slow music and sound narratives
Joe is a self-taught composer, arranger, and musician, working with electronic and acoustic instruments in nontraditional ways. Building much of his own equipment, both in hardware and software, he reaches out for sounds that may not be familiar, or may be familiar, but from other contexts, while still maintaining a healthy respect for the lyrical and the accessible. His work is often slow-moving, sensual, and crafted with an eye towards exposing hidden realms of sound while obscuring the sounds we thought we knew, rendered with the patience and calm of a Buddhist monk raking the fine gravel in a rock garden.
12 Minute Travelogues no. 7 - in progress from Joe Wall on Vimeo.
[if player does not load or play in your browser, click above to go to Vimeo]
His love of theater led him to work on soundtracks and both arranged and improvised music for live theater, for his own spoken word performances and for the films and stage plays of his friends and associates. Working as a sideman, a backstage sound designer, and general-purpose sound guru, Joe has backed up world-class performers, including Joyce Scott, Lorraine Whittlesey, David Franks and more, in professional venues including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Patterson Theater, and the American Visionary Art Museum.
Joe is available for live ambient performances (meditative music sets from 45 minutes to several hours), and for sound design, composition for film, theater, and installation, editing, and related technical consulting. For more information, contact him via the addresses and numbers on the Contact page of this site.
For more samples, information, and free downloads, explore these links:
• Live at the 2009 SDIY Fest, the Hexagon, Baltimore MD - 27 June 09
Joe’s live set from the SDIY Electronic Music Festival, 2009.
• The 126 N Madeira Trilogy - a 3 CD unboxed set of electonic music
A trio of live pieces from the annual Baltimore Open Studios Tours 2002-2004, performed in real time by Joe Wall. Quiet, contemplative, raw, thoughtful music for deep listening and passive hearing alike. Two and a half hours of finely-crafted ambient soundscapes, downloadable for free.
• 12 Minute Travelogues - a podcast
Joe’s podcast of 12 minute deep listening music pieces.
• The Surreal World of Las Pozas - a film score [COMING SOON]
