scale is an EP featuring the earliest works for electric guitar and electronics by Breifne Holohan. Both composed in 2005, scale and distant voices mark the composer’s first forays into experimental electronic and ambient music.

Credits

Music composed, performed and produced by Breifne Holohan

Electric Guitar / Bass Guitar – Breifne Holohan

Image: Baltray, Co. Louth

In 2004 I bought a cheap multi-effects processor and became preoccupied with a particular delay effect. It allowed me to play against a delayed or echoed version of my guitar, setting up sequences of canonic patterns and hoketing. I found I could create interesting, evolving soundscapes and multi-layered guitar parts live, without the need for overdubbing or recording loops.

scale was written in 2005 and is the first of my electric guitar and electronic explorations. It is based on a lydian mode scale which slowly expands over several minutes. By gradually adding a single note to the steadily growing ladder of pitches a series of cascading patterns form. The piece finishes with a more rhythmically propulsive section, reminiscent of early-period American minimalist music.

distant voices (2005) was written with a more colourful, orchestral vision in mind while using the same electronic effects as scale. In this piece multiple overdubbed guitars were used alongside another crucial effect, a polyphonic pitch shifter, allowing for richer, more sophisticated harmonies. The piece was written with a sense of teenage anarchy and rebellion. In retrospect, my personal mutinous crusade must have been much more internal than the finished work suggests!
Breifne Holohan