinn means "alien mind" in Norwegian and tells the story of a monster that crawls from the sea to dominate human minds with its telepathic powers.

Lovecraft Resurrected, as it is easy to understand from the title, talks about the return of the Providence writer from his death to guide a horde of spirits and rule a city.

The Rise of Cthulhu is a hallucinated musical trip that tries to describe the rise of the R’lyeh city from the ocean depths to the surface. In this case the musical piece is accompanied by a really experimental video that tries to associate to the musical notes the image of a... We won’t tell you anything else, inviting you to visit his site.

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Places - "Krispen Hartung" (Krispen Hartung Records) cd 2004

This CD review is born of instinct. I understand, for how much regards to me, than sure musics they go listened living. Seat sinks to you nella, nell' busy hidden angle more than house or nelle daily matters, listens must be involved and estraniare, suggest to a something allo immersed spirit nelle things del moment. The game of the classifications and infuences becomes superficial and useless. Robert Fripp, Bill Frisell, Michael Hedges and David Torn are the first names that come to me in mind, also for the musical shape due to the use of the sun guitars. From the Prog-rock years 80, to the Art rock, the Jazz and the Avant-garde (In order to say ago it to the American whom a lot "trendy": true Vitaliano) in years 90, the distance of Krispen has given its yields in 2004 with the publication of this "Places". Acoustic guitars and electrical workers are interlaced in harmonic, melodiche dissonances, POP, crossed from loop, reverberate and electronics () saggiamente train to you, creating different atmospheres completely in the oneness of the produced sound. The difficulty to render words the emotions, finds logic consequence stopping itself to listen to and to see in the titles them of the songs, that they compose the work, the input of a new travel. "Continnum", "Places", "On Park center", "The wait", "Primordial soap" and "Lovecraft ressurrected" some of the titles them. Krispen works in the deep one of its mind and it allows us rileggere the pages of a book which we had lost important intuitions and, hidden from the reflectors, us it gives that "experimentation" that is the brodo primordiale of every innovation that renders music alive.

- Ultrasonic

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Frippertronix 2005 (from Mixposure)

[Review of the song Fremmed Sinn] "Very adept usage of the looping tool and some really interesting guitar work interspersed with the background loops...a strange and haunting journey and very well executed improvisation." - Valkir

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Reminds me of the Fripp-Eno stuff (from Mixposure)

[Review of the song Fremmed Sinn] "Quite like some of Robert Fripp's early excursions into echo-looping improv's. Slowly builds into some dark "lurking" that's well-produced and recorded properly." - Captioned

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Very Nice (from Mixposure)

"Really liking this track [Fremmed Sinn], very subtle and mellow but on occasion it jars you back(in a good way) so that you never feel totally at ease during the listening. Maybe it is long but not necessarily a bad thing." - drt

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SINN (from Mixposure)

[Review of the song Fremmed Sinn] "Cool echo acoustic guitar Ntro...the genuine Xperimentation with the echoplex is refreshing and highly ambiotic with presence...pretty unusal stuff that is controlled Xcellently..." -Austn

Supplementary CD Notes from the Composer

Anyone who knows me also knows that I can't do anything artistic without providing some verbose philosophical or technical explanation around it. This personal idiosyncrasy allows me to reinforce the meaning of my own work, but my hope is that for those who desire to tap beneath the surface of artistic expression, this supplementary information will be beneficial to you and help expand your understanding of my music and the world around you. That being said, I would like to elaborate on three things that I feel make this CD relatively unique: its underlying themes, the method of composition and recording, and its genre. Underlying themes If you're wondering why this CD is titled Places, it is because a common thread throughout all the compositions is a duality of places. On the

surface, it is a depiction of our travels, local neighborhoods, and everyday sensory perceptions of the so-called "external world." Underneath the surface, and most important in formulating the significance of the CD, it is an eclectic journey through the heart and mind, through the abstract, bizarre, and beyond.

