ancient instruments
these connect to some of the original sources of music
tibetan temple bowls, kalimba (and sansula), harmonium, talking drum, shruti box, doudouk, wood flutes, udu, nigerian rattles, rabbit bones (died of natural causes), 12 and 48 string zithers and the human voice
traditional western instruments
which reflect our own heritage and cultural influence
tenor saxophone, trombone (and electric trombone), bass clarinet, clarinet, and bass guitar (also with an ebow).
found instruments
sometimes we have a sound in mind and just need to figure out how to make it.
poster tubes (various sizes), water-filled wine glasses, a full bathtub, a citrus powder packet, various glass and metal containers, clay pots, wind chimes, the kitchen table, a pear juice container, cardboard boxes, a noisy radiator, a bag full of change (approx. 36 euro), and ambient recordings of church bells, a playground and fields at night.
Sounds are processed using standard tools of the recording studio: reverb, EQ, compression, distortion, delays, pitch shift and the occasional filter.
Our sonic palette is comprised exclusively of sounds with an acoustic origin - sounds that have moved air on their way to being recorded.
Nelson plays any brass instruments and Tom plays any woodwind instruments. Everything else is split equally between the two of us.
All of the instruments we have used are listed here and fall into three basic categories: ancient instruments, traditional western instruments, and found instruments.