From Scratch (music Group)
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From Scratch are a
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
experimental music / performance group, best known for their large sculptural invented instruments (primarily percussion), original music and hocket-style rhythmic innovation. They have performed since 1974 with an ever-changing lineup, though principally led by Philip Dadson.


History


1970s

From Scratch was formed in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, in 1974 by Philip Dadson, along with other founding members Bruce Barber, Gray Nichol and Geoff Chapple.Clifford, Andrew, "Five Rhythm Works", CD liner notes, EM Records, 2016 The group emerged from the NZ Scratch Orchestra (formed in 1970, also by Dadson, as an offshoot of
Cornelius Cardew Cornelius Cardew (7 May 193613 December 1981) was an English experimental music composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected experimental mu ...
's original
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
-based
Scratch Orchestra The Scratch Orchestra was an experimental musical ensemble founded in the spring of 1969 by Cornelius Cardew, Michael Parsons and Howard Skempton. In the draft constitution published in the ''Musical Times'' of June 1969, Cardew defines a scra ...
). The new From Scratch group sought to explore a more structured and rhythm-based approach than was possible with the Scratch Orchestra, whose large-scale, largely improvised performances had "often degenerated into therapeutic free-for-alls".Shieff, Sarah and Curnow, Wystan, "From Scratch: 273 Moons, A History, the Music and an Interview", ''New Zealand Magazine'', Auckland, New Zealand, Spring 1995 From Scratch's first performance was part of the
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
Sonic Circus (1974), a mini-festival of new music, sound and art organised by
Jack Body John Stanley Body (7 October 1944 – 10 May 2015) was a New Zealand composer, ethnomusicologist, photographer, teacher, and arts producer. As a composer, his work comprised concert music, music theatre, electronic music, music for film and d ...
. They performed from a series of works titled "VOM" (Variable Occasion Music"), a manifesto providing "a flexible framework for rhythm, procedure and instrumentation, the variables for which are suggested by influences from the context or occasion in which the music is to be played". The VOM works laid the groundwork for subsequent 1970s From Scratch rhythm-based compositions, including "Out-In" (1976), "Drumwheel" (1977) and "Triad #1" (1978), which was scored for two pianos, one played via a long rosined line attached to its interior.Clifford, Andrew and Dadson, Philip, "Triad #1 – Drum/Sing – Fax to Paris", CD liner notes, EM Records, 2018 This produced harmonically rich continuous drone textures, which were also to become a feature of From Scratch performances. By 1978 the group had also begun to perform using initial versions of the racks of long, horizontally mounted end-struck plastic pipes which would become their trademark instrument. Multiple sets of these "plosive
aerophone An aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes (which are respectively chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instrume ...
s" were typically used, struck with rubber paddles. They were inspired partly by seeing a
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
group performing with bamboo tube instruments at the 1976 South Pacific Festival of the Arts in
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
. The From Scratch versions were constructed from PVC drain pipe, beginning the group's association with sculptural instruments invented from industrial materials. Towards the end of the 1970s the group had begun to perform internationally, presenting works at the Third Biennale of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
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in 1979.


1980–1986

By the beginning of the 1980s Bruce Barber and Gray Nichol had left the group, to be replaced by
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
and Wayne Laird. This incarnation of From Scratch developed and performed some of the group's most iconic works, all featuring the PVC pipe instruments, but supplemented with racks of other instruments to form one-person "percussion stations" with a range of sound sources. These included rototom drums, metal chimes, tuned-tongue bamboos and aluminium gongs.


