"Wave Field" ends a period in which i was interested in writing music with notes. It became evident that i wanted to work with sound, with modulations and fluctuations impossible to notate. This was a major shift to a different way of thinking, as i found notes to be conceptual abstractions, which are to be later served by sounds.

Around that time (1993) i got to see Nirvana in Lisbon and the supporting band was the Buzzcocks. The venue's acoustics were so bad that all i could hear was an amorphous roar. While my attention drifted from this otherwise boring set, i began listening to that unarticulated stream of electric sound and found it extremely interesting and inspiring, a kind of liquid, abstract flux of rock sound. The room's resonance was literally liquefying this rock sound, in a way that plugged directly into my fascination for Alvin Lucier's piece "I am Sitting in a Room", turning it into a kind of Rosetta stone, resonance being the common key. It made me wonder, "what if that piece just went on and on, and how would that sound like through a guitar?". I wanted to consolidate these new ideas on distillation of rock and bring them down in a form of ambient music. Nirvana were great and actually sounded good, but when i got out, chatting with friends about the concert, i was already dreaming of "Wave Field".

While i was listening to the final mixes, i was amazed to discover "Wave Field" became a totally different thing if played at different levels. I was aware it could be ambient (played softly), but when i tried playing it really loud, i discovered a dense, powerfully charged stream of electricity. It's definitely not ambient, but something intensely hypnotizing. One can physically feel the wave.

Recently i heard the "Wave Field" CD and realized it could actually sound deeper and more spacious. This version is the result of a thorough remastering work, and it now sounds quite closer to what i was hearing in my head back in 1993.

Rafael Toral, Regada 2017

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"Wave Field" é o nome de uma peça com uma série de versões numeradas e irrepetíveis. Em Wave Field são explorados vários tipos de ressonâncias, loops e feedbacks, sempre produzidos a partir de uma guitarra eléctrica, usando também electrónica em tempo real e fita magnética. Altifalantes são colocados em redor do público.

O interesse pela ressonância(1) deriva da minha admiração pelo trabalho de Alvin Lucier, a quem Wave Field é dedicado. Embora Alvin Lucier seja conhecido pelo seu trabalho com ressonância acústica, em "Wave Field" esta é produzida por circuitos electrónicos.

"Wave Field" situa-se numa zona longínqua do território da música ambiental, no limiar da fronteira com uma área pantanosa onde se diluem vibrações essenciais e abstractas do rock, sob nuvens carregadas de ruído e povoadas por ecos de irradiação eléctrica.


(1) O aumento de volume de frequências específicas sob certas condições.

(texto original)
Rafael Toral, Lisboa, JAN 1995