Geofractions is a project that aims to give a unique sensory experience of the processes and infrastructure of oil shale extraction and energy use that is often shadowed from public view. While we have grown familiar with the visual language of mined landscapes, how often are we able to immerse ourselves into time and space dimension of extractive processes through the auditory? As a 'sonic journey' this project takes us from underground mining and transport, to the consumption and residual waste, that generates and sustains the energy infrastructure we depend on. All of this process transforms the whole of the landscape in which it takes place. The current outcome is part of a long term sonic and geographic survey of Ida-Virumaa that started in 2009.

Geofractions

Geofractions - excerpt

Early morning September 4th, 2021 recording of a flock of cranes who gathered in a field in southeast Estonia. The cranes have been gathering slowly for over a week in this particular field in preparation to migrate south. Wind and rainy weather made it difficult to record but I finally managed to place a drop rig and leave it overnight. This is a short excerpt from this lively and unique natural event.

Gathering of common cranes

A KP5 Minor G1-class geomagnetic storm hit on the night of September 17th. I recorded this with a self-made coil antenna. The antenna was built by sound artist Hannah Kemp-Welch during her week long residency at MoKS according to Dan Tapper's VLF sound diaries project https://issuu.com/dantappersoundart/docs/vlf_guide_4_upload/15). Hannah left the antenna with me and I've continued to test it. After testing several digital audio recorders, the one that works best is my old Sony PCM-D50 in terms of rejecting ground hum noise.

17.09.21 G1 Geomagnetic Storm - VLF

A recording made with two Rode radio mics attached to a tree outside my window where we have a bowl of sunflower seeds. This was part of a live streaming event with the sounds available to hear live online. The birds were very active and some new ones showed up. Here we have mainly blue tits, nuthatches, eurasian bullfinches and a distant crow and woodpecker.

Winter birds feeding, close up activity

I happened to start this recording just in time to catch a huge flock of geese taking off. The deep sound is the roar of thousands of wings flapping simultaneously at take-off, very impressive. This was recorded on April 21st, 2021 near a lake known as Veisjärve in south Estonia.

huge flock of geese takes off

On a day of extreme winds I decided to hike up Saana, a well known mountain rested nearly at the border of Finland, Sweden and Norway in the subarctic tundra of Sápmi. The experience fighting the wind while hiking left me tired and at moments delusional. At some point I decided to record the wind at my head to remember the physical force of how the wind felt.

Recorded during the Bioart Society 'Field_Notes' project September 2023 in Kilpisjärvi Finland.

Saana - Extreme Winds - Binaural

This rooted listening session took place close to the tree line in subarctic Finland during the Bioart Society Field_Notes project in September 2023. This recording is for Teemu who was there with me to witness this expressive willow tree.

Rooted Listening is a new project I started this summer focused on the experience of listening to trees, bushes and grasses at root level. For more info and to contribute, please check the Rooted Listening open call: https://forms.gle/keeXprWkp8GeD7eL7

Rooted Listening - Willow Tree

A combination of 2 recordings from the "Temporal Soundings" workshop in Helsinki. The focus of the workshop was on the temporal aspects of sound in regards to both passive analysis (field recording) and site-specific intervention. The first half of this track was recorded between midnight and 1 am while the second half was recorded between noon and 1 pm. See what differences you notice. A more full description of the workshop can be found at: http://maaheli.ee/main/archives/2673

park sounds, night and day - Helsinki

Cold nights and warmer sunny days causes stress on thick lake ice. As the ice freezes and melts on a daily basis, periodic cracking and pinging sounds can be heard, sometimes quite dramatically. This track is edited from an all night recording made at a lake in south Estonia, a "greatest cracks" if you will, from more than 6 hours of material.

Cracking Lake Ice

A series of recordings made on the occasion of the 2015 Soundcamp for the 24 hour Reveil global dawn chorus braodcast. Our Soundcamp was coordinated by Dawn Scarfe and Veljo Runnel and included guests from the Active Crossover residency. Special thanks to the Palupõhja Nature School for hosting us. Palupõhja is a small village on the Emajõgi river in the center of the Alam-Pedja nature reserve.
http://www.soundtent.org/2015/streams/streams_2015_UTC+2_estonia.html
http://moks.ee/artists/active-crossover-mooste
http://www.palupohja.ee/en

Blackbird and dawn chorus, Palupõhja May03, 2015

A short track to emphasize the acoustic properties of the forests in Estonia. I have cut off most of the impulses to focus on reverberant response which can last 7 seconds or more. This was recorded at the (now infamous) 'forest megaphone' site on a dead calm evening in September 2015. The mics were not in the 'megaphones' however, but in the free air. The original file is in 24bit 48khz if you want to download and play with it.