Gung Ho 1,2,3D

Their first major work of this period was "Gung Ho 1,2,3D" (1980), named after the slogan of the workers' co-operative movement established in China by New Zealander Rewi Alley (who was the subject of a book by From Scratch member Geoff Chapple). This slogan, meaning "work together", summarised From Scratch's commitment to
egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...
principles in music-making, expressed in an equal sharing of musical roles. Musically the piece explores a series of seven slowly evolving three-part
polyrhythm Polyrhythm () is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rh ...
s, the first combining time signatures of length 3, 4, 5, the second 4, 5, 6, and so on up to 9, 10, 11 (with the fourth player taking on a drone role).Dadson, "8,9,10 and 9,10,11 from Gung Ho 1,2,3D", CD liner notes, EM Records, 2017 This kind of polyrhythmic exploration had also featured in earlier works such as "Out In" and "Drumwheel", and would continue to be present in most later works by the group. From Scratch previewed excerpts from "Gung Ho 1,2,3D" at the South Pacific Festival of the Arts in
Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...
,
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
in June 1980. According to Dadson, "It was just the most magical context to be in, because there were like fifty groups from all the outlying provinces of PNG that came into Port Moresby for the festival... we cart out our PVC pipes, do a quick setup, flail into something out of Gung Ho. And this is in the absolute heat of the noonday sun, broad brimmed hats on. It was so hot that all the pipes changed pitch, while the drums went flaccid. It went down okay with the locals. They just thought we were hilarious". The visual interest of their performances began to attract the attention of film-makers, and "Gung Ho 1,2,3D" was filmed for New Zealand television in 1981. The entire work was also later pressed for a Flying Nun LP in 1988, but this was never released because the covers were damaged during production.


Pacific 3,2,1,Zero (Part 1)

In October 1982 From Scratch made its first trip to the Northern hemisphere, to perform "Gung Ho 1,2,3D" at the twelfth
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
Biennale In the art world, a biennale ( , ; ), is a large-scale international contemporary art exhibition. The term was popularised by the Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895, but the concept of such a large scale, and intentionally internationa ...
. Here they also took the opportunity to present a new work, "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero", written as a protest against French nuclear weapons testing and waste dumping in the Pacific. Names of Pacific islands contaminated by nuclear tests are sung and shouted during the piece, which ends with an urgent polyrhythmic PVC pipe section, followed by the solemn tolling of aluminium bell-poles. The group also performed "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero" outdoors in the
Pompidou Centre The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
plaza to bring their music and message to a wider audience. A large crowd gathered, unexpectedly prompting a French
fire-eater Fire eating is the act of putting a flaming object into the mouth and extinguishing it. A fire eater can be an entertainer, a street performance, street performer, part of a sideshow or a circus act but has also been part of spiritual traditi ...
, on whose turf the group had unwittingly trespassed, to wade in amongst the performers and threaten to incinerate them, together with their PVC pipes. On completing the piece they were able to negotiate a truce and alternated their act with that of the fire-eater from then on.From Scratch, "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero / Eye-Drum", CD liner notes, Kiwi Pacific Music, 1994 From Scratch later collaborated with film-maker Gregor Nicholas on a short film of "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero", which won the Grand Prix and first prize in its category at the 1994 Cannes/Midem Visual Music Awards.


Pacific 3,2,1,Zero (Part 2)

Returning to New Zealand after the 1982 French tour, Dadson began work on a follow-up piece to "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero", less of a protest and more an expression of hope, "dedicated to the emerging force of solidarity among the peoples of the Pacific". The piece is scored for an expanded twelve-person ensemble (six men and six women) including percussion, male and female vocals, saxophones and trombones. It was intended to follow directly after Part 1. The first performance of the complete work was not until 1986, at Auckland Girls' Grammar school, Shed 11 in Wellington and the sixth Sydney Biennale.


Drum/Sing

"Drum/Sing" (1984) was conceived as a collaboration between From Scratch (now a trio after the departure of Geoff Chapple) and film-maker Gregor Nicholas. The resulting 22-minute film screened on
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
television in 1985 and was also presented as a short film before screenings of a popular locally made feature film, The Quiet Earth, in New Zealand cinemas – "much to the surprise of audiences who had not expected an art-music film to precede their entertainment". However, the film went on to win a Blue Ribbon Award in the Film as Art category at the New York Film Festival, as well as Best Short Film at the New Zealand GOFTA Awards. "Drum/Sing" was the first From Scratch piece to explore the use of sung vocals in combination with the percussion stations. It is structured in linked modules, and for live performances was extended with an extra vocal section. The piece uses
hocket In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds whi ...
ing to share rhythmic / melodic lines between the performers, a technique which would be further developed in later From Scratch compositions.


