Ekke Västrik to perform doctoral concert on vintage electronic instruments

Composer Ekke Västrik will present a doctoral concert using vintage electronic instruments at the Üle Heli sound art festival, ERR reports. The performance will take place in the basement hall of the House of the Blackheads in Tallinn.

Västrik’s composition is built around loops of recordings made with tone generators. He extends the recordings by splicing magnetic tape; if the tape breaks, it is joined again and played. He said the process reflects a contemporary view of the past, which was free of digital technology.

“These tapes are physical, and you can interact with objects in this world differently than with ones and zeroes on a computer screen,” Västrik said. “Physicality is definitely what you hear from the speakers. The kind of processing that happens while working with the tape would be almost impossible to do on a computer.”

The performance uses equipment from Tallinn 1965, an experimental studio at the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Music. The studio consists of electronic music instruments made in the 1960s and 1970s, giving composers and artists a chance to experiment with the sounds and possibilities of earlier decades. Local radio programmes will also be broadcast from the studio during the festival.

Maria Hansar, development director of the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Music, said the studio has drawn attention from partners and neighbours in Europe because it represents something from the past that could have happened but still might happen.

Üle Heli runs until Sunday.