Headphones on! Binaural piece CHRONOVARIATIONS weaves together the haunting allure of the tenor saxophone with the limitless possibilities of electronic manipulation, superimposing avantgarde gestures onto minimalist ambient soundscapes. The record is rooted in notions of sonic resonance, temporality, and emergence, with the title of the work, CHRONOVARIATIONS, deriving from the concept of time and its transformation; timelessness, loss of temporal perception, and the decay of memory. The constantly-evolving chain of variations manipulates the perception of temporal reference points and envelops the listener.

"CHRONOVARIATIONS is a bold five-part composition that employs tenor saxophone, computer, resonating metal objects, and a space with a magnificent acoustic. The work challenges the conventional notions of form and structure, and utilises multiple dimensions of sound processing and augmentation. It calls for heightened engagement and active participation from the listener and, indeed, patience, but it’s a hugely rewarding and totally engulfing listening experience—these are musicians who are sculpting sound with virtuosic precision. CHRONOVARIATIONS feels like a conversation with time itself; where the past, present, and future collide and coexist."

-Artistic Producer Hugh Sheehan

CHRONOVARIATIONS   –   full album

Untempo Postcards #1 

An assemblage of sounds from two exhibitions: Tulppaaniantenni 
(Ahti & Kuorinki, K17, Sipoo, 2022) and Resitaatio (Kuorinki, Sinne, Helsinki, 2023)

Piano noodlings after Erik Satie's "Ce que dit la petite princesse des tulipes"
Organ samples used with permission from Sholto Dobie
Thanks to John Chantler (Fylkingen), Paul O'Neill (Publics), Markus Åström 
(Sinne), Jonna Karanka ja Mika Helin (K17) 

Mastering: Alexander Stuster
Cover & concept: Miro-Benjamin Lindström

Released 2024 by Untempo

Bandcamp

Untempo Postcards #1: Mikko Kuorinki & Marja Ahti - Tulppaaniresitaatio

Untempo Postcards #2: Breath Observation (for voice and hand - blown glass object)

In Breath Observation (for voice and hand-blown glass object), Chantal Michelle captures the acoustic resonances of hollow glass sculptures and merges them with the human voice. The work is part of a series of compositions using the sculptures, which were designed and fabricated by the artist, as instruments in relationship with various wind instruments. Exploring themes of fragility, permeability, and formlessness, the work invites the listener into an intimate space where boundaries between inside and outside blur

Composition, glass object, voice: Chantal Michelle
Voice: Eliana Glass
Mastering: Alexander Stuster
Cover & concept: Miro-Benjamin Lindström

Untempo Postcards #2: Chantal Michelle – Breath Observation (for voice and hand-blown glass object)

Study on Overtones / Improvisation at Ställbergs Gruva was recorded during the May-June 2024 Ung Nordisk Musik composer residency at Ställbergs Gruva, an abandoned iron ore mine. Hartikainen was selected as Finland's representative composer for this residency, which held a theme of "Specificity+." Through site-specific explorations within the Örebro region, questions were asked about the location’s specificity: what significance does it have, to whom does it belong, and what is its relationship to change and transformation?

The recording took place in the old elevator machinery hall of the mine, which originally operated the first elevator that transported miners as deep as 500 meters, where they then switched to another elevator to descend further. The acoustics of the hall were extraordinary; the overtones resonated with astonishing brightness, inviting an exploration of harmonic resonances. With the hall's long reverb and natural support, even a solo saxophone could create walls of sound. Hartikainen's mastery of saxophone overtones made the improvisation sound polyphonic, creating a rich tapestry of sound that filled the space with complex, interwoven layers of melody and harmony, which eventually unraveled into a single note.

Heli Hartikainen (Finland) – tenor saxophone, recording Kaj Mäki-Ullakko (Finland) – mixing, mastering

Study On Overtones / Improvisation At Ställbergs Gruva

Miro-Benjamin Lindström's CD, "Unessakaan ei voi välttyä ratkaisun etsimiseltä," immerses listeners in a sonic journey characterized by its deeply minimalistic essence. Lindström crafts a captivating atmosphere through slow, quiet compositions that invite microscopic introspection.

The CD provides an immersive experience for those seeking solace in the subtleties of music, offering a meditative space where the mind can wander and reflect amidst the quiet beauty of Lindström's sonic creation.

4-paged digipack CD. Limited edition of 200 copies.

Katkaise tieni ja virtani

Intermezzo: Bird’s Call (La Telefonata Del Corvo)

And the crow cawed to the other: ‘Some of us aren’t “made to be on the phone.” Since I only make about five outgoing calls per month, I’ve banished the phonebook app from the dock of my iPhone. But as our echoes seem no longer to ring out like they did before, we should give the phone call a try.’

Recorded and mixed in Helsinki and Stockholm by Atte Elias Kantonen in 2024
Thank you: Maya Oliva

Mastered: Alexander Stuster
Cover & concept: Miro-Benjamin Lindström

Untempo 2024

Untempo Postcards #3: Atte Elias Kantonen - Intermezzo: Bird's Call

Antiphonia is an imaginary, unwritten choir piece, inspired by an idea of polychoral singing. Only this time, it is a choir of overlapping saxophones, and the melody simultaneously starts at 60 bpm and 63 bpm. The layers of saxophones weave and tumble through each other, creating a sea of sound, wooshing over the cumulatively overlapping material, sinking into the sound itself, and weaving continuously shifting harmonies.

Composition, tenor and soprano saxophones, mixing: Heli Hartikainen
mastering: Alexander Stuster
concept, cover: Miro-Benjamin Lindström
Untempo Postcards #4

Released by Untempo Postcards 2025

Antiphonia

Untempo Postcards #4: Heli Hartikainen – Antiphonia

Antiphonia is an imaginary, unwritten choir piece, inspired by an idea of polychoral singing. Only this time, it is a choir of overlapping saxophones, and the melody simultaneously starts at 60 bpm and 63 bpm. The layers of saxophones weave and tumble through each other, creating a sea of sound, wooshing over the cumulatively overlapping material, sinking into the sound itself, and weaving continuously shifting harmonies.

For future solace.

Composition, tenor and soprano saxophones: Heli Hartikainen
Cover & concept: Miro-Benjamin Lindström
Master: Alexander Stuster

Untempo Postcards #4: Heli Hartikainen - Antiphonia

In their solo concert in Hiljaisuus Festival 2025, Hartikainen presents new music built around a specially customized sampler software. This active and polyphonic live sampler, controlled by Hartikainen’s tenor saxophone, responds in real time to various performance parameters, such as pitch and volume. A degree of randomness is integral to the sampler’s design, allowing Hartikainen’s improvisation and algorithmic aleatoricism – the human and the machine-organism – to merge organically.

Study On Overtones / Improvisation At Ställbergs Gruva

Heli Hartikainen

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