As I announced in my previous article, I decided to suddenly change the subject of my research and I can say with certainty that it probably paid off and there was an e(a)ffect of curiosity and enthusiasm for research.

For a time, the visual side of science was emphasized, and the auditory side was somewhat neglected; however, this has changed as the ear offers a completely different dimension of experience, whether communal or individual. These two elements of audiovisuality work together in tandem, but they can also be completely separated. Sound has fascinated me since I was a child, as well as the sounds of nature and a certain form of merging with the natural environment through sound.

In my research I would like to use the method of artistic field recording; go on an expedition to the mountains (I will keep the name of the mountain confidential). Of course, it is possible that reading inspires me and in the end, my method will be slightly improved, but the building blocks will be recordings of nature, which I let freely pass into my microphone and oscillate the wavelength. Another way I would like to let mountain nature speak freely is that I would let a small stream of mountain water flow on different materials and surfaces, i.e. I myself would not interfere with nature, but let it make its own sound. There are inexhaustible possibilities of instrumentalization of nature – banging stones, rustling leaves, spreading gravel, etc. However, I would like to make minimal use of these aspects during my mountain trip. Then I would record a series of random mountain sounds that I find interesting – all with minimal intervention from me. After collecting data, I would like to produce a composition in my production program that will play the tones of the mountains and try to find some rhythm and musical sensation even in that innocent flow of water.

In fact, I have a dozen other ideas on how to record the language of the mountains .. but I’ll leave them covered in a temporary cloak.

Sources:

Doughty, Karolina, Michelle Duffy, and Theresa Harada. 2016. “Practices of emotional and affective geographies of sound.” Space and Society 20: 39-47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2016.06.007

Farina, Almo. 2016. Soundscape ecology: principles, patterns, methods and applications.

Freeman, Jason, Carl F. Disalvo, Michael Nitsche and Stephen Garrett. 2011. “Soundscape Composition and Field Recording as a Platform for Collaborative Creativity.” Organised Sound 16: 272 – 281.

Gallagher, Michael, and Jonathan Prior. 2014. “Sonic Geographies: Exploring Phonographic Methods.” Progress in Human Geography 38, no. 2 (April): 267–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132513481014.

Herzogenrath, Bernd. 2017. Sonic Thinking: A Media Philosophical Approach. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Licht, Alan. 2009. “Sound Art: Origins, Development and Ambiguities.” Organised Sound 14 (1): 3–10.

Massumi, Brian. 2002. Parables for the virtual: movement, affect, sensation. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Panksepp, Jaak & Bernatzky, Günther. 2002. “Emotional Sounds and the Brain: the Neuro-affective Foundations of Musical Appreciation.” Behavioural processes 60: 133-155.

Schafer, R. Murray. 1994. The soundscape: our sonic environment and the tuning of the world.

Thompson, Marie, and Ian D. Biddle. 2021. Sound, music, affect: theorizing sonic experience.

Thrift, Nigel. 2007. Non-Representational Theory: Space, Politics, Affect. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203946565