1988–1994

Between 1986 and 1988 From Scratch went into temporary recess, following the departure of both
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
and Wayne Laird. Walter Muller joined in 1988, and he and Dadson performed a piece called "Rhythmwheel" as a duo at the World Drum Festival in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. At the 1989 inaugural Sound/Watch Festival in Auckland, they performed "Songs for Unsung Heroes", an early version of "Songs for Heroes". The following year From Scratch regrouped with new members Neville Hall (a saxophonist) and James McCarthy (a student of Dadson's at the University of Auckland
Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the University of Auckland Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries, Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. It offered the first Bachelor of ...
). New instrumentation was developed, including parade bass drums with short racks of small-diameter PVC pipes attached, "Tone-trees" (tree-like assemblages of percussion sound sources), and "Zitherums", long string instruments with polystyrene resonators, played percussively with sticks or slides, or bowed as drones.


Carhorn Hocket

"Carhorn Hocket" involves multiple car-horns (with cars still attached), and features door-slamming and engine revving, as well as horns. "Carhorn Hocket" was first performed with four cars on 6 February 1991 as part of a double-album launch party at Artspace in Auckland, celebrating the release of the From Scratch album "Songs for Heroes" and the Gitbox Rebellion album "Pesky Digits". Expanded to eight cars, it was performed as "Carhorn Hocket 2" in 1994 in Civic Square, Wellington as part of ExtravaCANZa, which was the 20th birthday of the Composers Association of NZ – on this occasion, performers included Gary Wilby, Mark Langford, Harry van Enckevort and Judith Exley. It was performed again (in the Auckland University quad and the Titirangi War Memorial Hall carpark) for the 273 Moons concerts in 1995 and in Jakarta in 1997 for the International Percussion Festival. It was later revived for the 2018 survey exhibition "555 Moons".


Songs for Heroes

One of the first works performed by the revitalised group was "Songs for Heroes" (1990), a tribute to "spiritual sages of all times and ages". Besides the newly developed instruments, soprano saxophone and pianohorns, the piece also makes use of vocal harmonics in its closing drone section.


Fax To Paris

"Fax To Paris" (1990) was a short piece protesting continued French nuclear testing in the Pacific, featuring shouted vocals, hand-clapping and tone-trees. Like "Songs for Heroes", it uses hocketed vocals using the syllables "ha" and "hey" which would become part of the group's trademark sound.


Eye/Drum

The 1992 piece "Eye/Drum" marked a departure from previous From Scratch works, being their first large-scale piece not to feature the classic large end-struck PVC-pipe instruments. These had been replaced by "Eye-drum" stations, made from shorter lengths of PVC pipe with hard plastic membranes at the playing end and playable with
mallets A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. General overview The term is descriptive of the ...
. Other new instruments included hand-held found objects such as "Fingerpots" (small gourds played with hard thimbles attached to the fingers, featured also in the piece "Fingerpot Rag") and "Song-stones" (pairs of selected resonant stones).


The From Scratch Rhythm Workbook

In 1990 Philip Dadson and
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
published "The From Scratch Rhythm Workbook", a book containing a set of rhythm games and exercises distilled from the group's rhythmic experiments. It also included ideas for composition strategies, instrument building and documentation of the VOM manifesto. The book formed the basis for From Scratch rhythm workshops usually taught by Dadson. A second edition was published in 1995.


1995–2002

In the mid-1990s Walter Muller and Neville Hall left the group and were replaced by Shane Currey. For a short time From Scratch performed as a trio ( Dadson, McCarthy and Currey) and performed in Japan and Thailand in 1995.


273 Moons

Also in 1995, From Scratch marked its 21st birthday with a celebratory concert series called "273 Moons", held in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
at the Maidment Theatre and the Titirangi War Memorial Hall. The concerts featured a range of recent and past works, including one of the early VOM pieces from the 1970s, as well as works for larger ensembles of mixed vocals and brass instruments, and "Carhorn Hocket".


Global Hockets

The year 1996 saw further lineup changes, with James McCarthy being replaced by new members Darryn Harkness and Adrian Croucher. Dadson began to compose a new large-scale piece based largely around
hocket In music, hocket is the rhythmic linear technique using the alternation of notes, pitches, or chords. In medieval practice of hocket, a single melody is shared between two (or occasionally more) voices such that alternately one voice sounds whi ...
ing. An initial version of the piece, titled "Homage to the God of Hockets", was performed in 1997 at
WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...
in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and in Indonesia (
Denpasar Denpasar (; Balinese script, Balinese: ᬤᬾᬦ᭄ᬧᬲᬃ, ''Dénpasar'') is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. Denpasar is the largest city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second largest city in Eastern Indonesia after ...
,
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
and the
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
Percussion Festival). New instrumentation for the piece included reconfigured bass-drum percussion stations and the "Nunn-drum", a tribute to US instrument inventor Thomas Nunn. This consists of a bass drum shell with plywood heads and protruding threaded rods. In its fully developed form the piece was a collaboration between From Scratch and German-based computer graphics artists "Supreme Particles". Titled "Global Hockets" partly to reflect this international collaboration, the multi-media work featured projected graphics which reacted in real time to the sound. Also, for the first time, From Scratch incorporated electronic sounds into their repertoire, with samples activated by
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
triggers on some of the percussion instruments. "Global Hockets" included islands of improvised material in amongst tightly structured sections. From Scratch premiered "Global Hockets" at the
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
Arts Festival in early 1998, before touring the show in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
throughout the remainder of the year.


