BENJAMIN DAUER / BLOG

A Tumblg by Benjamin Dauer, Senior Interactive Designer at NPR and experimental musician/composer.

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Ask That I Walk Easy [disquiet0011-motoring]

This particular Junto submission has a bit of background. Those familar w/my Dwindlers project (http://www.thedwindlers.com) will know that our latest release, Allegories, is a collection of songs that are, in part, a response to Michelle’s current loss of mobility. As such, a daily rhythm for us is the sound of her crutch hitting the ground as we walk. I used a field recording of this sound, sped up, as the base layer for this song.

I wanted to create something simple and repetitive (as much of walking is) but also beautiful and uplifting. She put a reminder on our refrigerator to everyday “Ask That I Walk Easy”. I want nothing more than for her to fully regain mobility and to be able to dance, rollerblade, and yes, even walk, without pain. So, over the course of this piece the base layer of her crutch slowly fades away. This one is for you love.

As always, thank you so much for listening.

More details on the Juno project here: 
Disquiet Junto

A Glimmer of Hope

This is my contribution to @disquiet’s latest project. Learn more.

Shortly after completing the music for my album, “Burning of Wine”, I began writing towards what would become this album.

“Saturation Event” is a sonic exploration of the place that exists between being awake and asleep. Space and time seem to fold in on themselves and elements of reality become distorted. Experimenting with analog tape saturation I wanted to capture some of the feeling, that haze or cloud, that descends upon your mind just before letting go and drifting off. Slow, steady, and enveloping - layers of music peel away and seem to crumble, or fall apart, separately from the whole.

Headphones recommended. Thank you for listening.

Available now as a FREE DOWNLOAD: Benjamin Dauer - Saturation Event

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90 Plays


This is a track off my upcoming release, “Saturation Event”, due out mid-June 2011 on the Feedback Loop label.

Thanks or listening, I hope you enjoy it.

http://feedbacklooplabel.blogspot.com

Tenuto

This is a long, slowly evolving, meditative piece that I put together using some of my favorite Reaktor ensembles, reverbs, and delays. Please download/share. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for listening.

(Source: soundcloud.com)

Online music publication, futuresequence, interviewed me recently about my music and tech setup. Head on over to read the full article and if you like it please help spread the word. Thanks for your support! —— Benjamin Dauer is a musician, composer and designer based in Washington, D.C. With many ongoing projects and finished works, some highlights of Benjamin’s include a recent release named Circular Drift with Scottish artist Dominic Dixon under the pair’s Offsets project and a debut solo work named Burning of Wine - both of which are available from the Distance Recordings netlabel. Most recently, Benjamin released Dreams, an EP created with poet Michelle Seaman as The Dwindlers on Feedback Loop. Hi Benjamin, with your solo release, the Offsets collaboration and an EP from The Dwindlers, you’ve certainly made 2010 a busy year for releases. Is it typical for you to be this productive? Hi Adam, thanks for inviting me to speak with you. I do try to stay productive with my compositions, but I don’t necessarily release this much music in the form of EPs/LPs - the type of output has varied over the years. For example, while I lived in Chicago I was performing 2 or 3 nights a week with various bands ranging from hip hop to folk to jazz to funk/rock but only releasing an album every year. After moving to North Carolina I began focusing on composing scores for modern dance companies, performing as part of an improvisational modern dance collective, and later performing w/a trio called Last Night in Glasgow. During that time, a period of almost 4 years, I did not release any albums. I did, however, self-release a great deal of those scores earlier this year - paired up with some incredible remixes by friends from all over the world. Total, there is nearly 2 hours worth of free music you can grab them from my personal website under the Remixes section. Overall, I would say this year has been particularly special. Continue Reading…

Online music publication, futuresequence, interviewed me recently about my music and tech setup. Head on over to read the full article and if you like it please help spread the word. Thanks for your support!

——

Benjamin Dauer is a musician, composer and designer based in Washington, D.C. With many ongoing projects and finished works, some highlights of Benjamin’s include a recent release named Circular Drift with Scottish artist Dominic Dixon under the pair’s Offsets project and a debut solo work named Burning of Wine - both of which are available from the Distance Recordings netlabel. Most recently, Benjamin released Dreams, an EP created with poet Michelle Seaman as The Dwindlers on Feedback Loop.

Hi Benjamin, with your solo release, the Offsets collaboration and an EP from The Dwindlers, you’ve certainly made 2010 a busy year for releases. Is it typical for you to be this productive?

Hi Adam, thanks for inviting me to speak with you. I do try to stay productive with my compositions, but I don’t necessarily release this much music in the form of EPs/LPs - the type of output has varied over the years. For example, while I lived in Chicago I was performing 2 or 3 nights a week with various bands ranging from hip hop to folk to jazz to funk/rock but only releasing an album every year. After moving to North Carolina I began focusing on composing scores for modern dance companies, performing as part of an improvisational modern dance collective, and later performing w/a trio called Last Night in Glasgow. During that time, a period of almost 4 years, I did not release any albums. I did, however, self-release a great deal of those scores earlier this year - paired up with some incredible remixes by friends from all over the world. Total, there is nearly 2 hours worth of free music you can grab them from my personal website under the Remixes section. Overall, I would say this year has been particularly special.

