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| Image courtesy of Clariloops |
Ruby Lulham is a Melbourn-based composer and classically trained clarinet player. She is also the one woman orchestra known as Clariloops. By capturing the sounds of her original performances and running them through a pedalboard, she is able to accomplish as a single musician what would normally only possible as an assemble, while creating a live, multi-track performance where she plays as her own accompaniment, often expanding the tonal capabilities of her clarinet's sound in the process. The melodies she produces on her debut album Sun//Rain are so fluid and beautiful that they have kept me entranced while continuing to shelter at home since the album dropped a few months ago. Chicago is not a place to be outside before May and with a pandemic still raging, public spaces remain somewhat precarious. Listening to Ruby's performances these past few weeks has helped me to feel less pent up, and generally in a better all-around state of mind. I've been so thoroughly fascinated (and frankly thankful) to Ruby for this album that I reached out to her to see if she would be open to an interview. Thankfully she agreed and you can read the transcript of our correspondence below. Her answers are full of insights into her processes while providing a unique vantage point into her world and the inspirations behind Sun//Rain.
Hit play on the player below and let the sonerous melodies of Clariloops keep you company while you read the interview.
Interview conducted on May 5, 2021 via email.
What is your musical background?
I started playing clarinet at the age of 9. During my time at school I learned from a couple of different classical teachers who I prepared for musical exams with, as well as a jazz teacher who introduced me to improvisation and a more exploratory way of practicing my instrument. During my final year of high school, I met one of the clarinet teachers at Monash University which aided my decision in choosing a music degree over a science degree. I completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours in 2017 and since then have been performing and teaching as a classical clarinetist in orchestras and wind bands in Melbourne.
How does Clariloops represent a break from your training and career?
I started playing clarinet at the age of 9. During my time at school I learned from a couple of different classical teachers who I prepared for musical exams with, as well as a jazz teacher who introduced me to improvisation and a more exploratory way of practicing my instrument. During my final year of high school, I met one of the clarinet teachers at Monash University which aided my decision in choosing a music degree over a science degree. I completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours in 2017 and since then have been performing and teaching as a classical clarinetist in orchestras and wind bands in Melbourne.
How does Clariloops represent a break from your training and career?
Classical musicians work really hard to make a very specific sound. During our music degrees, most of us play similar music by all the same composers and we get taught to interpret music that other people have written in a unique way that still suits the context of the piece. We get taught to feel the music that we are performing but in the end, we’re trained to be a vessel for a composer’s musical idea and to play at a consistently high standard under pressure. I think it was at the end of 2019 that I started to feel a bit worn out by all this. I wasn’t really enjoying practicing as much as I had in the past, I didn’t really feel that I loved classical music as much as I “should” as a classical musician and, to be honest, I was feeling kind of unfulfilled but trapped in this field of work with a very specific skill. So, Clariloops was absolutely a break for me. I hadn’t met anyone else from a classical background trying to use electronics in a performance or composition setting and I thought it would be a great way to spend some time making something new and exploring a completely different side of music with the instrument I love.
Do you feel like your current approach is a break from classical and neoclassical composition and performance, and if so how?
The way I use my effects pedals and my electronic equipment to produce a polyphonic sound from a monophonic source is definitely a break from classical composition and performance. Neoclassical composition is an ever-evolving field that is always exploring new sounds so I don’t necessarily think my approach breaks from the neoclassical tradition at all. In the end, I am a classically trained player using a distinctly classical instrument to make my music.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has yet to listen to your music?
I make music using clarinet, effects pedals and synthesized sound that is driven by loops. It is simple in melodic and harmonic material making it quite relaxing to listen to. This project is the exploration of how the pure sound of the clarinet can work with electronically produced sound to create something unique yet familiar, music that can be the background to your thoughts.
Do you find that running your clarinet through a pedalboard helps to liberate your sound? And if so, how?
Liberating my sound as a composer and explorer of sound, absolutely. Some days I find new sounds on my pedalboard and it really feels like I’ve created a whole new instrument with the setup that I use. It’s so exciting! I’ve always enjoyed making up musical patterns and practicing them in every key. Now I can use that practice technique to create my own music with effects such as reverb, delay and granular sampling, and then put it all in my loop pedal and continue improvising from there. Running my clarinet through my pedalboard to create my own distinct sound is definitely liberating, as I don’t feel confined to this notion of “this is how a classical clarinet player should sound”.
