![\"peripheries](\"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/Photos\/cover_gruen_173.jpg\" "\\"peripheries")
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peripheries | Katharina Klement<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n In 2014, I spent nine weeks in Belgrade, focusing on the questions, \u201cWhat does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?\u201d <\/p>\n One characteristic of Belgrade is its numerous peripheries: Even within the historic city center, you may quickly and unexpectedly find yourself in fringe areas. The transitions are sudden \u2013 when it comes to sounds, you abruptly move from loud and noisy areas into others that are delicate and subtle. Also, I discovered circles in various contexts: in architecture, in ornaments, in traffic regulations; even time seems to be perceived as circular rather than clocked and linear as it is commonly understood in central Europe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I designed a score by using my city map: The location of my apartment was the center, around which I drew eight concentric circles. During the compositional process, all the recordings from each of these rings were combined into one layer, resulting in eight musical layers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The piece was then composed with eight channels, for a setting that uses eight speakers. On this CD, you will hear a stereo version of the piece. <\/p>\n The entire structure is divided into smaller sequences which, however, merge seamlessly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Track List:<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. entr\u00e9e | 4:23 min. <\/p>\n 2. induction | 6:00 min. <\/p>\n 3. nijemo kolo (mute dance) | 4:02 min. <\/p>\n 4. zeleni venac (green wreath) | 6:34 min. <\/p>\n 5. escalator | 4:41 min. <\/p>\n 6. Karaburma (black ring) | 8:32 min. <\/p>\n 7. Tito\u2019s Rondo | 3:18 min. <\/p>\n 8. Interviews | 5:22 min. <\/p>\n 9. turn | 8:48 min. <\/p>\n 9 Tracks (52\u203200\u2033) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n thanks to Land Steiermark \/ Austria for supporting the residency in Belgrade <\/p>\n Sound Art Series by Gruenrekorder <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ed Pinsent | The Sound Projector<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Katharina Klement may be more well-known to many as a contemporary classical pianist, and indeed many of her solo albums of piano music can be found on her own KalK label since 1996, although she\u2019s also represented on the Austrian label Extraplatte. On Peripheries: Sound Portrait Belgrade (Gruen 173) she\u2019s demonstrating her very able skills in the genre of documentary \/ field recording, and unlike Namblard she\u2019s concentrating on an urban area for inspiration and sounds. Indeed she has explicitly set herself a challenge to convey the truth of this city with her microphones, or to use her own words: \u201cwhat does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?\u201d Her own response was comprehensive, to say the least. She not only recorded sounds of Belgrade, but interviewed the locals, building up what she calls an \u201cacoustic archive\u201d over a period of nine weeks. But it wasn\u2019t just about sound; through her peregrinations, she found Belgrade to be a place of \u201cnumerous peripheries\u201d, by which she means you can turn a corner at any moment and enter a \u201cfringe area\u201d, as it were a pocket of space outside the bustling city centre, moving from loud and noisy places into quiet zones in a matter of seconds. Further: the motif of the circle imprinted itself on her creative brain, and I suppose once she\u2019d spotted it she started seeing it everywhere \u2013 on buildings, on decorations, road signs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Klement felt that she now had a map in her hands, a map of the city which clearly had been drafted through her own singular creative process. Many readers will recognise this as something not unlike the Situationists and their \u201cd\u00e9rives\u201d of Paris, except they were trying to subvert society and normalcy by going against the grain of the map with their meandering, purposeless walks. By contrast, I would say that Katharina Klement was trying to seek out a hidden truth, and may have come close to cracking the code of Belgrade. She used this information as the basis of her composition, one in which concentric circles naturally played an important part. There is an eight-channel version of the work; we get a stereo version on this CD. Besides her summary of the compositional process, there are also paragraphs of notes attached to each of the nine episodes on the CD, which reveal further fascinating details of the life of Belgrade and the unusual objects and places she thought fit to record. These include a Tesla induction motor, housed in the Tesla Museum; Romany markets and musicians in Zeleni Venac; and a magic escalator ride that starts in a business centre and takes the listener past the zoo, an island, a marketplace, and a concrete mixer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In just nine weeks, this remarkable composer learned and absorbed a lot of history, got