
The name says it all.
Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel is a
character study of two instruments that have about as much in common
with each other as "Star Trek" has with "Green Acres."
Yet both
instruments have traditionally been used to add background color and
texture to their respective musical locales. The electronic theremin
captures the eerie, sci-fi sounds of outer space, while the lap steel
produces the wavering whir heard everywhere from Hawaiian luaus to
front-porch jamborees in the wilds of Appalachia.
For Scott
Burland (theremin) and Frank Schultz (lap steel) the instruments
themselves are the stars of the show. Burland and Schultz push to draw
out the pure, natural sounds of their respective instruments, using
increasingly fewer effects on the music.
During performances,
both men carry the sober and studious faces of scientists examining
swirling test tubes in which strange chemical compounds emerge.
Burland
waves his hands in slow motion, as if he's conjuring the supernatural
whine of the theremin from the ether. Schultz stares deeply into the
strings of his lap steel guitar. The chemistry they share takes shape
in an improvised back-and-forth, where waves of ambiance and dreamy
drones weave into one another to form a spectral web of sound.
The music is experimental by design, but easy on the ears, never demanding too much of its listeners.
"They're
both instruments with no fixed pitch." Burland adds. "It's all kind of
loose, but there's a lot going on. I definitely think of it as
nighttime music."