As you listen to the compositions on this CD, bear in mind that this theme of duality comes out in multiple ways. For example, a song in itself may predominantly depict only one dimension of this dual reality; or as the blurred and often arbitrary lines between dualities suggest, a song may express a blend or vacillation between the abstract and tangible, the chaotic and orderly, or the fantastic and real. On the guitar and in my compositions, I attempt to express these conceptual or emotional transitions by applying tonality/atonality and consonance/dissonance in superimposition or juxtaposition. In less technical terms, one part of a song may seem pretty or soothing to you (or normal by most commercial standards?), but it will morph or momentarily lapse into what feels chaotic, dark, or menacing. My point in doing this? Such is life.

Above all, your own experiences, thoughts, and emotions will craft the meaning of this CD, ultimately reinforcing not merely a duality, but a multiplicity of places for us to explore and describe.

Method of composition and recording

I consider the compositions on this CD a close musical equivalent to abstract painting. Just as painters express their ideas on canvas, combining colors, shades, and textures in the linear sequence of time, most of which are irreversible, I recorded all of the compositions on this CD in one take, with no overdubbing or multi-tracking. Each song is a self-contained unit of spontaneous improvisation, complete with imperfections, nuances, and unexpected detours. Some artists create abstract landscapes...I created abstract soundscapes. I did not rehearse or compose these songs before recording them, but simply sat down, gathered my thoughts and feelings, and let my fingers do the talking. In contrast, I did not merely play random gibberish, just as an abstract painter does not throw paint on canvas with no technique, discipline, or pre-study; rather, I drew upon the clichés, techniques, and the "general feel" of multiple styles of music to formulate my own unique musical expression of ideas.

The above mentioned sort of free improvisational composition poses a number of risks and possible misconceptions from listeners. For one, I was not able to go back and correct mistakes and redo parts in a song. Once I completed a song, it was set in stone, and I either kept it or tossed it in the Microsoft trash can. In this respect, each song is a sincere representation of my ability as a guitarist and improvisor...what I played is what you get! Although without knowing that my artistic goal was to record an unalterable and "live" performance, a listener might construe a composition as incomplete, rough, or substandard, when in actuality if you listened to the individual tracks of a band's live performance, you would hear much of the same imperfections. In the studio, a band would typically re-record parts multiple times until they were nearly perfect, but at the cost of hearing a "record" of a sequentially live performance in the final production. Second, songs that a musician records in one take and with no multi-tracking or overdubbing do not include the benefits that come along with many commercial recording productions. These benefits include near perfect levels and EQ settings between parts, digital correction of wrong notes or parts, cutting and pasting of phrases and song sections, synchronization of beginnings and endings, and the list goes on depending on how much money an artist wants to spend on sound engineering. Moreover, risks, misconceptions, and imperfections aside, I think the tradeoffs are worth it given the genre.

Finally, as you listen to this CD you may hear what appears to be multiple instruments playing at the same time, some of which sound nothing like the acoustic guitar! However, what you hear is indeed just me playing the acoustic guitar, but with a variety of devices or machines that transform the sound of the instrument or "loop" what I play so that I can layer multiple phrases on top of each other, just as a painter layers textures of paint to create an end product. Hence, in one respect the performances on this CD represent a relatively genuine form of art, in that they are an accurate "record" of musical expression. However, in another respect, this music flies in the face of acoustic traditionalism because I'm utilizing effects and devices that completely transform the original input of the guitar.

In the end, and all art-academia aside, the goal of this CD is to produce a fascinating chain reaction of human intellect and emotion converted into brain activity, converted into neurological impulses, converted into finger movement, converted into string vibration, converted into electronic current, converted into 1s and 0s on a computer hard drive or CD, converted back into electronic current by your stereo, converted into fluctuations of air pressure by your speakers or headphones, converted back into neurological impulses by your inner ear, converted back into brain activity, and then interpreted by your own intellect and emotion. It's a fantastic journey from one place to another, out of which I hope what originates from the source produces a worthwhile effect at the destination, namely a unique stimulation of thoughts and feelings.

