Bretschneider’s aim was to combine an almost forgotten technology with the sound and production methods of today. After two weeks of exploring the instrument and excited by the beautiful and extremely powerful sound, he decided to use mainly the extraordinarily narrow-band “Mel”-filter and the built in “Rhythmisierungseinrichtung” (rhythmization installation). For additional modulation, Bretschneider used a Clavia Micro Modular, generating alternating sinewaves on the ring modulator input of the instrument.

The first performance took place in June 2007 in Berlin, Germany, as part of the TESLA-Werkstatt Klangapparate project, followed by a second performance in November the same year at Wien Modern festival in Vienna, Austria. Eventually in 2011, on the occasion of SoundExchange, a series of concerts initiated to discover the experimental scene in Eastern Europe during cold war times, Bretschneider was asked to re-visit the Subharchord project once again. Slightly editing the original live recording and adding new overdubs from sounds that remained from the 2007 recording sessions, Bretschneider has created a compelling and flowing 37 minute version for this release.

Art director and installation artist Florence To originally developed her work in underground and disused spaces using its defects as an advantage. During the early stages of To's work she became aware that the presence of individuals would become part of the space which guided her process to research further into psychological and emotional triggers within vibrations. To’s intention is to explore the effects of experience within architectural and disperate environments through researching the creation of the physical presence within vibrations, and how different sensory arrangements can create an emotional and psychological impact. The Scottish born Artist has collaborated and also commissioned by institutes such as 4DSOUND in Budapest and The Society of Arts and Technology in Montreal. In 2017 she was awarded a Creative Research Artist Fellowship in collaboration with composer Alex Menzies to explore the activity and research interests of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience in Edinburgh. http://florence-to.com

Frank Bretschneider is a composer and video artist in Berlin. His work is known for precise sound placement, complex, interwoven rhythm structures and its minimal, flowing approach. Bretschneider’s subtle and detailed sound is echoed by his visuals: perfect translated realizations of these qualities within visual phenomena. Bretschneider (1956) was raised in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz since 1990), where his aesthetic developed as he listened to pirate radio and smuggled Beastie Boys tapes in the former East Germany. After studying fine arts and inspired by science fiction radio plays and films he began experimenting with tape machines, synthesizers, and modified guitars in 1984, as well as exploring the possibilities of exchange between visual art and music by various means such as film, video and computer graphics. In 1995, Bretschneider and fellow AG Geige member Olaf Bender founded Rastermusic which eventually merged with Carsten Nicolai’s noton to form raster-noton in 1999. http://www.frankbretschneider.de