Climent Wall Woodpeckers Notes

Title: Wall Woodpeckers (Mauerspechten) 9:11 - 2005 for tape Author Ricardo Climent originally for 12 channels (8 chennel mix)

On the 9th of November, 1989, the so called Wall-woodpeckers hammered and knocked down the Berlin Wall. Since then, politicians, philosophers and artists have analysed the consequences and the impact of this action on Berliners. This music work provides a unique opportunity for the Wall to express its own version of the facts. A sonic discourse made with chisels, screwdrivers, hammers and cheers surrounded the DDR like thousands of speakers in a circle. East and West are sonically represented as contrasting music materials, which attempt several ways of integration throughout the piece. 332 samples of the ‘Wall’ no longer than 1500 milliseconds are being collaged into multiple forms, convolved and transformed. They are merged together with a sustained timbre made of synthetic sounds (physical models of circular plates designed by Stefan Bilbao). This music scenario conforms a pallet of gestures which sonically describes the euphoria, intensity and fears of the night of the fall of a Wall, which 16 years later was still alive in many Berliners’ mind. Wall Woodpeckers was entirely created at the Elektronischen Studios, Technical University of Berlin, thanks to Folkmar Hein and his team. Wall woodpeckers has been published on CD by German label Edition RZ founded by Robert Zank. Inventionen-CD Vol. 6 and produced by Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD. Later in 2007 it will also be published by RedASLA, Vol. 2 Biography: Ricardo Climent is a composer who focuses on experimental music technology in the compositional and performance environment. His musical output ranges from pure acousmatic works (for tape) to instrumental composition, including mixed works, which incorporate electronic expression to acoustic instruments and make use on sensors technologies. His research includes cross-disciplinary projects combining music and other arts or sciences, aiming to push his own boundaries and existing ones. He is currently working as one of the principal researchers at NOVARS, Research Centre for Electroacoustic composition, Performance and Sound-Art, University of Manchester, UK, started in 2007. Before he was lecturer at the School of Music and Sonic Arts, Queen´s University. He has served as resident composer at the Conservatorio de las Rosas, Morelia, Mexico thanks the a Unesco-Aschberg award, resident researcher at the Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, sponsored by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese foundation, two years resident composer at the JOGV orchestra in Spain, also resident at the Elektronisches Studio -Technical University of Berlin among others. Ricardo was recently commissioned by The Instituto Valenciano de la Musica, Pedro Carneiro, C.A.R.A. (Celebrating Arts in Rural Areas), Grup de Percussio Amores, JOGV, Ensamble las Rosas-Mexico, Xelo Giner-Kazuhisa Ogawa, Carlos Gil, Third Practice Festival- Virginia, Kontakte Precussion group and Spanish Brass Luur Metals. He holds a PhD in Composition and also a Master in Music Technology from Queen’s University of Belfast and incidentally, also degrees in Economics by

Universidad de Valencia, Spain and FUFAP- Alcala de Henares.