Improv@halas.am Track

Experimental IsraelYiftah Kadan Things Other People SayAmongst ourselves (that is, Daniel Meir​ and I) we’ve agreed that the Halas studio is magic! Not in the Disney/fairytale kind of way – it literally is magic. Things sound better there, good things happen there… pretty exclusively. Well, the studio is currently undergoing cosmetic surgery, which posed a problem as to where Yiftah Kadan would record his set. Coming to the studio on the Sabbath was lovely – all was quiet in Holon. Kadan commented on the children literally playing with sticks and stones, saying it was like ‘the old days’. And it really did feel that way – things moved slowly (or was it the hummus we had just had for lunch). We toured the building for a suitable recording spot, but as soon as Kadan saw our stripped down studio, he said: “here”. Fitted with what will soon become its control room, the Halas studio had a window opening into yet another empty concrete space – two echoing chambers creating quite a harsh room tone. Kadan’s intuition to mic the ‘control room’ chamber proved itself brilliantly, and we eventually found ourselves creating the natural reverb that distinguishes this recording. Magic.Like Ram Gabay just a few days before him, Yiftah Kadan deliberated regarding being interview. And like Ram Gabay he too decided against it. After having heard Gabay’s set last Tuesday, I must admit to have been a bit apprehensive for our following guest. I mean it’s a hard act to follow a one-hour+ site-specific musical saga. But in the same manner that Gabay’s set was very much a dooming Tuesday, Kadan’s was a glorious Saturday. I haven’t heard Kadan play many times before, hence was not sure what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect this! As if painting the mood we were already in, he embarked on what I referred to as a noon raga. Sitting behind a plastic sheet shielding our studio equipment, I could only half guess what it was Kadan was doing to make his setup sound the way it did. But I soon succumbed and completely let myself go into his journey, which I felt was a journey I could have wanted to describe as well. Any person who’s experienced this feeling of having someone speak your words with their voice, knows that these are moments of true exhilaration. Such moments strengthen my conviction most – that despite all words said, spontaneous music was and still is the epicentre of this research. And what are these moments if not? Magic.