engraved glass eg.p018

new release available as a high quality CDr or BandCamp digital download

five spring chorus field recordings, made in the early hours of the morning in natural wilderness environments in Estonia. Simplicity, clarity and the richness of the sonic landscapes documented make this release a fascinating listen.

1. Ööküll forest house, small pond with frogs. Recorded June 28th, 2010 at around 1:30 am
2. Water insect and beaver territory, Räpina Polder. Recorded May 29th, 2011 at around 1:30 am
3. Diverse calls of the Emajõe Suursoo (Ema River delta). Recorded May 15th, 2011 at around 3:00 am
4. Quiet field with Corn Crakes on the road from Rasina. Recorded June 28th, 2010 at around 2:30 am
5. Noisy island on Meelva lake with Cuckoo chorus. Recorded May 21st, 2011 at around 3:30 am

Preview

available as a limited edition taiyo yuden disc, mounted on an A5 art card with accompanying A6 postcard and as a digital download.

yannick dauby, john grzinich, murmer

“lind, raud, aastaajad”

ib005 – 2 cd set – 2012

edition of five hundred and nine

invisible birds is very proud to announce the release of lind, raud, aastaajad, a 2 cd set of estonian recordings from three masters : yannick dauby, john grzinich, and murmer. Order directly from the Invisible Birds website.

disc 1 – yannick dauby : lind, raud – songs of birds and metal, recorded in Estonia in 2007.

disc 2 – yannick daubyy, john grzinich, and murmer : aastaajad – field recordings by john grzinich and murmer, electronic sounds by yannick dauby. two tracks composed by john grzinich, two tracks composed by patrick mcginley (aka murmer).

Yannick Dauby mentions in his notes that, while in Estonia, John Grzinich guided him through some of his most favorite recording locations. It is in these locations where he feels the artist “becomes an instrument for the landscape”. The lind, raud, aastaajad recordings perfectly evoke the connection these three artists have to the landscape. In specified locations and seasons, they compose rich sounds from birds, metal, rain, snow, footsteps, melodious wind, water trickles, and more. The recordings subtly ensconce the listener in a sublime and poetic “view” of the landscape transforming itself.

Previews:

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Reviews:

If anything, the Estonian countryside is quiet. The clockwork schedule of the network of rural buses and the cackle of a black swan racing high above the trees is about all that you’ll hear. I (Jim) had the pleasure of experiencing this Estonian quietude a few years back, and I have to say that Yannick Dauby’s collection of field recordings is way more active than any i actually encountered. Estonia is known for its avian diversity, although when I was there during the brief transition from summer into winter (literally, three weeks!), the birds had all flown south… so Dauby must have been there in later spring or summertime as he does capture a number of chittering sounds from those birds passing through from Russia and Finland to Southern Europe and North Africa (or vice versa). Between these avian recordings, Dauby documents another common denizen of the Estonian countryside – the giant chunks of metal dumped unceremoniously by the Soviet agricultural industry. Even without much wind, these abandoned grain silos and oil tanks resonate with thick rumblings and subtle overtones, which Dauby dutifully records with contact microphones. These thrumming drones recall the Alan Lamb wire recordings as much as they do Thomas Koner’s deep gong recordings.

Disc one of this two disc set features Dauby’s “songs for birds and metal” while the second features reworkings of Dauby’s source material by John Grzinich and Murmer (aka Patrick McGingley), both of whom have exceptional catalogues of electro-organic compositions based often on phonography. Grzinich’s two lengthy pieces are quieter and more subtle, focusing on the patter of dripping water and melting ice with flickering drones and harmonics forming arctic halos around those aquatic textures. The two Murmer tracks intensify things comparatively against Grzinich’s lowercase work, with thick drones amassed around what sounds like somebody trekking through the deep snow. Those Coleclough / Koner drones manifest ominous black clouds and unsettled vibes, not heard elsewhere on the album and turning that Estonian quiet into something haunting. All in all, a magnificent piece of manipulated field recording and sound ecology.
- Jim Haynes for Aquarius Records catalog

