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Screaming Trees

by Alex Buck

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about

This composition was born out of a metaphorical idea. What if the rough, hard, noisy sounds coming from instruments made out of wood, such as the cello and the acoustic bass, would represent reminiscent screams of dying trees? As if the instrument’s woods had preserved the memories of the killed trees they were made of?
That idea must have come from the life-changer book I was reading at that time: “The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman.” In this book, an anthropologist unveil one of nowadays most significant indigenous leaders’ point of view regarding occidental culture. It has been a transforming experience reading it. Especially in a moment in which several indigenous groups and the Amazon forest itself are being attacked in my home country, Brazil.
After going a little deeper into this metaphor, I realized how intrinsically connected the history of music and the killing of trees are. All western music tradition is somehow dependent on wood, not only for producing instruments (wood, strings, percussion) but also for preserving and enabling its language development through the use of paper (scores). Consequently, trees have been providing us two of the most important things we need to survive: oxygen and music.
All sounds contained in the piece are tree-related. I intentionally made use of natural and cultural sounds so that listeners can identify some of the political subjects covered in the book I’m trying to bring to light with this piece. Sounds such as the closing of books, page turnings, instruments made of wood, different kinds of birds (as Yanomami puts are tree’s inseparable companions), were organized in such a way that, hopefully, I was able to allude to different natural and/or fantastic phenomena, such as the killing of trees, the screaming of trees, bird alarms, and many others.

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Listening Contract

Hi! Firstly, let me thank you for your interest in my work. I’m willing to share my music with you in exchange for two little requests:

1) your full attention while listening to it. I know we are used to listening to music while doing other stuff. I’m here to ask you, please, not to do this. In my opinion, listening to music is an activity as “selfish” as it is reading. You cannot read while you dish washes, right? The same should apply to listening to music.

2) Please, use the best audio equipment you have with you. If you are thinking of hearing through your laptop speakers, please reconsider. Save it for later, so you can take the best experience out of it. :)

I hope you enjoy listening to these pieces as much as I enjoyed composing them. If you do like my work, please share my page with others and help me spread it. If you can contribute with any amount, that will also help me to bring more compositions to life. Cheers!

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released November 25, 2019

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Alex Buck São Paulo, Brazil

Alex Buck is a performer-composer praised for his “sophistication and originality in his aesthetic goals” (F. Menezes). His electronic pieces are “masterfully arranged” (R. Gama), “a sound world that both grips and invites, impossible to resist (V. Ray).”
Alex is considered one of the most nowadays innovative Brazilian drummers. His acousmatic compositions won international prizes and mentions. ... more

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