Pacific Plate

After the "Global Hockets" European tour, Darryn Harkness left From Scratch and the group continued as a trio, developing a new piece called "Pacific Plate". Referencing volcanic and
tectonic Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...
themes, it was described as "a tribute to the generally dormant, largely silent, seldom seen, and often forgotten forces, that have shaped the face of the planet over millennia". The work again incorporated improvised sections bridging structured modules, and introduced more new instruments, including the "Water cooler drum kit", "Rod-Baschet" (named in tribute to the
Baschet Brothers The Baschet Brothers were two French artists named François Baschet (born 30 March 1920, in Paris; died 11 February 2014) and Bernard Baschet (born 24 August 1917, Paris; died 17 July 2015) who collaborated on creating sound sculptures and inve ...
, with stroked glass rods activating a stainless steel resonator disc), Foley trays and "Gloop-drum" (a combination drum and string instrument, reminiscent of the
ektara The ''ektara'' (, , , , , ; literally 'one-string', also called ''actara'', ''iktar'', ''ektar'', , ''yaktaro'', ''gopichand'', ''gopichant'', ''golki'' , ''gopijiantra'', ''tun tuna'') is a one-stringed musical instrument used in the traditio ...
). Like "Global Hockets", the piece also included projected visuals, but of a much lower-tech variety (16mm film projected onto a Venetian blind). It ended with a chorus of whistling kettles and spinning ceramic plates. "Pacific Plate" premiered in 2000 at the
Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...
Arts Festival. It was also performed in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
before being toured in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
(
Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
and
Hall in Tirol Hall in Tirol is a town in the Innsbruck-Land district of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria. Located at an altitude of 574 m, about 5 km (3 mi) east of the state's capital Innsbruck in the Inn (river), Inn valley, it has a population of 14,77 ...
) in 2001. The piece was also recorded and broadcast on
Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...
in 2004, but the recording has as yet not been released.


2014–2019

After "Pacific Plate", From Scratch went into a long hiatus as members (including founder Philip Dadson) pursued other projects. There were no more hints of any possible renewal of group activity until 2014, when Dadson, Darryn Harkness and Adrian Croucher reunited for a single performance titled "Homage to the Philosophy of Lao Tse", a percussive improvisation structured around lines spoken from the
Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' () or ''Laozi'' is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship and date of composition and compilation are debated. The oldest excavated por ...
. Although the From Scratch name was not used, the piece was recognisably in the vein of the group and sparked rumours of a revival.


Philip Dadson: Sonics From Scratch

In 2015 a feature-length documentary film, "Philip Dadson: Sonics From Scratch", was released about Philip Dadson, which necessarily also contained a lot of material on From Scratch, as the group had been an important part of his life and work. The film, directed by Simon Ogston and Orlando Stewart, premiered at the New Zealand International Film Festival on 25 July 2015. A number of past From Scratch members were present at the premiere, and the film (which screened on Air New Zealand flights for a time) helped revive interest in the group.


New CD releases

In 2016 the Japanese record label "EM Records" released a new From Scratch album titled "Five Rhythm Works", consisting of re-releases of four early works: "Out in Part 1", "Drumwheel Part 2", "Gung Ho 1,2,3D" (the 5,6,7 and 6,7,8 modules) and "Passage" (one of the VOM pieces). EM Records released a second From Scratch album in 2017, this time containing the "8,9,10" and "9,10,11" modules from "Gung Ho 1,2,3D", together with re-interpretations of these pieces by other artists. A third album followed in 2018, containing one piece from each of the first three decades of the group: "Triad #1" (1978), "Drum/Sing" (1984) and "Fax To Paris" (1990). Andrew Clifford, director of Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, who had completed an MFA research project on From Scratch in 2013, said of the "Five Rhythm Works" album release, "It's important, because it has a lot to do with kick-starting the From Scratch revival after their long hiatus, although I'm sure the poking and prodding that I'd been doing in the preceding years also helped plant some seeds".