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following last weeks yannick dauby, here is more from him. before moving to taipei, he was in estonia for a while, which made him friends with john grzinich and patrick mcginley, also known as murmer. if i understand this double CD right, then one side as field recordings by dauby, mostly consisting of birds and metal, while the second CD has two pieces each by grzinich and mcginely using their own field recordings and electronic sounds by dauby. what exactly was the reason to combine this, otherwise then the omni-presence of dauby, i am not sure. the first CD is quite nice, if not a bit long for it lasts just over an hour. throughout the pieces which just have birds sounds are bit shorter and the metal pieces are (considerable) longer. don’t except some neubauten like banging, but rather rusty objects floating neatly in the wind, calm and peaceful. nice but, as said, there is overlap in this sound material.

so the second CD might be a rework of the sound material from dauby, but perhaps also a mixture of their own sounds, along with electronic sounds delivered by dauby. perhaps if we look at this from a purely musical perspective this is the more interesting of the two CDs, unless of course you look for pure field recordings. the first CD is more like a great exercise in recording environmental sounds whereas on the second these pure field recordings are embedded in electronics, usually of a more lenghty and sustaining kind. of the two composers i think i preferred the two compositions by grzinich. murmer’s pieces are more simple, like layering various sound events together (water, walking, drones), but seem to miss out a bit on that added value. grzinich’s pieces have exactly that value, while it seems he either adds a fine amount of processing to the field recordings, or simply uses more layers of similar sounds to get more out of it. but throughout, overall, i think this whole package is one that is very nice. there is lots of explore here and no doubt even useful stuff for djs of a more experimental nature (pun intended).
~ Frans de Waard for Vital Weekly

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Inconclusive Responses (12:17)

Composition produced from recordings made during the ‘New Maps of Time‘ workshop held in Prague, October 2009. This track is a remix of field recordings and improvisations we made at Skolska28 Gallery, Stromovka Park and the Dul Mayrau coal mine museum. Special thanks to Milos V for coordinating this and to the participants for their time and energy; Eliska S, Matěj G, Lucie P, Stanislav A, Matej K, Lucie J. Released in honor of the ‘praha – favourite sounds of‘ CD our now on Engraved Glass.

Introduced Species (12:31)

This track is a remix of an improvisation we made in the former sewage treatment plant in Bubeneč. Participants included Milos V.,  Eliska S, Matěj G, Lucie P, Stanislav A, Matej K, Lucie J.

Again, be sure to check out the ‘praha – favorite sounds of‘ CD out now on Jez Riley French’s Engraved Glass label.

A fine collection of sound works more or less based on field recordings, by Matthieu Ruhlmann, Yannick Dauby, Michael Northam, Eric La Casa and Cedric Peyronnet, John Grzinich, Francisco Lopez, Jeph Jerman, Ralf Wehowsky, Christopher McFall, Murmer.

Compilation CD : 78  min
(digisleeve with 24pp booklet)
Nitkie # patch two

Distributed by Monochrome Vision

Tracklist

1. Mathieu Ruhlmann – Tranquille (5:55)
2. Yannick Dauby – Neuf Aout Deux Mille Dix (6:44)
3. Michael Northam – A Fabric Of Moments Among The Rolling Of Thoughts (5:27)
4. Eric La Casa & Cédric Peyronnet – Liége Short Cuts (5:14)
5. John Grzinich – Field Mix: Tape, Wire, Wind, Rain (6:58)
6. Francisco López – Untitled # 247 (10:49)
7. Jeph Jerman – Desert Windmill (9:55)
8. Ralf Wehowsky – Dmitry Speaking (10:01)
9. Christopher McFall – An Arc Casting The Stitch (8:50)
10. Murmer – Strata (8:18)

Первый в серии сборников, посвящённых саунд-арту, ”Range” представляет ряд работ талантливых музыкантов, чьё мировоззрение и методы чрезвычайно интересны и разнообразны. Термин ”звуковая экология” в данном случае не имеет никакого отношения к любым организованным движениям и сообществам, это всего лишь метафора для творчества, освежающего взгляд на современный мир, загрязнённый потребительским отношением к искусству. Кроме того, это платформа для дискуссий, обмена мнениями и опытом, приглашение к обсуждению всех связанных с этим вопросов – и, конечно же, возможность открыть для себя музыкальный мир, который часто окружает нас в реальной жизни, но остаётся незаметным для большинства людей. Желание следовать за музыкантами, обладающими удивительной способностью открыть этот мир и транслировать его в аудиторию, стало основным стимулом для составителей сборника, которые надеются на продолжение выбранного пути и привлечение к проекту всех заинтересованных музыкантов и единомышленников. С участием: Mathieu Ruhlmann, Yannick Dauby, Michael Northam, John Grzinich, Francisco Lopez, Jeph Jerman, Ralf Wehowsky, Murmer, Christopher McFall, Eric La Casa и Cedric Peyronnet. Лимитированное издание в дигифайле с 24-страничным буклетом, тираж – 500 копий.

