field recording
AI-29: The Wetland Remixes
Son of Chi & Clara Brea @ Astral Industries
Son of Chi returns to Astral Industries, alongside Spanish artist Clara Brea, for the collaborative release of AI-29. A product of fate, chance experiments, but most of all, sensitive artistry – ’The Wetland Remixes’ exists as a confluence of two kindred musical spirits, a wayfaring epic that draws together a rich archive of ecological field recordings, live instrumentation and higher inspirations.
Ahead of Hanyo’s concert at ‘Avalovara listening club’ (Madrid) at the end of 2019, the curators (Diskoan & Josephine’ Soundscapes) organised a special dinner and arranged the meeting of Clara and Hanyo. As Hanyo recalls, “It was like stereochemistry. There was an instant match and understanding, and basically we decided in a split second to exchange recordings and to collaborate on future live and studio experiments.”
The auspicious meeting of the two ignited a remote exchange of materials and ideas, as the world descended into a series of pandemic-related lockdowns. The first of said recordings included the stems of Clara’s ‘Wetland Project’ – a site-specific audiovisual project originally produced for Eufonic Festival (Spain), using field recordings from the Ebro Delta nature reserve (one of the most threatened regions of climate change on the Iberian peninsula).
From this initial impetus, Hanyo began working on the first sketches of the album back in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Just like their meeting in Madrid, the project developed naturally and spontaneously with extraordinary ease. Later, Hanyo started adding field recordings from the Magic Cave and Wetlands of the ‘Kallikatsou’ (Patmos, Greece) as well as organic and acoustic overdubs, featuring bass, drums, percussion, guitars, oud, piano, hammond organ, wurlitzer, flutes, bells, and mouth harp.
In the distance, the sound of birds peak through the effervescent wash of the wetland soundscapes. The pass of running water flows deeper into a land full of secrets never told. On the strike of dusk, the silhouettes of shapely trunks and foliage melt slowly into the impenetrable darkness. As darkness passes, light emerges, with exquisite moments of tranquility that seemingly emerge from nothingness.
Beneath the shimmering veneer of textures, wildlife and melodies, one may hear the deeper references of ’The Wetland Remixes’. With credit to Clara’s input, for Hanyo the album process became a kind of refuge, and ultimately inspired the return to the core of Abstract Sound – what the Sufis call “Saut-i Sarmad.” Such references allude to the spiritual quality embedded in the music – the autonomous process of self-expression, the great mystery. Hanyo: “An ambience like this cannot be created by routine. There is no blueprint. The music has to find you. It’s like a blessing if it happens. You should not interfere, just observe and be impressed…”
Deep, luscious mind trips as per the classic Chi sound, ‘The Wetland Remixes’ beautifully correlates the interconnecting dots of geography, ecology, and mythology’s forgotten lore.
Shadow Play / ∩
Composición/Espacio Sonoro utilizando como punto de partida los procesos de creación de las obras de Cristina Spinelli y Siglo Eterno para ¨shadow play¨ ( Sala 3 de ∩ @ Zapadores ciudad del arte)
Released August 29, 2021
Composición/Diseño Sonoro/Grabaciones de Campo/Mezcla/Master: Clara Brea
Cristina Spinelli trabajando en el estudio (Grabaciones de Alberto Garcia Aznar)
Rocio Perez typing (grabación de Clara Brea)
Grabación de la instalación en Zapadores: Alberto Garcia Aznar
Foto portada: Nalia Arenas
Diseño: Ignacio Gonzalez Olmedo
campos de marte
by Josephine Soundscapes @ Radio Relativa
Campos de Marte especial con Clara Brea. Programa retransmitido en RADIO RELATIVA el 24/02/22.
La protagonista de esta retransmisión es Clara Brea, artista que avanza brillante por las lindes de la experimentación sonora, trabajando con las dos caras de la realidad: lo que sí existe y lo que se imagina. Clara entrelaza con maestría ambas facetas, creando un espacio sólido en la intersección entre la música y el arte sonoro.