Continue Reading…

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Download 130 Plays

roamin:

The Dwindlers “Wenn’s Dream” 

From the Feedback Loop netlabel release Dream

« I grew up mixed with my father’s poetry and vinyl records of great musician poets.  Ever since, I have been attracted to spoken word, not the kind that uses speeches as another instrument or decoration, but the kind where you can take a ride and dream your own experiences, hypnotized by the voice, like listening to a siren.  As such, it is with great honor that I present you The Dwindlers’ Dreams - more than spoken word they gift us with short stories filled with magic.  Benjamin Dauer brings the music with such precision that it reminds me of a clock ticking perfectly whilst the voice of Michelle Seaman is allowed to wander in our imagination.  — Leonardo Rosado » 

« I have kept a dream journal for years.  As a poet and visual artist, I love the images that arrive when we’re sleeping, and I use these in my work.  I also believe in visions or signs. I feel that nature offers us symbolic gifts that can guide us while we’re awake. 

Each of the four “poem songs” within Dreams emerged differently.  A singer I once knew described her dream to me while we were sitting in a Minneapolis coffee shop.  To honor her vivid description, I wrote Wenn’s Dream.  Stuck in traffic in Tampa, and listening to Cajun music on the hip people’s radio station WMNF, I heard the first lines for Pale Blue Dress.  I composed Royal Suitors from a dream I had about cheating death and playing cards with a friend of mine.  I saw the poem Heart Trip as I watched a fellow poet on stage during a reading.  I remember thinking that while most poets have strong hearts, we are also a bit shy and cowardly about sharing them. 

Through the poetry of Dreams, I hope to momentarily capture what connects and personalizes us through the common experiences of sleep, and our interpretations of the symbols within which we find individual meaning.  — Michelle Seaman of The Dwindlers »

« The Dwindlers are poet, Michelle Seaman, and bassist & composer, Benjamin Dauer. Our musical collaboration began in 2002 in the Grey Sea metropolis of Chicago, continued in a home recording studio surrounded by the pine trees and Pollinators of North Carolina, and thrives now among the cherry blossoms, gingko trees, museums, and politics of Washington, D.C.  The Dwindlers are ambience and imagery.  We sincerely thank you for listening.  — Leonardo Rosado »

Download from Feedback Loop or from the Internet Archive

CC BY NC ND 3.0 *

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Thanks for the blog post about our album! We hope everyone enjoys the music.

I am happy to announce the release of my solo ambient album, “Burning of Wine”, out now on Distance Recordings - available as a FREE download! —- From Distance Recordings: Benjamin Dauer is a Washington, D.C based musician and composer who has most recently been working on scores for choreographed modern dance pieces. He has previously released on Distance as part of the duo Offsets, a long distance collaboration with Scottish musician Dominic Dixon. ‘Burning of Wine’ is his debut album under his own name and was recorded especially for Distance. The album is both spacious and subdued, and this is contrasted with moments of dense sonic intensity. Benjamin combines digital sounds with occasional processed field recordings and subtle swells from the bass guitar, his main instrument, creating a well balanced contrast between organic and inorganic textures. The deep sub bass pulses, digital drones and high frequency melodic turns already present throughout the album have all been given further emphasis by the mastering treatment carried out by James Plotkin, whose previous clients have included: Sunn 0))), Earth, Nadja and Fennesz. Headphone listening especially recommended. —- All songs by Benjamin Dauer Mastered by James Plotkin Photography/Textures courtesy of Ed Fladung, Christopher Redmond & Michelle Brand —- Download the full album in hi-res mp3 (320kbps) or FLAC: http://distancerecordings.com/dist018

I am happy to announce the release of my solo ambient album, “Burning of Wine”, out now on Distance Recordings - available as a FREE download!

—-

From Distance Recordings:

Benjamin Dauer is a Washington, D.C based musician and composer who has most recently been working on scores for choreographed modern dance pieces. He has previously released on Distance as part of the duo Offsets, a long distance collaboration with Scottish musician Dominic Dixon.

‘Burning of Wine’ is his debut album under his own name and was recorded especially for Distance. The album is both spacious and subdued, and this is contrasted with moments of dense sonic intensity. Benjamin combines digital sounds with occasional processed field recordings and subtle swells from the bass guitar, his main instrument, creating a well balanced contrast between organic and inorganic textures. The deep sub bass pulses, digital drones and high frequency melodic turns already present throughout the album have all been given further emphasis by the mastering treatment carried out by James Plotkin, whose previous clients have included: Sunn 0))), Earth, Nadja and Fennesz.

Headphone listening especially recommended.

—- 
All songs by Benjamin Dauer 
Mastered by James Plotkin 
Photography/Textures courtesy of Ed Fladung, Christopher Redmond & Michelle Brand 
—-

Download the full album in hi-res mp3 (320kbps) or FLAC: http://distancerecordings.com/dist018

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