Crystal dust and drones
The gear behind Rin Larping's shimmering experimental sound
Rin Larping's work as a vocalist, bass clarinetist, and guitarist is abstract, deeply personal, and relentlessly experimental. Born Lindsay Smith, her approach to improvising under solo monikers Rin Larping and SoBrite, and as a member of the noise band Macht und Ohnmacht, is steeped in ethereal drones and distressed musical textures tied to their moments of creation. The imagery surrounding more composed works such as Rin Larping's Stratum cassette, released in September 2015 (Full Spectrum Sound), is minimal at a glance, but layered noise hints at a narrative lying just out of reach. The experience a listener projects onto the music is equally as important as the artist's intent — the name Rin Larping refers to Smith's penchant for inhabiting different personas that are invented for each musical journey. Smith has spent four years developing experimental guitar techniques. Over the last year, selenite crystals played a key role in shaping Smith's shimmering guitar sounds. While working on a new tape slated for an Aug. 15 release, Smith showed off the gear that creates Rin Larping's wildly evocative musical environments.
Photo credit: | RIN LARPING’S LINDSAY SMITH: “I don’t know what kind of guitar this is. It’s a basic six-string that does the job. My friend Jenny Moon Tucker gave it to me before she moved to Baltimore a few years back. She’s an artist who paints on whatever she can find. She painted some animals on this guitar.” |
VIOLIN ROSIN: “I put rosin on my guitar strings because it helps with the resonance and it helps the crystals catch on the strings a little better.”
CONTACT MIC: “I am always hesitant about using my voice purely, so I just tape a contact mic onto my throat and do a lot of closed-mouth humming. I try to really get the vibrations and tones and use them instead of actually singing. It sounds really nice. It’s a muffled sound that gives me a free range of motion rather than worrying about singing near a regular mic.”
DELAY PEDAL: “I use the delay on pretty much everything I do with guitar and vocals. That and the loop pedal. Both of these create the basic ethereal soundscapes when I play.”
LOOP PEDAL: “The loop pedal — especially this Ditto Looper — is the most basic loop pedal. You just press the button, and while it’s on it records what you’re playing. Press it again and it’ll keep looping what you just recorded. I use it to layer sounds. I’ll record a sound, loop it, keep it going, and create more sounds on top of that, or just start playing guitar over the top of what I recorded.” |
HARMONY PEDAL: “I use it to add a little more depth and dimension to my voice. It gives my voice a chorus of notes. These kinds of pedals are used a lot in surf rock.” |
SELENITE WANDS: “I started using smaller crystals and more slide-shaped crystals about a year ago. I went looking for some new crystals and found these long wands. I thought, ‘Oh, these would be interesting to try.’ They sounded great. When you use them, they start to disintegrate: they curve, and lose their edges, and leave crystal dust all over the guitar. Each one has a different sound to it. I use all three of them during each set — each one has a different sound. If I want to get higher notes or a big chord I’ll use different ones. I haven’t gotten to a point to where I need to replace them yet. The sound they make is sort of like the sound you get when you run your finger along the edge of a wine glass, very spacey and airy.”
ORANGE AMP: “I like how it sounds. I like to use two amps when I play. The sound of the crystals can be so volatile, so I like to be able to control them. So I have these small amps. Vocals go through one amp and the guitar through the other. You can feel when feedback is about to start, so I can pull back on a crystal, or dial back on the amp. It’s one little extra set of control.”