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Sonoscopia - Luminous Flux

from New Chronologies of Sound by Various Artists

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about

“I used to live in a house in the center of the city. During the day, with all the traffic from the cars and all the people passing by, all the surrounding soundscape consisted of what one expects to hear in a city - a massive and indistinct block of manmade sounds. At night, however, the background noise was significantly reduced, especially the sound of the engines of the cars.

It was only at night that some sounds were able to be noticeable, emerging with all the sonic characteristics inherent to these entities. Some revealed all the inner beauty that had been dormant during the day, while others proved to be less attractive, especially during those periods when you are expected to sleep and rest. As I was living in the intersection of two streets, the sound of the traffic lights at night was specially disturbing. The volume of the sound signal was the same of the daytime, but at night it seemed very loud - a high pitched penetrating sound that was always present during my sleep.

I begun to be very aware of these sounds, and also how they would frequently be slightly out of tune between them, producing acoustic beats and irrepeatable patterns as they were superimposed in street intersections that had more than two roads, or in zones where several traffic lights could be heard.

At night, I used to walk through the city to find particular spots where I could listen to this spontaneous counterpoint of high pitched beeps, some closer, some distant. I also started to look for other distinct high pitched sounds from other electronic sound producers on the streets, such as air conditioners or air circulating systems. Frequently, these machines were placed in closed resonant spaces, like underground parking lots. Here, these signals would resonate throughout the space, enhancing the intrinsic acoustic properties, reverberating or fluttering in beautiful ways.

In Luminous Flux, the most predominant sound is a very high frequency that I recorded in such a space. I went out of the car in a parking lot, and it was floating in the air. As I moved and walked to try to find the origin of the sound, all the reflections from the walls made this task very difficult. But it was an incredible listening experience. It was flying all over the space, sometimes more present, other times more indistinct due to the sum and cancelation that was occurring in the different areas of the park.

The sound you hear on the piece doesn’t capture all the complex vibrations you could hear in that place. So I orchestrated it with other sounds, very much in the same way I heard the traffic light counterpoint I used to listen at night close to my old house. You cannot replace the original physical listening experience, but you can rebuilt it with your memory, imagination and personal meaning.”

Gustavo Costa

credits

from New Chronologies of Sound, released July 9, 2021
Field recordings from the Phonambient Archive
Composition by Gustavo Costa

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VIC NIC Aveiro, Portugal

VIC's freshly baked circulatory device for sonic, visual and written artworks. Seeking to stimulate togetherness, experimentation and co-creation by facilitating the research, production and dissemination of unique world views.

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