about the cassette

Alma Laprida is a seeker. When she touches the bow to her tromba marina, she uses its two strings to clear a path through a thicket of indefinite musical possibilities. Before moving to Washington, DC, the Argentinian improviser and sound artist was a central figure in the tight-knit avant-garde scene of Buenos Aires, where she became enamored with the possibilities of nontraditional instruments and everyday soundmakers. With a simple set of tools, she creates spontaneous music that at first seems austere, but upon closer examination reveals intricately aligned fields of inquiry.

Since relocating to the U.S., Laprida has developed a distinctive, methodical style of improvisation on the tromba marina, using amplification and subtle electronic processing to expand the instrument’s textural possibilities. Pitch Dark and Trembling extends that practice. Recorded live at Bard College in June 2023, the album documents a pivotal moment in an ongoing exploration of low frequencies and vibrational phenomena. By modulating her instrument’s signal through a cranked 18-inch subwoofer and an array of effects pedals, the typically light sound of the tromba marina becomes massive and unwieldy—laden with roars of feedback and ghostly wisps of rumbling bass. Shaken to its core, the room itself becomes audible, its walls vibrating sympathetically with each expulsion of sound.

After feeling how the speaker’s low frequencies interacted with nearby objects, Laprida was reminded of a traumatic experience: a late-night earthquake in Bolivia, a decade and a half earlier. She recalled the fear and confusion of being woken up, the oncoming roll of sound that preceded the shaking of her room, and the clattering of her belongings while she remained in bed, frozen in place. She leaned into that association, collecting exciters from deconstructed speakers and placing them inside boxes and trash cans, where they would audibly shake as she played through the subwoofer. We hear the quiver of these exciters on “Trembling”—its title highlighting not only the physical effects of the sounds on objects but also the feelings they evoke. After the live performance documented on Pitch Dark and Trembling, several listeners approached Laprida to express the strange mixture of unease and enthrallment they felt as they became enveloped by the vibrations.

Fear and attentiveness go hand in hand, often accompanied by a strange sense of wonder. As Laprida processes the sounds of an instrument held close to her chest through the unpredictable swells of the subwoofer, she confronts the terror of the world’s volatility. There are no easy answers here—only ambiguous resolutions. Pitch Dark and Trembling requires a recalibration of the listener’s ear, and at times a dash of imagination. Laprida points to the cacophony of oncoming trains and the boom of faraway thunder as everyday reference points for this work. Billowing, groaning, and at times even whispering, the album probes the margins of disquiet—always curious, never certain. If music is a way of processing the mysterious nature of existence, Laprida lets the enigma ride.