Forest reverb - impulse response

Tower guide wires on a mountain top in central Portugal resonating in the wind. The sound is not processed except for some adjustment of levels. Recorded in 2008 with a pair of home made contact mics while in a residency at Binauralmedia in Nodar Portugal.


mountain tower wires, Portugal 2008

A excerpt from a longer dusk recording made from around 20:00-21:00 on April 12th, 2016. In this section we can hear a dense mix of frogs, a common snipe, a beaver chewing a tree and several other bird species. The environment was a small swamp that borders a larger forest in southeast Estonia. Unfortunately a car and a plane came in the middle of this section but I think its worth sharing. Recorded with a pair of homemade mics with 'Primo EM172' capsules and a Sony PCM-D50.

frogs, snipe, hungry beaver and more

Quick test of the various mic input options on the Tascam DR-100mkIII portable digital recorder. So far the new low noise XLR mic preamps and the 1/8" plug-in powered input coupled with the new higher S/N ratio D/A converters seems to deliver good results. This is just a preliminary test though. This track is compiled from 6 different recordings. No post-processing was done except to trim, cut&paste the files together. You can download the original 24bit 48k file for higher quality listening.

1) DR-100mkIII XLR mic preamps at full gain (+56.5) in a quiet room (24dB) with clocks ticking 2 meters from the mics (Audio-Technica AT4021 in ORTF)

Empty barn, walking and ringing bell at 10 meters from the mics:

2) Audio-Technica AT4021 in ORTF >> DR-100mkIII XLR mic preamps at full gain (+56.5)
3) Audio-Technica AT4021 in ORTF >> Sound Devices MixPre at full gain, ’tape out’ >> DR-100mkIII 1/8” external line input set at +7
4) Audio-Technica AT4021 in ORTF >> Sound Devices MixPre at full gain, ’balanced out’ >> DR-100mkIII 1/8” external line input set at +0
5) DPA 4060 A-B spaced omni >> DR-100mkIII XLR mic preamps at high gain (+42)
6) Primo EM172 A-B spaced omni >> DR-100mkIII 1/8” external (plug-in powered) input set at full gain (+44)

note: it was a fairly windy day, so its a little hard to tell what is preamp noise or outside wind noise. Some additional recordings and comments can be found on my site: http://maaheli.ee/main/tascam-dr-100mkiii-quick-review/

Tascam DR-100mkIII - Mic Input Test

Its not the act but the space in between... segment from a longer recording made in a snow covered forest in southeastern Estonia with a group of visiting students from the Estonian Academy of Music (CoPeCo - Contemporary Performance and Composition program www.copeco.net). Everyone was distributed about the forest roughly 40-60 meters from the microphones. Recorded on my Tascam DR-100mkIII using two Primo EM172 omni microphones that were placed 2 meters off the ground.

Wintery Forest Acoustics Session

A mix of unprocessed recordings made January and February 2017 during a residency at Platform in Vaasa Finland. While much of the Bothnia environment appears static and frozen, closer observation reveals  subtle shifts in the flows in the constant movement ice. As you can imagine, the conditions for recording were not easy with temperatures ranging from -5˚C to -17˚C, sometimes accompanied by wind and snow. Except for the first bit, all the recordings were made with a Tascam DR100 MKIII and a pair of Primo EM172 omnis. Special thanks to Platform and the ever generous Stefan Backas for guidance and knowledge of the region. Further reflections on my residency can be found on: http://maaheli.ee/main/bothnia-ice-flows-platform-residency/

Bay of Bothnia ice flows

contact mic recording of wind on a dead pine tree at the Lithuanian coast.

wind on a dead pine tree, Nida

Three spring recordings made in southeast Estonia at different nature reserve areas, May 2011. All are about 3 minute excerpts of much longer recordings. Locations and times are as follows:

- May 15th, 3:00am - Emajõgi Suursoo (river delta reserve)
- May 21st, 3:00 am - Meelva järv (lake, pictured)
- May 29th, 2:00am - Räpina polder (reclaimed lakeside preserve)

As you can hear, there is a wide variety of wildlife, primarily birds but also frogs and insects.

