| For Vidna Obmana, music is like water.It is a singular element with the unique ability to change form, flowing and changing, but never losing the qualities of movement and fluidity.It can be very lively and dramatic, but at the same time it can be very silent and cold.Belgian composer Dirk Serries chose the name Vidna Obmana for his musical persona because it means "optical illusion."Thirteen years hence, Vidna Obmana still finds that the name gives him a feeling of freedom to place his music first, before his own personality and philosophy.Like water, Vidna Obmana continues to change form over his musical career.Vidna Obmana explored different musical areas before discovering the techniques of looping and shaping harmonies, merging layers of sound and minimizing the configurations to a few notes.This was followed by The Trilogy in 1994, a three disc box set of more early works.Vidna Obmana's collaborative work with legendary sound pioneer Steve Roach has resulted in three groundbreaking albums on Projekt.Ascension of Shadows As Vidna said of Steve, "Our friendship became very solid and our musical ideas collided in such a respectful way without competition or extended philosophical discussions.Inspired by the serenity and calmness of the natural world, Vidna Obmana recorded The River of Appearance for Projekt in 1995.The album meshed the beauty of natural sounds with dreamy, cyclical ambient loops and open spaces.Just as water takes on new structure, so too does Vidna Obmana.Whether taking form as rain, ocean, ice or snow, the constant element in Vidna Obmana's music is change.Willem Tanke: Variations for Organ....Obmana is the pseudonym used by Belgian composer and ambient musician Dirk Serries whose music has often been described as isolationist and organic.Obmana has collaborated on several occasions with artists such as Asmus Tietchens, Brannan Lane, Capriolo Trifoglio, Diego Borotti, and Steve Roach.Some of these collaborations have become entire projects of their own, such as Contiuum (collaboration with Bass Communion) and Principle of Silence (collaboration with Joris De Backer).Fear Falls Burning was a vidnaObmana side project (now presumably his main project).In some venues, the appellation is rendered as VidnaObmana or Vidna Obmana.Shadowing in Sorrow Projekt, 1991.Ending Mirage Projekt, 1992.Twilight of Perception Projekt, 1995.Crossing the Trail Projekt, 1997.The Surreal Sanctuary Hypnos, 2000.An Opera for Four Fusion Works, Act 1 Hypnos, 2002.Spirit Dome (with Steve Roach) Projekt, 2004.An Opera for Four Fusion Works, Act 2 Hypnos, 2004.An Opera for Four Fusion Works, Act 3 Hypnos, 2006.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Name:Dirk SerriesProfile:Belgian composer Dirk Serries chose the name Vidna Obmana for his musical persona because it means "optical illusion."Thirteen years hence, Vidna Obmana still finds that the name gives him a feeling of freedom to place his music first, before his own personality and philosophy.Like water, Vidna Obmana continues to change form over his musical career.Vidna Obmana explored different musical areas before discovering the techniques of looping and shaping harmonies, merging layers of sound and minimizing the configurations to a few notes.Soundtrack For Experimental Theatre (Cass, C60)
M.Trancedreamed (Cass, C90)
M.Deep Unknown (CD)
Brannanlane.Reworked (CD)
Palsecam Theme (Recycl...Biorephorm (CDr)
Bioloophorm (Vidna Obm...ANbRX (Minimax + CD, Album)
Untitled (Three Ring I...From Across This Gray Land No.CD)
Awaken In Floating Col...CD, Smplr)
Awaken In Floating Col...Zero Point (CD)
Splendors, The Gift, C...Sampler CD (CDr)
Deep Unknown (Pt.Cobwebs (Cass, C90)
Bondage Doom To Creato...The Sound Of Hate: Volume 1 (Cass)
Temple Ov Wax Hate, Du...Angst (2xCass)
A Fate For To Kill, He...Belgium (Cass, C45)
Emotion Of Whispering ...Notre Dame 3 (Cass)
From Mindcollected Flo...Schizophobia (Cass)
Not Like Water From He...The Ambient Wax Ritual (Cass, C90)
Earthscape, From His E...Voices In A Dark Room (2xCass)
The Stranger From The ...Notre Dame 4 (Cass)
Upon Steels Heaven (S.Nature Morte (Cass, C90)
Until The Glowering Sp...The Sound Of Hate (Cass)
Temple Ov Wax Hate, Du...From Across This Gray Land No.CD)
Awaken In Floating Col...From Across This Gray Land No.Music From The Edge Vol.Anniversary Special Edition (2xCD)
Recoils
F.Within This Infinite Ocean...Lost And Found (2xCD)
Collecting The Spirits...Add Release: Click this button to add a release to this artist's discography.OBMAN explored different musical realms before discovering the techniques of looping and shaping harmonies, merging layers of sound while minimizing the configurations to just a few notes.His style of atmospheric music creates trance inducing states in listeners who understand the language of sound.Recognized internationally for his solo and collaborative work, spanning over 34 albums, commissioned works for the Dutch National Radio, Zoo Antwerpen, a Japanese TV documentary, MTV and several Belgian video art productions, including his critically acclaimed releases, continuous productivity has paved the way for expanded visibility and recognition.His music has been released by a wide range of independent labels worldwide, including: Release Entertainment, Amplexus, Extreme, Hic Sunt Leones, Hypnos, Mirage, Multimood, ND, Projekt and others.Tremor' was the the first VIDNAOBMANA recording in what will be a trilogy of albums drawing inspiration from the classic Dante poem "Inferno" with the next chapters in line titled 'Spore' and 'Legacy.Tremor' showcased an unmatched sense for the bold and less spatial combination of harmonics, dynamics and experimentation.Projekt Festival in Philadelphia.Whereas 'Tremor' was a 'musical trip downwards', 'Spore' represented the actual underworldly dwelling place.References to VIDNA's 'industrial' past of the early 80's remained strongly present, while the fusion of his ambient soundscapes with bolder and less spatial combinations of harmonics, dynamics and experimentation was even more accentuated.Rhythmic, dense, eerie and pulsating, 'Spore' continued where 'Tremor' left off...Sign in to get personalized recommendations.Profile: Vidna Obmana