to know several people, and demonstrated remarkable sensitivity to capturing the nuances of their voices in interviews, ultimately telling many stories about Belgrade in her imaginative and well-crafted sound explorations. It takes a rare mind that is able to reach and understand the heart of a place as thoroughly and as sympathetically as Klement has done with this work. Such works remind us why artists, not politicians or town planners, should be put in charge of managing the layout and throughput of large cities; the results could only be beneficial for everyone in society. <\/p>\n ACL 2017 ~ Top Ten Field Recording & Soundscape<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Pierre C\u00e9cile | Le son du grisli #3<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Avec la pianiste contemporaine Katharina Klement, c\u2019est un peu di e\u0301rent. J\u2019explique : j\u2019ai fait deux e\u0301coutes de Peripheries. Une sans m\u2019inte\u0301resser a\u0300 son projet, et en y laissant trai\u0302- ner mon oreille. Ce que c\u0327a a donne\u0301 ? Comme un violoncelle qui claque avec des bruits venus de partout : des sire\u0300nes en milieu ur- bain, des objets remue\u0301s dans tous les sens, des musiciens des rues, des ventres de pia- no, les crissements d\u2019un terrain de basket… De temps en temps elle s\u2019amuse a\u0300 looper ce qu\u2019elle a enregistre\u0301, et la sce\u0300ne perd de son concret pour re\u0301sonner d\u2019une autre manie\u0300re.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A ma seconde e\u0301coute, j\u2019ai ouvert le livret du CD et j\u2019ai appris qu\u2019elle avait, en 2014, passe\u0301 neuf semaines a\u0300 Belgrade, ville aux nom- breuses pe\u0301riphe\u0301ries (j\u2019ai appris c\u0327a, moi aussi). Elle s\u2019est donc essaye\u0301 au portrait d\u2019une capi- tale par les sons de ses pe\u0301riphe\u0301ries. E\u0301trange concept, indeed, mais blu ant aussi. Car je n\u2019ai pas entendu deux fois le me\u0302me disque<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (un peu plus de piano, la seconde fois peut- e\u0302tre ?) mais deux fois il m\u2019a subjugue\u0301. Non, le mot n\u2019est pas trop fort : son e\u0301quilibre entre eld recordings bruts et composition abs- traite m\u2019a litte\u0301ralement subjugue\u0301. Non, le mot n\u2019est pas trop fort : litte\u0301ralement !<\/p>\n <\/p>\n felix | freiStil \u2013 Magazin f\u00fcr Musik und Umgebung \/ #74<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n textura<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n In 2014, Klement, an Austrian-born and Vienna-based sound artist, spent nine weeks in Belgrade where she collected sound materials from various parts of the city to help answer the questions, \u201cWhat does this city sound like?\u201d and \u201cIs it possible to portray it using sounds?\u201d; to help flesh out those answers, she also interviewed people of different ages and backgrounds about the city. In conceptualizing the proposed work, she designed a score using her city map with her apartment as the center around which eight concentric circles were drawn; recordings gathered from those demarcated zones were then shaped into eight musical layers to produce a presentation piece featuring eight channels and eight speakers (the fifty-two-minute CD presents a stereo version). The field recordings and interviews give the work a site-specific character, but the artist is very much present in the way the material has been shaped into a nine-part portrait that captures the vitality of the city.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Loosely organized as a travelogue of sorts, peripheries begins with a generalized impression of the setting when Klement, having taken the elevator to her building’s sixth floor, records the city from the balcony of her apartment. Traffic noise, sirens, and barking dogs immediately establish the ambiance of an active industrial center, after which \u201cinduction\u201d blends a recording of the rotating \u2018egg‘ component in Nikola Tesla’s induction motor with sounds of water taken from fountains in front of Belgrade’s Tesla and Tito Museums. Following that, \u201cnijemo kolo (mute dance)\u201d pushes the project to a greater level of abstraction in wedding sounds of church candle flames being snuffed out in water to a recording of a \u201cnijemo kolo,\u201d a silent dance where only steps and jumps are audible, to produce a sound portrait designed to honour the city’s dead. At this early stage, we’re presented with clear evidence of the composer’s sound-sculpting presence and reminded that peripheries is anything but a pure collection of field recordings, even if some parts are dominated by them (e.g., \u201czeleni venac (green wreath),\u201d a sound portrait of a busy urban neighborhood filled with people selling goods, playing music, and playing soccer). Yet even in those cases, the field recordings are shaped and processed in a way that reflects Klement’s sensibility. Elsewhere, Turkish musical elements emerge during a portrait of one of Belgrade’s most densely populated neighborhoods, \u201cKaraburma (black ring),\u201d speech recordings by Tito serve as raw material for \u201cTito’s Rondo,\u201d and a voice collage of