AEOLIAN VOICES (2013)
for eight digital soundtracks
In many
cultures, wind is regarded as the “breath of nature”, and
frequently described in terms of human vocal expression such
as sighing, moaning, howling and so on. As an invisible force
of moving air, wind is largely experienced through its
interaction with ourselves and the objects it encounters,
becoming audible by moving through and activating these
materials. Also, wind can be stirred up by moving objects and
can scatter the sounds that it carries, hence its elusive
character, at times playful, at other times relentless.
This
soundscape composition takes the listener on an imaginary
journey, starting in a windy wheatfield with a windmill, where
a passing car kicks up some stones and wind gusts, and the
wind scatters the sound of distant bells and geese. We then
move into a shed where wind whistles through the cracks and
crevices, banging anything loose enough to move, creating its
own resonances and percussion. Finally we encounter ourselves
in a heavy windstorm where our imagination may be tricked into
thinking we hear more frightful sounds that are partially
masked by the wind. All of these effects are the voices of the
elusive wind.
Aeolian Voices was premiered at the 2013
Sonorities Festival at the Sonic Arts
Research Centre, Queen’s University, Belfast.
Aeolian Voices is available on the Cambridge Street
Records CD, The Elements and Beyond.
Original recordings from the World
Soundscape Project Tape Collection, and vocal material by
Norbert Ruebsaat. Sound processing realized with Soundhack
convolution and Chris Rolfe’s MacPod software, with
spatialization created by Harmonic Functions’ TiMax2 matrix
mixer, marketed by Outboard Inc (UK).
Sound Example available
A detailed documentation of the entire work, its sources,
processing and multi-track mixing scheme is available from
the composer (truax@sfu.ca), as well as the 8-track
soundfiles for performance.
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