Do you feel like your current approach to music lends itself to collaboration well, or can it feel isolating?
I haven’t found it isolating yet. Working full time means that when I do get a chance to sit down and relax with my pedalboard, I really cherish the alone time that I carve out for myself. I have also collaborated on a few short works with people I’ve met online. It’s really affirming to have people contact me to ask if I can put my distinct sound into one of their compositions. Having everything I need to record the sounds I want to produce makes collaborating online very easy. I think it’s easier to get my head around than collaborating in person at the moment!
In your opinion, what is a good place/time/environment to enjoy your new LP, Sun// Rain?
On the day of its release, I listened to the whole album in bed with the sun streaming through the window. I hadn’t listened to any of it for about 6 weeks and it felt like the perfect place to listen to it on its first day out in the world. I think this album can be enjoyed anywhere you can feel a breeze or see the sky. The whole album is inspired by nature and is written to evoke certain weather elements. I’d be interested to hear where people are enjoying this album most.
How and where was Sun//Rain recorded?
I recorded a lot of the clarinet parts as minute-long sketches in and August and September of 2020 on my computer. I challenged myself to write and record something very short each day and ended up combining most of these sketches using my loop pedal at a later date to devise the tracks on the album. All of the music I write starts as layers and layers of loops on my pedalboard. I then record each individual part in my music studio at home and mix from there. A lot of the synthesizer parts on the album were recorded outside of my music studio, thanks to my portable setup that I’m quite proud of. I most fondly remember adding the synthesizer parts to ‘Evaporate’ in Castlemaine, Victoria where my parents have a weekender. It’s a beautifully quiet country town that always inspires me to spend time outside, soaking up the sun on the verandah.
Would you consider Sun//Rain and ambient record?
I describe the album as a neoclassical electronic record despite having ambient elements and inspirations. I don’t think I would describe it as ambient because it’s mostly driven by rhythm which ambient music doesn’t really do. I would potentially describe track 6, Solace, as an ambient track. I treated it as a reprieve on the album, a complete rest from the consistent forms and rhythms of the tracks either side.
How would you define ambient music? How do you see Sun//Rain fitting into that world?
For me, really good ambient music has this sense that it always existed, it just took a special person to find it and share it with us. I am in awe of ambient producers who can create something beautiful from thin air. Something that doesn’t have a form or a musical structure that the human brain enjoys so much, and yet it can just wash over you and make you float. Sun//Rain is meditative, the whole album tells a story, each track flowing into the next to create a mindful experience. The purity of the clarinet tone also evokes that sense of floating as all the melodies I play on the album float over the top of the movement below. While I wouldn’t describe the record as ambient, it definitely fits into that world. It has ambient elements and it endeavors to evoke similar feelings in listeners.
Your new album has an incredibly strong sense of melody, who are some of your inspirations in writing such flowing progression?
In my final year of University, I really fell in love with impressionist composers of the 20th century. In my final year, I performed Claude Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie, Julian Menendez’s Introduccion, Andante Y Danza and Arthur Benjamin’s Le Tombeau de Ravel. All these pieces have the most amazing melodies in them that float over the top of some really interesting moving lines. These composers definitely had a lasting impact on how I write music.
What is next for the Clariloop project?
I’ve got a few collaborations I’m working on which is very exciting! I’m also exploring some new gear I’ve recently obtained, so I’m deep in the exploration cave at the moment. I’m sure I’ll emerge with a new album somewhere down the track.
Anything else you want to add?
Thank you for these wonderful thought-provoking questions!
Do you feel like your current approach is a break from classical and neoclassical composition and performance, and if so how?
The way I use my effects pedals and my electronic equipment to produce a polyphonic sound from a monophonic source is definitely a break from classical composition and performance. Neoclassical composition is an ever-evolving field that is always exploring new sounds so I don’t necessarily think my approach breaks from the neoclassical tradition at all. In the end, I am a classically trained player using a distinctly classical instrument to make my music.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has yet to listen to your music?
I make music using clarinet, effects pedals and synthesized sound that is driven by loops. It is simple in melodic and harmonic material making it quite relaxing to listen to. This project is the exploration of how the pure sound of the clarinet can work with electronically produced sound to create something unique yet familiar, music that can be the background to your thoughts.