From Scratch Returns

To mark the New Zealand launch of the "Five Rhythm Works" album, a performance titled "From Scratch Returns" was held in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
on 6 May 2016. The two-and-a-half-hour improvised show had "accompanists" Dadson, Darryn Harkness and Adrian Croucher joined at pre-determined times by a series of guest performers, including fellow From Scratch alumni Geoff Chapple,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
, Walter Muller, James McCarthy and Shane Currey.


546 Moons / Heart'Heart

In 2017, From Scratch re-grouped in preparation for "546 Moons", a survey exhibition at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery of instruments and memorabilia, curated by Andrew Clifford, together with a series of performances titled "Heart'Heart" in the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival. The four members ( Dadson, Croucher, Currey and Harkness) from the 1996 – 1998 incarnation of the group were joined by new members Rebecca Celebuski, Rachel Thomas and Chris O'Connor. The show was based around "Global Hockets" (not previously performed in Auckland) but also contained performances of "Drumwheel" (with Carol Brown taking the central spinning dance role) and "POWWOW", a new piece for three end-struck PVC pipe stations (reminiscent of the finale of "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero"). In addition there were short collaborative works with Dan Beban and Nell Thomas from the group "Orchestra of Spheres", Chris O'Connor,
Pitch Black Pitch Black may refer to: Film * ''Pitch Black'' (film), a 2000 science fiction movie * Pitch Black, the boogeyman in the animated film ''Rise of the Guardians'' Music * Pitch Black Records, a Cyprus-based record label established in 2007 * Pit ...
, and the New Pacific Music Ensemble. Several new instruments were also featured, including the "Rutman Cello" (a tribute instrument based on designs by
Robert Rutman Robert Rutman (15 May 1931 – 1 June 2021) was a German visual artist, musician, composer, and instrument builder. Best known for his work with homemade idiophones in his Steel Cello Ensemble, Rutman is regarded as a pioneer of multimedia perf ...
), "Sprongs", foot-pump operated "
Fipple The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flut ...
Whistles", "Wall Wires" (a long string instrument incorporating a bass drum and mounted into a wall) and "Tone Thrones" (a series of instruments based on chairs).


555 Moons / Heart'Heart'Heart

From November 2018 to March 2019,
City Gallery Wellington City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi is a public art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. History City Gallery Wellington Te Whare Toi began its life as the Wellington City Art Gallery on 23 September 1980 in a former office block located at 65 ...
hosted "555 Moons", an updated version of the 546 Moons From Scratch survey exhibition. This included video and photographic documentation from the group's 2018 Auckland performances, as well as a gallery devoted to Pacific Plate, with video footage and an interactive Foley floor. The exhibition was opened with a live performance of Carhorn Hocket in Civic Square outside the gallery. Other performance events followed, including "And Their Heads Are Turning" (the group's collaboration with Wellington-based "Orchestra of Spheres") in December 2018, and the 6-hour improvised "Visitors" show in February 2019, with invited Wellington musicians joining the group at pre-determined times. The exhibition closed with Heart'Heart'Heart, a slightly shorter version of the 2018 Heart'Heart performance, including most of Global Hockets, POWWOW, Drumwheel and a slightly revised version of "Wobble Ova Oases", the group's collaboration with Chris O'Connor.


2020


Pax/Pacifica tour

In September 2020, From Scratch made a tour of
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, with 14 performances mainly in the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
and on
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...
, as most of the planned
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
dates had to be cancelled as a result of
lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...
s associated with the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The group presented a new work entitled "Pax/Pacifica", described as a "conch-call to the fallout of nuclear testing and climate change in the Pacific" and performed by Dadson, Croucher, Currey and Harkness. The piece used some of the group's more familiar instruments (song-stones, aluminium bells and their trademark long PVC pipe stations) together with new ones including "membrane horns" (end-blown PVC pipe instruments with a balloon membrane) and "glissflutes" (side-blown flutes with balloon membranes at both ends). It also incorporated a performance of the early polyrhythmic work "VOM6". As well as "Pax/Pacifica" the tour programme featured a reprise of the 1982 work "Pacific 3,2,1,Zero" (Part 1), performed by Croucher, Currey and Harkness. The repertoire of island names sung and shouted during the piece was expanded to include islands at risk from or already affected by
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, including
Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the Māori name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' – where ''Te Ika-a-Māui'' means N ...
itself.


