''Forms of Paper'' is an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

musical work by

Steve Roden Steve Roden is an American sound and visual artist, who pioneered the lowercase style of music; where quiet, usually unheard, sounds are amplified to form complex and rich soundscapes. His discography includes '' Forms of Paper'', which was com ...

created solely from heavily distorted sounds of paper being handled. It is a prominent album in the

lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...

genre of music.

Development

''Forms of Paper'' was recorded and composed using a computer; a first for Steve Roden. The audio was recorded using regular and

contact microphone A contact microphone, also known as a piezo microphone, is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air microphones, contact microphones are almost completely insensitive to air vibrat ...

s to record the sounds of rubbing, scraping and otherwise manipulating paper. The recorded sounds were then edited with changes to the equalization and heavy use of repetition. The work was originally commissioned by the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

branch of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

for the exhibition "Six Degrees - Art in the Libraries". A ten-minute version of the track was played softly and continuously for a month from eight speakers atop a pedestal covered with the modified pages from a discarded science book. The CD version was expanded and reworked to be nearly an hour long. Only 500 CDs were made of this version and released.

Remaster

Despite praise for the album, Roden was initially displeased with the CD release, feeling that the mastering done by

Taylor Deupree Taylor Deupree (born April 30, 1971), is an American electronic musician, photographer, graphic designer and mastering engineer. He is most known for the founding of the 12k, 12k record label, along with his work as a member of Prototype 909, and ...

was too high volume. A remaster was made by

Bernhard Günter Bernhard Günter (born 1957 in Neuwied, Germany) is a German post-Cageian composer associated with microsound and lowercase movements or styles of minimalist composition. He is influenced by Morton Feldman. A former rock and jazz drummer, Günter ...

later that year which better matched Roden's expectations. Although originally just intended for Roden's personal use, Roden allowed Line to release Günter's remaster for the 10 year anniversary of the original release.

Packaging

The re-release was accompanied by an essay ''On lowercase Affinities and Forms of Paper'', serving as liner notes. The remastered version uses a different cover than the original release. The new cover uses a photograph of paper ostensibly from the original L.A. Public Library exhibition. A larger version of the same photograph in the liner notes shows the page is titled ''Melting Point Index of Organic Compounds (Continued)''.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2001 albums Steve Roden albums Minimalistic compositions Experimental music albums by American artists