Do you find that running your clarinet through a pedalboard helps to liberate your sound? And if so, how?
Liberating my sound as a composer and explorer of sound, absolutely. Some days I find new sounds on my pedalboard and it really feels like I’ve created a whole new instrument with the setup that I use. It’s so exciting! I’ve always enjoyed making up musical patterns and practicing them in every key. Now I can use that practice technique to create my own music with effects such as reverb, delay and granular sampling, and then put it all in my loop pedal and continue improvising from there. Running my clarinet through my pedalboard to create my own distinct sound is definitely liberating, as I don’t feel confined to this notion of “this is how a classical clarinet player should sound”.
Do you feel like your current approach to music lends itself to collaboration well, or can it feel isolating?
I haven’t found it isolating yet. Working full time means that when I do get a chance to sit down and relax with my pedalboard, I really cherish the alone time that I carve out for myself. I have also collaborated on a few short works with people I’ve met online. It’s really affirming to have people contact me to ask if I can put my distinct sound into one of their compositions. Having everything I need to record the sounds I want to produce makes collaborating online very easy. I think it’s easier to get my head around than collaborating in person at the moment!
In your opinion, what is a good place/time/environment to enjoy your new LP, Sun// Rain?
On the day of its release, I listened to the whole album in bed with the sun streaming through the window. I hadn’t listened to any of it for about 6 weeks and it felt like the perfect place to listen to it on its first day out in the world. I think this album can be enjoyed anywhere you can feel a breeze or see the sky. The whole album is inspired by nature and is written to evoke certain weather elements. I’d be interested to hear where people are enjoying this album most.
How and where was Sun//Rain recorded?
I recorded a lot of the clarinet parts as minute-long sketches in and August and September of 2020 on my computer. I challenged myself to write and record something very short each day and ended up combining most of these sketches using my loop pedal at a later date to devise the tracks on the album. All of the music I write starts as layers and layers of loops on my pedalboard. I then record each individual part in my music studio at home and mix from there. A lot of the synthesizer parts on the album were recorded outside of my music studio, thanks to my portable setup that I’m quite proud of. I most fondly remember adding the synthesizer parts to ‘Evaporate’ in Castlemaine, Victoria where my parents have a weekender. It’s a beautifully quiet country town that always inspires me to spend time outside, soaking up the sun on the verandah.
Would you consider Sun//Rain and ambient record?
I describe the album as a neoclassical electronic record despite having ambient elements and inspirations. I don’t think I would describe it as ambient because it’s mostly driven by rhythm which ambient music doesn’t really do. I would potentially describe track 6, Solace, as an ambient track. I treated it as a reprieve on the album, a complete rest from the consistent forms and rhythms of the tracks either side.
How would you define ambient music? How do you see Sun//Rain fitting into that world?
For me, really good ambient music has this sense that it always existed, it just took a special person to find it and share it with us. I am in awe of ambient producers who can create something beautiful from thin air. Something that doesn’t have a form or a musical structure that the human brain enjoys so much, and yet it can just wash over you and make you float. Sun//Rain is meditative, the whole album tells a story, each track flowing into the next to create a mindful experience. The purity of the clarinet tone also evokes that sense of floating as all the melodies I play on the album float over the top of the movement below. While I wouldn’t describe the record as ambient, it definitely fits into that world. It has ambient elements and it endeavors to evoke similar feelings in listeners.
Your new album has an incredibly strong sense of melody, who are some of your inspirations in writing such flowing progression?
In my final year of University, I really fell in love with impressionist composers of the 20th century. In my final year, I performed Claude Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie, Julian Menendez’s Introduccion, Andante Y Danza and Arthur Benjamin’s Le Tombeau de Ravel. All these pieces have the most amazing melodies in them that float over the top of some really interesting moving lines. These composers definitely had a lasting impact on how I write music.
What is next for the Clariloop project?
I’ve got a few collaborations I’m working on which is very exciting! I’m also exploring some new gear I’ve recently obtained, so I’m deep in the exploration cave at the moment. I’m sure I’ll emerge with a new album somewhere down the track.
Anything else you want to add?
Thank you for these wonderful thought-provoking questions!
