The Empire of Light explores and organizes in real time the sounds of electromagnetic fields and electric current emitted and dispersed by man-made technologies. We like listening to the sound of circuits and windings of small household appliances, we love the symphonic confusion of the electromagnetic fields of cities, with their street lamps, wi-fi networks, traffic lights… We record the sounds of electromagnetic fields - EMF - everywhere, creating sound memories – our “electromagnetic postcards”: we recorded the EMFs of village bars, a textile factory, a medieval village, an art foundation, our homes and many cities; people always get curious and many times they ask us if our devices are also capable of revealing the voices of spirits and ghosts. We never thought of getting interested in spiritualism with our electromagnetic explorations: this call has given us the opportunity to conduct our first paranormal investigation.

Electromagnetic field meters and recorders are among the indispensable tools of a good ghost hunt; Specter.fandom.com states, "an EMF meter measures electromagnetic fields emitted by faulty wires and radio waves, but investigators insist it can also detect spirits." The SpiritsHack.co.uk website reads: “One of the most common forms of ghost hunting equipment is called a Spirit Box or Ghost Box, a small piece of equipment which scans radio waves for spirits attempting to communicate through noise or other sounds. Supporters of Radio Voice Phenomenon (RVP) claim to be able to use radio equipment to communicate with ghosts and spirits."

This last quote made us understand which - among the devices we already use - was the most suitable for our new sonic-paranormal research: we opted for a SOMA Ether model, described as follows by its manufacturer: “ETHER is a kind of anti-radio. Instead of being tuned to a specific radio station, it receives all the interference and radiation that a traditional radio tries to eliminate in order to create a clean signal. It captures the radio waves “as is” from hertz to gigahertz because it doesn’t contain the tuned input circuit that filters out all frequencies except the narrow band of a specific station. This allows ETHER to perceive the invisible electromagnetic landscape that humans created unintentionally, making possible live electromagnetic field listening and recording.
As the inspiration for this project, I took the design of the very first radios (early 1900s) that had no tuning wheel”.
To be sure of being able to meet the ghosts, we went to a place where thousands of bloody deaths took place: we went to the banks of the Piave river, where the terrible battle of the Solstice was fought in June 1918. We entered bunker 5 of the Lucca Brigade and we recorded our stay in space. We don't want to influence the ratings, we limit ourselves to writing a short descriptive lineup of the recording you are listening to:

- from 00:00 to 00:34
listen to the airwaves as they are. We are at the entrance to the bunker.
- from 00:34 to 01:20
sudden changes in volume and the appearance of a rhythmic pulsation can be heard: at this moment we are in the main room of the bunker, near the loophole used by the Italians to shoot at the Austrian soldiers on the banks of the river. Pulsations drowned out by white noise prompted us to use equalization to cut out the mid and high frequencies and bring out the low frequencies.
- from 01:20 to 01:28
after a quick transition, hear only the low frequencies
- from 04:08 to 06:00
attracted by some sizzles we created a new transition to return to listening to the full range of frequencies, enhancing the highs more.

Bunker 5 Brigata Lucca

Wheeler session recorded by Tommaso Mantelli at Lesder Studio.

Wheeler Session

In September 2019 L'Impero della Luce cooperated with Bonotto Foundation, an important Fluxus Art foundation in Molvena (Vicenza) for whom they composed the piece "Calcite, Onyx, Hawaii, Tabacco". This music piece - along other compositions made with the sounds of electromagnetic fields recorded at Bonotto Foundation - has been conceived as audio-video installation and experimental audio-guide to describe the hidden sounds of Bonotto art collection, currently exhibited into a working factory.

This piece of music is the third movement of "Il Mare di Dirac", first album released by L'Impero della Luce on February 2020. It was recorded through the use of two DIY Elektrosluch with the contribution of the Bonotto Foundation at the Bonotto textile company and the Bonotto Foundation.
Sources: Nam June Paik, Robot: the Baseball Player (1989): screen, electrical connections, dvd player, screen power supply; Nam June Paik, Voyeur Mail Box (1993): screen; William Xerra, Homage to Jacopo da Ponte (2018): neon; Joe Jones, Mechanical Surmandal (1978), electric scooter, acoustic beats; Philip Corner, Performance at the Wool Mill (1995), screens; jacquard looms; Roj Quartz frames; coffee dispensing machines; electrical panel 380 volt; weaving room looms.

Calcite, Onyx, Hawaii, Tabacco (380 V)

Il Mare di Dirac (The Dirac sea) was created thanks to the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, by organizing the recorded sounds of the electromagnetic fields of everyday devices, industrial machinery and installations by authors part of the history of contemporary art.
This record is a flow of chosen sounds, captured and organized in space and time with the desire to keep their original nature and appearance as unaltered as possible, avoiding the abuse and the imposition of artificial sound effects.
The desire is to retrace the enthusiasm aroused by the first inventions capable of giving voice to the light such as Alfred Graham's Electric Musical Tones (1895) - among the first to employ voltage control - or William Du Bois Duddell's Singing Arc ( 1899), a pioneer of the sound potential of a voltaic arch.