Genre

I find it difficult to categorize the type of music I'm playing on this CD because I drew elements from many different styles. However, based on the All Music Guide list and descriptions of genres, some that may apply are experimental ambient, free improvisation, structured improvisation, dark ambient, experimental, ambient, and electro-acoustic. Intrestingly enough, most of these categories fall within the Avant-Garde genre. Most importantly, what I want to say about the genre of this CD, whatever that may be, is that it is not without influence from other composers. I don’t believe musicians write in a vacuum, rather they consciously, unconsciously, or accidentally incorporate either the general clichés or compositional spirits of other musicians. This isn’t to say that we copy verbatim the ideas of other musicians. Instead, much of what we do is a variation on a theme within a spectrum of varying degrees. Occasionally, as in evolution, a mutation will occur in the artistic gene pool, and an artist will produce something truly new, equivalent to a new species. But even a new biological species shares the genetic code of the prior species, just as new musical ideas still contain elements of prior musical ideas. Consequently, I feel I should call attention to the musical geniuses of Terje Rypdal, Bill Frisell, John Abercrombie, and Anton Webern, as their great works have contributed significantly to my musical inspiration. In particular, the works of Terje Rypdal have irrevocably changed my perspective on music as an art form, as they have awakened a musical passion inside of me (as well as an instinctive attraction to avant-garde Scandinavian music), which I feel has been lying dormant within me since childhood, if not genetically disposed.

I also can't go without mentioning the literary giants and artists who inspired the compositions on this CD, for in my mind these three forms of expression - music, art, and literature - all draw from the same abysmal pool of human creativity. As for literature, I hold a special affinity toward the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Arthur C. Clarke.

In terms of visual art influences, I can only pay special tribute to my close friend of over 30 years, Mike Oglesbee, whose sketches are featured on the printed material of the CD. Since early childhood, Mike and I have shared complementary affinities toward science fiction, horror, and just about anything in the artistic realm of the abstract. This CD is our first artistic collaboration, yet it almost goes without saying that before our collaboration, one could have reviewed our works independently and suspected that they were created from mutual thoughts and feelings of the world.

Contacts

Kris Hartung (for questions regarding the music)
208-724-5603
email

Mike Oglesbee (for questions regarding the artwork)
208-333-9804
email

Triple Disc Media Design and Duplication
11827 Main Street
Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Phone: 800-414-7564
Fax: 540-373-3902
email

Studio Notes

This CD was recorded using the following equipment:

- DigiDesign® mBox and Pro Tools™ LE software
- Compaq Presario 2525US notebook
- RNC 1773 Stereo Compressor
- Taylor 310-CE acoustic guitar (recorded direct)
- Boomerang Plus® Phrase Sampler
- Ernie Ball Stereo Volume/Pan pedal
- Boss GT-3 Guitar Effect Processor

No multi-tracking was used to record this CD. All songs were spontaneously composed and recorded in one take with the acoustic guitar.

Credits

Song composition, performance, and sound engineering by Krispen Hartung
CD design and layout by Krispen Hartung
Digital photography by Carissa Hagstrom
Artwork by Mike Oglesbee (click here to see a larger version of the artwork on the back of the CD)
CD duplication and printing by Triple Disc Media Design and Duplication

Song Commentary

See also "Songs Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos"

These are my personal notes and commentary on the songs within this CD. They reflect what inspired the compositions before I recorded them, and in many cases they catalog my post-performance thoughts from a listener's perspective. Feel free to submit your own comments, and I'll post them on this web site!

Rabid by Mike Oglesbee

1. Continuum

A thread of intangible permanence...an underlying connectivity of things through space and time, though matter, energy, the forces, and beyond. My inspiration for this song was Superstring Theory, described eloquently by Brian Greene in his book The Elegant Universe. There is something beautiful and aesthetically pleasing about this theory, the notion that the underlying nature of the universe is comprised of vibrating strings, working in universal harmony to generate all the known sub-atomic particles and ultimately everything we experience in the external world...again, another play on the duality of places.

Submit your own comments on this song.

2. Places

As the CD's title song, this composition reflects the theme of place duality, beginning with an abstract musical passage (depicting my favorite intangible place) and transitioning into something more melodic (a lofty interpretation of everyday places, people, and sensations). If you listen carefully to the second part of this song, you'll hear just a touch of the impact that Middle-Eastern music had on me when I was playing in a World Fusion group last year.

Submit your own comments on this song.

