Clothespins I (fluid) by Andrea Taeggi (Gondwana/5HT2)

FULL RELEASE HERE -> https://andreataeggi.bandcamp.com/album/chaoticism-you-can-do-at-home

Seeking to push the cultural and timbral boundaries of an iconic instrument like the piano—a pursuit already undertaken by Andrea in works such as *Nomeri-Tere* and *Tableaux Vivant*—this album employs a rich sonic vocabulary and extended techniques developed over the years by means of "preparations," auxiliary percussion, and reel-to-reel tape. These elements are further transformed through digital processing, positioning the record between the concrete and the more-than-concrete.

This album presents several tracks in distinct couplings, alongside a few standalone pieces. Each pairing originates from the same prepared piano material but unfolds in two contrasting forms. The **fluid** versions embrace abstraction, stretching and morphing the sounds into textural explorations. The **functional** counterparts reassemble the same material into structured, bass-heavy rhythmic compositions. This presentation highlights how a particular sonic source—e.g., recordings of clothespins pinched to a string—can be experienced from different angles.

My own collection of sound sources—coming from recordings of a piano gut at EMS Stockholm and of my own upright—were organized in batches according to their quality. Each batch became then a "syllable", as if I were to make up new "words". For instance the opening track contains two main syllables (woods and metal plates), which engage in a fast-paced dialogue.

All in all this album sits at the crossroad between sound-art, musique concrète, bass heavy, sound-design and ritualistic computer music.

The non-musical inspiration for *Chaoticism You Can Do at Home* comes from neuroscientific research, particularly the concept of *sensitive dependence on initial conditions* in simple cellular automata. Experimental studies highlight the unpredictable, nonlinear nature of Chaos: small changes in initial conditions can lead to entirely unexpected outcomes, making it impossible to predict a system's evolution based solely on its starting state. In other words, it is deterministic—governed by identifiable rules—but remains unpredictable as events unfold.
credits
released July 1, 2025

Prepared piano recordings taken between EMS Stockholm (SE) and Luxus P Studios Berlin (DE).

All music written and engineered by Andrea Taeggi

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