October | 2011 | nexttime studio

Room Harmonics: Magna

12 10 2011

A new exploration of architecture and acoustics, and this time in a different type of building. So far, most recordings i have done were in churches and abbeys. i have just had a rare opportunity to work in an industrial building and compare how different the results can be.

I started by playing the saxophone, as usual, sounding out the place. At first, i reacted to the environment and what i was hearing, and responded by playing abstract sounds, extended techniques, that merged into the existing soundscape.

Gradually, as the place became quieter, i could work more with the reverb and colour of the space. Focusing on the inner quality, the acoustics, the architecture. So my playing became more tonal, sending notes into the space and searching for resonant frequencies…

In any case, this project is not so much about the playing itself, and in the end result, the saxophone sound has totally disappeared – so that what i played is really not relevant. This is more about architecture and how it translates into sound, how the physical space is represented by harmony, tones, wave length.

In Magna, the spirit of steel is still present, although the place has been turned into a museum. The sound is a lot more raw than in a church. And it felt i had to work the space harder, perhaps longer in order to get results. And at some point, some very interesting rhythms and movements in space developed, very much like an industrial machine at work. Sounds were moving across the very large hall, inhabiting what is now known as ‘the face of steel’, ebbing to the beating of a ghost machine.

More than ever, sound sculpture was necessary during the process to keep balance in this wild web of wavelengths, and soon enough, the whole works were resonating. And amidst the noise, sweat and tears, the place finally started churning out its resonant tones, full of textures and full of the screams of molten steel.

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