Using synthesizers, electronics, outboard processing gear and an array of exotic instruments, Belgian electronic musician Vidna Obmana creates an extended musical journey through rhythms, soundworlds and sonic atmospheres.Dirk Serries chose the name Vidna Obmana for his musical persona because it is a Slavic term that translates as "optical illusion", a concept which correlates sonically with the surreal, alternate sound worlds depicted in his music.His compositions utilize slow, shifting electronic figures to construct long, minimalist, often extremely personal textural works.His music has been released widely by a range of independent labels worldwide, including: Amplexus, Extreme, Hic Sunt Leones, Hypnos, Mirage, Multimood, ND, Projekt and others.Vidna Obmana's work has been realized in collaboration with some of the world's most interesting musicians.The duo performed two shows together at The Gatherings Concert Series on 26 May 2002 within the reverberant and atmospheric setting of St.Mary's Hamilton Village in University City Philadelphia.While together in Philadelphia, the duo also took time to do some recording.It's a great day when you receive a new Vidna Obmana recording!It's a better day when he agrees to answer your nosy questions...Link: Most of us who "know" Vidna Obmana only know you through the resounding beauty of your music.What can you tell us about the person behind the sounds?As a child, I always have been fascinated by film soundtracks and perhaps this led to my increasing curiosity in instrumental music.Limited to the more harsh and direct sounds of this analog instrument, I was not able to concentrate myself upon the music, I liked so much.The pace, I'm so fond of to work in, was created over time when I matured as an human being and musician.Not only can I enjoy the solitude which you have as artist working solo but also outside this place, I've been appreciating much more the calm environment which surrounds you at times.Somehow I do feel this philosophy is surely present in my music.Serenity, calm and minimalism are definitely keywords to make my music successful.Link: I'm interested in your "regular" job; You're an ambient musician in your "spare" time, and by day...Vidna: Well, my music is absolutely more an obsession than an hobby so each spot of time I have, I take to my advantage.Sometimes the strain of my daily job is too much to handle the intensity of being and working in the studio, but it's really hard to survive as an independent artist here in Belgium since the obligations and its social climate claims more than you can gain from your income as a musician.My freedom as a musician has been and always will be a very important part of my creativity and evolution.Link: Martine also has contributed the photography for Crossing the Trail (and a vocal chant in The esoteric source).Like you said yourself, the photography is atmospheric and organic yet hard to define.When Steve Roach and I were recording Cavern of Sirens, we were introduced with the first batch of her Circles and Artifacts series and were immediately blown away by them.Crossing the trail, I chose a few new photographs by her for the cover.And I'm glad I did since I feel that cover and music blends nicely together as being part of one origin.Martine's musical involvement was rather spontaneous and not really planned.So Martine volunteered and the result became to be very satisfying.Have you done any film scores?Over the years, I've done one specific soundtrack to an experimental video in 1987 but in fact, the music is not really representative for what Vidna Obmana stands for today.Let's hope I can participate one day.Link: How would you explain your music to someone who was completely unfamiliar with your work?Then again, it's really hard to avoid categorization among the existing genres' since everybody deals with it.Link: Who's listening to you?Can you describe a "typical" Vidna Obmana fan?Over the years I met all kind of people, between 16 and 60 years old, eccentric or classic looking, all sharing the same interest in this particular music.Vidna: True, performing this kind of music can be extremely difficult in cases where you've to appear on a festival.And if, like us, you're appearing at the end of the evening, our music can be too intense and difficult to send out.Since we're operating in this genre, we perhaps take it for granted but I can imagine this world of music can be very confrontational if you're not willing to submit to it.Link: Geographically speaking, where do you think your listeners are?It more or less comes in waves as for instance, since last year I've been asked for several performances in The Netherlands.Link: You've got a very nice website (www.Are you personally involved much with the Internet?Internet since it really helps the communication to proceed more smoothly.Definitely a big improvement from corresponding through the postal system and being in touch with other colleagues and of course, most important the listener is really essential.Luckily, I met Patrick, my webmaster, a couple of years ago since he was working on the Art for Ears site, a Belgian organization who focuses on Belgian electronic music, and due to his expertise on the Internet level, we're able to map a fine website for Vidna Obmana.Link: We're getting excited about the release of Crossing the Trail".As all of my albums contain a bit of truth and personal experience, The River of Appearance is definitely the sum of what I experienced in my personal life and how far I reached out musically over the past decade.Also the album was made possible by the expertise, I gained over the years, and this way I