Spatialisation

i. Transducers - electronics, pre-recorded piano and sound installations

At a fundamental level, transducers, or exciters, turn objects into speakers or sound environments. 

My primary context for transducer exploration has been through my solo project, postcards of nostalgia. Two phases can be outlined. The first culminated in December 2020 with the recording and re-amp of my first solo work for microtonal prepared piano. The second phase - starting in early 2022 - involves a deeper collaboration with producer Simon Mariegaard toward live performance sound installations. 

Phase One

The first phase took interest in working with transducers from a recording perspective. 

By December, 2020 I had amassed quite a few sound sketches. These sound sketches included experimentation into semi-modular electronics, and preliminary sound recordings from my microtonal piano. 

I was working with semi-modular pedals - built by Berlin-based Koma Electronics - and was particularly interested in drone-based improvisations. 

“For me, I identify electronics with the overarching metaphor of moving from the dream-world into wakefulness. A kind of confronting of dualities and the overlapped area we may refer to as the liminal plane. Electronics traverse this liminality, but more importantly for me are symbolic of wakefulness, and the mechanistic and technological ‘waking world’ we find ourselves in.” (From an interview with Tony Reif and Songlines Recordings)

 The drone-like soundscapes were recorded directly from the pedals themselves. The sound quality was clear, clean and pristine. I asked the question of how these electronics could merge sonically with my microtonal prepared piano? How could the electronics combine, overlap and create a distinct and immersive sound world of interference patterns with the acoustic piano? The transducers became a mediator in this open question. For when they were attached to the piano soundboard, they could amplify the electronics and thereby not only change the sound quality of the electronics but dialogue in real time with my piano improvisations. Strange and beautiful interference patterns could emerge between me and the pre-recorded electronics.The process was enriching from an improvising perspective because of the moment-to-moment acoustical adjustments taking place as the pre-recorded and the live performance interfered with one another. 

 font-de-gaume (postcards of nostalgia)

Phase two

In the second phase, my transducer research shifted from a recording context into performative musical environment. It has been my aim to engage audiences through embodied and interactive sound experiences. In this way, the initiative becomes both a live performance and live sound installation. On April 23rd and 24th 2022, we gave two performances in Copenhagen- one at Concert Church and the other at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory. The following video is a snap-shot into the Concert Church performance. 

In creating an interactive and embodied space for the audience and us, the performers, me and Simon Mariegaard placed transducers on four separate sound sources, or sound objects. We placed: two transducers on the microtonal prepared piano’s sound board; two transducers on two circular ride cymbals (directly above the piano); and a bass transducer on the wooden floor underneath the piano. We also had sound coming from a quadraphonic, or four-speaker arrangement.

Using pre-recorded microtonal prepared piano recordings, electronics and some basic DAW  software we harnessed the transducer-equipped sound objects towards specified spatialization. The quadraphonic speaker set-up offered immersive listening perspectives. The audience was fed sound from the four corners of the room. The transducer-equipped cymbals created illusions and distortions since they radically altered the sound of the input. (For instance, inputed sounds that carried the natural resonating frequencies of the cymbals can create disorientating feedback loops.) They also created spatial ambiguity as they project sounds above the piano and in different directions than the piano soundboard. Equipped with two transducers, the piano soundboard became a playground of sound combining pre-recorded sounds with live sounds. Finally, the floor-mounted bass transducer emitted low frequency information that, in effect, vibrationally enlivened the floor in which all participants stood, sat or lay upon. Thus, there co-existed four levels of spatialization - quadraphonic speaker set-up, cymbals, piano soundboard and floor vibrations - which invited embodied experiences. 

Towards audience interactiveness, we prepared the room with sitting mats, invited free movement within the room (including the ability to lie underneath the piano) and encouraged up-close experiences with us, the performers, but also the piano, sound objects and equipment. 

