Petr Válek

[Balor/SS1535]

I learned about Petr Válek a while ago and instantly loved the attitude and approach that he takes to making noise.  I was not able to find a mention of his work on here, so I thought that it would be interesting to make a new thread.

My favorite thing about him is that he creates many small machines that produce a wide range of noise sounds.  From what I can tell, he makes some of his own instruments as well.

Examples:

VRRRZZOPHONE machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fkDIJk_2M

"Music and Drawing": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-13YSc8LV0w

Various machines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOXHNwCLHz0

These ones move!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa1QjYMWvcc

Any thoughts?  Has anyone else heard of this guy before?

[Andrew McIntosh]

Been getting into his work as well. His albums are somewhat different from his videos (https://korobushka.bandcamp.com/album/doma). He relies on YT videos the way people used to rely on putting out loads of tapes.

It's true he's inventing nothing new. Relies a lot on junk, cruddy electronics, very much an attitude of let's stop fucking around and blast this out, but he is creative with what he actually makes as far as gadgets and that are concerned. What pushes him forward is his sheer enthusiasm. There's a nice stream of humour going through his videos, not taking any image or "message" all that seriously. He just seems to want to make Noise for its own sake.

I quite like the "tutorial" videos he's done, too - you can't hear a word he says because the Noise is loud and anyway, I only understand English.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

I think the amusing videos have been very popular among noise folks? So many links came to my direction over last couple years, mostly someone linking them to show how funny they are. Those funny chaotic videos are probably the most popular, as they probably appeal to guys who have vague idea about what noise is and appreciated the chaotic side of it.

Those who know what noise is, can appreciate Válek doing interesting sounds. Like McIntosh says, "nothing new is being invented", but I think it is safe to say that he has different energy compared to a lot of noise creators? It would not be the kind of "shakebox + distortion", "Contact mic on metal plate and some scratching", "broken reel-to-reel", that are all good, but like those videos on opening message display, Válek is doing something vastly more visual, where you can see the sound emerging and going vastly deeper and detailed when thinking of what would make interesting noises. Building things, using vast variety of parts, combinations of ideas than just "smashing things up".

I think guys like Das Synthesische Misgewebe did somewhat similar things, but perhaps less "playful"?

I do not have any of his albums, bandcamp doesn't really appeal to me. Tiny edition CDR/tape he does, never got any of those. Some stuff should be good enough to be pressed and published, but not even sure is he interested in such things as "proper album"?