Mäanderungen by Hanns Holger Rutz

Acoustical surveys of the city. An experimental radio piece. The spatial design of a city seems to dictate who moves around in it and how. Mäanderungen (“meanderings”) is an acoustic suggestion for developing alternative forms—in real, physical space; in electronic, radiophonic space; and in the imagination. Meanders are created by friction, by the sensing of irregularities, between depth and surface, in motion. The exploratory process developed by the temporary production collective corresponds to a form of walking, being and moving in the city that arises in the here and now, free from purpose, and that is individual, subjective, and inquiring. Peculiar views of the urban space are made possible—unusual, temporary units of measurement introduced. Part of the material created is based upon an interpretation of different spatial realities such as facades or gaps. They are photographed, drawn, captured by sensors or pressure and combined with text fragments to create a composition that manifests both as a radio drama and in the form of a spatial installation. The translation process is driven mainly by an algorithmic generator that is constantly allowing new coincidences. Mäanderungen was the winning project of the lime_lab 3 prize for experimental radio play. lime_lab is a cooperation of Akademie Graz, Forum Stadtpark, Literaturhaus Graz, ORF Steiermark, and steirischer herbst.

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Source code

All sound materials were categorised, the main two categories being spoken text versus sonic textures and field recordings. The texts again were divided into several types. Basic rules for the mixing and transformation of the categories were established.

All sound materials were assembled within Mellite as audio files, enriched with analysis data such as segmentation into pauses, loudness, pitch.

Many preliminary examinations took place to understand the dynamics of the material. Here loudness histograms of the four voices are shown.

A masking process was developed that allows the sedimentation of "foreground sounds" by applying a "shadow" onto a "background sound", using a blurred and smoothened spectrum transformed into an inverse filter.

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artwork: Meanderings

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