Ben Carey, Gränstillstånd ('Boundary States')
- Johno Wells
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
Released on Eternal Music Projects, March 7, 2025 I'm a fan; it's no secret. Ben Carey is a modular master, and as I dive deeper into Serge systems myself, what Ben does really speaks to my soul. Gränstillstånd ('Boundary States') is part of the Eternal Music Projects label and was recorded and composed during a 2023 residency at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm.
It's a 20minute track that really has it all. Feedback, beauty, challenging frequencies, polyrhythms, unforgettable textures, pings. Did I mention it has it all? Yes, I did.
Here's the catch - the work was made entirely with historical modular synthesizers housed at this one-of-a-kind studio for electronic music. Originally composed and mixed in 15.1 surround sound, the work has been downmixed to binaural for immersive headphone listening.
From the artist:
In my work with modular synthesizers, what continues to fascinate me is the unique process of human/non-human collaboration that lies at the heart of the practice. Each interaction involves questioning, listening and discovering latent musical materials within a dynamic dance of human and non-human agencies. In what Serge Tcherepnin has called the 'patch-programming' process, my work as a composer involves building Simondonian 'open machines' (Simondon [1958] 2017). Each patch may be seen as a bespoke instrument, composition, and a musical environment. From a Simondonian perspective, these patches function as technical ensembles that require the composer to work from within the flow of electricity: ‘for there to be a true technical ensemble man has to play a functional role between machines rather than above them’. (Simondon [1958] 2017: 150).
Gränstillstånd was composed from five performances that were recorded across a seven-day period, each composed in relative isolation from one another, in various studios at EMS. Whilst remaining sensitive to the unique historicity of each performance, these recordings were then composited into an overarching musical and spatial narrative, weaving together the strands of my explorations into a larger, organic form.
In composing this work, I've tried to find points of intersection between materials that evolve with quite different rates of change. Compositionally, a large part of my process was to try and understand how these time scales could coexist with each other, and be articulated across space and time. Weaving each performance together then required a sense of temporal and spatial perspective inaccessible during each performance alone.
In doing so, the 'boundary states' I discovered in each patch appeared as openings—sonic portals inviting new connections between emergent sound structures—pushing the work forward and enveloping the listener. By understanding the flow of time, and respecting the slow evolution of each recorded performance, I've tried to create a work that unfolds organically from one state to the next.
Originally composed in 15.1 surround, Gränstillstånd has been downmixed to binaural to simulate a surround-sound environment. Please use headphones for an optimal listening experience.
Instruments from Elektronmusikstudion (EMS):
8-panel Serge System - Studio 6
Large Buchla 200 system - Studio 4
Small Buchla 200 System - Studio 3
Buchla 100 Clone (The Human Comparator) - Studio 3
Simondon, G. [1958] 2017. On the Mode of Existence of Technical Objects, trans. C. Malaspina and J. Rogove. Minneapolis, MN: Univocal Publishing.
Composed and mixed by Ben Carey at EMS (Stockholm, Sweden) and Sydney/Eora (Australia).
Mastered by Murat Colak (NYC, USA)
Artwork by Nicholas Astill
Ben would like to thank:
Eternal Music Projects, Gabrielle Karlsén-Beretta, Mats Erlandsson, Julia Giertz, Henrik Jonsson, Leslee Smucker, Reilly Smethurst, Palle Dahlstedt, Nicholas Astill, Alexis Weaver and Murat Colak.
Ben Carey, Gränstillstånd ('Boundary States'), written by Johno Wells, 4-28-25
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