Discogs link

semperflorens 05 CD (Russia, 2011)

TRACKS

01. planar migration (22:35)
02. skew symmetry (20:02)

format: CD in DVDbox  ed. 500

INFO

surface scripts was composed from field recordings, site-specific actions, environmental installations and wire instrument sounds recorded from 2008-2010. the title refers to my interest in the time-worn processes of nature and the effects this has on various materials such as stone, metal or wood. much of the sounds we hear around us are the acoustic effects of these processes taking place while the visual patterns are written as ancient scripts. a set of small lines carved into a stone by water may have taken thousands of years, yet the sounds heard from this process are momentary.

copies can be ordered directly from me.

REVIEWS

” …Returning to my claim that this work deals successfully in creating sound objects, John Grzinich manages here to produce something resembling a large self generating musical machine which later turns into an oil tanker being bowed. Various bumpings and metallic bell sounds with side dishes of scrapings come to dominate the field, a relational field enhanced by a series of crescendi and accelerandi, or, perhaps better, waves with ever larger leading edges.

All of which took me out of myself and far beyond mere technical listening, which is a welcome change from what I find myself having to do with less successful work. Sometimes, very simply at one level, two things ‘happen’, a background and foreground. But on closer listening both these things are one thing, the totality and complexity of the entire sonic field which strengthens my initial claim that this music is first and foremost an investigation of complexity.”

read the full review on The Field Reporter

‘revenant : zeltini’ 01:05:07

unfathomless 05 CD

site-specific session with: Eamon Sprod (Tarab), Max Shentelevs, John Grzinich, Kaspars Kalninsh and Felicity Mangan

recorded November 15, 2008 at Zeltini, Latvia

mixed the following months from 4 synchronized binaural recordings (or ‘multi-naural’ as I refer to it).

‘revenant‘ is an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific acoustic actions. All sounds originate from materials found in-situ, and from interactions with the space itself.

Zelitini is a former Soviet military base located in the forests of Northeastern Latvia which is now abandoned. This particular base housed missiles from the Soviet nuclear arsenal that needed to be stored in large horizontal bunkers. On this visit we arrived rather late and found that most of the bunkers had been locked up. As it grew dark and cold we decided to set up in the last open bunker to record as we new it would be our only chance to collaborate in this unique space.

Reviews

An ongoing project with open membership, that is what Revenant is about. On their second (?) CD, we find John Grzinich again, but with four new members, Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, Kaspars Kalninsh and Felicity Mangan. The five of them went to Zeltini, a former Soviet army base in Latvia and they looked for some stuff to create music with, as this is another angle of Revenant. Find material on the site, and play that as it were instruments, using the space as its concert space or studio. Again we are not told how this was recorded or edited, but for about fifty plus minutes we hear these five persons moving through the bunker space, toying around with the various objects they found in this space, like glass, stones and metal. This is done in a musical manner, through means of improvisation. Not a random scattering of debris, but listening and interacting with each other and creating music with non-musical objects. There are overtones to be found here, which are hard to place (wind? somebody blowing a pipe?), which add a nice textural tone to the proceedings. Maybe like the previous one, this is the natural element that is being used here. I am not entirely sure. The only reference I could think of is the recent work of Jeph Jerman – closely miked acoustic objects being played, but then in the large resonating bunker in Latvia. Not the most easy listening one around, but surely some great music has been captured here. (Frans de Waard on Vital Weekly)

