Daniel Studer is a double bass player and composer, and a researcher exploring the possibilities of electronic music and the characteristics of his instrument. But he is also an improviser who is adept in genres spanning contemporary, jazz and so-called "non-idiomatic" music. The relationship between Studer and his double-bass is profound. His diversity of interests and talents are essential elements in the music. More than a CD of double bass solo recordings, it can be considered as a duo between performer and instrument: a sort of dialogue with continuous feedback. Featured here are solos, multitrack recordings, and one piece that was electronically treated at the Elektronisches Studio Basel. Each track focuses on a particular area of research, and the work is developed very precisely and carefully. Titles describe the theme and approach behind each track. However, the performance is more than merely a catalogue of examples. From each argument - whether it originates with a pizzicato, tremolo or percussive sound - emerge sound-based ideas, musical themes and formal constructions that are then developed and expanded. Technical adventures are imaginatively and meticulously worked out, but what I particularly like about Daniel Studer's work is that it goes further by developing a remarkably complex stream-of-consciousness approach and a keen aesthetic sensibility. Technical aspects are intensified and thereby become open musical themes, upon which ideas can be developed, improvised and explored. This process also allows an idea to be rejected, or a direction decisively altered, while coherence is maintaining at all times. Scientific research, as we know, requires not only a logical, but also a fresh and creative approach in order to arrive at unexpected solutions. The pieces that Daniel Studer presents here are permeated by his readiness to follow both reasoning and intuition, and the music is enjoyable, engaging and fascinating as a result. Studer's almost scientific concern with the technical aspects of his playing is transformed instantaneously into musicality of the highest calibre. Giancarlo Schiaffini