In sound art, I mainly work around amplifying chairs and revisiting the notion of DJ-ing.

I write sound pieces mainly by manipulating recordings of Lebanese/Levantine instruments like the Oud, Nay, Qanun, and Tabla. In addition to field recordings, spoken texts primarily in my native tongue, and acoustic and electro-acoustic sources. Ableton Live serves as my main platform for audio manipulation and creation. 

My sound projects frequently resonate with themes of memory, time, migration, and forced existential exile.

sound work

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Pulsar and some Max Audio effects on Ableton

A-18-09-2021

A-20-09-2021

This track is part of @systemrevival charity compilation, Past and Future: A fundraiser for Beirut Heritage Initiative.

Beirut Heritage Initiative are a team of architects who came together in light of the Beirut port explosion in August 2020 with the primary goal of assessing historical / old buildings that were damaged, renovating and rebuilding where possible - to ultimately preserve the heritage of the city of Beirut 

More info: beirutheritageinitiative.com/who-we-are/ and www.instagram.com/beirutheritageinitiative/ 

We have gained access to the construction sites on about 10 occasions and put together a sample pack filled with over 200 recordings from various sounds in and around the sites (during different moments of the project and processes) 

Our plan was to provide guest artists/producers with this sample pack and request a track (any genre) using these recordings/sounds. 

We will give 100% of proceeds from all sales to the 'BHI' and are very excited to be supporting this great initiative.


Please support the project on: https://systemrevivalrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/past-and-future-a-fundraiser-for-beirut-heritage-initiative

Mastered by Conor Dalton.

How did we get there?

Part of the course i'm taking with Berlin School of Sound at ACUD on Sounding Art, Verónica Mota asked us to record a 1 min acoustic piece inspired from John Cage's Water Walk. 

Very excited to be sharing with you the piece I worked on with an attempt to explain the work below. 

60 seconds recording of my DDR Anker watch. 

20 second spoken text, which my final project will be around.

Few seconds of a car passing by, I hear and wait till it passes to continue narrating. 

A Few seconds of inhaling/exhaling after reading my text.

In the loop of time, we lose and find  Memory, a melody, ever so kind 
Through the decay of time 
Through the decay of space 
A new life is conveyed 
 A new life is composed 

Around 10 seconds of me lighting a cigarette and smoking it, I accidentally blew into the recorder, but I like the effect, sounds like an explosion, memories from Lebanon... Mainly August 4th, 2020 the attack on the port. 

Around 5 seconds of tapping my fingers on the table.

DETOUR, inspired by John Cage - Water Walk

Tittle:  روح على طريق تاني / ruuh 'ala tariq tani / which literally means "go on another road".

Medium: Chair, mixed media, amplification  - exhibited at Errand Sounds Berlin from 21st of July 2023 till 27th of July 2023. 

Duration: 8’22’’

who is guiding who chair performance: https://vimeo.com/849046388

This piece is a reflection of my transformative journey, which attempts to address themes of migration, forced exile, existential experience(s), memory, and time, through my reversed interpretation of Alvin Lucier's - I Am Sitting in a Room. 

I arrived to Berlin from Beirut on August 22nd, 2021, hence the duration of the piece, I felt as though I was merely a shell, devoid of life, unable to make sense of place and time. This piece mirrors my own journey of rebirth and self-discovery. I moved from a state of disarray and despair to a space of clarity and self-expression.

Ruuh 'ala tariq tani includes manipulating recordings of traditional Lebanese/Levantine instruments such as the Oud, Nay, Qanun, and Tabla, field recordings from Beirut and Berlin, acoustic and electro-acoustic sound sources, and most importantly my recovered voice.