Il Mare di Dirac is made up of 7 movements:


1: 00'00'' / 03'24'' >	Particelle di Majorana
2: 03'24'' / 04'54'' >	Il Mare di Dirac
3: 04'54'' / 13'24'' >	Calcite, Onyx, Hawaii, Tabacco (380V)
4: 13'24'' / 16'06'' >	Simmetria
5: 16'06''/ 18'33'' >	Lise Meitner 
6: 18'33'' / 21'28''> 	Positroni, elettroni e annichilazione
7: 21'28''/ 24'54''> 	Integrale sui cammini

For the realization of all the movements, except the third one, the following were used:

Johann Merrich
Sources: portable TV, DVD player, lamp, clock radio, 7 power supplies, induction charger for electric toothbrush, modem, fan, radio.
Devices: Velicon, DIY Elektrosluch (thanks to Jasna Velickovic and Federico Foglia)

Eeviac
Sources: 9 power supplies, CD player, 2 portable televisions, neon lamp, UV lamp, digital alarm clock, plasma lamp, Tesla coil, AAA charger.
Devices: DIY Elektrosluch, Telephone pick-up, Cain's box (thanks to Tommaso Mantelli and Caino custom guitars)

The third movement was recorded through the use of two DIY Elektrosluch with the contribution of the Bonotto Foundation at the Bonotto textile company and the Bonotto Foundation.
Sources: Nam June Paik, Robot: the Baseball Player (1989): screen, electrical connections, dvd player, screen power supply; Nam June Paik, Voyeur Mail Box (1993): screen; William Xerra, Homage to Jacopo da Ponte (2018): neon; Joe Jones, Mechanical Surmandal (1978), electric scooter, acoustic beats; Philip Corner, Performance at the Wool Mill (1995), screens; Jacquard looms; Roj Quartz frames; coffee dispensing machines; electrical panel 380 Volt; weaving room looms.

Il Mare di Dirac was recorded and mixed by Johann Merrich and eeviac between June and January 2019. 
Mastering by Giulio Ragno Favero.

L’Impero della Luce wishes to thank Tommaso Mantelli and Lesder Studio for the invaluable contribution and support.

Dedicated to Nikola Tesla and to all the forgotten brilliant women and men in physics

Il mare di Dirac

L’Impero della Luce (The Empire of Light) is an Italian experimental music duo born in 2018 that combines the curiosity and knowledge of eeviac (graphic designer, illustrator) and Johann Merrich (researcher, sound organizer).

In an era of widespread use of instruments intended for the production of electronic music, L’Impero della Luce has chosen to concentrate its research on the original matter of this discipline: electric current.

Thought the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, L’Impero della Luce creates real time compositions by organizing the sounds of electromagnetic fields produced by daily devices, thus retracing the enthusiasm aroused by pioneers capable of giving voice to the light such as Alfred Graham - among the first to employ voltage control on 1895 -  and William Du Bois Duddell (1899), a forerunner of the Electric Arc musical potential.

The musical production of L’Impero della Luce comes from the use of disused technologies - old power supplies, clock radios, CD players, cathode ray tube televisions - and small household appliances - lamps, fans, electric toothbrushes… - and assimilates John Cage’s philosophy and the experience of the musical experimentation from the Sixties, expressing a meditative and oniric music.

Released in February 2020, “Il Mare di Dirac” is their first album and it has beed dedicated to Nikola Tesla and to all the forgotten brilliant women and men in physics.

“We crave for new sensations but soon become indifferent to them. The wonders of yesterday are today common occurrences.” Nikola Tesla
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L’Impero della Luce è un duo di musica sperimentale nato nel 2018 grazie alla curiosità e alle conoscenze di eeviac (graphic designer, illustratore) e Johann Merrich (ricercatrice, organizzatrice di suoni).

In un epoca di grande diffusione degli strumenti destinati alla produzione di musica elettronica, L’Impero della Luce ha scelto di concentrare le sue ricerche sulla materia originale di questa disciplina: la corrente elettrica.

Grazie al fenomeno dell’induzione elettromagnetica, L’Impero della Luce crea composizioni in tempo reale organizzando i suoni prodotti da oggetti di uso quotidiano, ripercorrendo gli entusiasmi dei primi pionieri che hanno saputo dare voce alla corrente elettrica: Alfred Graham - tra i primi a impiegare il controllo in voltaggio nel 1895 - e William Du Bois Duddell (1899), pioniere delle sonorità dell’Arco Voltaico.

La produzione musicale dell’Impero della Luce deriva da tecnologie dismesse - vecchi alimentatori, radio-sveglie, lettori CD, televisori a tubo catodico - e da piccoli dispositivi di uso quotidiano - lampade, ventilatori, spazzolini elettrici… - assimilando la filosofia di John Cage e della sperimentazione degli anni Sessanta per esprimere sonorità meditative e oniriche.

Pubblicato a febbraio 2020, Il Mare di Dirac è il primo album del duo ed è dedicato a Nikola Tesla e alle donne e agli uomini dimenticati che hanno rivoluzionato il mondo della fisica.