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Christopher Adler - Sirens of the pack ice (Ross seal)

from Polar Sounds by Cities and Memory

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about

My vision for this project was to create and perform a composition for solo khaen, the bamboo free-reed mouth organ of Laos and Northeast Thailand, situated inside an imaginary underwater Antarctic soundscape. I have been composing and performing contemporary works for the khaen for almost 30 years and am always seeking new contexts to feature this beautiful instrument.

The Ross seal’s remarkable vocalizations reminded me of the seductive wails of the mythic sirens that taunted Odysseus during his return to Ithaca, rising and falling over a surprising range of pitches. The short sample, played at various speeds between original and half-speed, is processed to make the foundation for a fictional and multilayered underwater soundscape, collaged together from various natural and electronic sources (and also including the vocalizations of Weddell seals). I composed and recorded a new composition for solo khaen and placed it within this imaginative soundscape, crafting dialogue between the music and the elements of the imaginary sonic environment.

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from Polar Sounds, released February 6, 2023

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Cities and Memory Oxford, UK

Cities and Memory is one of the world’s biggest sound projects, a global, collaborative sound art and field recording programme with the aim of remixing the world, one sound at a time. It covers more than 100 countries and territories with 5,000+ sounds and more than 1,000 contributing artists.
Thousands of field recordings, recomposed and reimagined by artists around the world. ... more

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