Earlier creative work of Oskar Hallbert was unfamiliar to me, though his recent release on the Italian net-label Zymogen (for many times its releases were interesting discoveries) got me acquainted with his music. In this album the musician used Fibonacci numbers – each following number equals the sum of the two previous. The musician noticed that such sequence can be met everywhere in our life: in proportions of our body, in organization of sunflower seeds, in the order of trees' branches and leaves on them. As a matter of fact, Fibonacci numbers is the sequence going far from the frames of bare numbers integrated into our life. I'm not good neither at Maths, nor at Biology, though it reminds of a complicated nature's rule. Obviously, that was the thing that inspired Hallbert for creating 89 tracks, most of which are 4-seconds samples, short and transient... Long-lasting, important tracks take the places accordingly to the sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55 and 89.
If we forget for some seconds about the basic of the conception (which apparently influenced only the title of the album and "cutting" the sound material into tracks), we can say that creativity of Oskar Hallbert is a good demonstration of the fact that for creating pleasant and interesting music using field records expensive sound recording equipment is not obligatory. For recording the surrounding sounds he uses only his mp3 player. The final material is processed, the sounds are dubbed and further for several times... Field records are the background for wind instruments, strings and keyboards. Very modestly, even intimate and with some soft, semitransparent melancholy they lead us through the slow compositions. I must say, it's nothing new or supernatural, though warm and pleasant like house slippers. Yes, don't know concerning Fibonacci numbers, though it seems to me that music in 1123581321345589 is more similar to house slippers.
- Zymogen