Longer recordings available now on Bandcamp! http://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/madal-shallow-night

three spring choruses, nature reserves in southeast Estonia

Improvised sound action using cut sections bamboo sticks. Several simple scored actions carried with a group of artists at the 2017 Tsukuba Artist in Residence exhibition opening. Resonance Ensemble is an exercise in group coordination through sound and listening using ordinary everyday objects. https://www.tsukuba-art-center.com/

Bamboo Resonance Ensemble - Mt Tsukuba Japan

V E C T O R S is a collection of extended recordings of open pasture fences in wintery weather conditions. Full album available on bandcamp: https://maaheli.bandcamp.com/album/v-e-c-t-o-r-s

Vectors

V E C T O R S

Support the artist

VECTORS - collection preview

Straight field recording made around midnight on June 28th, 2010. the location was in front of a small pond near a forest house in Southeast Estonia. Equipment used was a pair of Audio-Technica AT4021 cardioids run into an SD MixPre and recorded on an Edirol R-09.

evening frogs and forest sounds

Pado lake is on the eastern side of the Meelva bog in Southeast Estonia.

We arrived quite "late" to catch the chorus yet the mix of bird and frog species in this recording is quite pleasant.

Any identification of the species is helpful.

Tech: 2x AT4021 cardioids ORTF - SD MixPre - Edirol R-09, with some slight EQ and level adjustments in post

Padojärv 5:45am dawn chorus, April 22nd

Recorded on an early spring evening in the village of Mooste in South Estonia. These are the common frogs found everywhere in Estonia, but for about 5-7 days they become really active in their calls. I was pleased to find such an active pond although they are very sensitive and take about 15 minutes to come back if they get scared.

Tech: 2x Audio-Technica AT4021 cardioids in ORTF to SD MixPre to Edirol R-09

frog pond, April 21st 9.00pm

'Resonant Geometries' is a performative exploration in redefining geometric space through the phenomenon of physical resonance. The framework of the project is based on a tempered or adjustable system intended for real time performance using tensioned lengths of instrument wires that act as both real and metaphorical lines that define space.
http://www.tunedcity.net/?page_id=5293

Resonant Geometry at Tuned City 2018, Ancient Messene(excerpt)

Recorded by the Ahja River in South Estonia. Late evening about an hour after the sun went down, there are just a few species still active. Mostly the valley chorus is filled with the resonant sound of Cuckoo birds. Some frogs, fish, ducks and other birds make their presence known. This is not that far from a populated area so some dogs and traffic can be heard in the distance.

Tech: 2x Audio-Technica AT4021 cardioids in ORTF to SD MixPre to Edirol R-09

river's edge at dusk, May 14th 10pm

Excerpt from my "Drift Zones" performance using sub-arctic field recordings and bowed self-made wire instrument. Live recording from the mixer from the 'Riga White Nights' Space Textures series of experimental electronic music organized by Rostislav Rekuta. Photo by Jason 'Offthesky' Corder.

John Grzinich - Live - Space Textures XI - Riga White Nights - 2017

An attempt to capture the sonic richness of large bird colonies that inhabit a landfill. Even in late winter permanent colonies of Crows, Seagulls, Jackdaws and others remain active in and around the inland landfill site. The recording is pierced by ice melting in a nearby ditch. Recorded on March 6th, 2019 with a spaced array of Primo EM172 mics run into a MixPre 3 through a LOM Audio XLR adapter.

Landfill bird colonies, late winter 2019

Random found sound... two plastic tubes left over from some construction work provide a form for a resonant filter effect of passing traffic. Recorded with two Primo EM172 capsules and an Olympus LS-10 recorder.

Roadside Found Tubes

This is an excerpt from a longer recording from my permanent installation of aeolian wind harps. The installation consists of multiple towers, each with four strings and resonators, that stand in a field. The field is nearly an open space from all sides which provides optimal conditions for the harps to 'sing' from the movement of air. Special thanks to Janno Bergmann for the invitation and hosting me at Copper Leg residency in Northwest Estonia.

aeolian wond harps

Aeolian Windharp Installation At Copper Leg

This is an edited collection of six recordings made in southeast Estonia during May and June of 2013. The environments were generally in or near forests or riversides and were very quiet for the most part. Please feel free to identify any species you recognize.

evening solitude : six nature sound recordings, spring 2013

Researching, composing and performing with sound for over 20 years using methods of field recording, kinetic sculptures, electro-acoustic creation, filmmaking, improvisation, group workshops and exercises in listening. Based in Estonia and work as a program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-run center. My compositions have been published on international labels such as: and/OAR, SIRR, Mystery Sea, Staalplaat, Semperflorens, Erewhon, Intransitive, Cut, Elevator Bath, CMR, Orogenetics, Pale Disc and others.

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