Revenant (I can’t help but think of some especially powerful and frightening figures from Doom) on this occasion, November 2008 in Latvia, consisted of Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, John Grzinich, kaspars Kalninsh and Felicity Mangan (though Grzinich writes: “‘revenant’ is an ongoing project with open membership”). No instrumentation is mentioned and, further, there’s a notation on the sleeve stating, “Final piece edited from 4 synchronized binaural recordings”.
Perhaps it’s the cover imagery, maybe the former-SSR setting, but it’s quite tempting to hear this dark, brooding music as inhabiting a Stalker-like environment. There’s an oppressiveness, a dank aspect wherein one thinks of cold, clammy surfaces, algae-covered wall, ancient heavy machinery. The two overriding sounds areas are a blurred, metallic kind of drone, as though there’s a sputtering engine at work somewhere down the dark corridor and the clanking of light metal objects, linked like chains, skittering across the foreground. Small rhythms emerge: soft-mallet taps with a vaguely gamelan feel, as though at least one of the devices lying around still functions. Some faint voices then, rather surprisingly, a jew’s harp, strumming away in a loose rhythm, verging on a melodic fragment, a hapless fellow traveler in the sewers. This continues for the final 10+ minutes of the work, some increasingly violent clatter alongside, until the sounds skid to a conclusion among the chirps of mechanical beetles and sloshing water.
The work is almost static, in a sense, minor events drifting in and out of focus; again, one thinks of the lengthy water-covered floor shot of Tarkovsky, though the focus here isn’t quite so sharp. (Brian Olewnick on Just Outside)

Revenant is an open-membership project carried on by a number of specialists of location recording, in this occasion the quintet of Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, John Grzinich, Kaspars Kalninsh and Felicity Mangan. The environment inspiring this release is an abandoned Soviet military base in a Latvian forest, comprising large horizontal bunkers where missiles were once stored. One of them – the only that hasn’t been shut yet – was used for a semi-transcendental experience in which the participants spread around the place in almost total darkness, “feeling my way through the space by hand and by ear” as noted by Sprod. As always in this sort of venture, we have to divide things. On a side, the value of the product as a document of a unique event, obviously higher for those who lived it. On the other, audiences at home trying to find elements of interest in something that risks sounding as a thousand of products of comparable origin. In this case, the professionalism of the people involved and their ability of determining the building’s responsiveness and its inherent musicality made the difference and – although I wouldn’t say that the album is really special – a good part of the resounding materials is sufficiently evocative to justify the need of spinning the disc several times to look for additional details and psychological hints. At any rate, let me be very explicit: in this house, stretched frequency auras and baffling resonances will forever be preferred to rustling noises and “scrape, rattle ‘n’ roll” incidents, of which there’s no shortage here. (Massimo Ricci on Touching Extremes)

This is a short composition I produced for the Atlantic Waves festival double CD compilation distributed with subscriber copies of The Wire magazine. In November 2007 I was invited by SIRR records to perform in a label showcase at the ICA in London. Thanks to Paulo for finding a copy that I seem to have lost.

This piece uses mainly field recordings from South Estonia around lake Peipsi. The hissing sound is from underwater insects found along the shore in June.

9:28, listen or download via soundcloud

26:18, listen or download via soundcloud

‘recurring incursions’ was composed in the last days of 2010 using recordings made during the previous year. No synthesis was used in the process. All sounds were analog and acoustic in origin. Some sources come from collaborative recordings. Thanks to Evelyn Müürsepp for playing tonal wood blocks in the forest and to the participants of my sound workshop in Istanbul.

download release available from Impulsive Habitat

Active Crossover : SIMON WHETHAM & VA
IHab012

VA are: John Grzinich, Douglas Benford, Gints Birznieks, Jez Riley French, Iris Garrelfs, Joined By Wire, Jaanika Kakluse, Kaspars Kalnins, KIWA, Shawn Pinchbeck, Merilyn Püss, Piibe Piirma, Maksim Shentelev, Toms Siklovs, Silver Stairs of Ketchikan, Sound Meccano, Toomas Thetloff and Alexander Thomas

Throughout May 2009 Whetham participated in a residency at the Polymer Factory Culturehouse in Tallinn, Estonia, to compose new work, collaborate with other artists using sound and run deep listening, field recording and composition workshops.

This residency has resulted in ‘Active Crossover’, a touring exhibition and exchange project which has been hosted by the Arnolfini in Bristol and The Grey Area in Brighton, incorporating a large scale sound installation in two sonically treated chambers, creating three separate listening experiences.

