Brando Calmonte - Superando impatti inevitabili

Brando Calmonte - Rincorre la libertà a piedi nudi

Brando Calmonte - E' con la sensazione del vuoto

Brando Calmonte - Che la lenta miseria del genio

Akousma - Things Heard
"An experimental tape collage of sounds in order to portray subconscious sonic experiences"

Brando Calmonte - Things Heard

With this project Brando  intends to interpret in music the poem entitled "San Martino del Carso" written in 1916 by one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature: Giuseppe Ungaretti. The central theme is the village of San Martino del Carso that was completely destroyed in World War I during the Battles of the Isonzo (1915-1917). Although the writer like many futurists took an irredentist position against the war, he fought in the trenches and was able to witness the devastating consequences of the bombings.
If it is true that war leads to the destruction of mankind, here the function of music is to break the rules of the syntax of language to leave room for the imagination of the human subconscious. In fact, the "backward" speech produces a hidden message that gives an idea of the most intimate thoughts of a human being.  These two modes of speech, forward and backward, are supposedly dependent upon each other and form an integral part of human communication. In the dynamics of interpersonal communication both speeches combine to communicate the total psyche of the person, conscious as well as unconscious. It is interesting to note: “Backward speech is always honest and reveals the truth about the speaker's intentions and motivations”

Brando Calmonte - Spoken Words

Brando Calmonte - Immune System Defending Against Digital Bacteria

Sound design study on both digital and analogue feedbacks manipulations originated by contact microphones placed on the screen of my digital audio workstation

Brando Calmonte- Immune System Defending Against Digital Bacteria

The sound installation "Forgotten Sounds Of Analog Communication" is a provocative reflection whose aim is to translate into music the transformation of the communicative process to which human civilization has been subjected in recent decades. The modernization of telecommunications has led to the transition from mechanical to electronic technology through the adoption and proliferation of computers and digital memories. The driving force behind this evolution took place in the most industrialized countries at the end of the 50’s and has triggered a real movement of digital revolution, the effects of which were not exhausted in that given historical moment, but are still unfolding. Today we are witnessing an unstoppable phenomenon of technologization, whose dynamism and suddenness is still in progress. As a result, the change in communication tools has inevitably transformed the means by which communication itself is consumed. This is the starting point of the research carried out by Brando, who, after knowingly analysing the properties of typewriter’s sound waves decided to interpret in music the stages of development of the technological process. The artist, with the intent of his installation, wants to urge the viewer to relive the anachronistic and out-dated sounds produced by typewriters of the time, inviting the public to reflect on the role that modern communication has assumed and the kind of influence exerted on the new generations. Through the use of "field recording", "tape-machine loops" and subsequent manipulations of sound sources with both analog instruments and digital software, the artist has brought back to life, with a futuristic musical interpretation, the forgotten sounds of analog communication: typewriters. Created at the end of the 19th century, they were among the first mass use devices aimed at the rapid editing of documents in standardized formats. The functional use has penetrated the whole field of office work, establishing the professional discipline of typewriting, in association with shorthand and machine calculation. The nineteenth-century profession of the calligrapher was gradually replaced by that of the typist, originally reserved for women as an opportunity for personal emancipation in the workplace. Subsequently, we moved from the use of machines with lines of writing to the first systems of word processing, which allowed to make corrections and changes in the working in progress. Digitization erased the sounds of analog communication and Brando wanted to reproduce in his project the sound memories of these fascinating objects, once considered avant-garde, re-proposing the climate of novelty and originality that once hovered around them. The artist's work also accompanies the listener on the journey that led to their subsequent disposal, as by virtue of the technological process in place, no longer considered functional to meet modern needs. Typewriters from innovative objects have become old and out-dated devices, fallen into the oblivion of collective memories in a short and unexpected time. The sound created through a voluntary abuse of electroacoustic techniques evokes the destruction of these instruments and the demolition of the ideal to which they were assigned, inviting us to reflect on the concept of technological modernity. Listeners will thus be able to immerse themselves in a provocative journey into the past, while maintaining an active auditory sense, facing the future thanks to the fresh sound design techniques. Four Olivetti machines are the visual epicentres of the installation and their meticulously recorded sounds serve as the primary source for the composition. The recorded models are not only the Linea 98 typewriter, but also the famous calculator "Divasumma 24 1960", "Summa 15" and the legendary "Logos 262 Silent Drive".

Akousmatikoi -  Olivetti's Typewriters sound installation, QuattroPuntoUno 07/04/2019, Italy

DO NOT ELIMINATE AUDIO FEEDBACK!!! 


Audio feedback  is caused by a "looped signal", that is, a signal which travels in a continuous loop. In technical terms, feedback occurs when the gain in the signal loop reaches "unity" (0dB gain). Feedback is almost always considered undesirable when it occurs with a singer's or public speaker's microphone at an event and according to sound engineers  feedback could cause a constant problem for the final audio product, and is a phenomenon that’s as annoying as it is interesting.
On the other hand unwanted squeals or screeching sounds were intentionally generated by the artist for this experimental electro-acoustic piece  as sound material to be integrated in the creative process.

Brando Calmonte - Feedback Circuit

Brando Calmonte's original music and sound design for "K. Colo(u)r on your face"

Catia Nobrega wearing Rough Edges.
Video - KCTV
Edit - Nelson Santos
Hair&make-up - Kenny Campbell
Original music & sound design - Brando Calmonte
VIDEO:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_e8QhXCDAa/

Brando Calmonte original music for "K. Colo(u)r on your face"

Akousmatikoi Records

Crafting  auditory landscapes with a unique language of sound for boundless music experiences.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                           
Info & contact at akousmatikoi.music@gmail.com

Akousmatikoi Records

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