ABOUT
ARTIST LINKS:
Nilotpal Das also known as Bios Contrast presents 20 minutes of released and upcoming music and is interested in the process of making music and what to make.
Nilotpal Das was born on 27th September 2001 in Kolkata, India. At the age of 16, he started listening to various records and got into learning electronic music production through Youtube tutorials and improvisation. By 2016 he had begun making electronic music and started doing unpaid DJ performances with his childhood friend Rohan Thakuri. Not long after the venture through electronic music, his music shifted towards instrumental and performance-oriented.
In 2020 he started his solo project Bios Contrast to seek how he can experiment with storytelling through sonic pieces, real events and physical objects.
Nilotpal Das was born on 27th September 2001 in Kolkata, India. At the age of 16, he started listening to various records and got into learning electronic music production through Youtube tutorials and improvisation. By 2016 he had begun making electronic music and started doing unpaid DJ performances with his childhood friend Rohan Thakuri. Not long after the venture through electronic music, his music shifted towards instrumental and performance-oriented.
In 2020 he started his solo project Bios Contrast to seek how he can experiment with storytelling through sonic pieces, real events and physical objects.
ᴴᵉˡˡᵒ, ᴹʸ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ⁱˢ ᴺⁱˡᵒᵗᵖᵃˡ ᴰᵃˢ. ᴵ ˡⁱᵛᵉ ⁱⁿ ᴷᵒˡᵏᵃᵗᵃ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵗᵃʳᵗᵉᵈ ᵐᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵈᵘᵇˢᵗᵉᵖ ᵃʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ˡᵃᵗᵉ ²⁰¹⁶ ᵃⁿᵈ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵍᵒᵗ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ⁱᵐᵖʳᵒᵛⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ, ᵉˣᵖᵉʳⁱᵐᵉⁿᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵒᵐᵖᵒˢⁱⁿᵍ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵗʳᵃᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ ᵃⁿᵈ ˡⁱᵛᵉ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ ʷʰⁱˡᵉ ᵃˡˢᵒ ᵇᵘⁱˡᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵖʳᵒᵗᵒᵗʸᵖᵉˢ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ. ᴵ'ᵐ ᶜᵘʳʳᵉⁿᵗˡʸ ʷᵒʳᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵗʷᵒ ᵖʳᵒʲᵉᶜᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ⁱˢ ᶜᵃˡˡᵉᵈ 'ᴮⁱᵒˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗʳᵃˢᵗ' ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃⁿᵒᵗʰᵉʳ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ᴵ ʷⁱˡˡ ʳᵉˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵃ ¹² ʰᵒᵘʳ ᴴᵃʳᵐᵒⁿⁱᵘᵐ ᴰʳᵒⁿᵉ ᵃˡᵇᵘᵐ. ᵀʰᵉ ᵗʳᵃᶜᵏ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᵗᵒ ʰᵉᵃʳ ⁱˢ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵉqᵘᵉˡ ᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ᵖʳᵉᵛⁱᵒᵘˢ ᵃˡᵇᵘᵐ 'ᴰʳᵃᵍᵒⁿ ᴿⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ' ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃˢ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ᵘˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵃ ᵖʳᵒᵗᵒᵗʸᵖᵉ ʷᵒᵒᵈʷⁱⁿᵈ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗ ᵗᵒᵍᵉᵗʰᵉʳ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵍᵘⁱᵗᵃʳ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉᶠᶠᵉᶜᵗˢ.
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
IMPULSE/RESPONSE AND CONVOLUTION BEYOND REVERBERATION
VAROUJAN CHETIRIAN
PROJECT PHASE 2022
SOUND STUDIES AND SONIC ARTS
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF DR. JOHANNES REGNIER
VAROUJAN CHETIRIAN
PROJECT PHASE 2022
SOUND STUDIES AND SONIC ARTS
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF DR. JOHANNES REGNIER
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how it's pronouced. pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how it's pronouced. pardon my language.
RADIO STATEMENT
EXTRA-GENRE COMMUNITY RADIO «FANTASIA» ORIGINATED BY TYPOGRAPHY CENTER WORKERS IS TO CREATE A PLATFORM TO SPEAK OPENLY ABOUT ACTUAL PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD SOCIETY AND ARCHIVE MATERIALS COLLECTED BY ARTISTS, CURATORS, JOURNALISTS, ART AND SOCIAL THEORISTS, SONIC RESEARCHERS AND SOUND POETS.
WE CREATE AN IMPULSE AND HOPE THAT IT WILL FIND AN OUTLET IN DIFFERENT POINTS OF REALITY, WE WANT TO COME TOGETHER WITH THOSE CULTURAL WORKERS THAT CONTINUE TO WORK IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
WE ALSO CONSIDER IT IMPORTANT TO FIGHT IN VARIOUS FORMS. THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS OF CIVIL RESISTANCE, SPREADING INFORMATION ABOUT WARS, CONFLICTS, DISCRIMINATION AND A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS EXPRESSION OF THE POSITIONS.
WE CREATE AN IMPULSE AND HOPE THAT IT WILL FIND AN OUTLET IN DIFFERENT POINTS OF REALITY, WE WANT TO COME TOGETHER WITH THOSE CULTURAL WORKERS THAT CONTINUE TO WORK IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
WE ALSO CONSIDER IT IMPORTANT TO FIGHT IN VARIOUS FORMS. THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS OF CIVIL RESISTANCE, SPREADING INFORMATION ABOUT WARS, CONFLICTS, DISCRIMINATION AND A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS EXPRESSION OF THE POSITIONS.
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
STARTING INTEREST
I first got interested in the Impulse/Response (I/R) technic through my research and practice with exciters. I found out that I can easily make materials resonate with any personalized input. By simply using transducers the material transforms itself into a sound diffusor with its own spectral and diffusion qualities. I discovered that I could easily replicate a mythic reverb today widely used in musical productions: the plate reverb. Because I was working with glass instead of metal, I thought I could create my own glass plate reverb instead. From then on, I stepped into the convolution world.
Usually, convolution reverbs are used to replicate the acoustical responses of real spaces like churches and concert halls inside the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). In opposition to the algorithmic reverb family, which can be used to create unrealistic spaces, the convolution reverb’s aesthetic is traditionally centered around the notion of realism and faithfulness. How close the I/R sounds compared to the original space usually defines our judgement on it.1 But as an artist experimenting with this tool, the question of faithfulness wasn’t interesting for me. I knew that the plate reverb was conceived as a cheap replacement for the echo chamber, which certain studio couldn’t have for architectural reasons. Sound engineers found this alternative way of creating reflections and today the plate reverb is not perceived as an emulation of an echo chamber, but rather as an iconic effect on its own.2 Inspired by this story, I wanted to create my own glass reverb, for it to be personalized and iconic of my own practice instead of emulating something preexisting.