This track is a mix by Whetham of the recordings used in the installation. The idea was to somewhat simulate the experience of the installation without simply be a recorded document of the installation itself.

B/W, 57 minutes
PAL HD, 16:9

filmed/recorded: 2006-2009
edited: 2009

concept, camera, editing: John Grzinich

collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetloff, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, Evelyn Müürsepp

equipment and support: MoKS – Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste Estonia.

Sound Aspects of Material Elements reveals how our sense of hearing can use non-linguistic signals to communicate, interpret and build relations to the world around us. Using sound as the primary signifier, the film shows a specific approach to the artistic use of sound, covering a 3 year period of the authors personal research and collaborations with a number of close colleagues. The film documents in-situ processes of exploration and sonification of the landscape along with the numerous objects and structures found there.

All the sound recordings emphasize how the combinations of certain materials (metal, wood, glass) with natural elements (water, wind fire), take on alchemical characteristics as we listen in. We experience aeolian metal wires in the wind, structures affected by fire, water, snow and the casual effects of human interventions in insect worlds. The sonic outcomes can be subtle and sometimes below our common perception so a variety of experimental recording techniques were employed. Contact microphones are placed on surfaces shifting our attention toward the internal resonances of the materials themselves while mini microphones reveal spaces normally inaccessible by our ears. What we hear is what we see, yet is sometimes translated through amplified means.

With its minimal editing style and durational shots, Sound Aspects of Material Elements shifts our attention toward and extended view of time and place, of the ever changing micro-processes that hint to eternal growth and decay inherent to cycles of nature itself. The possibilities to intercept, shape, disrupt, recombine and capture the elements through creative experiments is what this film attempts to illustrate in the interest that it may inspire the viewer to listen in new way.

premiere screening April 17th, 2010 : CUFF – Calgary Underground Film Festival

additional screenings: galeria entropia Poland, Pacific Northwest College of Art USA (5.10), Altes Finanzamt Berlin (9.10), Estonian National Museum (11.10), Haus Der Kulturen der Welt Berlin for the Über Lebenskunst Festival (8.11) Audio Kino by SoundFjord, London (10.11) Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, Scotland (10.11)

DVD release info coming soon…

John Grzinich “Continued To Be” 30:05

composed from field recordings and electronic sounds made January-March 2010 in Ahja Estonia, Kiel and Berlin Germany, Istanbul Turkey and Austin Texas.

original composition for webcast on Wednesday, March 24th 2010

World TB Day

To Be Continued… 24 hours of live music from all over the world on http://www.stazioneditopolo.it

With World Tuberculosis Day marked every year on March 24, advocates and supporters in the fight against TB are preparing to raise awareness on the disease. Among the most unusual events is “To Be Continued…” which will take place in Topolò, Italy. To Be Continued – or TBC (which in Italian is the abbreviation for tuberculosis) – will be a unique sound experience – an original concert that will last a full 24 hours starting at midnight and ending at midnight on the following day, and therefore covering the entire March 24 World TB Day.

During this uninterrupted 24 hour marathon, invited musicians from all over the world will play live music and mark the day with sounds and musical pieces. Every musician, from all four corners of the world, will have at their disposal a 30 minute window, and thus create a relay of sounds and rhythms. The event will be streamed through www.stazioneditopolo.it website. Radio Onde Furlane from Italy and Radio Zero from Portugal will simulcast part of the event. The music featured will be varied, from classical music to the Jewish-influenced klezmer, from ambient to experimental sounds, from jazz to ethnic music, all uninterrupted for 24 hours.

The initiative is coordinated by Antonio Della Marina, a contemporary musician and computer music composer, and by Moreno Miorelli, artistic director of the annual gathering “Stazione di Topolò/Postaja Topolove”. The concert is under the aegis of the Global Health Incubator, the ‘laboratory’ established in July last year in Topolo’/Topolove within the ‘Stazione’ event, to create links between the worlds of creativity and science.

ToBe Continued… is part of the initiatives sponsored by Stop TB Italy for World TB Day. The event has been made possible thanks to a generous contribution by the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership and the collaboration with XDevel Stream Solution and the Culture Centre of the University of Klagenfurt, that will provide the facilities for the coordination of the concert.