From Issue 3
Cerita Kehidupan: An Interview with Giovanni Sciarrino
Insitu Recordings
Insitu Recordings: We understand that your career took you around the world. What did you do and where have you lived? How did all of that movement impact your relationship with music?
Giovanni Sciarinno: I was with just one international company from the beginning through the end of my working life. I lived in the United States for three years. I did administrative and financial work in a multi-subsidiary context, which had me spend substantial periods of time in various other countries. It was inevitable that my interests were fed by and developed through various local cultures, providing an open – dare say “universal”? – outlook on music.
IR: Do you remember your first encounter with gamelan? Can you tell us about your first impressions of the music?
GS: The first encounter was the LP “Song and Sound the World Around – Gamelan Music from Java”, Phillips stereo 831 201 PY (“also playable on mono”), recorded in 1963 in the Kraton of Surakarta by Nusjirvan Tirtaamidjaja. The sleeve notes were signed by Tirtaamidjaja and Ernst Heins. The natural reverbertaing sound of metallophones was the spellbinding element of that recording and branded the music indelibly in my mind. I wish I had modelled that in the recordings I made later on when chasing after more studio-type clarity – an unresolved dilemma.
IR: When did you first visit Indonesia? Where did you go? What brought you there?
GS: It must have been in the early eighties, at the end of a work assignment in Singapore. The Bali magic we all know struck full force. I was able to report to friends things like: “although Bali has had tourism for many decades already, the people maintain an authenticity that is outstanding; and any hint of sound of their scintillating gamelan is capable of sending vibrations up your spine and brain”.
I had a similar first impression in Central Java a couple of years later, although the magic did not manifest itself as easily. The climate was heavier. But mainly, the music was harder to find. And the local cassettes were disappointing in comparison with the Philips LP sound. Also I found at the time that the cassette recordings offered a repertoire focused on sindhen and rebab pieces, and the voices of the pesindhen were not always agreeable to my ears. Perhaps in this discrepancy between the recorded music I was hearing in Java and the first LP I had heard caused me to begin to think about starting a recording enterprise myself.
IR: What is the origin story behind the founding of the Yantra Productions recording label?
GS: I wanted to try to produce recordings that met some requisites I identified and preferences I had. Essentially: I sought the clearest possible sound, outstanding performers, and programs that were most likely to impress human ears in musical cultures outside of Indonesia. My undertakings were aided by the good disposition of excellent musicians at STSI Surakarta (now ISI). As for pesindhen, I am proud to have helped widen international recognition for three outstanding voices: Nyi Cendaniraras, Nyi Sri Suparsih, and Nyi Yayuk Sri Rahayu.
IR: How many releases has Yantra produced to date? Which is your favorite?
GS: Twenty-seven releases in physical (2001-2011) and thirty-two in digital (2013-present). My favorites are the one including Ketawang Puspa Warna with all nine stanzas variously instrumented (thank you Pak Joko Purwanto); Gendhing Kombang Mara with a pesindhen duo (thank you Pak Suraji); In Nem Seven (thank you Pak A-el Suwardi); Gamelan Cage (thank you Andy McGraw); Gamelan Debussy (thank you Pak Arnawa); Gamelan Scarlatti (thank you Balot); Gamelan Bach (thank you Kembang Ceraki); and the first of Musica Coniuncta.
IR: What challenges did you face recording music in Indonesia? How did you overcome them?
GS: To carry adequate mobile recording equipment from Europe and setting it up in uncomfortable locations. I had little or no chances to make tests for mic placements. Having to record in closed ambients rather than in open or semi-open spaces which would provide the gamelan with the best sonic environment to play in.
I like to confess a regret I have concerning the technique of recording. I was too coherent and consistent with the practice of multi-microphone recording and did not find the ‘courage’ to rely more on simple set-ups of a good stereo in appropriate situations. I wish to credit Wayne Vitale for having proved (intentionally or not, I don’t know) the validity of simple stereo techniques with his appealing recordings in albums like “Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar” of 1996.
A most effective help to overcome various challenges of recording music in Indonesia, including placing microphones and making translations for liner notes, has a name: Rosella Balossino.
IR: Can you tell us about your most memorable recording experience in Indonesia?
GS: May 18, 1996. Kirab Pusaka, Satu Suro, at Kraton Kasunanan. An incredible evening suspended over the sound of the beloved Kyai Kaduk Manis Manis Rengga until midnight, when the procession of the secret heirlooms crosses the cool sands inside the Kraton to go out and circumnavigate the hot external walled streets.
GS: Another especially cherished experience was the recording in 2011 of a selonding program at the home of the late master I Nyoman Partha Gunawan in Tenganan, Bali.
Also memorable were a couple of exhausting recording sessions at ISI Surakarta running from 4pm to 2 am.
IR: How has Yantra Production’s approach to distributing music changed in response to developments in digital music distribution (YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, etc.)?
GS: Up until digital distribution meant downloading of files – especially with iTunes, which meritoriously included a digital booklet – the situation could be seen as a normal evolution and expansion of channels, with unpaid pirating being somehow overlooked as a phenomenon confined to free-tard youngsters.
