artist: OSONE
title: Passerelle
catalog number: and/29
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Passerelle
catalog number: and/29
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
Documented on this CD is a site-specific sound installation / performance by
°Sone (pronounced "osone"), a project of Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard &
Hughes Germain. The only sounds used were from within the walls of the building
where the event took place, channeled and recorded using large transducers and
then mixed and broadcast back into the main space of the building.
http://o.sone.free.fr/passerelle.html
*Visit the and/OAR blog to read an interview with Osone regarding Passerelle
(conducted by Corey Fuller).
Below is a loose (English translation from French) description of the process is
provided until a better one can be obtained.
- A resonator creating an intense wall oscillation of up to 34 Hz of vibrations was
placed at the center of the section refered to as the "quasi-quiet zone", towards
which was pointed a parabola diffusing the acute squealings space was filled of
the very serious frequency coming from the wall, except for this point of very
localised listening.
- Space of the walls covered with glass a series of parabolas diffused sounds
overshrill, directing their narrow sound beams towards the walls. The passage in
this space implied the crossing of these lines.
- Metal chimney, setting in resonance by a vibrator, which diffused the sweeping
of a harmonic series these melody textures were conveyed to the stage by the zinc
chimney.
- Two perpendicular walls were put in vibrations by a pair of vibrators each one
during the week, two speakers could at any moment come to diffuse sound
elements of their choice on this device. A third adjacent wall closed again
forming a "U", making for a broad zone of listening from where one could not see
the sound sources.
- The bottom of the center foot bridge, was reserved for the installation of Larsens
effect. A microphone directed towards the perpendicular hall and walls, like
another directed towards the room with the parabolas, constituted the entry of the
device. Its exit consisted of two amplified loudspeakers, directed in the angle of
this space the Larsens were controlled using a table of mixing and were modified
by means of computer.
- The walls of the hall were covered with plates of expanded polystirene, truffées
of transducers piézocéramiques. Two groups of plates created a kind of
stereophony, very remote, with band-busy limited (800-2000 Hz).
- The space of the hall contained suspended balls of polystirene (they also truffées
of piézo). Listening was much more localised than the plates described above,
and the busy one was shifted towards the acute one.
- A low register box was placed against the balcony of the stage, which entirely
put the space of the hall in vibration.
- A metal plate (at the origin a balance) was activated by a resonator.
- A metal curtain of big size, a case of transport out of plywood, and the picture
windows of the entry, was available for a pair of vibrator mobiles all the devices of
the hall describes above, were used according to desiderata's of the speakers:
diffused recordings, installation of automatic or controlled systems, improvisation.
- On the floor, in a tiny unlit room painted in black, was an opening for frontal
listening: two pairs of plates of polystirene were laid out in the angles of the walls
these plates diffused various sound fragments for the occasion which was recorded.
°Sone (pronounced "osone"), a project of Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard &
Hughes Germain. The only sounds used were from within the walls of the building
where the event took place, channeled and recorded using large transducers and
then mixed and broadcast back into the main space of the building.
http://o.sone.free.fr/passerelle.html
*Visit the and/OAR blog to read an interview with Osone regarding Passerelle
(conducted by Corey Fuller).
Below is a loose (English translation from French) description of the process is
provided until a better one can be obtained.
- A resonator creating an intense wall oscillation of up to 34 Hz of vibrations was
placed at the center of the section refered to as the "quasi-quiet zone", towards
which was pointed a parabola diffusing the acute squealings space was filled of
the very serious frequency coming from the wall, except for this point of very
localised listening.
- Space of the walls covered with glass a series of parabolas diffused sounds
overshrill, directing their narrow sound beams towards the walls. The passage in
this space implied the crossing of these lines.
- Metal chimney, setting in resonance by a vibrator, which diffused the sweeping
of a harmonic series these melody textures were conveyed to the stage by the zinc
chimney.
- Two perpendicular walls were put in vibrations by a pair of vibrators each one
during the week, two speakers could at any moment come to diffuse sound
elements of their choice on this device. A third adjacent wall closed again
forming a "U", making for a broad zone of listening from where one could not see
the sound sources.
- The bottom of the center foot bridge, was reserved for the installation of Larsens
effect. A microphone directed towards the perpendicular hall and walls, like
another directed towards the room with the parabolas, constituted the entry of the
device. Its exit consisted of two amplified loudspeakers, directed in the angle of
this space the Larsens were controlled using a table of mixing and were modified
by means of computer.
- The walls of the hall were covered with plates of expanded polystirene, truffées
of transducers piézocéramiques. Two groups of plates created a kind of
stereophony, very remote, with band-busy limited (800-2000 Hz).
- The space of the hall contained suspended balls of polystirene (they also truffées
of piézo). Listening was much more localised than the plates described above,
and the busy one was shifted towards the acute one.
- A low register box was placed against the balcony of the stage, which entirely
put the space of the hall in vibration.
- A metal plate (at the origin a balance) was activated by a resonator.