In this documentation paper, I will tell how my experimentations led my artistic practice and vision about the Impulse/Response and convolution technic, and more broadly about space and materiality in sound. I will not go deep in the mathematical, and physical theories implied in those experimentations, even if understanding those were a substantial part of the research process. I will instead focus on the train of thoughts, problems, discoveries, and practical conclusions that this artistical research led to. Since it is not meant to become any academic paper, I use will sometime use more casual language and expose personal opinions. The aim of this paper is to have a personal documentation from which I can continue my future research and practice. Therefore, I will not explain or develop every technical notion.
I first got interested in the Impulse/Response (I/R) technic through my research and practice with exciters. I found out that I can easily make materials resonate with any personalized input. By simply using transducers the material transforms itself into a sound diffusor with its own spectral and diffusion qualities. I discovered that I could easily replicate a mythic reverb today widely used in musical productions: the plate reverb. Because I was working with glass instead of metal, I thought I could create my own glass plate reverb instead. From then on, I stepped into the convolution world.
Usually, convolution reverbs are used to replicate the acoustical responses of real spaces like churches and concert halls inside the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). In opposition to the algorithmic reverb family, which can be used to create unrealistic spaces, the convolution reverb’s aesthetic is traditionally centered around the notion of realism and faithfulness. How close the I/R sounds compared to the original space usually defines our judgement on it.1 But as an artist experimenting with this tool, the question of faithfulness wasn’t interesting for me. I knew that the plate reverb was conceived as a cheap replacement for the echo chamber, which certain studio couldn’t have for architectural reasons. Sound engineers found this alternative way of creating reflections and today the plate reverb is not perceived as an emulation of an echo chamber, but rather as an iconic effect on its own.2 Inspired by this story, I wanted to create my own glass reverb, for it to be personalized and iconic of my own practice instead of emulating something preexisting.
In this documentation paper, I will tell how my experimentations led my artistic practice and vision about the Impulse/Response and convolution technic, and more broadly about space and materiality in sound. I will not go deep in the mathematical, and physical theories implied in those experimentations, even if understanding those were a substantial part of the research process. I will instead focus on the train of thoughts, problems, discoveries, and practical conclusions that this artistical research led to. Since it is not meant to become any academic paper, I use will sometime use more casual language and expose personal opinions. The aim of this paper is to have a personal documentation from which I can continue my future research and practice. Therefore, I will not explain or develop every technical notion.
1 For example: « Altiverb 7 is the industry standard convolution reverb plug-in for Mac OS X and Windows. It features top quality samples of real spaces to create reverb, ranging from Sydney Opera House to the cockpit of a Jumbo Jet » from https://www.audioease.com/altiverb/
2In a similar way, the early Roland drum machines as the TR707, 808 and 909 were designed to be a replacement to real drummers. They later eventually were used in a very opposite way, far from their intended purpose and are now iconic of the electronic music’s aesthetic.
2In a similar way, the early Roland drum machines as the TR707, 808 and 909 were designed to be a replacement to real drummers. They later eventually were used in a very opposite way, far from their intended purpose and are now iconic of the electronic music’s aesthetic.
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
PHYSICAL MATERIALS
My first home-made Impulse/Response on glass was quite easy and convincing. I used one exciter to diffuse the sweep
in the material and usually two contact mics and a condenser cardioid pair to capture and deconvolve the result with the HISS tools3. The I/R thus created is a simple audio file that can be loaded in most convolution reverb plugin (Ableton Convolution Reverb Pro for example). We can hear three different sounds of my own gradually blending in the glass I/R [audios 1 in the annexes)4. I didn’t only used raw materials like glass to create I/R, but also musical instruments already designed to have specific sonic characteristics.
in the material and usually two contact mics and a condenser cardioid pair to capture and deconvolve the result with the HISS tools3. The I/R thus created is a simple audio file that can be loaded in most convolution reverb plugin (Ableton Convolution Reverb Pro for example). We can hear three different sounds of my own gradually blending in the glass I/R [audios 1 in the annexes)4. I didn’t only used raw materials like glass to create I/R, but also musical instruments already designed to have specific sonic characteristics.
EXPANDING THE NOTION OF REVERBERATION AND SPACE
I eventually created I/R files using the transduced-sweep technic with a big frame drum, a snare, and a ride cymbal [audios 2, 3, 4]. I recorded the responses with two contact mics to create a stereo file, trying different positions for both
the exciter and the contact mic.
the exciter and the contact mic.
“ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏᴇs ᴛʜɪs sᴏᴜʀᴄᴇ sᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴡᴏᴏᴅ?”
Working on my own personalized I/R conveyed new artistic visions and practices, changing the relationship between space and material implied in the traditional use
of impulse/responses. Usually, reverb presets are organized around different kind of spaces, where materiality is an asset of that space.
For example, we can often find “wooden chamber”, “stone church” or “stone quarry” presets. The material is qualifying the space instead of being the main character.
At this stage of my research, because I used transducers and contact mic to capture inner sonic characteristics
of materials, the space was not an important perceptual feature anymore.
of impulse/responses. Usually, reverb presets are organized around different kind of spaces, where materiality is an asset of that space.
For example, we can often find “wooden chamber”, “stone church” or “stone quarry” presets. The material is qualifying the space instead of being the main character.
At this stage of my research, because I used transducers and contact mic to capture inner sonic characteristics
of materials, the space was not an important perceptual feature anymore.
3 https://www.thehiss.org/
4 I will use three sounds to exemplify the process sonically. Two of them are more static sounds with rich spectral content, whereas the third is a rhythmical snapshot in order to hear the effect of the I/R and convolution on the transients.
4 I will use three sounds to exemplify the process sonically. Two of them are more static sounds with rich spectral content, whereas the third is a rhythmical snapshot in order to hear the effect of the I/R and convolution on the transients.
