“Simplexity” is a series of short and apparently “simple” solo pieces. The idea is to work spontaneously, without much preparation before hand and to perform and record them live in the studio. Despite of keeping the process spontaneous and simple, the pieces might turn out to be more complex than they first appear.
The term “Simplexity” describes the idea that something can be simple and complex at the same time and that both, complexity and simplicity, are needed for a system in order to improve and work out. The term has been used in the context of natural science, systems- and graphics design (e.g. by John Maeda) but Peter Wipperman, a Professor for Communications Design at Folkwang University in Essen (Germany) proposed a social definition: “Simplexity [therefore] stands for a balance between the growing complexity of daily life and our own personal satisfaction. In order to attain this state, we have to stop always striving to make optimal decisions. In the future, it will be more important to make judgments that are just good enough.”
However, the material for the series of pieces was emerging in an improvised way, but the idea of “Simplexity” is really appealing in compositional terms. I have been working on these pieces in 2014 and 2015, recording about 15 short pieces and this is a selection. I was trying to work spontaneously, without much preparation, in a Plug-and-Play fashion. Everything has been recorded live to multitrack on my laptop, no overdubs have been made, although the tracks are edited and of course mixed in my DAW.
All sounds are either directly played and recorded with the bass guitar (and some effects), triggered by the audio input and/or additionally layered by my Max/Msp live patch.