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I've always been fascinated by the effect that sounds can have on us humans.
The dramatic impact of the sounds of a dentist's drill, a wild animal, or the
suspense produced by tremolo strings. Once one forgets to think of music as
a hierarchy of melodic intervals, this psychological power of sound reveals
itself. And because of the simple fact that I can read nor write notes, or
even play a 'real' instrument, this is the way I perceive sound and music.
By recording and archiving sounds for some years now, I can create atmospheres
with layers of sound, not unlike blending colors on a piece of canvas. Using
modern digital audio technology, the possibilities of this alchemy of mixing
are infinite.
An interesting side effect is that blending two sounds together
(seemingly without any similarity) can create associations or suggest emotions
which can be daring. Sometimes, zapping through my library in MTV-style, I
wonder why I have to combine certain sounds. But in hindsight however, there
appears to be some form of unity within the newly created material.
AeroSon deals with our ever-changing audio environment. Once the sounds of water
and simple customs of our fellow tribe members were comforting and well known to
us. Nowadays modern telecommunications and industrial noise guide us through a
hectic urban environment. Television and radio broadcasts bring us sounds traveling
by air, that were never heard before.
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Faxes and beepers produce coincidental
harmonies. Sounds of generators, elevators, computer disk drives and engines provide
a constant hum, or on second view: an aerial symphony. It is a fact that most
creations of mankind are mirroring a process already found in nature.
One could
toy with the question if and how the sounds of cellular phones and TV-commercials
replace crickets and forest noise. In AeroSon I tried to combine natural elements
with their artificial counterparts. I also experimented with recreating atmospheres
that have long been gone or have never even existed by combining acoustic realities
with electronic lookalikes.
AeroSon is a piece about the relationship between man
and the technology he surrounds himself with.
Arno Peeters, 1996
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