NOTEˆ: [audios FOLDER] you can find via this ↳link
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
At this stage of my research, because I used transducers and contact mic to capture inner sonic characteristics of materials, the space was not an important perceptual feature anymore. The use of I/R and convolution here isn’t about placing a sound in its modelled acoustic environment, but rather to use materials as acting filters, timbral and temporal modifiers. I started to imagine transduced I/Rs as a way to extract the sonic identities of materials. Identity then converted into a portable digital file. This file is convolved with any sources of my own, eventually acting as a filter. From there on I started to be more attentive to materials I could find in nature
or in the city around me. Anything ranging from clay, wood, plastic, glass, metal, stone to water and skin could be used to create I/R file. And each one of these materials would have its own distinctive spectral and dynamic characteristics.
Artistically, one way of using those impulse responses was to enhance synthetized sounds (coming from drum machines or synthesizers) with “organic” resonances. For example, I would convolve synthetized kick drums with real skin resonances or high frequency hi-hats with cymbal resonances. What stroked me is how much I could identify and feel the glass, the skin of the drum
or the metal of the cymbal in those resonances. Maybe because I knew the process, I unconsciously directed my perception to validate
my research. But I also believe that I have a deeper memory connecting various spectral distributions with physical materials,
and psychoacoustic studies must exist about how our brain identifies and links sonic characteristics to physical sources.5 Every material
contains its own cultural connotations, and those connotations vary from people to people, but also from geographical spaces and historical times. What water implies isn’t the same if we come from the 19th century Libyan desert or from the today’s Bretagne’s coast.
I would for example personally link metal with factory, industry, coldness, harshness, solidity, and stability whereas water is linked
in my memory with fluidity, softness, adaptation, and emotions. Those connotations vary from people to people, but a certain underlying perceptual structure must exist. This I/R technic eventually allows me to metaphorically invoke those implied connotations and emotions in the sound through their extracted and convolved resonances.
----------------------------
5 This could be a path for future research.
or in the city around me. Anything ranging from clay, wood, plastic, glass, metal, stone to water and skin could be used to create I/R file. And each one of these materials would have its own distinctive spectral and dynamic characteristics.
Artistically, one way of using those impulse responses was to enhance synthetized sounds (coming from drum machines or synthesizers) with “organic” resonances. For example, I would convolve synthetized kick drums with real skin resonances or high frequency hi-hats with cymbal resonances. What stroked me is how much I could identify and feel the glass, the skin of the drum
or the metal of the cymbal in those resonances. Maybe because I knew the process, I unconsciously directed my perception to validate
my research. But I also believe that I have a deeper memory connecting various spectral distributions with physical materials,
and psychoacoustic studies must exist about how our brain identifies and links sonic characteristics to physical sources.5 Every material
contains its own cultural connotations, and those connotations vary from people to people, but also from geographical spaces and historical times. What water implies isn’t the same if we come from the 19th century Libyan desert or from the today’s Bretagne’s coast.
I would for example personally link metal with factory, industry, coldness, harshness, solidity, and stability whereas water is linked
in my memory with fluidity, softness, adaptation, and emotions. Those connotations vary from people to people, but a certain underlying perceptual structure must exist. This I/R technic eventually allows me to metaphorically invoke those implied connotations and emotions in the sound through their extracted and convolved resonances.
----------------------------
5 This could be a path for future research.
“I want an underwater effect”
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
DEVICES AND TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
In early 2021 I did a project for a class at Sounds Studies using three computers connected in a loop by meeting applications like Zoom or Webex. Any sound coming into the system would feedback and degrade by the compression of the apps and the instability of the internet, fading into digital 8bit-like melodies [audio 5]. While working on extracting I/R from objects and musical instruments, I thought transposing this technic to telecommunication systems like Zoom. I prepared a call on my computer where the speaker sends the sweep, and the listener receives it on the same computer. The sweeps pass through a lot of different compression states, depending on the activation of the noise-cancellation options in the application, the CODEC compression, and the bandwidth of the internet (it is possible to play with this parameter with a VPN). For those reasons, because the system is unstable, each I/R was made was very different, [audios 6, 7, 8]. The I/R technic could not only grasp spectral characteristic of the material structure of objects, but also of distributed telecommunication system. Like the water or the metal from the previous paragraph, the medium on which the sound is encoded also has a big perceptual and cultural significance.6Tape is warm, vinyl is vintage, mp3 is linked with LimeWire and the boom of the 2000’ internet and Zoom represent our modern state of the 2.0 internet. Diffusion and communication tools are not neutral, and they can be artistically used to shape the characteristics of the sounds. The famous reamping studio technic uses this principle. In my 2020 installation Capite7, I gathered broken radios, tweets, and Logitech desktop speakers in order to create a DIY-cheap acousmonium. I was sensible to the transformation of each of those diffusion tools were acting on the sound. I saw in them, in the legacy of François Bayle’s idea, a modern orchestra of inanimate objects. Before I started to create my own I/R bank of speakers, radios, and diffusors, I discovered that AudioThing had recently released a plugin called Speakers8 (2020) that emulate microphones and speakers as telephones, TV, radios, Toy mics using the I/R and convolution technic. Since the plugin sounds quite good, I will only gather I/R of telecommunication devices if it hasn’t been already captured by Speakers.
In early 2021 I did a project for a class at Sounds Studies using three computers connected in a loop by meeting applications like Zoom or Webex. Any sound coming into the system would feedback and degrade by the compression of the apps and the instability of the internet, fading into digital 8bit-like melodies [audio 5]. While working on extracting I/R from objects and musical instruments, I thought transposing this technic to telecommunication systems like Zoom. I prepared a call on my computer where the speaker sends the sweep, and the listener receives it on the same computer. The sweeps pass through a lot of different compression states, depending on the activation of the noise-cancellation options in the application, the CODEC compression, and the bandwidth of the internet (it is possible to play with this parameter with a VPN). For those reasons, because the system is unstable, each I/R was made was very different, [audios 6, 7, 8]. The I/R technic could not only grasp spectral characteristic of the material structure of objects, but also of distributed telecommunication system. Like the water or the metal from the previous paragraph, the medium on which the sound is encoded also has a big perceptual and cultural significance.6Tape is warm, vinyl is vintage, mp3 is linked with LimeWire and the boom of the 2000’ internet and Zoom represent our modern state of the 2.0 internet. Diffusion and communication tools are not neutral, and they can be artistically used to shape the characteristics of the sounds. The famous reamping studio technic uses this principle. In my 2020 installation Capite7, I gathered broken radios, tweets, and Logitech desktop speakers in order to create a DIY-cheap acousmonium. I was sensible to the transformation of each of those diffusion tools were acting on the sound. I saw in them, in the legacy of François Bayle’s idea, a modern orchestra of inanimate objects. Before I started to create my own I/R bank of speakers, radios, and diffusors, I discovered that AudioThing had recently released a plugin called Speakers8 (2020) that emulate microphones and speakers as telephones, TV, radios, Toy mics using the I/R and convolution technic. Since the plugin sounds quite good, I will only gather I/R of telecommunication devices if it hasn’t been already captured by Speakers.
