Canadian Musician - March/April 2017 | Page 29

PHOTOS : KAMIL KUSTOSZ

WOODWINDS

Preternatural is the fourth studio album that multi-instrumentalists Hannah Miller & Oliver Austin have made together as Moulettes , available in Canada via Pipe & Hat . Unusual instrumentation , detailed arrangements , and sharp songcraft characterize their distinctive brand of eclectic art rock . Moulettes will return in Fall 2017 for a theatre tour . For more information , visit www . moulettes . co . uk .

The Bassoon Beyond the Orchestra

An Interview with Hannah Miller & Oliver Austin of Moulettes
CM : Give me some insight into some of the gear you use in tandem with the bassoon when recording and performing ?
OA : I would say we have all developed a pedal addiction . It ’ s an expensive habit , but rewarding . We all had a yearning for a contra-bassoon – I mean , you just can ’ t argue with that sound . It ’ s such a primordial shakedown , but those things are costly . Luckily , bassoon sounds great through octave generators with some distortion . Also , you can get epic orchestral swathes using a nice shimmer reverb and delays .
We all have quite a bit of control from our pedal boards , but we always work with a sound tech so they are doing magical things from front of house . There ’ s always a healthy dose of experimentation and happy accidents when you ’ re finding sounds you like with effects pedals , but it ’ s always good to keep in mind which frequencies you are occupying to avoid roulette soup-cake , as it is affectionately known .
CM : Even in orchestral settings , the bassoon is relatively uncommon . Tell me about your introduction to the instrument and , more specifically , when you started incorporating it into original compositions .
HM : The bassoon , which I like to call “ the tiger badger ” due to the beautiful patina and grain of the wood , used to belong to Ruth [ Skipper , former member ]’ s mom , Sheila , who is a music teacher , multi-instrumentalist , and aquirer of stray instruments . When Ruth , her brother Rob , and I started the band that would become Moulettes at school , we liked the character of the bassoon . It can be punchy or lyrical and it has a surreal , even slightly comical side to it , which helps tell stories in songs . It felt natural to start incorporating it into the songs we were playing . At that time , the band had quite a few raw edges ; when Ollie joined us , we started refining our orchestration and soon started work on the first record , which features quite a few walls of cello and some great tracked-up bassoon passages .
CM : Being that you ’ re all multi-instrumentalists , tell me a bit about your mindset when writing songs , and what informs which instrument you ’ ll opt for on a given part . Is it a lot of trial and error , or are there certain melodies that lend themselves best to bassoon ?
HM : Quite often , the textures and types of sounds that fit the song suggest themselves intuitively and usually early on in the writing process . The mood finds you and , like a painter , you have a feel for which colours you want . Each instrument also has its obvious sweet spots where it really sings , in a specific register or key . I love the higher register of bassoon for lyrical passages but its real power lies in the bass register – its low , reedy rudeness .
For Preternatural , we set out to blend the electric guitar , electric five-string cello , and bassoon and have that as the meat of the sound , along with Moog bass and electric bass , playing big unison riffs , so all the sounds overlap in to a new mutant beast sometimes spanning five octaves .
When I sit down to write , I like to gather all the instruments I can find around me . If you get stuck in a rut , sometimes playing around with a variety of instruments – even if you can ' t play them very well – opens different windows and takes you on fresh routes .
CM : Speaking to the sessions for Preternatural , are there any things you tried with the bassoon – effects , playing styles , recording techniques , etc . – that were new to you and resulted in particularly special musical moments ?
OA : I think the freeform jazz bassoon afternoon was a highlight ! Some of that makes an appearance on “ Patterns .” It was great fun experimenting with the whammy pedal , which also generates harmonies and shifts octaves .
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