SOUND MAPS OF NORTHERN GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS | 6 Months Of Field Recording
„You listen to the place, not the sound.“ This quote from sound ecologist Gordon Hempton describes very well how field recordings are perceived by us. Unlike composed instrumental music or especially electronic music, which is only placed in an (artificial) space, a sound from outside does not describe the instrument, but very accurately the character of the place including many of its inhabitants at a specific time. This sound is highly complex and contains a huge amount of information. The work “Sound Maps Of Northern Germany and the Netherlands | 6 Months Of Field Recording” is an extensive documentation of the sounds of the north and the coast during times of very quiet air spaces (COVID-19 flight bans). I made recordings on the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog and the East Frisian island of Langeoog for sounds of the sea. Moor and forest recordings were made in Friesland and the Geest regions of Schleswig-Holstein. Time of day, day, season and weather have a huge influence. The finished 30-minute sound composition reveals a large portfolio for the full spectrum of sonic characteristics. I tried to explore the relationship of anonymous natural white noise vs. distinct, clearly recognizable sound. First introduced by sound ecologist Bernie Krause, I used the parameters „geophony“, „biophony“ and „anthrophony“ to organize my recordings. In total, I gathered about 600 recordings or almost 100 hours of high quality sound material. Following this work, various (film) music compositions were created using this source material, mainly oriented towards experimental ambient music under the alias Aron Stadler.