Releases


Recordings

* ''From Scratch Perform Rhythm Works'' :12" LP, 1979, Private Release, PRA 905 :Side One: Out-In Pt 1 & 2 :Side Two: Drumwheel Pt 1 & 2 :Performed by Geoff Chapple, Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
, Gary Wain :Sound engineer: David Hurley; recorded at
Mandrill Studios Founded in the early 1970s, Mandrill Studios was a recording studio in Parnell, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Many of New Zealand's prominent artists had their work recorded there. The Mandrill record label grew out of the name of the stud ...
, Auckland * ''3 Pieces from Gung Ho 1,2,3D'' :12" EP, 1983, Hit Singles, HITM004 :Side One: 8-9-10 (sixth module) (10'00") :Side Two: 5-6-7 (third module) & 6-7-8 (fourth, central module) (10'20") :Instruments: tuned PVC pipes, metal chimes, drums, spun drones :Devised by Phil Dadson :Performed by Geoff Chapple, Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
:Sound Engineer: Greg Brice * ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero (part 1)'' and ''Drum/Sing'' :LP, 1985, Flying Nun, FN041 :Side One: Pacific 3,2,1,Zero (Part One) (23') :Side Two: Drum/Sing (26') :Instruments: tuned PVC pipes, chimes, bamboos, drums, handbells, Jilzira drones, cymbals, voices, trom tubes, spun drones, rattle jackets, biscuit tins :Performed by Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
:Engineered by Steve Garden at The Valley Conference Centre, Albany; mixed at Progressive Studios, Auckland, July 1985 :Also self-released on cassette in 1984 * ''Gung Ho 1,2,3D'' LP :LP, 1988, Flying Nun, FN085 :Side One: 3,4,5; 4,5,6; 5,6,7; 6,7,8; 7,8,9 (23'30") :Side Two: 8,9,10; 9,10,11 (24'30") :Instruments: tuned PVC pipes, metal chimes, drums, spun drones :Devised by Phil Dadson :Performed by Geoff Chapple, Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
:Sound Engineer: Greg Brice; Remixed in 1987 by Greg Brice and Wayne Laird at Wayne Laird's studio :This is a full-length re-release and remix of the earlier Hit Singles 12". * ''Songs For Heroes'' :CD, Cassette, 1991, Rattle Records RAT D002 or RAT C002 :A continuous piece of music in eight sections :Devised by Philip Dadson :Performed by Philip Dadson, Neville Hall, James McCarthy, Walter Muller :A tribute to unsung heroes, past and present :This was remastered and reissued with new artwork in 2011 * ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero (part one)'' and ''Eye/Drum'' :New digital release of ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero'' with a new work, ''Eye/Drum'' :CD, cassette, 1994, Kiwi-Pacific International, CD SLC-236 or TC SLC-236 :Pacific 3,1,1,Zero devised by Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
; performed by Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird, James McCarthy :''Eye/Drum'' devised by Phil Dadson; performed by Philip Dadson, Neville Hall, James McCarthy, Walter Muller * ''Global Hockets – From Scratch Live in Europe'' with Supreme Particles :CD, 1999, Scratch Records :Devised by Philip Dadson :Performed by Adrian Croucher, Shane Currey, Phil Dadson, Darryn Harkness :Also self-released on cassette in 1998 and VHS in 2000 * ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero Parts 1 and 2 Live'' :CD, 1986, Atoll Ltd, ACD 301 :Part 1 devised by Philip Dadson :Part 2 devised by Philip Dadson :Part 2 performed by Geoff Chapple, Philip Dadson, Wayne Laird, Joshna LaTrobe, Dipali Linwood, Niki May,
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
, Peter Scholes, Kim Wesney :Produced by Wayne Laird :Also self-released on cassette in 1986 * ''Five Rhythm Works'' :CD and LP, 2016, EM Records, EM1150CD or EM1150LP :Out in Part 1 (1976), Drumwheel Part 2 (1977), 5,6,7 and 6,7,8 from Gung Ho 1,2,3D (1979), Passage (1974) :Composed by Philip Dadson * ''8,9,10 and 9,10,11 from Gung Ho 1,2,3D'' :CD and double LP, 2017, EM Records, EM1160CD or EM1160DLP :Performed by From Scratch (1981), plus interpretations by Goat, Don't DJ and Utena Kobayashi Group :Composed by Philip Dadson * ''Triad #1 – Drum/Sing – Fax To Paris'' :CD and LP, 2018, EM Records, EMC-007 :Triad #1 (1978) for two pianos, performed by Philip Dadson and Gray Nichol :Drum/Sing (1984) and Fax To Paris (1990), performed by From Scratch :Composed by Philip Dadson