6 Jonathan Sterne, MP3, The Meaning
of a Format, (Sign, Storage,
Transmission.), Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 2012
7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6kEWtcvnq4&t=236s
8 https://www.audiothing.net/effects/speakers/
of a Format, (Sign, Storage,
Transmission.), Durham, N.C., Duke University Press, 2012
7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6kEWtcvnq4&t=236s
8 https://www.audiothing.net/effects/speakers/
“How does this bird sound in zoom?”
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
ANY RECORDED SOUND IS A SPECTRAL CANVAS
After expanding the notion of I/R from space to materiality, and to telecommunication and diffusion devices, the last step was to unpack the box completely. Understanding the technology underlying the convolution process is here necessary, because the technology itself doesn’t have a presupposed usage embedded with it. Industrial tools and technics (VST for example) we are sold are made for specific purposes and their design translate their creator’s intention. But their underlying technology has more to offer than the tools it has come to create. The process of convolution is fundamentally a multiplied chain of windowed FFTs. We modulate the real-time input signal’s partials with the offline sample’s partials. Each window of the incoming sound multiplies chronologically the entire offline FFT windows. The nature of this process – multiplication of bins – has technical and artistical consequences that we will discuss in a bit. What is important here is that once we understand how this works, we can start playing with it in unconventional ways. Any sound can convolve any other sound. There is no technical limitation, and nobody forces us to follow the realist aesthetic or to try to recreate any sensation of space. We can ask: how would voices convolve a river sound? How would an Armenian traditional recording convolve with an IDM track? How would the inside of a swiss mountain train convolve with field recording from the jungle? And the same IDM in the train recording? [Audios 9, 10, 11, 12]
in choosing what to convolve with what, and this brings us to rethink what a convolution engine enables. The results can be sometimes surprising, and often appealing. Using Ableton Convolution “Reverb” Pro in this way erases the notion of reverberation. We instead shape a sound’s spectral and dynamic characteristic by another sound’s spectral identity. It is like applying a 2D filter, a filter that has multiple states in time, but that is static because offline. If I record a static C Major chord composed of three sinewaves, and convolve
a city’s car rumbling recording in it, the process will result in an unstable C chord, activated by the moments in the city’s recording where those three frequencies are present. It is a filter, variably boosting certain frequencies and attenuating others in time.
After expanding the notion of I/R from space to materiality, and to telecommunication and diffusion devices, the last step was to unpack the box completely. Understanding the technology underlying the convolution process is here necessary, because the technology itself doesn’t have a presupposed usage embedded with it. Industrial tools and technics (VST for example) we are sold are made for specific purposes and their design translate their creator’s intention. But their underlying technology has more to offer than the tools it has come to create. The process of convolution is fundamentally a multiplied chain of windowed FFTs. We modulate the real-time input signal’s partials with the offline sample’s partials. Each window of the incoming sound multiplies chronologically the entire offline FFT windows. The nature of this process – multiplication of bins – has technical and artistical consequences that we will discuss in a bit. What is important here is that once we understand how this works, we can start playing with it in unconventional ways. Any sound can convolve any other sound. There is no technical limitation, and nobody forces us to follow the realist aesthetic or to try to recreate any sensation of space. We can ask: how would voices convolve a river sound? How would an Armenian traditional recording convolve with an IDM track? How would the inside of a swiss mountain train convolve with field recording from the jungle? And the same IDM in the train recording? [Audios 9, 10, 11, 12]
in choosing what to convolve with what, and this brings us to rethink what a convolution engine enables. The results can be sometimes surprising, and often appealing. Using Ableton Convolution “Reverb” Pro in this way erases the notion of reverberation. We instead shape a sound’s spectral and dynamic characteristic by another sound’s spectral identity. It is like applying a 2D filter, a filter that has multiple states in time, but that is static because offline. If I record a static C Major chord composed of three sinewaves, and convolve
a city’s car rumbling recording in it, the process will result in an unstable C chord, activated by the moments in the city’s recording where those three frequencies are present. It is a filter, variably boosting certain frequencies and attenuating others in time.
There is no limit...
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
Artistically, this is probably our most exciting conception of I/R and convolution. We can have an infinity of spectral combination in a very quick process – drag and drop an audio in a plugin – which encourages experimentation. It is a way to enlarge sound textures without any synthesis. But, as we will now see, both the convolution and the Impulse/Response technics have problems and limits.
⒮⒪⒨⒠ ⒤⒮⒮⒰⒠⒮
The multiplicative nature of the convolution process makes it unable to create spectral content that is not already present in the incoming source. Convolution is thus a linear process, in opposition to the non-linearities added by processing like saturation, distortion or wave-shaping. Let say we have a 440Hz sine wave that gets convolved with a 3-second-long pink noise, what will result is the sine wave multiplied by the amplitude of the 440Hz present in the pink noise. All the other frequencies of the pink noise are multiplied by nothing (0) and are thus null. This means that the spectral complexity of the sounds used for convolution is an important parameter to keep in mind. Convolution is usually a more “substrative” process, ending up with less spectral diversity than the source before convolution. This multiplicative nature also brings another common issue: the overamplification of the low-end and resonant frequencies that exist in both the source and the offline sample. Since equilibrated sounds usually contains more low-end energy than high end, multiplying two equilibrated sounds tends to over accentuate the low end. It creates an undefined rumbling effect than is rarely pertinent. Sometimes, resonant frequencies are overwhelming, and, in that case, I tend to use a dynamic filter to attenuate them only when they exceed a chosen threshold. In general, there are a few technics to overcome those issue; either EQ the incoming source, EQ the output, use damping effects embedded in the convolution plugin or use a spectral compressor. To use a multiband compressor on the output is also another option. Another creative solution if to change the reading sample rate of one of the sounds to pitch it up or down, searching for a sweet spot where no frequencies are adding up too much. In Ableton’s Convolution reverb pro, this process (offline, rewriting the offline sample in a buffer at a different sample rate) is available by the parameter “Size”.
