Shackle is Anne La Berge on flute & electronics and Robert van Heumen on laptop-instrument.
Their aim is to explicitly and subtly exploit shackling in both concept and material.
This extraordinarily inventive duo has a way of making music all their own. At the heart of
their duo is a self-designed, cutting-edge digital cueing system which operates as a sometimes
visible third member. Both prodding and reactive, the Shackle system suggests musical
directions and textures to these two highly gifted performers, opening up a fascinating
array of sonic choices for La Berge and van Heumen to play with and against.
Improvisation and structure coincide effortlessly in Shackle’s music. Working with a computerized
communication system that proposes various compositional elements to each
player, they can then choose whether or not to cooperate with the proposed material.
Proposals involve aspects of restriction, either in sound material, timing, dynamics or other
musical parameters.
Shackle’s performances explode the line between improvisation without borders and tightly
controlled forms that are both playful and daring. With uncanny transitions that turn on a
dime and long, spun-out tapestries of sound, Shackle’s music works on two levels at once:
full of delightful discoveries that can happen in the blink of an eye, La Berge and van Heumen
savor the possibilities that those discoveries offer up.
Shackle is online at shackle.eu.