sorts forms from interviews (in English) Klement conducted with Belgrade residents. Bringing things full circle, \u201cturn\u201d takes the listener on a final acoustic tour through the city, with elements from the previous pieces reappearing in a shape-shifting piece that incontrovertibly reminds us of the abundant life-forces in play. […<\/a>] <\/p>\n \u0141ukasz Kom\u0142a | Nowamuzyka.pl<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Katharina Klement pochodzi z jak\u017ce zas\u0142u\u017conego dla historii muzyki wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnej miasta Graz, cho\u0107 obecnie mieszka w Wiedniu. Kompozytorka, pianistka i improwizatorka cz\u0119sto w swoich kompozycjach wykorzystuje na r\u00f3\u017cnych poziomach preparowany fortepian oraz elektroakustyk\u0119. Wydaje p\u0142yty od przesz\u0142o dwudziestu lat. Oczywi\u015bcie nie jest jej obcy tak\u017ce soundart o czym \u015bwiadczy najnowsze wydawnictwo , pt. \u201eperipheries\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Artystka sp\u0119dzi\u0142a w 2014 roku dziewi\u0119\u0107 miesi\u0119cy w Belgradzie, koncentruj\u0105c si\u0119 na zadawaniu pyta\u0144 i szukania na nie odpowiedzi: Co to jest za miasto? Czy mo\u017cna je przedstawi\u0107 za pomoc\u0105 d\u017awi\u0119k\u00f3w? Z tego, co wyczyta\u0142em, zebra\u0142a poka\u017an\u0105 ilo\u015b\u0107 materia\u0142u, odwiedzaj\u0105c przer\u00f3\u017cne miejsca, gdzie napotyka\u0142a ha\u0142as, zgie\u0142k i delikatno\u015b\u0107. S\u0142yszymy te\u017c fragmenty rozm\u00f3w jakie Klement uchwyci\u0142a chodz\u0105c po stolicy Serbii. Katharina podkre\u015bla, \u017ce charakterystyczn\u0105 cech\u0105 Belgradu s\u0105 rozleg\u0142e peryferia oraz nietypowy uk\u0142ad architektoniczny, kt\u00f3ry zainteresowa\u0142 j\u0105 w kontek\u015bcie rejestrowanych nagra\u0144. To, co uzbiera\u0142a, nast\u0119pnie podda\u0142a studyjnej edycji (m.in. u\u017cy\u0142a do tego wielokana\u0142owych g\u0142o\u015bnik\u00f3w, ale na p\u0142ycie stykamy si\u0119 z stereofoniczn\u0105 wersj\u0105). Jej zabiegi z d\u017awi\u0119kiem, form\u0105 nada\u0142y temu projektowi soundartowego wyrazu. Zaintrygowa\u0142o mnie wiele rzeczy, ale wynotowa\u0142em np. zestawienie odg\u0142os\u00f3w podeszwy buta uzyskane w trakcie meczu koszyk\u00f3wki z elektroakustycznymi preparacjami (\u201ezeleni venac \/ green wreath\u201d). Klement prowadzi nas do wielu fascynuj\u0105cych miejsc (ci\u0119\u017cko je wszystkie zliczy\u0107).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Warto wymieni\u0107 cho\u0107by historyczn\u0105 dzielnic\u0119 \u201eKaraburma (black ring)\u201d si\u0119gaj\u0105c\u0105 korzeniami do czas\u00f3w celtyckich i rzymskich. Pierwotnie po\u0142o\u017cona tu\u017c obok Dunaju. Sam obszar by\u0142 cz\u0119\u015bciowo pokryty bagnami z gor\u0105cymi \u017ar\u00f3d\u0142ami, kt\u00f3re sta\u0142y si\u0119 swego rodzaju wizyt\u00f3wk\u0105. W XIX wieku, pod rz\u0105dami ksi\u0119cia Mi\u0142osza I Obrenowicia, przeprowadzono tam liczne egzekucje, tylko dodaj\u0105ce rozg\u0142osu tym okolicom. Og\u00f3lnie m\u00f3wi\u0142o si\u0119 o tym miejscu jako zakazanym, z\u0142owieszczym etc. Dzisiaj jest to jedna z najg\u0119\u015bciej zaludnionych dzielnic Belgradu z du\u017cymi blokami mieszkalnymi. Z Karaburm\u0105 graniczy osiedle zamieszka\u0142e przez Rom\u00f3w. W \u201eRito Tito\u201d z kolei mamy okazj\u0119 pos\u0142ucha\u0107 historycznych przem\u00f3wie\u0144 Tito, a tak\u017ce fragment\u00f3w wypowiedzi ludzi dotycz\u0105cych akustycznych cech Belgradu ( \u201eInterview\u201d).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kto\u015b kto zna bardzo dobrze Belgrad b\u0119dzie mia\u0142 niecodzienn\u0105 lektur\u0119 w postaci \u201eperipheries\u201d. Ja nie znam tego miasta, ale poczu\u0142em si\u0119 tak, jakbym odby\u0142 piesz\u0105 w\u0119dr\u00f3wk\u0119 po zakamarkach tego multikulturowego miasta. <\/p>\n Richard Allen | a closer listen<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n peripheries plays like a sonic photo album, the images more important than the flow. While the album begins with a thump, the field recordings soon settle into a sort of rhythm. As the set progresses, a tapestry is revealed. The overture of the city is heard from a balcony: dogs, sirens, traffic, street music, passers-by. A discernible hum emerges. Is this Belgrade? Can a single chord, a melange of sounds, sum up the city? Klement answers with an emphatic no. Her explorations reveal jagged edges and clear demarcations, from Tesla\u2019s gorgeously amplified induction motor to the bells of Saint Sava.