The last observation is the effect of convolution on the time domain. Because each input’s FFT windows source goes through each and all the offline sample’s window, it results in a high number of superposed layers that emulate what reflections could be. It creates this chorus-like effect and the sensation of deepness. It also tends (if the offline sample is more than one second long) to eliminate the dynamics of the incoming source. We have a result that tends to have the average of the dynamic and spectral repartition of both samples. In a way, we have a spectral and dynamic compression. For this very reason, it is harder to use this convolution process with rhythmical elements if we want to keep them rhythmical. They will be blended in themselves, often becoming lush, durational, and resonant. If the offline sample is short (less than 1 second), our rhythmical element can keep their dynamic, but will acquire the spectral resonance of the convolution, close to how a comb-filter would sound. It can definitively be used as an aesthetical treatment, but I admit that I prefer the sound of convolution with longer lasting sounds. Moreover, transient elements often contain very short and noisy parts, which the deconvolution process tends to destroy. In general, the linear nature of convolution/deconvolution doesn’t grasp easily sounds with a lot of non-linearities, saturation, distortion, and transients.
⒮⒪⒨⒠ ⒤⒮⒮⒰⒠⒮
The multiplicative nature of the convolution process makes it unable to create spectral content that is not already present in the incoming source. Convolution is thus a linear process, in opposition to the non-linearities added by processing like saturation, distortion or wave-shaping. Let say we have a 440Hz sine wave that gets convolved with a 3-second-long pink noise, what will result is the sine wave multiplied by the amplitude of the 440Hz present in the pink noise. All the other frequencies of the pink noise are multiplied by nothing (0) and are thus null. This means that the spectral complexity of the sounds used for convolution is an important parameter to keep in mind. Convolution is usually a more “substrative” process, ending up with less spectral diversity than the source before convolution. This multiplicative nature also brings another common issue: the overamplification of the low-end and resonant frequencies that exist in both the source and the offline sample. Since equilibrated sounds usually contains more low-end energy than high end, multiplying two equilibrated sounds tends to over accentuate the low end. It creates an undefined rumbling effect than is rarely pertinent. Sometimes, resonant frequencies are overwhelming, and, in that case, I tend to use a dynamic filter to attenuate them only when they exceed a chosen threshold. In general, there are a few technics to overcome those issue; either EQ the incoming source, EQ the output, use damping effects embedded in the convolution plugin or use a spectral compressor. To use a multiband compressor on the output is also another option. Another creative solution if to change the reading sample rate of one of the sounds to pitch it up or down, searching for a sweet spot where no frequencies are adding up too much. In Ableton’s Convolution reverb pro, this process (offline, rewriting the offline sample in a buffer at a different sample rate) is available by the parameter “Size”.
The last observation is the effect of convolution on the time domain. Because each input’s FFT windows source goes through each and all the offline sample’s window, it results in a high number of superposed layers that emulate what reflections could be. It creates this chorus-like effect and the sensation of deepness. It also tends (if the offline sample is more than one second long) to eliminate the dynamics of the incoming source. We have a result that tends to have the average of the dynamic and spectral repartition of both samples. In a way, we have a spectral and dynamic compression. For this very reason, it is harder to use this convolution process with rhythmical elements if we want to keep them rhythmical. They will be blended in themselves, often becoming lush, durational, and resonant. If the offline sample is short (less than 1 second), our rhythmical element can keep their dynamic, but will acquire the spectral resonance of the convolution, close to how a comb-filter would sound. It can definitively be used as an aesthetical treatment, but I admit that I prefer the sound of convolution with longer lasting sounds. Moreover, transient elements often contain very short and noisy parts, which the deconvolution process tends to destroy. In general, the linear nature of convolution/deconvolution doesn’t grasp easily sounds with a lot of non-linearities, saturation, distortion, and transients.
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
HEROUNI UNTIED SPACE CENTER
During the month of February 2022, I had the chance to do a one-month field research trip at the Orgov Spatial complex of the Aragats Scientific Center in Armenia9. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the space slowly stopped to work as a scientific hub, even if it was one of the most advanced telescopes of the whole URSS. The Herouni United Space Center (HUSC), after the name of its founder Paris Herouni, hosted more than a dozen of state standards and was testing parts and materials for building other telescopes in the empire. Among others, the site contains a huge 54m diameter Radio-Optical telescope, an anechoic chamber (for electromagnetic waves, not sound) and an unfinished solar-energy dish.
As a sound artist working with the notion of space, transduction and Impulse/Responses, the possibility to go and record in a 54m diameter parabola was a very exciting challenge. During the months before the trip, I prepared myself the best I could to foresee all the technical requirements and imagine how I should record and interact with the space. I gathered a 6channel portable recorder (Sound Device MixPre6) as well as a first order Ambisonic microphone (Røde NTSF-1) from theSound Sudies and Sonic Art department at the UdK10. I also brought 2 contact microphones (Barcus Berry), a cardioid stereo pair (Neumann KM184), an omni (Neumann measurement microphone), a binaural earplug pair (Soundman OKM) and a small DPA from my own collection.
I also brought 4 transductors and their amplifiers I had from previous installations and the I/R process made in my studio. My objectives were the following: capture the I/R of the inside of the telescope in the best way possible, have good quality audio documentation to be able to compose a site-specific piece for that space in the future, try electroacoustic feedback (I am sitting in a room style) to collect the resonant frequencies, and finally find solid materials with which continue my research on I/R as a filter. I did all of this and eventually more. I will not describe in detail each of those processes. I will rather jump directly to more artistic and practical conclusions.
As a sound artist working with the notion of space, transduction and Impulse/Responses, the possibility to go and record in a 54m diameter parabola was a very exciting challenge. During the months before the trip, I prepared myself the best I could to foresee all the technical requirements and imagine how I should record and interact with the space. I gathered a 6channel portable recorder (Sound Device MixPre6) as well as a first order Ambisonic microphone (Røde NTSF-1) from theSound Sudies and Sonic Art department at the UdK10. I also brought 2 contact microphones (Barcus Berry), a cardioid stereo pair (Neumann KM184), an omni (Neumann measurement microphone), a binaural earplug pair (Soundman OKM) and a small DPA from my own collection.
I also brought 4 transductors and their amplifiers I had from previous installations and the I/R process made in my studio. My objectives were the following: capture the I/R of the inside of the telescope in the best way possible, have good quality audio documentation to be able to compose a site-specific piece for that space in the future, try electroacoustic feedback (I am sitting in a room style) to collect the resonant frequencies, and finally find solid materials with which continue my research on I/R as a filter. I did all of this and eventually more. I will not describe in detail each of those processes. I will rather jump directly to more artistic and practical conclusions.
