In our initial in-person meeting we synchronised our thoughts and ideas regarding fundamental work methods and technologies. Given that we were operating in distinct countries, utilising diverse facilities and technologies, and coming from varied artistic backgrounds, we wanted to explore commonalities without constraining our individual expressions. The follow is a summary of the main directions our first discussions led.
Name: Nadine Schütz
What do the 4 modules (layering, enhancing, relocating, modifying) actually describe (what can be their methodological role) during different moments in a design / composition process, and also for the realisation and reception of a project? For example, in my own project for the forecourt of the new courthouse in Paris I use spectral layering as a compositional technique to achieve a spatial effect which might best be described as a perceptual modification. At the same time, the sonic content used for the composition is on the one hand based on a production process involving relocation (samples extracted from field recordings made at other places in the urban neighbourhood), on the other hand creates a semantic field of references that aim at (emotionally) relocating the site in question and qualifiy it as publicly shared part of that same urban neighbourhood (as oposed to only being a representational forecourt to the courthouse). All this is combines an artistic approach based on a poetic and musical reading of the environment with the site-specific design challenges: while the “relocating” aspect is related to a greater urban challenge of the public space design project which integrates the installation (the question of identity, belonging and social cohesion), the “layering / modification” one adresses issues of local auditory comfort.
Name: Natasha Barrett
The four modules should be regarded as four ways of analyzing or addressing the object of inquiry, for an analytical approach, even though, in reality, there is significant overlap as explained by Nadine in her own work. In the Reconfiguring project this overlap may be as follows (these are just examples):
- One layer or one intervention can be appropriate for many modules simultaneously, depending on how it is intended (by the designer).
- One layer or one intervention can be appropriate for many modules simultaneously, depending on how it is received (by the listener).
- A number of features may join or overlap, where the way in which they overlap would situate the result in one or another module.
Nadine has mentioned that spectral layering as a compositional technique to achieve a spatial effect, which might best be described as a perceptual modification. This can be seen as a process where layering by the designer may result in modification by the listener.
What about when layering onto an existing environment can be akin to the traditional mixing and montage approach of musique concrète. Rather than expecting the listener to hear a perceptual modification, the new counterpoint between existing and added elements activates a new/different sense of engagement.
There are many nuances to be explored.
How can we create links between our different projects addressing different locations in different countries and under different cultural / climatic conditions? This is one of the central topics adressed during the November workshop in Oslo. We agree to build methodological consistenty through common use of technical equipment and systematic data production. This shall not exclude methodological differences induced by the different locations we work on.
It will be useful to (1) set up a list of commonly used tools / technology / techniques and (2) to design a sort of preformatted report journal everyone of us could use for our work on different locations.
The easy way is to ensure that we document the following for each recording:
Source recording
- Recording equipment used (mics, quantity and recording device).
- Recording method (close mics, distant / soundfield capture, distributed array).
- Time of day, year, approx temperature and other weather features.
- Short description of the location.
- A photo.
Analysis and post processing approach:
- Duration of the recording used
- Studio setup
- Onsite / outdoor work
- Spectral analysis
- Spectral extraction and processing
- Spatial extraction and processing
- Spatial reflection analysis
- Temporal analysis
- Practical result
- Theoretical result
- Thematic connection
3. Choose a landscape element that could provide a narrative and physical leitmotif linking our projects
Elisabeth Sjödahl presented her work on the watershed of the Oslo region. This presentation opened up a new discussion as to whether a specific landscape element can be used to guide our choice of location as well as our reading of the locations chosen?
Name: Nadine Schütz
Water as leitmotif wouldn’t force us to choose an obvious site like a shore. It could also be studied through it’s apparent absence: every site is dealing with issues of water, wether we see it or not, but maybe we can hear it, or then, make it audible?
Name: Natasha Barrett
- Elisabeth’s work involves research on water and how we can plan in relation to water and its path in the landscape (‘reading’ the landscape and planning with respect to waterways).
- Change the movement patterns of both water and infrastructure you change the sound.
- Change the walking patterns and change people’s experience of the soundscape.
- Change in the terrain changes the sound propagation: ‘terrain forming’.
My own experiments with the water theme have primarily focused on harbour sounds (specifically, Holmen Bay, located outside of Oslo city) and the transmission of sound across the Oslo Fjord at various times of the day and throughout the year. Additionally, I have initiated work on rivers and smaller waterways that contribute to the Oslo Fjord. I am considering the possibility of developing a case study during the summer, situated in an outdoor location on the east side of the Oslo Fjord. If the project receives approval, it would be interesting to discuss this more with Elisabeth.
Ulf Holbrook is also interested in watering themes at Nessodden, which is on the opposite side of the fjord to me.
Name: Andrew Knight-Hill
Andrew presents his current project "Over Lunan".
Keyword / theme: site sensitive installation performance composition.
Over Lunan is a theatrical performance sound installation in collaboration with a wider artistic team. Working towards integrating binaural bone conducting headphones alongside loudspeaker array systems to create an immersive soundscape and concert experience for audiences. The work takes inspiration from the history and etymology of Lunan Bay in Scotland, a crescent shaped inlet on the North East coast of Scotland. The dramatic work draws associations between the site and ancient Messopotamian deities such as Lu Nanna (an Apkallu Demi God) and flood myths, drawing associations with geological history of the area and the Storegga slide, an underwater landslip off the Norwegian continental shelf which reformed the coast of the UK.
The work will feature choir, flute, horns, marimba and explore the interplay possible between stereo binaural close listening and wider ambisonic listening over a PA system.
Development of this work has been advanced by engagement in the Reconfiguring Landscape Workshops and experiments, discussion of place space and site and the challenges of technical realisation. The integration of specific point sources and multichannel arrays in sympathy with the architecture and the landscape of the spaces, not to mention the in-situ soundscapes, makes this a complex but engaging case study for the research. Audiences are to experience themselves in the physical location of the dunes, but one that is extended, enhanced and promoted.
Use of bone conducting headphones, which sit on the skull and thus leave the ear canal unblocked, enables the combination of these sound field elements into a unified experience.