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An unexpected poignancy visits during \u201cnijemo kolo (mute dance)\u201d, though one must read the liner notes to detect it. On the surface, the piece sounds like a work of electro-acoustic experimentalism, similar to that of artists on the empreintes DIGITALes label; but the clicks and clacks, the static and snuffings have a deeper meaning. The piece is dedicated to the silent voices of the city, as the dead speak through candles and the feet of quiet dancers. In the next piece, the voices of the living push them under, but the impression remains, just like the memory of the beloved Zeleni Vanac restaurant, now replaced by *shudder* McDonald\u2019s. In an age of multiculturalism, this information prompts the question of city identity. As distinctive locations and representative sounds are replaced by ubiquitous intruders, the intention that one will feel at home everywhere is replaced by an opposite feeling, a lack of local connection. Klement\u2019s concentric tours tether the listener in more specific sounds, although the zoo recordings hammer home the point, as zoos capture creatures from different areas and gather them in one place so that people don\u2019t have to travel elsewhere to see them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The most fascinating and culturally relevant portions of the album arrive as local residents are invited to speak about the sounds of the city. The first speaks of the \u201ccharacteristic\u201d sound of the trolley bus, the second of \u201csmall sounds\u201d that are lost in the din. As others speak of the bells or the river using onomatopoeia (\u201ctuk-a-tuk-a-tuk-a-tuk-a-tuk\u201d), another sound begins to sink in: that of accent. The interviewees speak English, yet can only be from Belgrade: pride and pronunciation combined.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What does Belgrade sound like? Like kindness and busyness, sound and silence colliding; like crowds and corners, history and commerce vying for space. In many ways, it may sound like your nearest city; but Klement has underlined its distinctive nature in unmistakable ways. If one\u2019s mind is a sonic map, Belgrade is now clearly marked in large, colorful font. <\/p>\n Frans de Waard | VITAL WEEKLY<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Holger Adam | testcard<\/a><\/strong> peripheries | Katharina Klement Sound portrait Belgrade 2014 \u2013 2016 Gruen 173 | Audio CD > [order] Reviews In 2014, I spent nine weeks in Belgrade, focusing on the questions, \u201cWhat does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?\u201d In numerous excursions to different areas of the city, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16044","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16044"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17430,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16044\/revisions\/17430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSound portrait Belgrade 2014 \u2013 2016
\nGruen 173 | Audio CD > [order<\/a>]
\nReviews<\/a>
\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/p>\n
\nIn numerous excursions to different areas of the city, I collected sounds and noises. In addition, I conducted several interviews about the soundscape of Belgrade with people of different ages and backgrounds. The resulting comprehensive acoustic archive, or memory, became the basis of my compositional approach.<\/p>\n
\nLike in an \u201cacoustic blender,\u201d selected field recordings (some raw and some processed) create a sustained moment of density: a musical likeness of Belgrade. While the components of this sound portrait are taken from the acoustic reality of the city, the compositional process transforms them, giving them a new quality. Belgrade\u2019s highly expressive and captivating character was extracted and abstracted through music.<\/p>\n
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\nI enter the city, slowly approaching its background noise. I take the elevator to my apartment on the sixth floor. If you listen from my balcony, you can make out some of the city\u2019s ambiance.<\/p>\n
\nPart of the raw material for this piece is a recording of a model of Nikola Tesla’s induction motor with an egg-shaped rotor, found in Tesla Museum, Belgrade. The rotating motor and the magnetic field it creates lead to the \u201cegg\u201d spinning on its major axis and standing on end.
\nThe other part of the material for this piece comes from the two fountains in front of Belgrade\u2019s Tesla and Tito Museums. The sounds of the rotating \u201cegg\u201d merge with the polyphonic song of the rushing water.<\/p>\n
\nThis piece functions entirely without pitch, using only noise-like material. It was created in memory of the great number of dead who are buried in this city and no longer have a voice but are etched into the city nevertheless.\u00a0The piece is fashioned of sound particles such as the sound of the countless flames of slender candles in Orthodox churches as they are snuffed out in water; of the popcorn stands that dominate the city; of nuts, of fireworks, and of the recording of a \u201cnjemo kolo,\u201d a silent dance during which only the rhythm of steps and jumps can be heard.<\/p>\n
\nThe urban neighborhood of \u201czeleni venac\u201d is a hub of people and goods; located right next to Brankova Street, it represents a link to both Novi Beograd and Zemun, a neighboring suburb. The area consists of a major bus terminal with a large-scale underpass alongside an open market. The former restaurant \u201cTo the green wreath\u201d has been turned into a McDonald’s. You will encounter Romany selling their goods or playing music amid the masses of passers-by who are on their way from the periphery to the center of the city. Even the soccer players, a common sight all across the city, take center-stage acoustically in this piece.
