Ambient concrète: Meditations

The methodology behind my current "Ambient concrète" works is a transformation of natural and industrial acoustic environments into music data followed by a re-assignment of sound-, time- and environment variables going through an artistically driven process. In my opinion, methodology, acoustic results and musical expression is a logical evolution of a genre that Pierre Schaeffer (1910 - 1995) coined with "musique concrète" back in the 40's.
Typically the production starts with pure acoustic ambient recordings of natural environments. This is usually done using DAT or mini disc recorders, pre-amplifiers and an appropriate set of microphones. Here I am using mini condenser microphones, studio equipment or, most of all, a kit of special in-ear microphones that allow taking recordings very close to the natural sound of hearing with my own ears. Not to forget: some of the sounds are recorded with PDA or even mobile phone devices.

The acoustic material is now transformed into a musical score using electronic techniques and advanced Fourier computing. The following processes are artistically driven: I am usually doing dramatic changes in the time parameters in the musical event data stream. A further step is identifying different layers in terms of pitch, volume and expression and splitting them up into different synchronized tracks.

The arrangement is an interpretative, artistic process with digitally processed instruments, filters, samples and effects. To figuratively close the circuit, some of the original samples are usually processed in samplers and weaved in again to be an element of the overall musical ambience.

Currently I am working on an extension of this concept where I am experimenting with the transformation of landscape parameters into musical works. My idea is to take 3 dimensional landscape models as a construction basis for filter shapes or even waveforms. This is an approach to make a likeness of a physical landscape in an ambient soundtrack

Production notes: "Ambient concrète: Meditations"

Track 1: M44 beehive cluster*

raw42 review: "Quiet, peaceful combination of subtle, ghostly synth effects and wind-chimes with an eerie undercurrent of expectation."
The tune is another ambient transformation of my beehive recordings (-> Track 6: Both worlds on track). Extreme density lowering of event-per-time quotients, splitting and spherical instrumentation are shifting this earthly microcosmic environment into the dimension of outer space. What can be heard as wind-like noises moving around is the filtered original bee recording the musical score is constructed of. The track contains a rich level of sub-tone frequencies that go into the listener's mind without letting him notice consciously.
*"M44 is a prominent open cluster of stars. Nicknamed Praesepe and "The Beehive", it is one of the few open clusters visible to the unaided eye. M44 was thought to be a nebula until Galileo used an early telescope to resolve the cluster's bright blue stars. (...). When viewed with a powerful telescope, hundreds of stars become visible" (-> NASA, The Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980803.html).

Track 2: Witness for a day

raw42 review: "Cool wooden percussive elements dominate this sublime track. Nice wind type fx and searing pads make up a great atmospheric tune. great background music."
This track is built on a small looped slice I extracted from a Buddhist monks OM chant. The sound of the loop was a major inspiration for me and used to bring me into a deep relaxing mood when working on this production. I used to get into a kind of trance, most likely coming from the spectrum of the OM chant frequencies. The composition also includes heavy percussive elements, ambient sounds and some assorted melody elements.

Track 3: Sound is I

raw42 review: "Slow dark ambient scape with a windswept visual vibe. Gentle effects such as cowbells and toms drift over the plain. Dark and eerie."
Picture: Natural ambience recording for "Sound is I" and "Witness for a day"

For "Sound is I" I was looking for a place where I could take some purely natural sounds in a minimum length of 20 minutes. I imagined a certain place in the German Alps for this and so I went there with my mountain bike. For more than 2 hours I was then testing out different positions aiming to get a perfect balance of the sounds of a little spring, winds, cows, birds and other animals living there. Finally I took two uninterrupted 20min recordings of a really great environment. My first plans were to take this recording, as it is, purely natural, and embed it between 2 instrumental tracks. But soon I realized that for the meditation purpose I would prefer to offer an additional environment, which is totally abstract and contrasting to the natural environment. So I added some ambient moods and spices. But the production still didn't satisfy me. The track had to rest for some time. When having the first results from my transformation experiments on "Both worlds on track" I realized that this also would be exactly the right approach for "Sound is I" and I worked on transformations of the mountain ambient. The result was really inspiring me. In the end, the track can be seen as a synchronized synthesis of 3 approaches to a landscape.

Track 4: Lavat mee

raw42 review: "Dark brooding ambient track with subtle clicking fx noises backing up a lush pad driven emotion filled short piece."
The term "Lavat mee" has - as far as I know - not a meaning in sense of any known language. It is kind of a mantra I invented one very early morning at the subway station when having to start to an unpleasant business trip. Since then I am using the mantra to calm myself down when being exposed to stress or unpleasant situations. The track was constructed as the final piece for the meditation phase with the intention to support a meditating person in returning from inward to outward attention.

Track 5: Tokyo tube

raw42 review: "Anticipation laden dt track with analogue arpegiated synths and a mellow background vibe introducing occasional abstract melodies. Has a slight oriental feel."
I have recorded the original subway environment on this track on location in Tokyo, Japan, back in 1998. You can hear the train's engines running, wagon doors opening and closing with typical warning sirens screaming, people talking in Japanese language and many other environmental acoustic events. The track "Tokyo tube" was all constructed on basis on this acoustic environment and is weaved with the structure of the typical subway event chain.

Track 6: Both worlds on track
Picture: Beehive inside recording for "Both worlds on track" and "M44 beehive cluster"

This production started as an experiment. It is my first approach of transforming an acoustic environment into a musical score. The starting point was a recording of an acoustic bee ambient. To realize this recording I took a very small stereo condenser microphone and situated it directly in the inside of a beehive with thousands of honeybees flying around and crawling on the microphone. One of the interesting aspects of this environment is the acoustical depth of the sound as there are alike-emitters in a various distances to the microphones. I�ve done several recording sessions with changed parameters, all in all about one hour in time. I then used parts of these recordings to transform it into musical data. The retro digital instrumentation used here is in obvious contrast to the natural origin of the score data. In the final mix of the track, the filtered original bee sound recording composes an acoustic background layer.