Eurorack format has become incredibly trendy recently, having lots of module manufacturing companies that are launching new and experimental modules. Modules are becoming weirder and more innovative, some of them containing uncommon things for example dirt and radioactive substances. The blog Create digital Music (2015) has published an article introducing some of these crazy new modules.

I was amazed by the creativity in the creation of these modules, it’s a great example of how thinking outside of the box can contribute so much on inventions. I don’t know anything of modular electronics but when I do and start developing my own modules, I will try to make my modules with the same creativity as the engineers and developers of these modules.

Tomoko Sauvage is a japanese-french experimental music composer and performer. Her work became notorious because of an instrument she created, consisting in porcelain bowls filled with water and containing a hydrophone inside of it, making it the first electro-aquatic instrument (Sauvage, 2021). With this instrument she is able to create very complex sounds, creating evolving performances.

After finishing her studies, Sauvage became very interested in hindustani music . She discovered an instrument called jalatharangam, that consisted in porcelain bowls filled with water, where the performer rubbed the edges creating rich tones (Sonic Acts, 2020). This instrument was Sauvage biggest inspiration, her electro-aquatic instrument is a modern evolution of this instrument. I am really impressed with the idea and I would like to attempt something similar. Going back to an old instrument and find a way to modernize or creating an instrument using different uncommon microphones.

Electrical Walks is a an artistic project and concept created by the german sound artist Christina Kubisch. Basically, electrical walks is the concept of taking a walk with a pair of headphones that are design to detect electromagnetic induction, making possible hear all the electromagnetic sounds created by electronic technology, from mobile phones to electric stair cases. This concept is somehow similar to field recording and sound shaping, but it has the amazing capability to detect sound that are invisible to the naked ear. Virtual walks Oslo, is a project where Kubisch recorded different electrical walks around Oslo and then created an interactive site where people can see 360 degree images of the sites and hear both its normal ambience and its electrical sound (Kubisch, 2019). This creates different perspectives in which you can experience a place, making in a sense, visible the invisible.

I have used induction coil microphones that have the capability of picking electromagnetic signals before, but I have never experienced something similar as doing an electrical walk. I am tremendously curious of doing one and I wonder in how many ways could be used artistically. An idea that could be interesting is: instead of using field recording and ambient recordings to set an atmosphere in film, using electrical walks recordings to set the atmosphere of a scene in a movie.

ASMR or autonomous sensory meridian response is a sensory phenomenon caused by specific auditory and visual content that induces on the person experiencing them, a calm and relaxed state, similar to meditation (Lloyd, 2017) . In sound, ASMR can be triggered with specific pleasant sounds, for example whispering. ASMR can also be triggered by the repetition of a specific sound, that is in its nature very hypnotic. Recently, this phenomenon has become a You Tube trend, with millions of videos that oscillate in different forms and art styles.

Minimalism is a music genre that can create an ASMR, because of its repetitive nature and trance inducing capabilities. The composer Aimée Portioli, a.k.a Grand River, is a dutch-italian composer based in Berlin, that is known for her minimalistic structuralism and creative sound design. She did a performance with collaboration of Fact Magazine, where she exploited her trance inducing capabilities with a looping composition made with acoustic and electronic instruments. In the bio, the writer defined the piece as ASMR quality, created by the rich textures of its sound design (Fact, 2021). She uses sophisticated synths like the Buchla Music Easel and different Euro Rack synthesizers, creating a rich palette of sound.

My composition is deeply influenced by repetitive electronic music, because of its hypnotic nature. I always wanted to make my compositions trance inducing and have a calming effect on the listener. Unconsciously I’ve always wanted to have an ASMR quality on my compositions but I never quite achieve it. Reflecting back on Grand River’s composition, I think these qualities can be achieve with a creative and powerful sound design. As I don’t have the resources to get expensive synthesizers as the once she uses, I could start searching for sounds sources that are outside of my comfort zone. For example acoustic instruments as the ones used in her composition, and with them attempt to create an ASMR texture.

Lisa Busby is a Scottish composer, singer and producer of experimental electronic music. Her work is notorious for using unconventional composition techniques such as using non standard musical notation. Busby also uses a lot of literary techniques in her composition, mixing spoken word and poems with electronic beats. With these techniques, Busby achieves to create a narrative that caught’s the listeners attention.

Proposal For A Song is one of Busby’s pieces that I most enjoyed. Creating different textures with the noisy looping sound of vinyl and using beautiful melodies with her voice, Busby creates a really emotional performance. By using her voice the piece has much more intimacy and as said before it hooks you to a narrative. She uses a lot of experimental turntablism (Busby, 2019) in her work, I really liked this aspect of her work and I think I could implement something similar to mine. I could try to sample some of my personal favorite records and include them in my pieces, to try and make my pieces have more intimacy such as Proposal For A Song Has.

Another characteristic that Proposal To A Song has is an unconventional structure. The piece have different sections that are very un similar from the one before, but they fit well together. In my piece Behind The Window, I also approached a non conventional structure but the transition of every section are not as smooth as the piece by Busby. I could use her work for inspiration for my next piece to smoothen my transitions and that way create a successful non conventional structure. Attached below my piece Behind The Window.

With a Zoom H4n field recorder and some microphones I went to a near by park to do a sound walk. This was the first time I did a sound walk with a field recorder, in past occasions I used my phone to record but its sound quality was not very desirable. When recording I used headphones to hear what I was recording, I could hear the sound of my surroundings much closer, giving me a different perspective of experiencing sound.

While recording, there was a local table tennis match occurring near by me. I approached it and did a recording of it, later on I edited the track and added some compression (recording attached below). The final outcome was very interesting, by hearing the recording you could be transported to that exact moment. Field recording has the capability of capturing an atmosphere. This concept inspired me to use field recording in my sound compositions and this way create new atmospheres and new sonic experiences.