\nMP3<\/a><\/p>\n
\nBeginning with the recording of an escalator at the \u201cSava Centar,\u201d this piece takes you on a journey through a number of Belgrade’s neighborhoods. Moving virtually on this escalator, acoustic windows open intermittently to present the atmosphere of one or another of several locations: a concrete mixer on the Ada Ciganlija, birds in the zoo, frogs on the Great War Island, rattling racks at the marketplace of Zemun, and much more.
\nMP3<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe Northeastern neighborhood of Karaburma is where the oldest (Celtic and Roman) settlements of Belgrade were located. Originally situated right next to the Danube, the area was partially a swamp with hot springs that created a constant mist. It was under Turkish rule that the district was first called Karaburma (\u201cblack ring\u201d), referring to a forbidden place that people should avoid. In the 19th century, under Prince Milos Obrenovic, executions were carried out there, which only added to the area\u2019s notoriety. Today it is one of Belgrade’s most densely populated neighborhoods, with large apartment blocks. Bordering Karaburma is a sizeable locality settled exclusively by Romany, who live according to their own culture. This historic background, as well as recordings that were made during multiple visits to the area, are what fuels this piece.<\/p>\n
\nHistoric recordings of several speeches by Tito that reveal much about his political thought served as the basic material for this piece. Even in the 21st century, Tito still occupies a central place within the collective memory of Serbia and all other countries of the formerly united Yugoslavia.
\nMP3<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSeveral people I interviewed talk about acoustic features of Belgrade. An electronically generated pitch reinforces the natural pitch of each person’s voice.<\/p>\n
\nImmediately following the interviews, the listener is taken on one more acoustic tour through the city. Embedded in rapid glissandos derived from the interview partners\u2019 voices, characteristic sounds of Belgrade emerge: the bells of the Temple of Saint Sava, crowds from the countless local pubs, animal sounds from the zoo, polyphonic sacred songs, a streetcar. All the previous pieces appear once more in a compressed, miniature version.<\/p>\n
\nCD (500 copies)<\/p>\n
\nngg_shortcode_1_placeholder\n
\nmany thanks to Bojana Gruve\u010di\u010d, Milo\u0161 Tomi\u0107, Milenko Vasi\u010d, Danijela Mr\u0161ulja Vasi\u0107, Selman Trtovac and Milan Blanu\u0161a,
\nwho kindly agreed to be interviewed for this project.
\nthanks to Valentina Brkovi\u0107, my guide and translator in Belgrade
\nall tracks composed by Katharina Klement (AKM)
\nmastering: Martin Siewert | translation: Lea Rennert
\nphotos: Katharina Klement | www.katharinaklement.com<\/a>
\nartwork: Sebastian Ristow | www.flatlab.biz<\/a><\/p>\n
\nGermany \/ 2017 \/\u00a0Gruen 173 \/ LC 09488 \/ AKM \/ EAN 4050486988459<\/p>\n
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\nBeyond The Fringe
\nTwo recent field recording releases from Gruenrekorder, the German label that offers unparalleled high quality releases and packages in this genre. Both albums are presented in soft digipaks with booklets of full colour photographs, complementing the sounds. Both from 12th June 2017. […]<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKatharina Klement ~ peripheries (Gruenrekorder)
\n\u201cWhat does Belgrade sound like?\u201d Katharina Klement asks the question not only of herself, but of the local residents she encounters, with colorful results. She travels the streets, picking up memories and realities, visiting the trolley bus, the river, the zoo. In the end, the inhabitants are the greatest draw, the warmth and humor of their responses painting the city with natural ebullience. (Richard Allen)<\/p>\n
\nIl faut souvent s\u2019armer de patience avant d\u2019e\u0301couter un disque Gruenrekorder \u2013 label, rappelons-le, spe\u0301cialise\u0301 dans le eld recor- ding. Je veux dire : lire les textes qui posent le de\u0301cor de l\u2019enregistrement, relier des coordon- ne\u0301es ge\u0301ographiques a\u0300 des points cardinaux, voire suivre a\u0300 la trace et au fur et a\u0300 mesure de l\u2019e\u0301coute le musicien (ou le capteur) qui a de\u0301cide\u0301, un beau jour, de livrer son travail sur CD.<\/p>\n
\nNeun Wochen verbrachte Katharina Klement vor drei Jahren in Belgrad. Die Frage, die sich ihr stellte, war, ob und, wenn ja, wie ein akustisches St\u00e4dteportr\u00e4t funktionieren k\u00f6nne. An verschiedenen Pl\u00e4tzen \u2013 vor allem an den Peripherien der Stadt, wie der Titel schon erkl\u00e4rt, aber auch im Zentrum \u2013 sammelte sie Kl\u00e4nge und Krach, Stimmen und Stimmungen und f\u00fchrte Gespr\u00e4che mit Einwohnerinnen unterschiedlichen Alters \u00fcber ihre individuellen H\u00f6rwahrnehmungen. Der Sound der Donaumetropole, multikulturell in jugoslawischen, nicht mehr ganz so in serbischen Zeiten, mit seiner reichen Geschichte an r\u00f6mischen, keltischen und t\u00fcrkischen Einfl\u00fcssen, ihrer gesellschaftlichen und historischen Nichtlinearit\u00e4t, ihrer Ambivalenz. Das akkumulierte Klangarchiv bzw. das akustische Ged\u00e4chtnis Belgrads bildete die Basis f\u00fcr eine Komposition. Wir h\u00f6ren Ambient und Statements, st\u00e4dtische Formationen, Informationen und Transformationen. Das auf field recordings spezialisierte Gruenrekorder-Label erweist sich dabei als ideale Homebase f\u00fcr Klements Belgradkomposition. Der Sound der Stra\u00dfen, Pl\u00e4tze, M\u00e4rkte, Kirchen, Kinder u.v.m.; auch widerspr\u00fcchliche Eindr\u00fccke, manche rauh belassen, unbehandelt, manche behutsam elektronisch hinter-, zusammen- oder \u00fcbereinandergelegt, komponiert eben. Eine sehr aufw\u00e4ndige, besonders sch\u00f6ne Arbeit.