saw it as a fine opportunity to recapture this intimacy and serenity.As soon as the album was completed, I realized that this was periodically an ultimate experience in terms of creating these particular structures.As I also accepted a couple of offers to perform live again, this made aware of the dynamical soundworlds parallel to my pure atmospheric ones, which I've been exploring on previous albums.Working on the new solo album was the right moment to focus myself musically on the process of rhythms and more intense and complex harmonies without neglecting my techniques for creating these minimal and subtle electronic waves.Also this album has been my personal experience where an artist comes to that particular crossroad and is obliged to choose whether he steps back onto familiar working ground or that he jumps into the unknown.Luckily, I felt the moment was right to leap into uncharted terrain, taking along the experiences I was able gather over the past decade of music.Of course, I'm speaking here of a situation where you're real time in the studio together as my projects with Steve Roach are.This project, which we recorded in October last year, is definitely the most refined and intimate music session, I ever made with another musician.So therapeutic that we decided to name it our Meditation for the Millennium.Here we operate by exchanging source material but instead of just performing with overdubs, we allow each other to recycle the sources.Crossing the trail is another album which I like to mention since it covers a moment in my life as a musician where the artistic decisions were seriously demanding and adventurous.The River of Appearance has a very strong character since it returns to the extensive use of loops which has made my first album so successful.Link: Your music seems very loose, flowing, unstructured...Or are you following some blueprint?Vidna: I'm sure my arrangements are nowhere near to the classical methods of composing since the combination of notes, I'm working with, are complex and quite unlogical in classical terms.With each album I try to explore a certain aspect of this technique in order to keep the continuity between all albums flowing.On The River of Appearance I definitely use the technique of looping quite extensively.One of my favorite songs on River, Streamers of Stillness, uses this technique to its full effect, yet here similar to the Canon method.For this track, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to achieve.The piano track was played live into the sequencer, which was set to a specific time loop.Beside the copying function, to create that specific continuation of loops in different rates and at various points, I'm not so in favor of using this sequencer.The piano track supplies the necessary space to improvise and layer the other sounds against it.The layering happens real time against the sequence to shape the composition more playfully.The use of particular acoustic elements induces that feeling too.Also the piano loop also changes constantly, not really dramatically but very serene and essential.This has been the case for all my albums.The one perhaps more strongly than the other but I still prefer to use this concept in my upcoming albums as well.It somehow demands more to listen to a song in which the sound is being carved out meticulously.My preference goes towards the recording of an entire album where the complete story is being told.Link: Can you share any of the "secret" sound sources you've used in Crossing the Trail?Vidna: Well, Link, this is absolutely nice of you to mention the presence of these sounds since I feel it really makes the album so special for me personally.For me, these have been as much as important than the strong rhythmic aspect of the album.This way you more or less ripped out the steady metronome by placing pauses and opposite performances onto the rhythm.Link: I notice the track titles refer to the outdoors in reflection of your love for nature.Are your songs named before, during or after the composing process?Vidna: True, the reference in my titles to my affection for nature is strongly present as it's the case with my decision when using the artwork for a particular album.The song titles usually follow in the process of recording the work.Link: I'm also reviewing The Other World to which you contributed Approaching the Glaze.Was it one of those "difficult" compilation pieces?Here I could regain focus on the album by working on a purely atmospheric and calm piece.Crossing the trail in the first part of the track, but mostly it maintains the calmness and intimacy I always like to return to with my music.Vidna: Well, the only thing I could really share with those who're interested in creating their own music is that they should follow their own heart and try to achieve what they do think is satisfying.Link: Where might future recordings take you and your listeners?Vidna: Crossing the trail has been just released so that should have time and space to develop among the listeners but meanwhile projects are being planned and worked on.Ascension of Shadows is really a big epic which took us into the studio last October here in Belgium and where we almost recorded all music live directly on DAT.Jeff Pearce which is called True Stories and will take us again to a more intimate and beautiful place.The album's completion is near and we're currently negotiating a release for 1999.Live festival (formerly Klem) in The Netherlands.Also, I'm currently working together with Chuck Van Zyl (radiohost of Star's End in Philadelphia) on a Vidna Obmana tour in October 98 which will take me to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Connecticut and maybe New York.Link: I want to close by saying Thank You!If you haven't already, it's time to check out the official Vidna Obmana website.Special thanks to Sam Rosenthal, Lisa Feuer, Patrick Ceuppens and especially, Vidna Obmana. |
