Zinnal
46.082286, 7.631169
Oberaar
46.537962, 8.230192
Rhone
46.581210, 8.383139
Pizol
46.968361, 9.394557
Morteratsch
46.412866, 9.935662
Aletsch
46.441745, 8.085349
Fieldrecordings
Performances
Compositions
ICED SOUND
By being on-the-spot, field recording and performing with various artists in
Alpine ice caves, the project Iced Sound conceives a unique sonic experience with endangered alpine glaciers and its inhabitants. At the heart of the project lays sound material recorded in remote places surrounded by ice. The music is about melting, about aggregate states that are in flux, made by nature and humans, and tells poetically and subjectively what impact these changes have on the environment and its inhabitants.
The work suggests on the one hand the impact of human action, on the other hand it shows an attempt to get in touch with this fragile environment by having a subjective conversation through its sounds. Starting from questioning the way humankind deals with places/spots (and species) which are beyond its tangible range of vision and experience, this work explores the story of these unseen and unheard landscapes through music.
Alpine Glacier Fieldrecordings 2020- ongoing
At the heart of the project ICED SOUND lays sound from different field recordings, taken on-site while listening to and interacting with glacier caves and seracs, crevasses, and glacial lakes in the Swiss alps.
Since 2019, composer and musician Ramon Landolt has visited the Zinal-, Aletsch-, Rhone-, Pizol- and Morteratsch glaciers to capture the sounds of their melting. Many of them, such as Zinal, Rhône- and Morteratsch have been visited repeatedly both in summer and winter to perceive the different sonic environments. Glacial caves for instance are unpredictable entities because they appear during melting processes until winter freezes their current form, only to possibly disappear in spring again. Early hours on the glacier allowed Landolt to capture unique sounds of the cracking ice melting with the sunrise.
Since 2019, composer and musician Ramon Landolt has visited the Zinal-, Aletsch-, Rhone-, Pizol- and Morteratsch glaciers to capture the sounds of their melting. Many of them, such as Zinal, Rhône- and Morteratsch have been visited repeatedly both in summer and winter to perceive the different sonic environments. Glacial caves for instance are unpredictable entities because they appear during melting processes until winter freezes their current form, only to possibly disappear in spring again. Early hours on the glacier allowed Landolt to capture unique sounds of the cracking ice melting with the sunrise.
Music by and for Glaciers
“In the course of the project it became clear to me that I wanted to establish a conversation with the glacier. I have
developed different ways to do so: through written composition played on-site by invited artists, by improvising on-site with the real-time sonic environment and by recording
sounds and altering them afterwards.”
Landolt recounts that it is of great importance to him to not only collect but also to bring to bring something back for the glaciers. The performances include an improvisation between the performer and the glacier where the musician plays and interacts with the real-time sounds of glacier crevasses and lakes. By doing so the melting processes of this particular moment are embbed and poetically transmutated into the piece of music.
Performances have taken place on Rhone-, Morteratsch- and Zinal Glacier including musicians such as Mario Hänni dr, Tapiwa Svosve sax, Violeta Garcia cello, and Dominic Landolt e-guitar.
developed different ways to do so: through written composition played on-site by invited artists, by improvising on-site with the real-time sonic environment and by recording
sounds and altering them afterwards.”
Landolt recounts that it is of great importance to him to not only collect but also to bring to bring something back for the glaciers. The performances include an improvisation between the performer and the glacier where the musician plays and interacts with the real-time sounds of glacier crevasses and lakes. By doing so the melting processes of this particular moment are embbed and poetically transmutated into the piece of music.
Performances have taken place on Rhone-, Morteratsch- and Zinal Glacier including musicians such as Mario Hänni dr, Tapiwa Svosve sax, Violeta Garcia cello, and Dominic Landolt e-guitar.
Compositions
Iced Sound establishes an aesthetic framework that includes aspects of sound art and experimental music by examining the organization of sound by combining real and virtual spatiality, by transmuting sound objects and by manipulating time through sound.
The compositions are based on both raw and algorithmicall processed field recordings that are structured regarding the melting processes of its glaciers. By means of digital signal processing the field recordings are transformed (algorithmically altered) and layered in a way that the pieces conceive a multi-time scale experience in which the listener is confronted with zoom-ins, freezing, accelerations, aggregate state changes and die-offs.
The compositions reflect on, and make experienceable, that what we can not see, and in this case, hear: the story of overlooked and unheard fragile
landscapes, that are gradually, but also ever faster, changing, as a result of our own human actions, which have major consequences for our planet.
Iced Sound establishes an aesthetic framework that includes aspects of sound art and experimental music by examining the organization of sound by combining real and virtual spatiality, by transmuting sound objects and by manipulating time through sound.
The compositions are based on both raw and algorithmicall processed field recordings that are structured regarding the melting processes of its glaciers. By means of digital signal processing the field recordings are transformed (algorithmically altered) and layered in a way that the pieces conceive a multi-time scale experience in which the listener is confronted with zoom-ins, freezing, accelerations, aggregate state changes and die-offs.
The compositions reflect on, and make experienceable, that what we can not see, and in this case, hear: the story of overlooked and unheard fragile
landscapes, that are gradually, but also ever faster, changing, as a result of our own human actions, which have major consequences for our planet.
All recordings and music by Ramon Landolt
Pictures by Caterina Viguera
Contact for more infos:
ramonlandolt@trioheinzherbert.com
Links:
https://ramonlandolt.com/Encounter-Iced-Sound
Pictures by Caterina Viguera
Contact for more infos:
ramonlandolt@trioheinzherbert.com
Links:
https://ramonlandolt.com/Encounter-Iced-Sound