ROT 54/2.6 FIELD RESEARCH TRIP
9 With the financial support of I-PORTUNUS (Creative Europe)
10 I created a little dossier to justify a long-term borrowing. See annex 1
10 I created a little dossier to justify a long-term borrowing. See annex 1
ARTIST LINKS:
ᴴᵉˡˡᵒ, ᴹʸ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ⁱˢ ᴺⁱˡᵒᵗᵖᵃˡ ᴰᵃˢ. ᴵ ˡⁱᵛᵉ ⁱⁿ ᴷᵒˡᵏᵃᵗᵃ ᵃⁿᵈ ˢᵗᵃʳᵗᵉᵈ ᵐᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵈᵘᵇˢᵗᵉᵖ ᵃʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ˡᵃᵗᵉ ²⁰¹⁶ ᵃⁿᵈ ˡᵃᵗᵉʳ ᵍᵒᵗ ⁱⁿᵗᵒ ⁱᵐᵖʳᵒᵛⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ, ᵉˣᵖᵉʳⁱᵐᵉⁿᵗⁱⁿᵍ ᵃⁿᵈ ᶜᵒᵐᵖᵒˢⁱⁿᵍ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵗʳᵃᵈⁱᵗⁱᵒⁿᵃˡ ᵃⁿᵈ ˡⁱᵛᵉ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ ʷʰⁱˡᵉ ᵃˡˢᵒ ᵇᵘⁱˡᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵖʳᵒᵗᵒᵗʸᵖᵉˢ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ. ᴵ'ᵐ ᶜᵘʳʳᵉⁿᵗˡʸ ʷᵒʳᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵗʷᵒ ᵖʳᵒʲᵉᶜᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ⁱˢ ᶜᵃˡˡᵉᵈ 'ᴮⁱᵒˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗʳᵃˢᵗ' ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃⁿᵒᵗʰᵉʳ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵘⁿᵈᵉʳ ᵐʸ ᵒʷⁿ ⁿᵃᵐᵉ ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ᴵ ʷⁱˡˡ ʳᵉˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵃ ¹² ʰᵒᵘʳ ᴴᵃʳᵐᵒⁿⁱᵘᵐ ᴰʳᵒⁿᵉ ᵃˡᵇᵘᵐ. ᵀʰᵉ ᵗʳᵃᶜᵏ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ᵃᵇᵒᵘᵗ ᵗᵒ ʰᵉᵃʳ ⁱˢ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵉqᵘᵉˡ ᵗᵒ ᵐʸ ᵖʳᵉᵛⁱᵒᵘˢ ᵃˡᵇᵘᵐ 'ᴰʳᵃᵍᵒⁿ ᴿⁱˢⁱⁿᵍ' ᵃⁿᵈ ʷᵃˢ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ᵘˢⁱⁿᵍ ᵃ ᵖʳᵒᵗᵒᵗʸᵖᵉ ʷᵒᵒᵈʷⁱⁿᵈ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᵐᵉⁿᵗ ᵗᵒᵍᵉᵗʰᵉʳ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵍᵘⁱᵗᵃʳ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉᶠᶠᵉᶜᵗˢ.
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
ᎷᏋᏝᏖᏇᏗᏖᏋᏒ ᎮᏬᏝᏕᏋ 1Ᏸ
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
First, the environment kept some surprises: I didn’t expect the snow inside the telescope and that damped some parts of the echoes. I did Ambisonic, stereo, omni and transduced I/R of the big telescope. [Audios 13, 14, 15] In this case, the I/Rs extracted from their physical context, treated as sound objects on their own are much less impressive than the visual magnitude of the space. On their own, the I/R I made are interesting by products, documentations and artefacts from my site-specific research but don’t compete with the tools available in the studio context. The best way I found to use them is to create combinations of various I/R of the same space. But a first important conclusion from this whole research began to point out: the documentation of the space sounds perceptually less interesting than the experience of the space. Of course, this might be a personal judgement based on my own aesthetic criteria, but the electroacoustic feedback brought me to the same conclusion.
After 18 iterations, I had an interesting drone composed by the resonant frequencies of the inner architecture. [Audio 16] I recorded them with the Ambisonic NTSF-1, but listening back to the recording without its context, without being there doesn’t offer an artistic experience. If nobody explained me the origin of the recording, it could sound like a regular synthetized drone coming from SOMA’s LYRA.
I can’t even really hear spatial information in it because it’s composed of sinewaves which are harder to locate in space. The experience I had processing 18 iterations in the dark of the tunnel, hearing more and more precisely the structure of the resonances, almost having auditory hallucinations where space and sound blend in one atemporal state of being, all of this can’t be replaced by my simple Ambisonic recording. From an artistic point of view, I understood that the technology available today to capture space implies different experiences and aesthetics than the compositions I can create for the space, to be heard in the space. Both the I/R and the electroacoustic feedback, which I considered to be the most “objective” and neutral way to capture the sonic identities of spaces, revealed to be perceptually not so exciting. And this first disillusion brought me to another important shift in my relationship with sound and space.
After 18 iterations, I had an interesting drone composed by the resonant frequencies of the inner architecture. [Audio 16] I recorded them with the Ambisonic NTSF-1, but listening back to the recording without its context, without being there doesn’t offer an artistic experience. If nobody explained me the origin of the recording, it could sound like a regular synthetized drone coming from SOMA’s LYRA.
I can’t even really hear spatial information in it because it’s composed of sinewaves which are harder to locate in space. The experience I had processing 18 iterations in the dark of the tunnel, hearing more and more precisely the structure of the resonances, almost having auditory hallucinations where space and sound blend in one atemporal state of being, all of this can’t be replaced by my simple Ambisonic recording. From an artistic point of view, I understood that the technology available today to capture space implies different experiences and aesthetics than the compositions I can create for the space, to be heard in the space. Both the I/R and the electroacoustic feedback, which I considered to be the most “objective” and neutral way to capture the sonic identities of spaces, revealed to be perceptually not so exciting. And this first disillusion brought me to another important shift in my relationship with sound and space.
EXTRACTION VS INTERACTION
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
Until here, I was using the image of “extraction” as a metaphor for the capacity of I/Rs to capture spaces and material’s inner sonic characteristics. This vision relies on some aesthetic assumptions that got fragilized when I saw the limits of the documentation of space. Basically, I wanted to make technology invisible, only focusing on the material or space itself. In the case of the electroacoustic feedback and the I/Rs, I wanted to get the recordings as close as how the sound would feel if we were there. I was perpetuating the realist aesthetic of the convolution reverb world mentioned in the introduction. But changing the microphone’s model, its placement in the space, the speaker’s size, the recording method (contact mic or condenser?), sound card or the meteorological conditions, all of this would significantly affect the result. So, I asked myself: is there a more objective version, a more neutral way to capture this space or material? And even if there was, is it of any importance for me as an artist?