Compilations

* ''From the Pages of Experimental Musical Instruments Volume VI'' :Cassette, Experimental Musical Instruments (US), 1991 :From Scratch contribute excerpts from ''Songs for Heroes'' * ''Different Tracks'' :CD, Cassette, 1993, Rattle Records RAT D003 :Instruments: hocketed handclapping, vocal chant and tone-tree percussion of gongs and cymbals :Devised by Philip Dadson :Performed by Philip Dadson, Neville Hall, James McCarthy, Walter Muller :From Scratch contributes ''Fax To Paris'' * ''Gravikords, Whirlies, and Pyrophones'' :Compilation CD, Ellipsis Arts CD3630, 1998 :Produced by Bart Hopkin of '' Experimental Musical Instruments'' magazine :Introduction by
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
:Contains a 96 page colour book and 73 minute CD :From Scratch contributes an excerpt of ''Pacific 3-2-1-Zero'' (1986)


Films

* ''Drum/Sing'' :16mm film, VHS PAL or NTSC (20 minutes) :A collaboration with Director Gregor Nicholas :Award Winning Film * ''Pacific 3,2,1,Zero'' :VHS, 1993 (21 minutes) :A collaboration with Director Gregor Nicholas :Awarded Grand Prix, Cannes/Midem 1994 * ''Global Hockets: Supreme Particles From Scratch – Live at New Zealand's Festival of the Arts'' :VHS, Scratch Records, 2000 :Recorded in Wellington, New Zealand, 1998 :A one-hour video documentary with stereo sound * ''Philip Dadson: Sonics From Scratch'' :Feature-length documentary (85 minutes), 2015 : Dir. Simon Ogston, Orlando Stewart : Premiered at NZ International Film Festival, 25 July 2015, Auckland


Publications

* ''The From Scratch Rhythm Workbook'' :, 1995, 102 page in spiral binding :By
Don McGlashan Don McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for cin ...
, Philip Dadson,
University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
, New Zealand :Published by Heinemann Drama :A workbook for Grade K8 and up students that introduces new musical ideas of body-based rhythm and sound, compositional concepts for solo or group participation. * ''Slap tubes and other plosive aerophones: the greatest music-making idea that most people have never heard of'' :, 2007, 64 pages, comes with CD :By Bart Hopkin and Philip Dadson :Published by Experimental Musical Instruments, Pt Reyes Station, CA * ''Splash Five 1987: From Scratch Special Issue 2018'' :, 2018, 131pp, A4, comes with poster insert :By
Wystan Curnow Wystan Tremayne Le Cren Curnow (born 1939) is a New Zealand art critic, poet, academic, arts administrator, and independent curator. He is the son of Elizabeth Curnow, a painter and printmaker, and poet Allen Curnow. Biography Curnow was born ...
and From Scratch :Published by Small Bore Books, Whanganui :The lost special issue of Splash magazine, dedicated to From Scratch and belatedly published in 2018, accompanied by: * ''From Scratch: 546 Moons'' :, 2018, A1 fold-out poster/publication :By Andrew Clifford :Published by Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery, Auckland :A special insert to accompany ''Splash Five'' and updates the story from 1987–2018.


References


External links

* *
Pacific 3,2,1,Zero Part 1, on NZ On Screen

Pacific 3,2,1,Zero at Nga Taonga

Elsewhere review of Global Hockets (2000)

Elsewhere review of Sonics From Scratch film (2015)

Quick Guide to From Scratch

From Scratch on Rattle Records
{{Authority control New Zealand musical groups Flying Nun Records artists