PRESENTATION TUNED CITY

Klanglabor, Filzengraben 8-10, Hinterhof links
Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Cologne, Germany
Monday 19 October 19.00-20.00

Tuned City – Between sound and space speculation was an exhibition and conference project taking place from July 01.-05.2008 in Berlin which proposed a new evaluation of architectural spaces from the perspective of the acoustic. Event co-organizer Derek Holzer will present selected topics and documents from Tuned City, and introduce his TUNED CITY COLOGNE workshop to take place over the next several months at KHM.

More info on Tuned City can be found at: tunedcity.de

WORKSHOP TUNED CITY COLOGNE

Klanglabor, Filzengraben 8-10, Hinterhof links
Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Cologne, Germany
Tuesday 20 October & Wednesday 21 October 10.00-17.00

There are limited places in this workshop! Please register ahead of time with Martin Rumori: ..

This workshop–envisioned as a starting point towards the creation of a long term project aimed at ISEA 2010–aims at investigating the interrelation of sound, architecture and urban space in the city of Cologne.

The conceptual starting point of this workshop is two different but similar lexicons of the kinds of acoustic effects created in real environments. The first is Barry Truax’s Handbook of Acoustic Ecology (1978, second edition 1999, available online: http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/handbook/) and the second is Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds by CRESSON researchers Jean Francois Augoyard and Henry Torgue. Each work combines terminology from a number of disciplines, but most notably acoustics and sound/music composition, as a way of defining the acoustic effects and experiences found in the everyday soundscape.

Using these books as “field guides”, participants will seek out different examples of the various acoustic effects within the urban experience. From there, we could consider site-specific projects which call attention to these effects (the “urban intervention” component) and installation/performance projects which explore the sonic effects/features in a more controlled environment i.e. the gallery or concert hall (the “laboratory research” component”). My own expertise in environmental sound, soundscape composition, field recording and the Pure Data programming language will be a great asset to the students in any of these situations.

During the first two day session in October 2009, a “laboratory” day will introduce some of the tools and concepts of field recording, including binaural, stereo, quadraphonic, 5.1 and ambisonic/soundfield recording techniques. Following this, participants will explore the city of Cologne, putting the concepts and techniques discussed into action. Finally, after a critical listening session, post-production techniques will be explored to present, spatialize or manipulate the collected recordings. Later workshop sessions in Fall 2009 will concentrate on participant-initiated installations and site specific works.

Workshop Schedule

Tuesday 20 Oct

10.00-12.30: Lab session–discussing conceptual approaches to urban soundscape from Truax, Augoyard & Torgue + introduction to field recording techniques
12.30-13.30: Lunch
13.30-17.00: Field work–exploring/gathering urban sounds

Wednesday 21 Oct

10.00-12.30: Lab session–playback and discussion of recorded sounds
12.30-13.30: Lunch
13.30-17.00: Lab session–post-production editing, spatialization, manipulation of recorded sounds + discussions for future sessions

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Derek Holzer [USA 1972] is a sound artist with a background in radio, webstreaming and environmental recording. His work focuses on the often unpredictable details to be found in field recordings and self-built analog electronic sound synthesizers, as well as strategies for collaborations and free and open source software such as Pure Data. He has released tracks under the Nexsound, Mandorla, Sirr, and/OAR and Gruenrekorder labels, and has co-initiated several internet projects for field recording and collaborative soundscapes including Soundtransit.nl.

Holzer has performed live, improvised electronic music in many venues and festivals in Europe, the US and Brasil. He is a fellow at Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, Cologne during 2009-10.

Photos

Tuned City event, July 2008, from top:

* Anechoic Chamber at Technical University Berlin (St. Ander)
* Recording Studio, Funkhaus Nalepastrasse Berlin (Pablo Sanz)
* Curved Hallway, Funkhaus Nalepastrasse Berlin (Pablo Sanz)
* Acoustic Model, Staalplaat shop Berlin (Pablo Sanz)
* Recording gear, Chris Watson field recording workshop, Pfefferberg Berlin (Pablo Sanz)
* Participants, Chris Watson field recording workshop, Pfefferberg Berlin (Pablo Sanz)
* Recording gear, Chris Watson field recording workshop, Pfefferberg Berlin (Pablo Sanz)