New Maps of Time sound workshop/residency Istanbul Turkey

‘New Maps of Time’ is a project and workshop about mapping architectural and urban spaces using sound as a means to express actions within a space. read more…

Workshop carried out in the frame of my X-OP residency at Apartment Project, artist-run project space, from February 8 – March 8, 2010

click the above Istanbul Sound Map to hear the recordings in Istanbul on Radio Aporee Maps

Some comments… It was both a pleasure and an adventure spending a month in Istanbul exploring the rich and often noisy environment of this great metropolis. The workshop went as well as could be expected especially considering how busy people are, making it a challenge to work continually as a group. Regardless, having a chance to collaborate with a diverse range of artists, musicians, architects and designers was always enjoyable and productive. I am thankful particularly to Muharrem Yıldırım, Onur Güngör, İdil Tunga, Natali Arslan, Nurgül Öztürk, Cansu Tolunay and Fulya Uçanok for taking time to share in our explorations of the city and work collaboratively in the process of sound making and recording. It’s also important to mention the generous efforts of the Apartment Project team for hosting and coordinating this workshop.

Some of the activities included in the workshop this month: building microphones (contact mics, hydrophones, binaurals), various city excursions to Maçka Park and Karaköy, trips to Burgazada and Heybeliada (islands), and a trip to Santralistanbul (Bilgi University campus). We concentrated on a wide range of activities as well, from passive analysis of soundscapes and acoustic architecture to active engagement with certain locations through objects and materials we found there. The gallery below is a small overview of these activities (photos by: Enise Gökbayrak, Onur Güngör, Muharrem Yıldırım and myself).

The Sound Locations channel on Vimeo has 6 videos of collaborative efforts made during the workshop. Here are a few highlights:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

‘Islands’ a 14 minute film documenting trips to the Adalar (Prince’s Islands)

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a great hydrophone recording I made last week in the local Mooste lake. The sun was shining brightly so the plants were giving off plenty of oxygen. There are also a number of sqeaks and buzzes I cannot yet identify. The hydrophone is made by the avid field recordist Jez riley French who spent a few weeks in the MoKS residency. I can reccomend these hydrophones for those who want to try out under water recordings and are on a budget (yes, this is a small but honest advertisement for Jez’s product which he sells to help fund concet events he organizes).

hydrophone recording of Mooste lake #2: download link

I’ve spent the past few weeks in France visiting with Patrick McGinley who has generously offered his temporary residence as a gathering place for friends, many of whom are avid sound recordists. Naturally those who came started to explore the local area for interesting locations. Patrick and myself went out early to work on some collaborative material, while in the second week additional people came (Jonathan Coleclough, Thomas Tilly, Maksims Shentelevs, Paulo Raposo). Our primary location was a metal bridge that crossed the nearby Andelle river. A number of different recordings were made by each person using metal and nylon wires, hydrophones and open air mics. The recording below was made using a metal wire that hung over the side of the bridge.

wires from bridge on the Andelle, France (2:50): mp3 file

The other location we explored was in a tributary of the Andelle. This place was a shallow water crossing that allowed us to wade in the water. Patrick and I set up waterharps while others worked with hydrophones. Thomas Tilly made some on the most impressive hydrophone recordings I’ve hear, picking up sound from underwater instects and possible fish. Below is a sample from one of my waterharp recordings.

a waterharp in the Andelle, France (3:14): a waterharp in the Andelle

The material list is as follows: shielded stereo cable (at least 2m), 2 plastic ‘feet’ (for table or chair legs. make sure one is slightly smaller than the other so as to fit inside the larger), 2 small piezos (21mm), stereo mini-jack plug (use whatever plug you need), 1 or 2 nuts, epoxy (for plastic). Besides this you will need a soldering iron and some solder to connect the cable to the plug and piezos.

To start with you need to solder the piezo to the cable. The center goes to the positive and the ground goes to the outer ring.

The first question most people will have is, why am I trying to make a stereo contact mic? The answer is, I’m not. Most portable recorders use a stereo mini-jack input but not all allow mono recording (at least my Sony PCM-D50 doesn’t) so wiring this in stereo is better than making a mono one and only monitoring in one ear. Besides, for this simple design, maybe 2 surfaces is better than one. If you have a mono input on your recorder than you can simply use one piezo. Before you move on, test the piezo to make sure it works.

Once the piezos are properly soldered the hydrophone is ready for assembly. Epoxy is great but its toxic so be sure to work in a well ventilated space. I put things together in this order to insure a solid construction.

1) epoxy the piezos to the bottom surface of the plastic feet. Push it down firmly as to have as much full contact as possible. Allow the epoxy to harden
2) mix a little bit of epoxy and cover the backs of the piezos to make sure the solder connections are covered. Allow the epoxy to harden
3) Epoxy a metal nut (or lead fishing weight) inside the smaller foot. Allow the epoxy to harden
4) Use a generous amount of epoxy to cover the inside surface of the larger plastic foot. Then carefully slide the smaller foot into the larger one until the two are firmly sealed together.
5) seal the outer edge with a small amount of epoxy. Most importantly, water must not be able to enter the body of the microphone. If it does the solder connection at the piezos may short and you will not get any signal.
6) Once all the cracks or holes are sealed and the epoxy is set, the hydrophone is ready to use!

Original pair of hydrophones I decided to build (but then lost) after hearing some good recordings and discussing with others their experiences. There are several design plans offered on the web. Due to simplicity and availability of materials I settled for the Hydrophone Construction Manual. Below are two recording samples I made recently. While my results may not meet any scientific standards I’m still fairly impressed with what I was able to hear.

It is spring time in Estonia so the local lakes provide a good source of sounds. Hydrophone recording of Mooste lake: mp3 file

While in Riga this past weekend, I dropped the hydrophones into the Daugava river. Sounds of motor boats in the Daugava river: mp3 file