Splinter Orchestra

Buy the album at www.splitrec.com

The Splinter Orchestra are one of the few large-scale improvisational ensembles working in Australia, or anywhere else for that matter.
Formed in 2003, the group has comprised of up to 50 members. Made up of individuals from the improvised music scene, electronic musicians, sound artists and those who are involved in environmental sound and field recording, the Splinter Orchestra create a stark minimalism despite their large number – without any leaders or conductors.
The group aims for graceful tension, restraint and simplicity. They are intent on becoming one instrument…

Past and present members of the orchestra: Jim Denley, Dale Gorfinkel, Peter Farrar, Karen Booth, Lloyd Honeybrook, Ian Peterise, Matt Ottignon, Inge Olmheim, Shannon ONeill, Luke Callaghan, Emily Morandini, Ben Byrne, Alex Davies, Daniel Whiting, Joe Derrick, Simon Ferenci, Clayton Thomas, Mike Majkowski, Abel Cross, Milica Stefanovic, Michael Sheridan, Matt Earle, Adam Sussmann, Paul Taylor, Martin Ng, Peter Blamey, Robbie Avenaim, Alex Masso, Jon Rose, Hollis Taylor, Chris Abrahams, Monica Brooks, Amanda Stewart, Clare Cooper, Ben Gerard, Chris Burke, Gail Priest, Reuben Derrick, Rod Cooper, April Fonti, Sam Dobson, Gerard Crewdson, Cass McGlynn and more

“The Splinter Orchestra’s music is like quicksand: it can suck you in, just as each of the 27 musicians relinquished his or her sense of self within this monumental improvising ensemble. Listening to it is like looking down on a jungle from above, with infinite layers of foilage making for an image without surface. Behind every sound lurks another sound, and then another. The result is eerie and weirdly beautiful; more diaphanous then dense, which is a tribute to both the subtlety of the interaction and the sophistication of the recording. Remarkable.”
John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald Jan 12 2008.

“This is their first recording and it demonstrates an increasingly conceptual approach to their compositions, possibly a survival mechanism to prevent everything from descending into chaos, yet intriguingly enough that never seems to have been one of the dangers, even early on. Perhaps this is because the group includes some of the best instrumentalists that Sydney has to offer, people like Chris Abrahams, Clayton Thomas, Claire Cooper, Jim Denley, and Shannon O’Neil. Here the group offer some rule based performances, split up into sections, and whilst still playing in a free manner they are somewhat restricted in what they can do. What’s always been exciting about the Splinter Orchestra is the broad range of their sounds, everything from laptop musicians to accordion players, woodwind, sax, vibraphone and anything else you can think of, extended technique, the kitchen sink, even, gasp, the electric guitar. This means that even in those moments of restrained scratchy tranquillity, you know that hiding behind it is a mountain of controlled mayhem. Yet they never unleash. It seems to be about multilayering, about creating new textures, multifaceted drones, made up of groups of instruments, of peaks of density and subtle troughs, about unlikely associations and being able to draw upon the kitchen sink if need be. It’s a remarkable example of control, and whilst you could imagine it would be a nightmare to record, it feels like you can hear, even feel, every squeak and scrape.”
Bob Baker Fish - Cyclic Defrost.

In terms of big bands, The Splinter Orchestra can easily match up, size wise, with Mimeo, actually they have twenty-five players, instead of twenty-four, but in the past it even went up to fifty-five players. Among them we note names as Robbie Avenaim, Ben Byrne and Split Record labelboss Jim Denley. About every instrument is played here. Late last year the pieces on this CD were recorded as a ’set of improvisations and procedural compositions’. They like small sounds, with a natural flow for each of them to explore the specific sonic quality of each instrument. As you can understand it’s not easy to keep things under control, but The Splinter Orchestra succeeds very well in keeping control. It’s not that they play a deliberate soft card here, it’s au contraire, a very detailed recording with lots of sounds happening on all level. Large scale scrapings on a microscopic level, plinks and plonks all around, even crackle of electrical charges like in a good laptop improvisation are there. Occasionally things go ‘wild’ here, but that’s only on very few moments, and even at that they don’t reach for noise or deliberate loudness. It’s more controlled hecticness than about loudness. One that requires loads of attention before it truly unfolds it’s power. It would be great to see them all play together and learn how the interaction works here. (FdW) - Vital Weekly

Click here to check out an article on Australia Adlib

Hear some Splinter music Here