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\nIt’s fitting that these Gruenrekorder releases by Katharina Klement and Marc Namblard respectively appear as part of the label’s Sound Art Series and Field Recording Series: peripheries is very much a highly personalized sound portrait the artist fashioned of Belgrade, whereas F. Guyana is a relatively undoctored set of field recordings collected at French Guiana. Both releases benefit from Gruenrekorder’s customary dedication to high-quality presentation, with each fold-out package supplementing its CD with a full-colour booklet of photographs and text that thoroughly enhances the project. Each also rewards a headphones-styled listen when its sound field is so rich in detail and panoramic in spatial definition.<\/p>\n
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\nAustriacka eksperymentatorka wybra\u0142a si\u0119 do Belgradu, \u017ceby odpowiedzie\u0107 sobie na kilka pyta\u0144 zwi\u0105zanych z fonosfer\u0105 tego miejsca.<\/p>\n
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\nWhat comes to mind when you think of Belgrade? Katharina Klement went on a nine-week mission to discover the sound of the city, and came away with a multitude of answers.<\/p>\n
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\nWith the weather being all sunny, and located in a very quiet neighbourhood, I sleep with windows open and every morning birds awake me quite early. Being no ornithologist, I have no idea which one, but one of these birds makes a very high-pitched noise, which is, come early morning, quite irritating. How remarkable, I thought a few hours later, that I don’t mind hearing such sounds when they arrive on compact disc. Gruenrekorder is a German label with an extensive catalogue of works that deal with field recordings (you know this of course from the many reviews already appeared here) and here we have two new ones, dealing with places I have never been too. Which always made me wonder if that is a ‚problem‘ or not; can I fully relate to the work at hand, without ever visited the place? Of course it is a bit of a theoretical question, since the review has to be written anyway. […<\/a>]
\nKatherina Klement is someone who we mostly know for her work within the field of improvised and composed, mainly with her on the piano. But apparently she is also involved in the world of field recordings and in 2014 she spend nine weeks in Belgrade, „focusing on the questions: ‚what does this city sound like? Is it possible to portray it using sounds?‘ and to that end she not only recorded sounds from the city but also she interviewed people. As Belgrade is a (I didn’t know this) city of numerous peripheries, she drew concentric circles on her map as to design a score, and in each piece she uses sounds from that specific circle. Each of the pieces is described here in the booklet and unlike Namblard Klement layers various sound events together to make a musical composition out of sounds from the city. She uses sounds from market squares, elevators, sounds from the Tesla Museum, concrete mixers, animals in the zoo and even historical speeches by Tito, the first president of Yugoslavia. Klement draws from a wider selection than Namblard does, but also seems to be doing much more when it comes to editing and layering of sounds. Whereas Namblard is mainly about the minimalist approach towards field recordings and create musical piece with these sounds, Klement is more into telling a story with sounds. Maybe one not necessarily gets the story of Belgrade (certainly if one has never been to the city before; it is perhaps not easy to say where this city is, based on hearing these pieces and that includes the Tito talk), but abstract as it is, it is also a fascinating piece (nine of them) of music. Klement is not shy to bend and shape tones, pitch them up or down as she sees fit, as long as it is necessary for the actual composition. Both of these new Gruenrekorder releases are excellent, but I preferred the one by Namblard to the one by Klement, mainly for it’s minimal approach that worked out quite musically.
