PHONOS EK MECHANES

The ensemble was founded in 2007 by three Wrocław composers and performers of electroacoustic music: Cezary Duchnowski, Paweł Hendrich, and Sławomir Kupczak.

The name PHONOS EK MECHANES derives from Greek and means "sound from a machine." Generally speaking, it reflects how the ensemble creates its music. Its members play mostly typical instruments such as the piano, electric guitar, and electric violin. The instruments are often prepared and microtonally tuned. Their sounds, however, are not directly heard by the listeners. Instead, they are connected to computers that perform a live transformation of the sound signal. Thus, the instrument becomes a controller, and the computer an instrument or "machine" that generates sounds. Consequently, the listener perceives a very different sound effect, unlike the original instrumental sounds.

PHONOS EK MECHANES play music that can be termed "human electronics." Despite its technological sophistication, the key role still lies with the human individual, his gestures, expression, and specific way of playing an instrument. Man, and not machine, remains the main creator, controlling the development of musical events. All devices are subordinated to the performer. However, thanks to computer so ware, the musicians' playing acquires new shapes.

During the Warsaw Autumn concert, the group will be joined by Paweł Romańczuk, playing and managing his own sound constructions. The ensemble will play a newly composed work, Relatively Isolated Systems.