The answer became clear when I tried my first free interaction with the solar-dish structure. I use my hands, sticks and metal found in the place to excite the metal structure and recorded it by mixing contact mics and condenser mics. The result is very appealing to me [audios 17, 18, 19]. We have both a sensation of the metallic material and of deepness, space. We feel that the sound is not from a synthetic source but is rather a real space being played. Are those recording faithful sonic representation of that space? Of course not, because of my own subjective interaction with it and the chosen technology involved. But from the moment I record, there is a subjectivity entering and I accept it. Luckily, I am not selling any “Telescope I/R Library”, so I don’t have the marketing incentive to create “audiophile” and “realistic” recordings. This brought my understanding of how to use I/R one step further: I am not extracting anymore the sonic identity of a space or a material, but I am archiving an interaction I have with it. This documentation can then be used as a spectral canvas with the convolution process [audios 20, 21, 22]. It expands drastically the ways I can create my extended I/R library. I can use a hit on a structure instead of the sweep technic. The sweep has the advantage to distribute an equal amplitude of all frequencies in the material. But exciters don’t translate low frequencies (under 60-80Hz) and are therefore not neutral. Speakers are hardly neutral neither. Hitting the material with another material naturally results in even more unpredictable results, with no linear distribution of the frequencies. This once again opens my curiosity and playfulness to try new materials, with a huge world of new sonic combinations easily accessible.
The answer became clear when I tried my first free interaction with the solar-dish structure. I use my hands, sticks and metal found in the place to excite the metal structure and recorded it by mixing contact mics and condenser mics. The result is very appealing to me [audios 17, 18, 19]. We have both a sensation of the metallic material and of deepness, space. We feel that the sound is not from a synthetic source but is rather a real space being played. Are those recording faithful sonic representation of that space? Of course not, because of my own subjective interaction with it and the chosen technology involved. But from the moment I record, there is a subjectivity entering and I accept it. Luckily, I am not selling any “Telescope I/R Library”, so I don’t have the marketing incentive to create “audiophile” and “realistic” recordings. This brought my understanding of how to use I/R one step further: I am not extracting anymore the sonic identity of a space or a material, but I am archiving an interaction I have with it. This documentation can then be used as a spectral canvas with the convolution process [audios 20, 21, 22]. It expands drastically the ways I can create my extended I/R library. I can use a hit on a structure instead of the sweep technic. The sweep has the advantage to distribute an equal amplitude of all frequencies in the material. But exciters don’t translate low frequencies (under 60-80Hz) and are therefore not neutral. Speakers are hardly neutral neither. Hitting the material with another material naturally results in even more unpredictable results, with no linear distribution of the frequencies. This once again opens my curiosity and playfulness to try new materials, with a huge world of new sonic combinations easily accessible.
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
CONVOLUTION: QUICK, HANDY
The I/R and convolution technic is closely linked to the development of computers and computing power. It allows us to create
an analysis that results in a file capturing the spectral response of a space or material. Some real advantages come out of this development: we can enact different sonic timbers without moving out from the studio, trying different IRs quickly and easily (drag and drop). I/Rs can be done with any physical object, sound device, telecommunications, or architectural space. Convolution can be applied on every possible sound. And the post-processing of those sounds is also infinite.
an analysis that results in a file capturing the spectral response of a space or material. Some real advantages come out of this development: we can enact different sonic timbers without moving out from the studio, trying different IRs quickly and easily (drag and drop). I/Rs can be done with any physical object, sound device, telecommunications, or architectural space. Convolution can be applied on every possible sound. And the post-processing of those sounds is also infinite.
CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTS
REAL VS VIRTUAL
Some convolutions are impossible to try out of the box: we can’t know how an Armenian duduk will convolve with Bulgarian singing without the computer. But in the case of I/Rs, the material or space itself exists outside of the computer. In that case, if we want
to achieve a realist aesthetic, I believe that the “real” sounds better than its extracted “virtual” I/R. The “real” means that we diffuse the sound with chosen technology (exciter, speaker, underwater speaker, etc) in the target space/material, and record the result.
The “virtual” means convolving a sound with the extracted I/R of the target space/material in the DAW. In that case, we can process
the I/R further to obtain unrealistic results. For example, let’s think about a sound going through the Zoom communication application and the same sound going through an I/R of the same Zoom. In the first case, the system is dynamic, evolving, non-linear and unpredictable.
A natural event or a cyberattack somewhere in the world can affect the speed of the internet where we are. The effect is thus
in a constant evolution. It has a temporal complexity and a capacity of reaction to inputs (noise gate for example). In opposition to this, the I/R is only a T-moment snapshot of one state of the system. It is a “bidimensional” slice in how the system would transform the sound. The system doesn’t react anyhow to the input (maybe only the amplitude of the sweep), doesn’t change over time, doesn’t adapt to outer parameters shaping the bandwidth. It is a cyclical, linear and predictable process. It can be used as a stable timber/space modifier and can be infinitively modified in post-processing. The same logic applies when comparing a sound diffused through contact mics in the metal with the sound convolved with the transduced/contact mic’d I/R of the same metal.
The perceptual complexity and interest of the later is lower. As an example, you can compare audio 23 and audio 24. They are both the same sample (pad), once diffused in the bottom of the telescope through two speakers and recorded with the NTSF-1 Ambisonic microphone (real), and once convolved with the I/R made at the same place with the exact same gear (virtual). The definition in the high end, as well as the spatiality is for me obvious. This empirical and technical observation would need to be replicated more often to offer rock-solid conclusions, but a general direction is drawn.
to achieve a realist aesthetic, I believe that the “real” sounds better than its extracted “virtual” I/R. The “real” means that we diffuse the sound with chosen technology (exciter, speaker, underwater speaker, etc) in the target space/material, and record the result.
The “virtual” means convolving a sound with the extracted I/R of the target space/material in the DAW. In that case, we can process
the I/R further to obtain unrealistic results. For example, let’s think about a sound going through the Zoom communication application and the same sound going through an I/R of the same Zoom. In the first case, the system is dynamic, evolving, non-linear and unpredictable.
