Maksims Shentelevs

Svalka Nodar Soundscapes Mapping

“Soundscape mapping” was a project I developed in Nodar during the Fronte[i]ras 07 meeting.It consisted of three parts: • First part: exploration of the sound environment and sound intervention. • Second part: construction of instruments from site-specific materials. • Third part: performance and sound installation in a gallery.

Part 1–the site intervention and feld mixing focuses on the exploration and interaction with the environment. Due to the topic of Fronte[i]ras 07 meeting, the notion of border in the project appears as a limitation featured by structures of stable order, in particular by sites representing apredictable and articulated behavior. The action of response performed by the observer, in its turn, represents a quest fora new order implemented by the rearrangement of structures on a first level, of exploration (in the feld) and the application of adaptive integration on a second level (during the performance).The research of the sound environment in Nodar and its surroundings resulted in the choice of three specific sites–the new water tanks of the village (sketch A), a dense group ofeucalyptus trees on a windy hillside (sketch B) and a shallow branch of the river (sketch C).The research tools were limited to eight piezoelectric pickups and a mixer. The approach, ona first glance, seems rather delicate, as it implements no more than the attachment of piezoelectric pickups without physical rearrangement of the existent environmental order. On the other hand, it is explicitly reductive and dramatic as it narrows all natural qualities of an environment into eight separate channels. This eight-channel mix forms a subgroup of selected elements obtaining a source of control and manipulation for the explorer. Despite its isolation, this subgroup still retains a link with the natural phenomena of the site, as the explorer works on site in real time and therefore is subjected to specific conditions such as naturally audible sound and other physical qualities that influence manipulations. The “feld mixing” enables a learning space by the selective decomposing of a soundscape into complemented sonic parts and then an inductive recomposition of it. Selected elements are narrated, forming a sort of a sonic map of the site that enables navigation towards an in ward soundscape, according to the models proposed by the sound cartographer. Thus the feld mix representsa cartographical approach to soundscape. The reconstructed soundscape appearsas a map or an image of a personal experience captured from a close contact with the mapped environment. Despite its subjectivity, feld mix, as documentation, allows public access to hidden parts of soundscapes as a topographical map enables navigation in the expanse of aterrain.

SOUNDSCAPE MAPPING A–object B–piezoelectric element C–mixer D–recorder. Track 1–resonating water tanks–10:32 min Two metal water tanks 2.5–3 meters high. Water pumped through tanks resonates in different component parts. Picked by 8piezoelectric elements. Track 2–eucalyptus–4:43 min Several trees are connected with piezoelectric elements to the mixer, using cracks, loose bark and surface. The mix combines young trees as well as dried up and burned by the free. Wind resonates in the bodies of the trees and evokes cracking that is rarely audible from the outside. Track 3–water flow–15:13min An area of approximately one square meter on the edge of a shallow river, where waterflows quietly in-between stones forming multiple streams. Eight piezoelectric elements attached to fat stones, dry reed and a metal plate, all connected to a portable mixing console,picking resonations of the stream in different objects. The explorer selectively mixes the signals in real time building up a complex pattern that by other means remains beyond the selective reach of our senses since the generally audible soundscape of the river delivers an inarticulate sum of dispersed sounds.

Part 2–The construction of instruments resulted in a work with two free burned solid wooden beams about a meter long that were found in anabandoned cattle-shed on a hillside near Nodar. Four steel bass guitar strings and two steel acoustic guitar strings were attached to each beam. Beams were equipped with two piezoelectric pickups each. The four-string beam had an extra bass guitar pickup. Strings were played with fingers, drum sticks, a bow and a motor with brushes. The rugged, unfinished surface of beams was used for scratching with fingers and brushes.

Part 3–The performance consisted of three separate sections–tanks (A), eucalyptus (B) and water (C). For each section, one unprocessed pre-recorded feld mix was played and accompanied by live instrumentation. The feld mix material formed the basic part of the performance representing a cultivated (“mapped”) soundscape while instrumentation appeared as a second level of exploration–a sort of post exploration of an absent site represented in its cartographical or sound-image appearance. The main action of the performer, along with the audience, was attentive listening, while instrumentation appeared as a delicate additional articulation.