“Has it ever happened to you while passing by a familiar place that you noticed or heard something for the first time? Something that was always there but because you were not attentive enough it passed unnoticed?”
That’s the kind of introduction that triggers anyone devoted to ‘ambient’ (music and) sound.
It is also the introduction to X Marks The Spot – an ‘environmental walk’ project in Belfast, Ireland, in which telecommunication boxes emitting an audible drone/hum were tagged between 2013 and 2019. The boxes were not only mapped but their sounds were also recorded and recreated into short compositions that can still be found on the project website.
The project was realized by sound artist Matilde Mereiles, who now used these recorded hums to create the electroacoustic soundscapes on this album Loop. And Again. The hums and drones of the boxes – recorded with contact microphones – merge with ambisonic recordings of their direct environment and with hydrophonic recordings of the river Lagan. The result is a fascinating (and surprisingly musical) mix of pure drone, electronic hums and environmental recordings.
Of the three pieces of this album, the third one has a somewhat different atmosphere than the the first two. Apart from the mentioned ingredients this track also includes trombone improvisations by Tullis Rennie, and recent home recordings of Matilde’s time at ‘Fingal, Bronagh, and Paul’s house close to Cross Parade’ (a street in Belfast).
via Ambient Blog