Given the relative spatial complexity, the project has emerged as a live duo collaboration where I perform on the piano and Simon does live sound design and spatialization.

ii. Re-amping

Re-amping is traditionally a two stage process whereby one firstly records a track and then re-records the track afterwards by sending the original track through various amps or effects. Rather than focusing on the amp, pre-amp sound quality or any sort of effects I’m interested in capturing and embodying acoustical signatures of unique acoustical spaces. I’m interested in how different acoustical spaces can interact - for instance a dry performance space and a reverberant church - and how that not only satisfies a personal psychological disposition, but also the overall composition process, especially during mixing. 

The acoustical space is a defining feature of any performance or recording. It has been important for me to question this aspect since my project - my microtonal prepared pianos - exists within the confines of a single performance room at RMC. By re-amping music from a dry room into a more dynamic acoustical space, when integrated together, one can be met with disorientation, illusion, ambiguity and transformation. There is also a “confronting of dualities” and a resulting friction in that liminal plane of creativity and exploration. Thrree examples follow. 

1. Postcards of Nostalgia                                                                                                              

microtonal prepared piano and electronics re-amped into St. Augustines Church

"The space itself, the cavernous St. Augustines church, resembled the sound of walking through a cave chamber. I’m interested in caves as symbols for psychic wombs or graves. Thus they are archetypes for the beginning and ending of the life cycle. I’m interested in why people have been drawn to them, for time immemorial, for various reasons including ritual and creative endeavours such as we find in palaeolithic cave art.” (Journal entry, 2021) 

With the assistance of engineer, Simon Mariegaard, I first recorded the solo album in RMC’s dry A118 performance room. We used a pair of Coles 4038 studio ribbon mic’s (just above and before the piano hammers) and a pair of AKG C414 (above, and near the end of the piano). We then took the music into St. Augustine’s Church in Østerbro, Copenhagen and played it through two Dynaudio Acoustics (BM15A) speakers. We set up eight room microphones scattered throughout the church to capture various perspectives into the space. We used two AKG C414, two Coles 4038 and four DPA condenser mic’s. The element of spatial perspective, including movement, depth and distortion were key elements especially in arriving at an aesthetically pleasing mix and pos-production. For within the mix, we wanted to playfully dialogue between extreme reverb and spatial depth in contrast to tactile clarity through dry-room close mic’ing.   

The following example illustrates the movement from both RMC’s dry performance space combined with the church’s close mic’s and gradually moves further into the back recesses of the church, leaving behind any last vestiges of the original dry room. 

                                                        The circular ruins (postcards of nostalgia)

2. Buried Language ~ re-amping saxophone trio into TunnelFabrikken

We started by taking recordings from RMC’s dry A118 performance room and re-amped them again, through a pair of Dynaudio Acoustics (BM15A) speakers.

I was searching for more ambiguity, distortion and transformation. I wanted the saxes, within their new acoustical space, to take on a novel acoustical identity and challenge the listener as to what he/she was listening to. At the same rate, I was envisioning a specific mixing approach. I wanted more reverb and acoustical depth so that the saxophones could sit at the back of the mix. This is because, in the final mix, the saxes would need to merge with microtonal prepared piano and percussion. Since the latter would require a lot of sonic space at the front of the mix, the saxes would potentially need their own defined spatial region. My feeling was that the saxes would acquire this distant sense of space through the sheer size and reverb of Tunnelfabrikken. 

Why Tunnelfabrikken?

I was interested in re-amping in Tunnelfabrikken for several reasons. Firstly, for its historical significance, in that it was the site where many components of the Øresunds bridge (linking Denmark and Sweden) were fabricated. In the coming years the space will be completely restored and gentrified and I saw an opportunity to preserve the space, through its sound, before it would undergo this radical transformation. In this sense these actions have value in preserving a component of Danish heritage. Secondly, I was intrigued by the size of the space - about 261 metres long and 125 metres wide - and what kind of sonic character the space would yield. The space has clearly been neglected, with clear signs of roof damage, interior pigeon nesting and tattered insulation hanging from the wall recesses. 