A natural event or a cyberattack somewhere in the world can affect the speed of the internet where we are. The effect is thus
in a constant evolution. It has a temporal complexity and a capacity of reaction to inputs (noise gate for example). In opposition to this, the I/R is only a T-moment snapshot of one state of the system. It is a “bidimensional” slice in how the system would transform the sound. The system doesn’t react anyhow to the input (maybe only the amplitude of the sweep), doesn’t change over time, doesn’t adapt to outer parameters shaping the bandwidth. It is a cyclical, linear and predictable process. It can be used as a stable timber/space modifier and can be infinitively modified in post-processing. The same logic applies when comparing a sound diffused through contact mics in the metal with the sound convolved with the transduced/contact mic’d I/R of the same metal.
The perceptual complexity and interest of the later is lower. As an example, you can compare audio 23 and audio 24. They are both the same sample (pad), once diffused in the bottom of the telescope through two speakers and recorded with the NTSF-1 Ambisonic microphone (real), and once convolved with the I/R made at the same place with the exact same gear (virtual). The definition in the high end, as well as the spatiality is for me obvious. This empirical and technical observation would need to be replicated more often to offer rock-solid conclusions, but a general direction is drawn.
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
Ỽąɾօմʝąղ ↻հҽէìɾìąղ – įའ ҍҽվօղժ འҽѵҽɾҍҽɾąէìօղ: ѵìժҽօ ҽ׹ʍքӀҽʂ
FILES:
°09 telescope below
°08 telescope I/R (with heavy aliasing)
°13 solar dish interaction
°15 tunnel feedback electroacoustic 02
°14 tunnel feedback electroacoustic 01
°16 tunnel electroacoustic feedback
°09 telescope below
°08 telescope I/R (with heavy aliasing)
°13 solar dish interaction
°15 tunnel feedback electroacoustic 02
°14 tunnel feedback electroacoustic 01
°16 tunnel electroacoustic feedback
ARTIST LINKS:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°
Forgotten Waters °°°°
I/R AS AN ARCHIVE OF INTERACTIONS FOR CONVOLUTION
If I want the sound of a specific space or material, it is better for me to do it site- specific, “real” (rediffusion in the material/space) instead of “virtual” (I/R of the material/space and then convolution). We have more chance to recognize the material, device or space and thus access some cultural connotations (for everyone different!) embedded with them. But when we want to go beyond the realist perspective and want to shape sound in a more abstract way, without explicitly linking it to recognizable “water”, “metal” or “big concrete space”, we can freely interact with the space and material to bring out new characteristics. Hitting, rubbing, scratching, using soft or hard, light, or heavy, thin, or thick materials to excite the space/material. Recording separate hits, I can use them both as future convolution objects and triggered samples.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
This whole artistic research was multidimensional: it had some merely technical aspects, some perceptual and some aesthetical dimensions. For me the next important step is concrete artistic application. I will list a few of them here than are planned for the future.
If I want the sound of a specific space or material, it is better for me to do it site- specific, “real” (rediffusion in the material/space) instead of “virtual” (I/R of the material/space and then convolution). We have more chance to recognize the material, device or space and thus access some cultural connotations (for everyone different!) embedded with them. But when we want to go beyond the realist perspective and want to shape sound in a more abstract way, without explicitly linking it to recognizable “water”, “metal” or “big concrete space”, we can freely interact with the space and material to bring out new characteristics. Hitting, rubbing, scratching, using soft or hard, light, or heavy, thin, or thick materials to excite the space/material. Recording separate hits, I can use them both as future convolution objects and triggered samples.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
This whole artistic research was multidimensional: it had some merely technical aspects, some perceptual and some aesthetical dimensions. For me the next important step is concrete artistic application. I will list a few of them here than are planned for the future.
- First, I have an exhibition planned on the 2-3 April (just after the deadline) where I will show some results from the field research trip in Armenia. It will be hosted at the AADK residency, Spain. A beamer will project some videos displaying my working method with the architecture and the environment, while 2-4 speakers will play field recordings, interactions with the spaces and I/Rs.
- In September, I will go back to the HUSC telescope to prepare a site-specific creation and continue the gathering of hits, I/Rs and field recordings. I will coordinate with international festival to see if it can be co-produced and/or broadcasted.
- I plan to prepare a collective exhibition on the relation between science and traditional knowledge for the scientists and villagers living around the HUSC. During the trip last February, I was accompanied by two other artists and one film director. We gathered interviews and stories about their relationship with the place, science, the cosmos and traditional Armenian as well as soviet legacies. The exhibition should be ready for the second part of 2023, after the second trip in September 2022. The exhibition will include a multichannel installation about the sonic space and materiality of the HUSC.
- In parallel, I am working on a solo album that will contain a lot of personal convolution technics, such as blending instruments resonances with synthetized sounds, blending different complex composed sounds, morphing sounds between timbers.
- Finally, I will continue experimenting with the processing potential of the convolution technic. A first easy step I want to realize is a post-FX morphing controller made of a 2D plane with a reverb at each corner (on Max MSP). I then want to dig further if it is possible to change some of the offline sample’s parameter in real time and develop my own personalized convolution engine.
Credits: Pictures and videos are made by Sanjay Rai, Selu Herraiz and me. Voices examples: The Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Choir. Armenian example: Djivan Gasparian Ensemble, Armenian Fantasies. All other recordings are made by me.
A҉R҉T҉I҉S҉T҉ L҉I҉N҉K҉S҉:
My main works revolve around exploring the past and discovering thier languages, how they lived and what were the events that led to thier destruction I find these concepts really facinating though I have a certain way of doing things,
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
I'm sometimes not quite sure what
I'm doing with my music I feel like I have too many ideas and I'm too strict on what
I want to work on, part of the reason
I think is because I don't recieve any kind of constructive criticism or feedback
on my work in short I'm looking for bad reviews because that way I will atleast have a different point of view on my music other than my own. This next track is called 'The Fog Of War' which is coming out as a part of a compilation Ambient Layers Vol.II on 7K.
A City Painted With Red - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Fog Of War - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I always wanted to play my Harmonium with my two hands so a few weeks earlier an idea very spontaniously came down that if I could install my spare 8000 rpm cpu fan at the back of my harmonium I could play it with both
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
my hands without having to vello it.
Wrapping this up mix or whatever you may call this, another unreleased track called 'Forgotten Waters' it was composed only using the harmonium and running the cpu through very high resitance wires and will be out via another compilation on Swiss noise label Czarnagora I don't know how
it's pronouced pardon my language.
Forgotten Waters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pls, turn your phone back
The Fog Of War °°°
Meltwater Pulse 1B°
A City Painted °°