Ashley Bellouin and Ben Bracken make music with both traditional and hand made instruments that exploit the natural overtones and sympathetic vibrations generated by highly redundant tuning systems. Minimal structures and simple harmonic relationships give rise to meditative washes of sound.

Photo: Marielle Jakobsons

Each composition is constructed by considering the personal experience of a physical site, the materials used in the construction of the instruments, and the interplay between the two. Their performances are a mixture of the imagined and real, of natural phenomena, and direct action. Ashley and Ben have been awarded collaborative residencies at the Paul Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency Center and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program.