Take over 200 musicians from more than 25 different countries around the world, all recorded over a period of 5 years. Imagine that the musicians have never met each other or recorded together but converge in compositions of unique fusions, crossing cultures and styles. This is what Addictive TV (Graham Daniels and Mark Vidler aka mash-up guru Go Home Productions) have created with their Orchestra of Samples venture and their debut album, released this spring. As Addictive TV, Daniels and Vidler have been at the forefront of audio and video mash-ups and AV shows for nearly two decades, and whilst successfully touring the world in recent years, Orchestra of Samples became a vital part of their travels. “Orchestra of Samples is an exploration of serendipity,” explains Daniels. “Taking extra equipment to nearly every show on our Addictive TV gigs, we recorded and filmed hundreds of musicians from Brazil to Senegal, China to Kazakhstan, across Europe and even in Egypt during the Arab Spring. From these, we cut up thousands of samples to create new music, recontextualising musicians as if they were playing together. The musicians all improvised and the samples dictated the direction in the studio.” Within the recordings, Daniels and Vidler have documented some unusual and localised instruments. On Eastern Baschet, the central instrument is a Cristal Baschet which involves playing glass rods with wet fingers; Hangman features the hang, a UFO-shaped metal drum and Herbal Haze features re-wired childrens’ toys. The project has also attracted some of the top musicians in their chosen fields including sitar maestro Baluji Shrivastav OBE (awarded this year) and Grammy-nominated Brazilian guitarist Mazinho Quevedo as well as guest vocalists including L?titia Sadier from Stereolab and French rap duo Milk Coffee and Sugar. All formats include travelogue about the project, photos and track by track info