3. Impossible Shade of Blue

I can't precisely describe the meaning of this title as it relates to the song, except that the first half is very obscure and mysterious, and moves into a somewhat "bluesy" passage...but not quite what you would ordinarily think of as the Blues. It's the juxtaposition of these two components - the abstract and quasi-blues - that brought Impossible Shade of Blue to mind....again that duality or conflict of things at play here. How can I be playing traditional blues phrases over such a dark and bizarre musical landscape? That's exactly my point....it's an impossible shade of blue in concept, but in practice and art, just about anything is possible.

Submit your own comments on this song.

4. On Park Center

This song is based on one of the more familiar places in my life, Park Center Boulevard in Boise, Idaho, where I lived in 1992. There is something about this song that doesn't seem so commonplace to me, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It's ethereal and nearly pensive. It pulses on with almost a Latin feel. And of course, during the end of the tune I'm doing what I like to do most, which is to "play outside" of the harmonic structure to create tension and release.

Submit your own comments on this song.

5. Fremmed Sinn

This song title is roughly translated as "Alien Mind" in Norwegian. Based on discussions with my co-workers from Norway, "Fremmed" can mean alien, foreign, or stranger, and "Sinn" can also be translated as "sense" as in mind sense versus the brain. "Fremmed Sinn" is not a perfect translation for the Alien Mind I am alluding to in the song, but with the appropriate context setting, it seems fitting. It may seem silly to go through all this trouble to formulate a title that most English speakers can't translate, but my main point in doing so was to stir curiousity and lead the listener to these supplementary notes, in order to illustrate the full meaning of the song. The title is just an instrument to draw attention to the Scandinavian imagery that I hoped to associate with the composition. Moreover, the song is meant to conjures up imagery of a deep, dark, and cold Scandinavian sea...lying at its most abysmal depths, miles below, is an alien life form, awaking from a billion years of dormancy. This menacing, polymorphous entity crawls up the ocean slope to slither upon the icy rocks and carry out its predetermined destiny...to telepathically undermine human kind. I'm tapping into many of the typically unused sounds of the acoustic guitar in this song. For instance, I ran my fingers along the tightly wound stings between the tuners and the end of the neck to produce that harp-like sound. Or I'm gently scraping my finger from one end of a string to the other to get that ascending scratch sound with echo.

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6. 4 Min. 7 Sec. Evolution

A single-celled organism springs to life in the primordial soup...the creeping unknown proliferates, inconspicuously yet quickly pushing beyond the parameter of its cradle...trickling up, shooting up like streaks of water...defying gravity. Its clock ticks...the clock of its destiny...it wavers and then fades into extinction. Why is this song 4 minutes and 14 seconds long on CD, when the title suggests 4 minutes and 7 Seconds? Listen to the ending on the song on CD and take note of what happens at 4 minutes 7 seconds.

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7. The Wait

Clock-like...this pensive musical sketch depicts an anticipation of something, someone, some place...not sure what, or perhaps it's the philosophical mood of waiting for Nothing.

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8. Primordial Soup

I have a prototype mini video that best conveys my intent for this song (I used a microscope with a built in PC camera to film a microorganism feeding in stagnant pond water). Although more conceptually, I was thinking of the Precambrian primordial soup from which single-celled organisms arose, focusing on a particularly unfortunate species.

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9. Taste of Life

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10. Unsheltered Lift

Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke....up, up, and away...a new form of space travel...a ship that taps the unlimited energies of subatomic space, but not without risks.

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11. Lovecraft Resurrected

Originally titled Lovecraft in Ozarks, this composition spawned in me a vision of H.P. Lovecraft crawling up through ancient, vermin invested soil, emerging into the dark and humid night...his twisted majesty surveys his surroundings and conjures his spirits for a reunion...they confide and conspire, the bells of Cthulhu jingle as if a calling....Lovecraft makes his descent into an Ozark village...the horrific nightmare takes life again. This is my favorite song of the CD. The place that it takes me emotionally and intellectually goes above and beyond my admiration of the science fiction/horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft. This song transports me to a sort of netherworld, to a place of childhood wonder and fascination, through visions of archetype fears and bizarre, twisted oddities of life. Honestly, I don't even remember recording this song. It was probably one of those late nights when I picked up my guitar in the dark, with only my computer screen and electronic gadget LEDs lighting my basement studio, pressed record, and played the inevitable.

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