Vertical Studies: Acoustic Shadows and Boundary Reflections II by Espen Sommer Eide and Signe Lidén at Borealis Festival 2017, Fjell Festning, Norway

Fjell festning, 11 March 2017: The cannon well at the fortress from WWII, a 15m high circular space with great acoustic properties, was used as a model for our vertical studies. Most of the sounds we worked with were created by wind-recording instruments. We also ran an experiment on the vertical life of birds, in which we created a model of bird songs from around the world sorted by frequency. Through our vertical speakers, telescopes with speaker elements, we could play sounds on the whole vertical axis of the space. By expanding the telescopes, different zones for the sounds of the archive were created. Resonating rods were fixed to the railings and functioned as impulse response instruments; when being resonated, their frequencies “cut” through the zones before filling the space with their omnipresence. After the session in the well was ended, the audience could go out and test the wind instruments in the gail.

Acoustic Shadows and Boundary Reflections II was commissioned by the Sonic Acts Festival with support from Norsk Kulturråd and Borealis Festival. Many thanks to Fjell festining. Photos by Xin Li.