100 Years of Sound Colors in Pop Music

This programme will be held in Hungarian.

The bass drum has shrunk, the guitar is distorted, and the wind section has been exchanged for the keys of a synthesiser. What has happened to the instruments of the pop music over the last 100 years? How have instrumental innovations affected musical styles and recordings? The multi-instrumentalists Hunor G. Szabó and András Weil arrive at the House with a truckload of equipment to present the evolution of pop music instruments, tones and timbres over the last century – at least as they see it – through live music demonstrations. In addition to discussing how these technologies have developed, they will also cover the evolution of music and the dominant attitudes, arrangements and approaches of various eras.

The keyboard player/composer/sound engineer/producer András Weil has appeared as keyboard player in Hungarian pop music groups and live jam series, including Kistehén, Odd ID (Ethnofil), The Qualitons, Ivan and the Parazol, RedRed and Random Trip. In addition to his work as a musician, Weil is increasingly active in other music production roles – as a composer, sound engineer and producer. In recent years, he has worked as a music producer and sound engineer alongside artists of the calibre of Sena Dagadu, Ivan and the Parazol, M3NSA, Blahalouisiana, the Bohemian Betyars, Mörk, and the Ghanian rap satire duo, Fokn Bois. As a composer of electronic music, Weil often appears at international festivals in cooperation with the Limelight Art projection mapping team. He has earned experience in international pop music at the Seattle-based KEXP and the West African ACCES showcase events, as well as at various European showcases (Iceland Airwaves, MENT, Reeperbahn, and ℅ pop). As a producer, Weil employs his own personal musical and production methods, which break away from both the categories formed by cultures and musical styles and the general conventions of pop music recording. His approach focuses on the understanding of the sentiments, moods and energies created by music. To encapsulate these ideas, Weil selects from a range of modern, vintage, standard and non-conventional tools to identify those best-suited to the perspectives of the music in question.

Hunor G. Szabó is a definitive figure on the Hungarian jazz and popular music scenes. He graduated in jazz drumming from the Liszt Academy in 2004, and also plays the bass guitar. His play and musicality is primarily inspired by styles of the 1950s and 1960s, while his unique drumming and distinctive sound are truly one of a kind in Hungary. Szabó is a drummer for numerous jazz and pop music groups. As a guitarist, singer and songwriter, he has most notably featured in The Qualitons, where he was a core member and leader from 2008 to 2022. He has also worked as a musician and composer on numerous theatre productions and film scores.

Major bands:
Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene (1999-2006)
Smárton Trio (2003-2014)
Dzsindzsa (2004-2022)
Grencsó Kollektíva (2007-2010)
The Qualitons (2008-2022)
W.H. (2008-)
Vera Jónás Experiment (2014-2017)
Borbély Műhely (2017-)
Juci Németh-Hunor G. Szabó duo (2021-)