A text I wrote: 

بالوقت يللي بيبرم، من لقى و من ضايع
ذكريات، لحن لطيف ما قلّو نهاية
من خلال انحلال الزمان
من خلال انحلال المكان
بينكتب حياة جديدة
بتنكتب حياة جديدة

In the loop of time, we lose and find
Memory, a melody, ever so kind
Through the decay of time 
Through the decay of space 
A new life is conveyed
A new life is composed

Samples of Lebanese/Levantine instruments were all recorded in Ras el Maten, Lebanon for a commissioned project during July 2021:

Mazen Salha - Oud and head of project
Rouwaid Mahmoud - Rek and Tabla
Sadeq Malaeb - Qanun
Souheil Zeitouny - Nay

sound manipulation using IRCAMAX 2 on Ableton @ircam-2

track not mastered yet -

Picture by Pablo Hassmann

روح على طريق تاني | Ruuh 'ala Tariq Tani

this track was made by manipulating recordings of Oud/Tabla/Nay/Qanun and some field recordings using IRCAMAX 2 on Ableton @ircam-2

Piece played on my behalf by @manuelcarbone on Saturday September 2nd, 2023, in Floating Transmissions, Radio Sound Art Festival, Hamburg. 

More about the festival on: https://floatingtransmissions.de/floating-transmissions/

in between, Floating Transmissions, September 2nd, 2023, Hamburg

this track was made from recordings of Lebanese/Levantine instruments like the Oud, Nay, Qanun, and Tabla.

not mastered yet -

231452

a night with the Pulsar-23 and the Wak collective -

32a, left entrance - part one -

32a, left entrance - part two -

🔁 - burnout - clarity - burnout - clarity - 🔁

bcbc

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for a course i'm taking in "Interdisciplinary Audio Production" at ACUD - we were asked by Brendan Dougherty to "Create a piece of music that changes the way we understand the space of the Acud club!" - for this piece i manipulated recordings of the OUD and Field Recordings while imagining ACUD bein a "time machine" -

--- time ---

5 borders

As a DJ, Sound Artist, and Photographer, Rami's practice reflects a life lived at the crossroads of cultures and places. Subtly confronting and surprising, his works aim to empower imagination as they retell stories through music. They are an invitation to explore themes of memory, time, migration and forced existential exile. 

His first live performance was in Madame Claude’s infamous EXPERIMONTAG nights, one of the strongholds of Berlin’s experimental music scene. From there he appeared at Tresor’s New Faces, Silent Green, OHM, and ELSE and established a presence in Berlin's night culture. Rami has also made a name as radio host through monthly residencies on Radio Alhara, Noods Radio, and Cashmere Radio. 

Insijam, his show on Cashmere Radio focuses on the essence of chances and encounters. In Arabic, Insijam means harmony, and in this show different sounds peacefully coexist and enhance each other. Musique Concrète naturally merges with traditional Lebanese music, spoken words, and improv jazz. In these performances, Rami forms an auditory journey that deeply resonates with feelings of displacement and the eternal quest for belonging. To deliberately bring about this sentiment, Rami is versatile in using media - tapes, recordings and vinyl collected in the fragmented places that influenced him, are puzzled and layered together. They build fluid structures that bring people together and make them belong- through the experience of listening. 

For “love is on my side” on Noods Radio, Rami showcases Cold Wave, Post Punk and Synth tunes with a focus to offer a space for reflection. 

"Layali Insijam" on Radio Alhara, is a continuation of the INSIJAM project by documenting Folk music from Lebanon by highlighting musical plays and instrumental pieces. Radio is an important vessel of self-expression for Rami, and in his words, working with Radio made him a better listener and DJ.  

Moreover, Rami’s sound projects extend to sound art by amplifying chairs and manipulating samples of traditional Lebanese instruments. The Oud, Nay, Qanun, and Tabla intertwine with electro-acoustic elements, field recordings from Beirut and Berlin, and spoken words to evoke a sense of contemplation. 

But his examination of places and spaces and their significance for one’s identity and sense of belonging doesn’t stop here. As a photographer Rami’s current focus is on taking urban pictures. He seeks to find a deeper understanding of boundaries. They either separate or unify public and/or private realms, giving birth to spaces, which Rami coins as a “diasporic field”. Within these newly human-defined spaces, the pictures serve as a mirror. They capture and reveal these for Rami so important themes of remembrance and displacement.

Rami’s pursuit of harmonizing a fusion of influences - may it be via sound or visual art - acts as a reminder to embrace the beauty of chance encounters and form deep contemplations about belonging and the fluidity of cultural identity.

Written by Theresa Baumel -

sound work

rami abi rafi