Reflections

Our sound experiences within Tunnelfabrikken were mixed. On the one hand, we were met with curious rattles and distortions mainly provided by the decayed metallic roof covering. These details were appealing since they, in subtle ways, distorted and transformed the saxophone sound. We were also met with disappointment given a lack of sonic uniqueness of the space. We were expecting more reverb and hadn’t accounted for the degree of insulation that was inhibiting the needed sound reflections. The huge size of the space also didn’t help, in the sense of generating interesting sonic effects that we expected to emerge from sound rebounds and reflections. From a research perspective, we learned a lot, and left with a very satisfying sound recording. Next time we’ll investigate more closely the interior materials of the space and do more thorough preliminary sound studies. A personal take-way is that the size of space doesn’t automatically relate to degree of reverb and depth. 

Not completely satisfied from an artistic perspective, we continued by re-amping the saxophone trio through sound objects, rather than sonic spaces.

3. Buried Language ~ Sound objects as speakers. Sound objects as micro-spaces.

In connection with my transducer research, I had the idea that It might be interesting to play recordings through transducers - exciters - attached to various sound objects. It was important that the sound objects offer a certain degree of natural reverb; have a unique sound signature; transform the saxophone sound, at least in part, into something aesthetically illusive and undefinable. 

We started by sampling various objects including, resonant floor toms, circular cymbals, metallic cans of various sizes, a large oil can, and random surfaces of wood and metal. This was done by sending a short saxophone excerpt through a single transducer (attached to the object in question) and making notes as to certain sonic qualities. It was important to find the right volume level and frequency equalization as certain sound objects could handle very little gain before distorting beyond use. Others, including the oil can could handle a lot of gain before distorting. In choosing what music to re-amp through which object It was important to also experimentally gain knowledge of resonant frequencies of the objects and how certain inputed frequency bands would affect the overall sound character.

Now that all the dry-room saxophone recordings have been “re-amped” through particular objects the editing and mastering phase can begin. The sound objects recordings can now be combined and layered with both the Tunnelfabrikken recordings and dry-room recordings. In the larger context, the multilayered saxophones will integrate with microtonal prepared piano and percussion.

Here is an early mixing example of what the bigger context might sound like.

Magnetic pickup rig

A work-in-progress, I’ve been fascinated by ways of isolating or amplifying specific areas or single notes on my microtonal prepared piano. In general, this relates to targeting specific piano preparations and their complex percussive peculiarities. 

I started by researching various magnetic pickups that typically are found on electric and bass guitars. It was important to gain a preliminary understanding of the various kinds of pickups, their respective tone colour, frequency response range, and gain characteristics. It was essential to make cables for each pickup - roughly 16 in number - and this required soldering. 

After deciding on 8 specific pickups -that would focus on specific areas, or frequency regions, of the piano -  I built a grounding box, with the help of engineer Francesco Bigoni, to reduce static noise. It was also essential for us to build a supporting rig that could securely suspend the pickups, at the appropriate height, just above the strings of the piano. 

Running parallel to magnetic pickup research, I was collaborating with programmer Domenico Villani in creating a MAX spatialization patch for 4-8 speakers and amps. 

The idea is to give autonomous movements to single or groups of magnetic pickups. I’m trying to confront the expected stationary spatialization that comes with a grand piano. I’m interested in creating disorientation, ambiguity and illusion and challenging the perceivers expected ideas of where sound should emerge from. Preliminary tests were encouraging, in terms of feeling the spatial movement of specific and groups of pickups. 

The next phase involved incorporating the MAX spatialization software into a custom microphone system consisting of transducers, magnetic pickups, piezo’s and dynamic microphones. For instance, transducers placed on the piano’s sound board turn the board into a speaker. Magnetic guitar pickups isolate specific sound sources and dynamic microphones capture general room sound. We were basically aiming for different kinds of listening perspectives and how they could be layered spatially within the patch. In preliminary tests it has been challenging to avoid feedback and technical issues. The positioning of the pa system, guitar or bass amplifiers as well as microphones is something that needs more research and time investment. Another related issue is gaining and amplification. Unless there is uniformity in the equipment used, there will always be differences in tone colour, frequency response range, and gain characteristics. The equipment I’ve used - whether it be guitar or bass amplifiers, guitar pickups or even pa’s - has been various and non-uniform and so the process has been highly complex and problematic at times. In future tests, I’ll streamline the entire set-up and research further into appropriate areas.