Beside Feedback Cell gigs and Brain Dead Ensemble gigs, we’ve been lucky to have opportunities to play with quite a range of other improvisers in the last year couple of years.

In early gigs, whilst I enjoyed the distinct sound of the feedback cello, I was secretly a little concerned it may be a one-trick-pony. Yet even in the first year each time we played, we’d discover new terrain - even with my set up, which is completely analogue. Over the last couple of years, we’ve had opportunities to play in ever widening musical contexts; each time we discover news sounds, new gestures, new nuances. As a cellist it’s It’s pretty exciting and inspires further instrument refinement.

Resonator Piano Trio (Sept 2016)

Our first workshop back in ICLI 2016 was held in parallel with Andrew McPherson’s fearsome Magnetic Resonator Piano (MRP), played by Kate Ryder. In the workshop concert, despite extreme technical issues (my amp was blown up by the first act), we got a little taste of the MRP and Feedback Cello duo sound world. Later that year, we took the opportunity to play as a trio with Roger Redgate on violin at magnetic attraction, a doctoral showcase organised by the students on the XXXX course at Queen Mary’s University.

Playing a trio with the MRP and electric violin made me really appreciate how even the earliest version of the instrument managed to bridge the acoustic string and hybrid resonator sound worlds. The violin was amplified locally, the cello through it’s built in speaker and the MRP purely acoustic, yet our sound merged to the point that the origin was ambiguous - gestures originating from one player seemed to terminate in anothers instrument.

https://soundcloud.com/roger-redgate/rr-with-kate-ryder-magnetic-resonator-piano-alice-eldridge-feedback-cello

https://vimeo.com/185694346

Magnetic Attraction. An evening of music performed on the magnetic resonator piano by Kate Ryder. The programme features pieces written especially for the instrument and improvisations with Alice Eldridge (amplified cello) and Roger Redgate (violin/fx pedal).

Multiphonics in free jazz trio

Soon after I decided to take the feedback cello to Fete QuaQua. Curated by stalwart of Free Improv John Russel, this is an annual event of joy where John invites wonderful musicians from around europe to play in varying combinations over 3 nights. Here’s a little clip of a set with

Bowed metal, electronics & fiddle harmonics

Time, space & power in hybrid ensembles