- A metal curtain of big size, a case of transport out of plywood, and the picture
windows of the entry, was available for a pair of vibrator mobiles all the devices of
the hall describes above, were used according to desiderata's of the speakers:
diffused recordings, installation of automatic or controlled systems, improvisation.
- On the floor, in a tiny unlit room painted in black, was an opening for frontal
listening: two pairs of plates of polystirene were laid out in the angles of the walls
these plates diffused various sound fragments for the occasion which was recorded.
EARLABS (APRIL 2008)
Under the nom de plume Osone , Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard and Hughes
Germain, have created in Passerelle a site-specific sound performance. The
sound space they rope into acting as their primary instrument is adorned with all
sorts of garb - walls covered with glass and plates expanded polystirene, chimneys
lined with metal and zinc, all flooded and tantalized by 34 Hz of vibrations
spilling out from a resonator planted in the centre of the room. What particularly
fascinates is how such a conceptual composition can provoke such a strong
emotional and aesthetic response in the listener. While conceptually the work
seems to have a great deal to do with reduplication, the sounds emanating from
within the walls being captured, doctored, and then channeled back into the
womb-like space from whence they came, the recording operates on an
undeniably immediate level. Throughout, a patiently measured tension is at play.
The lurid bellows from a cluster of metal plates pump through the opener with
ease and fluidity. As the intervals come on quicker, they build a wave structure
that hovers around the ears, as differently articulated sounds and textures float in
all directions. Indeed the heavily layered perspective is curiously reminiscent of
the spatial awareness created by gauging where clouds sit in the sky. By the
albums midpoint, the main compatibilities have been grounded and
consequences have begun to be probed. An astute ear and proficiency of
execution seems behind all of this; and this is perhaps most plainly evidenced in
the fact that these neat and beautifully effective physical gestures, which glide
but never meander, seem to occur more by chance than calculation.
(Max Schaefer)
Under the nom de plume Osone , Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard and Hughes
Germain, have created in Passerelle a site-specific sound performance. The
sound space they rope into acting as their primary instrument is adorned with all
sorts of garb - walls covered with glass and plates expanded polystirene, chimneys
lined with metal and zinc, all flooded and tantalized by 34 Hz of vibrations
spilling out from a resonator planted in the centre of the room. What particularly
fascinates is how such a conceptual composition can provoke such a strong
emotional and aesthetic response in the listener. While conceptually the work
seems to have a great deal to do with reduplication, the sounds emanating from
within the walls being captured, doctored, and then channeled back into the
womb-like space from whence they came, the recording operates on an
undeniably immediate level. Throughout, a patiently measured tension is at play.
The lurid bellows from a cluster of metal plates pump through the opener with
ease and fluidity. As the intervals come on quicker, they build a wave structure
that hovers around the ears, as differently articulated sounds and textures float in
all directions. Indeed the heavily layered perspective is curiously reminiscent of
the spatial awareness created by gauging where clouds sit in the sky. By the
albums midpoint, the main compatibilities have been grounded and
consequences have begun to be probed. An astute ear and proficiency of
execution seems behind all of this; and this is perhaps most plainly evidenced in
the fact that these neat and beautifully effective physical gestures, which glide
but never meander, seem to occur more by chance than calculation.
(Max Schaefer)
THE ART OF MEMORY (APRIL 2008)
A site-specific sound installation / performance by Yannick Dauby, Christophe
Havard & Hughes Germain. If I were forced to bring 10 CDs with me to a deserted
island, this would be one. there is the feeling / atmosphere similar to a photograph
by Anselm Kiefer, like listening to one of his factory floor images, obscured
beyond telling. (Matthew Swiezinski)
A site-specific sound installation / performance by Yannick Dauby, Christophe
Havard & Hughes Germain. If I were forced to bring 10 CDs with me to a deserted
island, this would be one. there is the feeling / atmosphere similar to a photograph
by Anselm Kiefer, like listening to one of his factory floor images, obscured
beyond telling. (Matthew Swiezinski)
THE WIRE (AUGUST 2008)
Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard and Hughes Germain concluded their 2004
residency at the Centre d'Art Passerelle in Brest, France with a sound installation /
performance which used the resonant frequencies of the building as the source for
their piece. The three controlled the oscillations of vibrating devices which rattled
heavy chimney and steel doors for low throbbing frequencies. They also
manipulated the feedback interplay between loudspeakers, narrowband parabolic
microphones for a glistening range of mid and high range frequencies. As
mathematically precise as the spatial positioning of these devices must have been
in the installation space, the movement of tones gliding across the audio
spectrum enjoys a rich poetry of angelic shimmering and subharmonic heaviness.
