beepblip [Ida Hiršenfelder]: Angstmachine: The Calm Before the Storm

DESCRIPTION

The Angstmachine[1] is a series of electroacoustic, quadraphonic compositions for a custom-made friction idiophone of the same name. The sonic material interweaves atmospheric field recordings with friction, oscillations, resonances, and restrained electronic processing. The composition unfolds as a layering of sound, in which performative gestures (strikes, slides, pressures, bowing, spins, and rotations) are transferred into the instrument, generating sensations of unrest, tension, and the foreboding of an approaching collapse. The instrument, tuned to 31EDO, is simultaneously plucked, struck, and played with a bow; it produces pulsations, reverberations, and rhythms, along with unusual sonic landscapes. The electronics act as a quiet extension of the instrument, through decay, modulated feedback loops, spring reverb, and seemingly random movement through the quadraphonic space, with real-time gestures taking the lead role. Through tiny frictions, muffled resonance, and sonic implosions, the artist creates an acoustic metaphor for social anxiety. What begs the question is what kind of poetry can be made during a time of war? The first composition in the series, The Calm Before the Storm, establishes a quiet state of anxiety, ranging from subdued tension to ominous sonic shadows (unease, apprehension, tension, sinister omen, torment). The Angstmachine is a sonic ritual that, through the fissures between the acoustic and the electronic, reveals the unrest of the contemporary world and invites listeners to confront its echo. 

[1] Angstmachine is a custom-made instrument that combines elements of the Apprehension Engine, a hybrid acoustic instrument by Canadian film composer Mark Korven, the daxophone, an electroacoustic wooden experimental string instrument invented by Hans Reichel, and Resonant Garden, a modular electroacoustic instrument by Folktek.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

beepblip [Ida Hiršenfelder]

A sound artist and archivist who creates immersive psycho-geographical spatial compositions. Her work explores sound ecology, spatialisation, the agency of non-organic others, non-human animal languages and listening to the inaudible. She is a member of the Jata C group for bioacoustics and sound ecologies, the Clockwork Voltage modular synthesis community and the CENSE network.

Read more about the TO)pot Festival --here