Ahondamos en en la obra de Clara Brea, en los aspectos fundamentales de su trabajo, su trayectoria y sus proyectos, todo narrado con su propia voz y a través de piezas seleccionadas por ella, que os invitamos a escuchar profundamente.
Tracklist:
Clara Brea – Duskscape Recall (Inédita)
Clara Brea – 14 1/2 Knots (Inédita)
Clara Brea – Radcliffee (Inédita)
Songs of the Humpback Whale – Solo Whale
Abul Mogard – Half Light Of Dawn
Clara Brea – Water itself is not a conductor. Wetland (Autoeditado, 2020)
Clara Brea – Shadow Play
Composición/Espacio Sonoro utilizando como punto de partida los procesos de creación de las obras de Cristina Spinelli y Siglo Eterno para ¨Shadow Play¨ (Sala 3 de la exposición ∩ @ Zapadores ciudad del arte)
Clara Brea – Extracto (Principio pieza 1)
Clara Brea – Extracto (Final pieza 2)
Extractos del material producido dentro de la Residencia para mujeres en la electrónica, de Matadero Madrid, que formará parte de un LP.
Clara Brea + Menhir – Improvisación (fragmento)
Memoria Resonante – En Pausa @ la casa encendida
(ES)
ClaraBrea nos ofrece esta pieza a modo de epílogo sonoro del festival En Pausa. La artista madrileña, especializada en grabaciones de campo, registró mediante un entramado de micrófonos lo acontecido durante las jornadas presenciales del evento celebrado en abril. Tras un particular trabajo de proceso y manipulación de todo ese material, nos presenta una pieza de una hora en la que podremos revivir las sensaciones de la cita.
El festival se articulaba en torno a la reflexión, la disidencia y la conexión a través de la escucha, y en la memoria resonante de Clara quedan representados estos parámetros ya que podemos reconocer partes de las actuaciones y del ambiente sonoro que vivimos esos días: La síntesis de Ylia y Jonathan Fitoussi el viernes en el patio, el concierto de clarinete y charla de Paweł Szamburski en la terraza la mañana del sábado y los conciertos de Menhir y Mecánica Clásica como broche esa misma noche.
Las técnicas empleadas por Clara, desde micrófonos de contacto situados en cristales y tuberías, a micrófonos 360, dotan al material capturado de una entidad propia, que sumada a la postproducción mediante sampling, efectos, filtrado y mezcla, generan una pieza que trasciende la mera documentación y nos adentra en el universo sonoro de una de las creadoras más originales del panorama local.
En Pausa, reflexión, disidencia y conexión a través de la escucha, comisariado por a_mal_gam_a, fue celebrado los días 16 y 17 abril de 2021, presencialmente en La Casa Encendida y virtualmente el domingo 18 a través de la plataforma de radio online 9128.live.
(EN)
Clara Brea brings us this piece as a sonic epilogue to the En Pausa Festival. Brea is an electronic musician and sound artist with a focus on field recordings, for this occasion she registered, through a microphone system what happened during the on-site concerts of the event held in April. After a particular process and manipulation of the recorded material, she offers us an hour-long piece with which we can relive the sensations of that journey.
The festival was articulated around reflection, dissidence and connection through listening, all these concepts are represented in Clara’s ‘Resonant Memory’ since we can recognize excerpts of the performances and also the sound environments that surrounded us during those days: The synthesis of Ylia and Jonathan Fitoussi on Friday in the courtyard, the clarinet concert and talk by Paweł Szamburski on the terrace on Saturday morning and the Menhir and Mecánica Clásica concerts that took place that evening to put an end to the on-site event and this piece itself accordingly.
The different techniques used by Clara to capture the event including contact microphones attached on glass windows and pipes or 360 microphones, already give the captured material its own entity, and after the post-production processes she made through sampling, effects, filtering, and mixing, we are left with a piece that transcends mere documentation and takes us into the sound universe of one of the most original creators on the local scene.