The psychoacoustic properties are a fascinating point of entry, but the results
captured on this disc transcend the process, and are reminscent of similar
successes from Christina Kubisch and Stephen Vitiello. (Jim Haynes)
Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard and Hughes Germain concluded their 2004
residency at the Centre d'Art Passerelle in Brest, France with a sound installation /
performance which used the resonant frequencies of the building as the source for
their piece. The three controlled the oscillations of vibrating devices which rattled
heavy chimney and steel doors for low throbbing frequencies. They also
manipulated the feedback interplay between loudspeakers, narrowband parabolic
microphones for a glistening range of mid and high range frequencies. As
mathematically precise as the spatial positioning of these devices must have been
in the installation space, the movement of tones gliding across the audio
spectrum enjoys a rich poetry of angelic shimmering and subharmonic heaviness.
The psychoacoustic properties are a fascinating point of entry, but the results
captured on this disc transcend the process, and are reminscent of similar
successes from Christina Kubisch and Stephen Vitiello. (Jim Haynes)
SIGNAL TO NOISE (WINTER 2008)
Osone truck in more site-specific realities (than Mou, Lips! "Untree" reviewed in
the same article). The CD itself anoints Passerelle as “a recorded walk through a
sound installation.” Removed from whatever context that might have been focuses
outsiders on the inherent fundamentals, a series of abstract, horizontally shifting,
sometimes coarse, sometimes raspy drones folding large swathes of Rothko space.
A trio that includes experimentalist Yannick Dauby in its ranks, Osone bring
substantial weight and measure to a minimalist clutch of sonic sculpture whose
occasional bursts of factory noise imagines Alvin Lucier’s long thin wires grinding
away in a city of industry. Unquiet slumbers for the sleepers. (Darren Bergstein)
Osone truck in more site-specific realities (than Mou, Lips! "Untree" reviewed in
the same article). The CD itself anoints Passerelle as “a recorded walk through a
sound installation.” Removed from whatever context that might have been focuses
outsiders on the inherent fundamentals, a series of abstract, horizontally shifting,
sometimes coarse, sometimes raspy drones folding large swathes of Rothko space.
A trio that includes experimentalist Yannick Dauby in its ranks, Osone bring
substantial weight and measure to a minimalist clutch of sonic sculpture whose
occasional bursts of factory noise imagines Alvin Lucier’s long thin wires grinding
away in a city of industry. Unquiet slumbers for the sleepers. (Darren Bergstein)
TOUCHING EXTREMES (DECEMBER 2008)
This disc presents the aural memories of a site-specific sound
installation prepared by French soundscapers Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard
and Hughes Germain at Passerelle, Brest (France). The artists obtained what's
heard on the CD exclusively from the channeling of the sounds coming from
within the walls of the building that contained the construction, capturing them
via big transducers and diffusing the result through the main exhibition space. A
strange, flowery description of the mechanical means utilized is available at the
label's website; it's not completely comprehensible, but sufficient to understand
how a complex system of resonators was fundamental in setting the above
mentioned walls as the core of a design where the harmonic qualities of the
inherent vibration are exalted and enhanced. The musical value of this material is
on a par with the best offers in the genre and - unquestionably - with the
consistency of and/OAR's output. Ominous echoes and dull drones are easily the
most engrossing feature of the disc, their emergence even more enigmatic in the
large hall's environment which the masterful recording represents with excellent
fidelity. Purring emissions arise from nowhere, extemporaneous presences scarred
by rare metallic clangors whose staying power is minimal, soon swallowed by an
overall muffled hush that nevertheless contains germs of vital activity. Towards the
conclusion we perceive the presence of visitors, the album ending nicely with a
baby's stuttering voice amidst the sonic ghosts. One loves to believe that it's an
expression of wonder, and that this kind of experience will be burned in the infant's
brain forever. (Massimo Ricci)
This disc presents the aural memories of a site-specific sound
installation prepared by French soundscapers Yannick Dauby, Christophe Havard
and Hughes Germain at Passerelle, Brest (France). The artists obtained what's
heard on the CD exclusively from the channeling of the sounds coming from
within the walls of the building that contained the construction, capturing them
via big transducers and diffusing the result through the main exhibition space. A
strange, flowery description of the mechanical means utilized is available at the
label's website; it's not completely comprehensible, but sufficient to understand
how a complex system of resonators was fundamental in setting the above
mentioned walls as the core of a design where the harmonic qualities of the
inherent vibration are exalted and enhanced. The musical value of this material is
on a par with the best offers in the genre and - unquestionably - with the
consistency of and/OAR's output. Ominous echoes and dull drones are easily the
most engrossing feature of the disc, their emergence even more enigmatic in the
large hall's environment which the masterful recording represents with excellent
fidelity. Purring emissions arise from nowhere, extemporaneous presences scarred
by rare metallic clangors whose staying power is minimal, soon swallowed by an
overall muffled hush that nevertheless contains germs of vital activity. Towards the
conclusion we perceive the presence of visitors, the album ending nicely with a
baby's stuttering voice amidst the sonic ghosts. One loves to believe that it's an
expression of wonder, and that this kind of experience will be burned in the infant's
brain forever. (Massimo Ricci)