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\nDrau\u00dfen vor der T\u00fcr: Field-Recordings und Sound-Art von Gruenrekorder
\nGruen, gruen, gruen sind alle meine Farben \u2013 bereits zum dritten Mal in Folge eine Gruenrekorder-Kolumne in testcard. Wie immer kommt man aus dem Staunen nicht heraus, wenn man sich die Ver\u00f6ffentlichungen des Frankfurter Labels anh\u00f6rt. Unerschrocken und ohne mit der Wimper zu zucken haben sie die Ger\u00e4usche von laufenden Filmprojektoren auf Vinyl gepresst: Sounds Of The Projection Box<\/a> hei\u00dft das Album von MICHAEL LIGHTBORNE<\/a> und es dokumentiert das Rattern der Maschinen, deren Ger\u00e4usche \u00fcblicherweise nicht aus der Kabine von Filmvorf\u00fchrern hinaus dringen. Ger\u00e4usche, die vom Aussterben bedroht sind, weil Filme ja mehr und mehr digital an Lichtspielh\u00e4user \u00fcbermittelt und dort abgespielt werden. Insofern wird hier akustisches Kulturerbe archiviert, und wer die Platte auflegt, kann sich bei geschlossenen Augen in die Rolle des Filmvorf\u00fchrers imaginieren und zus\u00e4tzlich versuchen, den Tonspuren bzw. -fetzen der ablaufenden Filme ein zus\u00e4tzliches Narrativ abzuringen. \u00c4hnlich abenteuerlich auch die Aufnahmen von GREGORY B\u00dcTTNER<\/a>, der f\u00fcr Voll.Halb.Langsam.Halt<\/a> die Fahrt eines alten Dampfschiffes, eines Eisbrechers dokumentierte, bearbeitete und sein Vorgehen sowie das Ergebnis wie folgt kommentiert: \u201eI had the chance to take a trip on the ship from Rostock to Ru\u0308gen over the Baltic Sea in 2010. The body of the ship is completely built from metal, so it is a big resonant room which sounds very different on each spot which I put my contact mics on (I used two contact mics, so I could record in stereo). I walked around the ship, placing my mics on different areas of the ship and also directly on parts of the steam engine, which is still fired by coal. For the composition I only used the pure recordings without additional sound manipulations, only juxtapositions, transitions and cuts.\u201d Alles klar? Der Kahn bzw. das, was B\u00fcttner aus seinen Ger\u00e4uschen macht, kann locker mit Merzbow mithalten. Harter Stoff. Metallisch k\u00fchl, aber weniger krachend klingt auch Gasworks<\/a> von GERALD FIEBIG feat. EMERGE & CHRISTIAN Z. M\u00dcLLER<\/a>. Der Ort als Resonanzk\u00f6rper f\u00fcr Ger\u00e4usche bildet das Ausgangsmaterial f\u00fcr diese CD. Entsprechend r\u00e4umlich ist in der Tat viel von dem, was es zu h\u00f6ren gibt, organisiert: Echo und Hall spielen eine gro\u00dfe Rolle im Klangbild \u2013 aber auch eine dialekt-gef\u00e4rbte Stimme, die von der industriellen Nutzung des Geb\u00e4udes erz\u00e4hlt, kommt, erg\u00e4nzt um Ger\u00e4usche, zu Wort. So entsteht f\u00fcr das Gaswerk von Augsburg-Oberhausen ein Denkmal. Der gleicherma\u00dfen verspielte und dokumentarische Charakter der musikalischen Arbeiten verwandelt den fr\u00fchindustriellen Arbeitsalltag in eine geisterhafte Klangreise: \u201eDes gibt\u2019s heut\u2018 nimmer.\u201c Bemerkenswert. Maschinenmusik ist auch auf der Slotmachine<\/a>-10\u201c versammelt, einem Projekt von ACHIM ZEPEZAUER<\/a>, der von unterschiedlichen Musiker*innen jeweils 45 Sekunden lange Klangskizzen anfertigen lie\u00df, die in der Logik eines Spielautomaten und nach Zufallsprinzip geleichzeitig aufgerufen werden k\u00f6nnen. Realisiert ist das im Rahmen einer Online-Anwendung, die das Bedienen eines virtuellen Spielautomaten zur Erzeugung der Zufalls-Kompositionen zug\u00e4nglich macht, hier: http:\/\/slotmachine.kuhzunft.com<\/a>. Viel Spa\u00df! (Die 10\u201c dokumentiert nur einen kleinen Teil der gewisserma\u00dfen unendlichen Kombinationsm\u00f6glichkeiten.) Auch KATHARINA KLEMENT<\/a> liefert mit Peripheries<\/a>, einem akustischen Portrait der Stadt Belgrad, eine quirlig-nerv\u00f6se und herausfordernde Arbeit ab. Unter Zuhilfenahme des Stadtplans erstellte Klement eine kartographisch inspirierte Partitur. Verschiedene Lokalit\u00e4ten in der