When in 2008 Spotify started its “commercial” distribution through free streaming, it was sheer disaster. The music industry and especially the independent labels panicked and committed suicide by blindly putting themselves in the hands of the digital “aggregators”. Because of this unwanted development, at the end of 2011 Yantra decided to terminate the license contract with the company that had until then distributed the 15-album series Gamelan of Central Java.
As Yantra was and is conceived as a not-for-profit activity, one could conclude that for such undertaking the valueless regime we now have would not make a difference. Not true. First and most important, that regime affects the creators and performers of music, who cannot make a living from their activity. But it also affects the quality of music available in general, because free availability of an enormous and continuously growing quantity of music kills one of the important selection filters, that is a value/price to pay to have access.
If iTunes actually discontinued the paid download, as currently feared, it will be the final blow. Hopefully, some international labels seem to recover some energy for a reprise of physical CDs, and Yantra is following-up on this. As to digital distribution, Yantra will continue to be selective in sending releases to services, choosing Apple/iTunes, Amazon, and smaller download services for full album releases, while sending single tracks as promotion to the rest of the streaming jungle.
IR: When you set about arranging John Cage, Igor Stravinsky, J.S. Bach, Domenico Scarlatti, and Claude Debussy for gamelan who did you imagine would listen to the results?
GS: Intriguing question. An obvious answer? Persons that are not purists of the “a priori” type. But perhaps I would prefer that most listeners were the ones I had not imagined.
IR: When you’re selecting music to arrange for gamelan, what informs your choice of composer and composition?
GS: It depends.
For composers, it could be that I like them – thus originating a so-called labor of love. Or, less frequently, it could be that I have objections toward a composer and then I like to play with ‘mistreatments’ – in which case it would be more of a labor of fun (“Unstringing Beethoven”). In any case the result needs to sound musical to my ears.
For compositions, the choice takes into account the technicalities. Foremost is the issue of scales and tunings. The basic question is: how does the original piece sound using the pitches available on the target gamelan? Omissions and compromises are inevitable, and this is where the term “arrangement” turns out to be a misnomer and ”re-creation” is a better term.
I like to emphasize that the best part of the re-creation process should rest in the hands of the gamelan musicians and their own music language. Through rehearsals and re-thinking of the preliminary adaptation, they should make the miracle of giving birth to a truly, gloriously musical, and enjoyable product of cultural hybridization.
IR: Which of these projects was most successful? Why?
GS: I myself should like to know.
IR: Can you describe the creative processes behind these arrangements?
GS: In what I call the “preliminary adaptation”, the process is one of transforming the original composition into a piece that sounds as much as possible the way the designated gamelan instruments can play. Such transformation is done using MIDI techniques and tools. First the Western standard notation score is read by a certain software and rendered into MIDI. Then such files are loaded onto Logic, where most of the editing work is done to arrive at a sound file (usually on CD) which is sent over as a “model” for the musicians’ re-creation. The editing on Logic aims at resolving a range of major and minor problems – from the setting of the scale (number and pitch of tones in the octave), to the assignment of virtual instruments that provide timbral reference, to correcting (or creatively exploiting) errors in the score-to-midi conversion, to adjusting the tempo, etc. Thus, the preliminary adaptation brings the piece to a form and an expression which tends to reach out to the musicians’ sensitivity. It is then up to the group and their leader to introduce their skill and creativity to arrive at a product for the project.
IR: What were the greatest challenges you faced when creating these arrangements? Were these different for each composer and/or Balinese collaborator?
GS: The answer to this question should distinguish different situations. And I think I should start with one type of project which is not explicitly included in the question posed, but which implied challenges of its own nature (the liner notes of the three albums mentioned just below provide a good account of problems encountered and solutions attempted).
The project around Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ did not involve a preliminary adaptation, as the idea was not to utilize the original musical phrases but only the plan of the composition (which for brevity I here assume known to the reader). Thus, the musicians selected the phrases of their choice and the performances resulted in semi-improvisations in the spirit of Riley’s pioneering work. The project had three materializations. The first in 2009 in Surakarta with gamelan and musicians of ISI: ‘In Nem’ was done and recorded in seven versions, some outstanding and all quite interesting thanks to the commitment lavished by the players (the liner notes of ‘Returning Minimalism: In Nem’ have extensive observations and comments also by the Javanese musicians involved). The second materialization happened in 2011 in Tunjuk, Bali, when players from two ensembles, Taruna Mekar and Cudamani, created ‘In Deng’ and ‘In Ding’ under the leadership of I Made Arnawa and I Dewa Putu Berata, respectively (liner notes by Wayne Vitale). The third rendition of Riley’s work was made by Gamelan Semara Ratih in 2012 in two versions, ‘In Deung’ and ‘In Dang’ (coordination and liner notes by Ken Worthy).
The basic challenge of the ‘In C’ project could be summed-up in the sense that it involved a type of improvisation that the musicians were not used to. It is not clear in my mind, I admit, whether in such context it would be beneficial to spend more time in rehearsals than the few hours that were allowed in the situation.