En Pausa, reflecting, dissenting and connecting through listening, curated by a_mal_gam_a, was held on April 16th and 17th, 2021 at La Casa Encendida and virtually on Sunday 18th through the online radio platform 9128.live.
Asturias, Field Recordings @ Mapa Sonoru
Field recordings taken in Asturias, Spain.
Featured on Juanjo Palacios‘s Mapa Sonoru , A collaborative project for the conservation and diffusion of the soundscape of Asturias.
Noche de lluvia. Lue, Colunga.
Ambiente de noche de lluvia en Lue, Colunga despues del toque de queda.
Coordenadas: 43.49517699, -5.3227724
Lugar: Lue, Colunga.
Fecha: 25.02.2021
Hora: 23:35
Equipamiento: Olympus Ls11, Par estéreo Primo em272.
license
El agua se filtra en la arena. Playa de la griega, Colunga.
Grabación de la marea filtrándose en la arena. Hidrófonos enterrados entre la desembocadura del Libardón y la orilla de La Griega, Colunga.
Coordenadas: 43.5016822, -5.2609696
Lugar: Playa de la Griega, Colunga
Fecha: 14.12.2020
Hora: 14:48
Equipamiento: Sound Devices Mixpre 6, 2 x Jrf Hydrophones
Arroyo en el área recreativa del Fitu.
Coordenadas: 43.4405473, -5.1926279
Lugar: Área recreativa del Fitu, Caravia
Fecha: 14.01.2021
Hora: 13:37
Equipamiento: Sound Devices Mixpre6 + Par estéreo DPA 4060
Nieve. Área recreativa del Fitu, Caravia.
Hidrófonos sumergidos en la nieve mientras se derrite.
Coordenadas: 43.4405011, -5.1926822
Lugar: Área recreativa del Fitu, Caravia
Fecha: 14.01.2021
Hora: 11:50
Equipamiento: Sound Devices Mixpre6 + 2 Jrf Hydrophones
Improvisación at CAAMSonora
CAAMSonora Acciones sonoras online
Info about the event (in Spanish):
La artista madrileña Clara Brea presenta una acción sonora dentro del programa ‘CAAMSonora’ 2020 en su edición virtual. Esta grabación recoge una improvisación en la que la artista invita al público a observar su proceso creativo mientras investiga nuevos espacios, texturas, timbres y melodías. Para esta actuación, la artista ha viajado hasta los campos de Asturias, lugar en el que realiza esta acción sonora para la cual recomienda la escucha con cascos.
Wetland AV & album realease
Wetland (Clara Brea & Elena Brea)
“Wetland” started as a site specific audio visual Performance for Eufonic Festival. Most of it was composed in the Ebro Delta (a nature reserve that’s one of the most climate change threatened environments in the Iberian Peninsula) on September 2019.
Since then it’s been performed live in different venues and it has evolved to become an hour long audio visual piece, and an Album.
Source material includes field recordings and video footage captured throughout the Eufònic/LoPati Residency, field recordings from a canal boat in London, modular synthesizer compositions and footage from the Mediterranean Sea (Menorca, Spain).
Released September 15, 2020.
Composed and recorded by Clara Brea.
Photography / Video / Artwork by Elena Brea.
Mastered by Damian Schwartz at Lyrebird sound.
Digital, Cassette and merch available here.
Stream audio-visual piece:
Listen to album:
Untitled
Two jams recorded during covid-19’s confinement.
“Duskscape Recall” features a recording of the dusk chorus at Dartmoor National Park (Moretonhampstead, UK) June 8th, 2019.
“Voltage Creek” features a heavily processed recording of the creek’s stream at Wavefarm (Acra, New York) January 18th, 2020.
Live at Ruido vírico
Clara Brea Live at #RuidoVírico_01 21st March 2020.
RuidoVírico is an Online Streaming Show devoted to sound art, ambient, electronica and field recordings broadcasting every weekend a selection of concerts done from home, private studios and workshops and held by artists, musicians, performers and improvisers. Every Sunday at 4pm CET.