Total Time: 46:52

The original tracks were created, recorded and produced by Jon Iverson at the remote Dog Bark Recording Camp in California using actual instruments recorded directly one at a time (no mixing board) to a specially modified MCI JH100 2" 16 track analog recorder. The sessions took place througout the 1990s.

Robert Rich played PVC Gambuh Flute on track 7.

With the exception of a wee bit of sampled bass in just a couple of tiny spots, there were no sequencers, synthesizers or fancy computer editors used in the initial recordings - all were multitracked in person with microphones.

In the 2020s the original tapes were transferred to high resolution digital and were rearranged and remixed with some new parts added (and a few removed). Final mixes were completed in Feburary 2026 to become Alternesia Revisited.

Instruments Used:

• Ugal
• Ceng Ceng
• Various Gongs
• Genggong
• Angklung
• Kendang
• Jegogan
• All manner of percussion, cymbals, pots, found metal objects, etc.

Technical Note
Mic preamps were custom-designed and built by Greg Scott, who has designed circuits for VTL, among others. The microphones were two hand-matched AKG 414s—nothing too fancy—taken direct into the MCI Tape Machine (after the preamps) via Mogami cables.

Additional Notes (for the original release) by Wes Phillips
This album is rooted deeply in Jon Iverson's love of Balinese gamelan, but it's not a gamelan record. How could it be? It uses traditional gamelan instruments, and Jon has studied the music and its performance techniques—he obviously respects them—but Jon's music cannot ever truly be Balinese, no matter how long and arduously he studies. By accident of birth, he'll always remain an outsider.

However, outsiders can hear things in new ways—and that is what Jon has done here. Using the interlocking rhythms and polyphonic stratification of gamelan music, he has produced a portal into a new sonic world. The disc opens with a subtly swelling wash of gong overtones, as fat as pillows, before embarking on a pulsing, relentless march through different percussive landscapes—think of Steve Reich's Drumming without the phased decay element and you'll be in the very general neighborhood, although Jon hearkens as much to Brian Eno's sonic explorations as to the rules of either third world or classical music.

Just as it melds cultural references, Alternesia takes what it needs from different instrumental traditions. In addition to the traditional drums and idiophones of the gamelan, Jon has added sampled bass "in just a couple of tiny spots," some evocative flute (played by Robert Rich, who mastered this recording), and a smattering of non-traditional instruments.

Think of Alternesia as a 46-minute vacation to an alternative world. The normal rules don't apply (do they ever on a vacation?). I like traveling to Alternesia. I return there often—and I look forward to taking many more trips with Jon in the future.—Wes Phillips