The Gamelan Cage project was made easy by the ‘deus-ex-machina’ role played by Andy McGraw. Such role was effectively one of ‘arranger’, directly from Cage’s scores, and of ‘conductor’ of performances. The straight non-mediated process from original score to Balinese version was allowed by a general proximity of those particular Cagean pieces to gamelan language, and by the fact that a prepared piano makes tuning and pitches an indeterminate affair. Without rhythm and tones being a problem, the dexterity and colors of Subandi’s Ceraken group may have even surpassed the original versions. The level of performance may help explain why the album has been met with remarkable success. Recording at the Purnati Center for the Arts, in Bali, over two days with an overnight stay in July 2012 also made it an enjoyable experience.
For the Gamelan Stravinsky project, the selected pieces to be re-created by Taruna Mekar of Tunjuk were commercial CD recordings. They were sent over to Bali some weeks in advance of the recording session in July 2014. With no preliminary adaptation for the gamelan instruments, the decisive factor in the process was the choice of pieces (so: no ‘Rite of Spring’!). Reliance was entirely placed on Pak Arnawa’s mastery and, as anticipated to me by Dieter Mack, on his acquaintance with Western music and his particular liking for the great Igor.
Projects following the Stravinsky, and coinciding with my not going to Bali, saw the intervention of Jonathan Adams in a number of crucial roles: coordination and communication, recording of performances, making of videos, and writing of liner notes for the albums. Jonathan’s cooperation was of enormous importance to obtain the desired results, particularly appreciated in consideration of his busy activities in Bali and elsewhere. His excellent and detailed liner notes are of course at www.gamelan.gs
The Gamelan Scarlatti project (2015-2016) was first in utilizing the MIDI transformation of the original score into scale and tuning of the target gamelan. The key factor leading in that direction was the fact that the new gamelan that Balot (I Putu Gede Sukaryana) had built for his Sanggar Kembang Ceraki happened to have a tuning very close to – almost coincident with – a western ‘A Major’ scale. Such a rather surprising and serendipitous event opened the door to a more focused way to re-create the music on the gamelan – as long as it were transposed to the A Major scale! A number of the 555 Scarlatti Sonatas are already in A Major. For the ones that aren’t, it is a matter of selecting those that musically survive (or sound ‘new’ or even ‘more interesting’) when ‘forced’ into the scale of Balot’s gamelan. The gigantic pool of Scarlatti’s Sonatas could offer more opportunities…
The Gamelan Bach project (2016-2017) seems to have been more difficult for the musicians of Kembang Ceraki to Handel (sorry: an easy, well known, but irresistible pun; all three – Scarlatti, Bach, and Handel – were born the same year 1685). It is quite understandable that the rigid and complex structure of the chosen music, The Art of the Fugue, would require more work than the fanciful Scarlatti with his freer forms. For this project the group decided to have a different member lead the process on each piece in the project; a good decision in various respects.
The Gamelan Debussy project (2017-2018) could count on three sets of instruments: the large kebyar Taruna Mekar, a gamelan selonding set, and Arnawa’s own invented Pendro set. The choice of pieces was of course influenced by the pitches available on the various gamelan, but even more it was influenced by the way the music would sound after the MIDI transformation, no matter how far the adopted pitches would be from the original tuning. I like to indicate the piece that I think best represents the sought-after re-creation, realizing a smooth integration of the two musical languages is ‘Pour Remercier la Pluie au Matin’.
IR: We’ve heard that you have an impressive collection of music. Can you tell us about it? Where did you get them? Which recording have you listened to the most? Where did you get it?
GS: My first purchases, out of painfully saved pocket-money, were 78-rpm shellac discs, starting with Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 and Debussy’s ‘Nuages’ (which, by the way, I would force a 3-year-old brother to listen to by describing improbable nocturnal moon-cum-clouds scenes).
I have a substantial collection of plastic bags collected from record stores around the world. But when shopping in the US (ah! Tower Records downtown NY!) I was frustrated by the mediocre quality of Nonesuch LPs.
The one recording I’ve listened to most is probably Brahms’ Piano Concerto no. 2, played by Gilels/Jochum; it was recommended in a small record shop in London and I later verified and confirmed it as my favorite version out of around two dozen interpretations.
IR: What is your favorite composition for gamelan? Is there as specific recording that you prefer?
GS: My favorites are:
‘Ketawang Bedhayan Duradasih’ slendro manyura in ‘Gamelan of Java – Vol. One Kraton Kasunanan’, Lyrichord CD, 2009.
‘Gora Merdawa’ by I Nyoman Windha in ‘Music of the Gamelan Gong Kebyar – Vol. 2’, Vital Records CD, 1996.
IR: What are you working on at the moment?
GS: An international label with an established name for world and folk music (and publisher of Yantra’s successful ‘Gamelan from Central Java’) has been acquired by a larger Company and is relaunching operations. In this context, activities are in progress for forthcoming releases, selecting from the old Yantra series and the more recent Yantra Digital series, having remastered physical CD format as a priority goal.
IR: Aside from music, what other passions would you like people to know about?
GS: As I had made a point for myself to answer all questions, here is for the last one: to wonder helplessly about the mysteries of Reality and Nature. I mean it.
Insitu Recordings
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