Stadt wurden aufgezeichnet und ineinander gemischt. So entsteht ein wahres Klang-Gewimmel, das beizeiten wirklich anstrengend sein kann. Ich empfehle nach Selbstversuch folgendes: Die Aufnahmen auf dem Balkon abspielen und die Balkont\u00fcre offenlassen, w\u00e4hrend man im Zimmer bleibt. So entsteht der Eindruck, drau\u00dfen sei Belgrad! Bei der Gelegenheit gebe ich gerne zu, dass mir im Zweifel die eher ruhigen Aufnahmen aus tropischen Gefilden lieber sind. F. Guyana<\/a> von MARC NAMBLARD<\/a> hilft sich vom Stress in Belgrad zu erholen. Allerlei hypnotisches Summen, Surren und Dr\u00f6hnen der Flora und Fauna von der Nordk\u00fcste S\u00fcdamerikas! Auch DAVID ROTHENBERG<\/a> hat wieder mit allerlei V\u00f6geln Musik gemacht und sich f\u00fcr Nightingale Cities<\/a> auch zus\u00e4tzliche menschliche Instrumentalist*innen dazu geholt. Die in Berlin und Helsinki angefertigten Aufnahmen geh\u00f6ren sicherlich zum zug\u00e4nglichsten Material in dieser Kolumne, die V\u00f6gel sind freundliche Wesen, die Musik ist es auch. Wer noch nie eine Gruenrekorder-Produktion geh\u00f6rt hat, kann vielleicht auf diesem Weg einen sanften Einstieg in den Katalog des Labels finden. Fr\u00fchlingsmusik. Ganz anders und noch besser: die Windharfen-Aufnahmen auf Path Of The Wind<\/a> von EISUKE YANAGISAWA<\/a>. Windharfen, gro\u00dfe Saiteninstrumente in die Brise gestellt, werden buchst\u00e4blich von der Natur gespielt und je nachdem, wo die Windharfen standen mischen sich unterschiedliche Umgebungsger\u00e4usche unter die bet\u00f6renden Kl\u00e4nge der Instrumente. Ambient Drone mit Seem\u00f6ve. Minimal Music mit Meeresrauschen. N\u00e4her an New Age Klanglandschaften waren Gruenrekorder vielleicht nie, und es schadet nicht: Absolutes Highlight! Das Meer rauscht auch auf De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements<\/a> von MERZOUGA<\/a>, die nichts geringeres als eine Komposition auf Grundlage des Lehrgedichtes von Lucretius\u2018 wagen. Soweit so ambitioniert, aber da muss man sich nicht abschrecken lassen. Musik ist immer Ausdruck von Ideen, hier eben einer dezidiert philosophischen. Und elektronische Musik eignet sich auch nicht erst seit gestern, zur Verdeutlichung, mithin Vermittlung abstrakter Vorstellungen. Und so knistert es kleinteilig, die Atome tanzen unsichtbar aus den Lautsprechern, eine Stimme fl\u00fcstert hier und da Versatzst\u00fccke in englischer und lateinischer aus dem Gedicht usw. \u2013 ein kurzeiliges, abwechslungsreiches und durchaus spannendes H\u00f6rerlebnis, das dem \u00dcberbau entsprechen mag; letztlich aber spielt es zum Genuss der Komposition keine entscheidende Rolle, w\u00fcrde ich meinen. \u00c4hnlich gelagert ist es wom\u00f6glich im Fall von The Secret Life of the Inaudible<\/a> von ANNEA LOCKWOOD und CHRISTINA KUBISCH<\/a> anzuh\u00f6ren. Die beiden Klangk\u00fcnstlerinnen haben sich Soundfiles von an sich bzw. f\u00fcr Menschen nicht h\u00f6rbaren geophysikalischen Ph\u00e4nomenen zur gegenseitigen Bearbeitung vorgelegt: elektromagnetische Wellen, Ultraschallwellen, Sonnenwinde\u2026 akustische Ereignisse also, die zun\u00e4chst technisch in eine f\u00fcr das menschliche Ohr h\u00f6rbaren Frequenzbereich \u00fcberf\u00fchrt werden m\u00fcssen und von Kubisch und Lockwood bearbeitet wurden, und die dann \u2013 wie auch immer das im Detail von Statten ging \u2013 daraus sozusagen dunkle Materie gewannen. Mich w\u00fcrde einmal interessieren, inwiefern, das geologisch-kosmische Quellenmaterial, wo es ohnehin in den h\u00f6rbaren Bereich \u00fcbersetzt und also synthetisiert werden muss, nicht auch anders, also mit weniger Aufwand, generiert werden k\u00f6nnte? Ich nehme behelfsweise an, es w\u00e4re nicht dasselbe! Wie dem auch sei, das Ergebnis fasziniert: Sunn O))) \u2013 Kindergarten dagegen. Finster dr\u00e4uende, pechschwarze Klangfl\u00e4chen. Wahrhaft infernalische Musik aus dem Reich des sonst Nichtwahrnehmbaren. Hervorragend.
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