The forty-string body of an e-zither defines a musical field that influences the positions and behaviour of the entire ensemble. Within a staked terrain, the instrumental apparatus reacts to the sound specifications of the plucked instrument and follows the oft-unpredictable course. Sometimes the strings of the zither function figuratively like the permeable texture of a fence, letting in material from the outside through its perforation. Thus, a “gate” is also used literally as a live-electronic effect: a musical pulse opens the space for a certain time for concrete and prefabricated material that otherwise stands silent on the sidelines.

Leopold Hurt