This piece is for 95% made from improvised live recordings I did with prepared guitar running through my laptop (with Ableton Live and Max/MSP).
The laptop is just used for effects and looping, no pre-recorded samples used!
Recordings haven’t been processed with effects further, just edited and put into the arrangement with some drums and a water-sample.

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Who is Christoph Scherbaum?

I’m an Amsterdam-based composer and live musician performing on guitar and live electronics.
I am interested in collaborations with contemporary dance, theater, film and installation work. I also love to work with visual artists (and other musicians of course!)

What is Start-Run-Cooldown about?

I had this image in my head about a giant machine performing some scary task no one understands. But maybe that’s crap also.

How did you start in sound/music? And do you have an educational background in this field?

I did a MA degree in electric guitar performance at the ArtEZ conservatory in Arnhem, NL. Though I had some composition and music production classes during my studies, most of the things I do now I learned myself.
For the rest I started like most electric guitar players out there. Lessons at musicschool, teenage bands... With electric guitar the way to using electronics to alter your sound isn’t very far anyways, and I fell in love with that stuff pretty soon after I discovered it.

Could you explain how you work, what themes or concepts you use and what is important to you?

Making and performing my own music has always been important to me. My basic strategy is to just fool around (inside limitations) until I find something I like and from there go on to make something out of it. Though I normally know what I’m looking for first, improvisation is really important to me for finding new material. If I compose music for a performance I often improvise large parts of it (though the audience probably wouldn’t notice that it is improvised).
I generate lots of my sound-material by using my guitar in conjunction with a performance-patch I made in the computer and some controllers (same setup I use for live-performances).

How would you describe and categorize the soundworks you make?

You can find a lot of my music on my website. If you like, go there and have a listen (should be more entertaining than watching me trying to find a good description).
www.christophscherbaum.com

Which instruments do you play?

(Electric) guitar, bass guitar, computer. Also some piano and drums.

Is using different types of instruments important in your work?

Not really. I am mostly interested in sounds and don’t care so much where they came from in the first place. Most sounds I use become heavily processed through effects anyways. Sometimes I can’t even remember from what I originally made a particular sound in a piece.

According to you, what is contemporary sound art?

Music based on sounds rather than definite pitches, melody, harmony, or rhythm. Also conventional song structures don’t exist normally.

What is your perspective on piracy and creative commons?

Let’s face it: sound-art isn’t really the kind of musical style masses of Lady Gaga fans are illegally downloading from the net.
For the more commercial side of music piracy isn’t avoidable given the current situation with the internet and free online storage all over the place. Music industry has to adjust their way of selling music (as they are already doing). Creative commons should be encouraged I think, it’s a good thing.

Did the web changed your view on art, or your career?

Yes, since it is so much easier to get in touch with people, discover new music or other forms of art, or even work with someone hundreds of kilometers away.

Do you also work in commercial fields of sounds or music?

Yes, somehow I have to pay my bills, too!

How important is the reaction to your work by the audience?

Feedback (positive and negative) is always very welcome since it helps me taking a critical look at what I’m doing. It helps shaping ideas or giving a project a push in a good direction.

What is your next project about?

Composing a two-hour soundscape for a durational theater performance. And I’d love to do more work with film-makers, so contact me if you like :)