Sonisk Selskap

  Sustained Vibrations  

Sustained Vibrations was the sixth edition of Sonisk Selskap in Wrap’s AV Lab. The three-day studio residency was led by Tijs Ham and recorded by Mathias Grønsdahl. The last day culminated in a 30-minute improvised multi-media concert (on the 13th of March) with dance improvisation by dancers from ImproLaBergen in two different rooms and live-painting / performance by visual artist Mariano Pignatiello. The dancers performed in the canteen and in the Big Project Room, and Mariano Pignatiello was stationed in the Paint & Polymers workshop.

The ensemble was put together by Ham, based on encounters and acquaintances from his recent PhD in Artistic Research at the Grieg Academy, as well as his involvement with nyMusikk Bergen. As the ensemble came together, he identified the theme of sustain, which inspired the title (and a theme) for this edition of Sonisk Selskap, Sustained Vibrations. This led further to discussions with our appointed Sound Designer and Engineer, Mathias Grønsdahl, who has extensive experience in working with very extended reverbs and pitched reverbs. Based on these discussions, it was decided that we would implement a quadraphonic speaker configuration and that Grønsdahl would work in the same room as the musicians. This enabled him to create a more immersive mix, playing with creative spatial techniques.

Having the sound engineer in the same room as the musicians and using a quadraphonic sound system was a break from the previous Sonisk Selskap tradition, which created a different atmosphere. However, there was also a parallel mixing position in Studio A (using Grønsdahl's own modular Avid VENUE mixer system), which enabled Assistant Sound Engineer Priscilla Navas to control the mix for the live stream and other rooms at Wrap from a neutral (isolated) listening position.

The dancers used scores by M Veronica L Robles Thorseth and Monica Reksten for improvisations in the canteen and the Big Project Room.

Mariano Pignatiello, who also painted the mural in Wrap's long corridor, was installed in the Paint and Polymers workshop, where he could paint a very large canvas on the floor, which was filmed/streamed by a camera mounted in the ceiling. Sound was distributed to all the rooms with dancers and painting, using Wrap's dLive mixer system and sound-over-network infrastructure, and video was streamed from cameras in all these rooms to three projectors in Studio B, where the musicians were, as well as to Andreas Lassen, who made the live stream.

Recording was done simultaneously on two separate platforms for backup as well as for the simplicity of having files in appropriate formats for Logic Pro and for Pro Tools.

Credits

Musicians (residency and concert):

Amund Nordstrøm - Drums and Percussion
Anders Hannevold - Organetto
Daiyen Jone - Flute & Electronics
Feronia Wennborg - Violin & Electronics
Sergej Tchirkov - Accordion
Tijs Ham - Electronics & DIY cello

Dancers from ImproLaBergen:

Ine Terese Hogstad
Malin Nøss Vangsnes
Monica Reksten
Ewa Lorenc
Roskva Yasmin Andersen
Eik Leknesund Elnes
Katja Nyqvist
Guest: Veronica Robles Thorseth

Choreographic score:

Monica Reksten
Veronica Robles Thorseth

Live painting:

Mariano Pignatiello

Crew:

Mathias Grønsdahl - Sound Engineer
Priscilla Alejandra Miranda Navas - Assistant Sound Engineer
Øystein Nesheim - Cameras (dance and painting)
Andreas Lassen - Streaming & video-over-network
Nils J Nesse - Camera (concert)
Leo Preston - Technical Director

Performances

Kulturhuset Wrap (2024)

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Gathered Resonances