The deeper I am investigating field recording as both artistic and listening practice, the more I become aware that each recording session is an intrusion into the landscape and that the landscape, whatever historical, biotic, or environmental system defines it – is sentient to my presence.

No matter how considerate my “intrusions” are, an abstract form of communication always takes place, and it largely depends on my ability to maintain this connection, which goes beyond the soundscape and sonic properties of the place. In this sense, my capacity to employ deep intuition and activate a specific neural architecture developed through a compound of skills also defines the recording process and its future aesthetic transformation. Thus, making a field recording fully personalized practice and soundscape composition a discipline of open interpretation, as well as a vast field for misuse and false representation. Regardless of an evaluation system, whether we contemplate an act of listening through scientific observation of one’s cognition event boundaries or through the capacity to comprehend the existential phenomenology of Zulu spiritualism, the possibility that two or more listeners can have the same listening experience is minuscule.

We are all deeply rooted in a diversity of psychological constructs; neural and sensory imprints, memory compounds, cognitive abilities, and many body-mind pathways determining our current psycho-physical state. Therefore, if the field recording practice is based on any form of active listening – it is a discipline based on interpretation.
With that in mind, I am asking: How do we approach the landscape of severe devastation and a dense history of warfare? Knowing that serious ethical and moral consequences are involved in the effort to interpret a particular soundscape.

In the work “ghosts” I am using obsolete instruments – a modular synthesizer built in 1970, a discarded wheelchair wheel salvaged from the Adriatic Sea, and the piano fallen in disuse which belonged to the Austrian conceptualist, filmmaker, improviser, photographer, environmentalist, and writer – Karl Katzinger aka John Tylo (October 1953 – April 2021). Next to these elements of the past and their voices rediscovered, I am incorporating hydrophone and field recordings from several locations appropriating them through the discourse of critical tourism and a culture of memory – more specifically through listening to the inherent memories of environmental devastation due to exploitation of natural resources as well as warfare – in the South Adriatic (Old town Dubrovnik and island of Vrnik), and the Czech-Austrian borderlands nearby of Mauthausen–Gusen concentration camps. 

--

Instruments:
EMS Synthi 100
Wheelchair wheel salvaged from the sea
John Tylo’s old piano

Field recordings:
Dubrovnik – Stradun air conditioning units and collection of rubbish containers
Vrnik Island South Adriatic – crickets in an ancient limestone quarry
Adriatic dolphins *hydrophone recording by Robertina Šebjanič
Harrachstal village on Czech-Austrian borderlands – crickets in the abandoned granite quarry
Hydrophone recordings of the river Schwarze Aist
Train coming into Freistadt train station in Austria

All sounds performed, recorded, composed & edited by Manja Ristić
Some sounds gathered at the SHAPE + musikprotocoll residency, July 2023

Hydrophone used for an underwater recordings made by Jez riley French
jezrileyfrench.co.uk

Mastering by La Plant Studio
laplantstudio.com

Bandcamp

ghosts

The Tape —— a 45-minute-long mix of a few recent releases, as well as snippets of new ones that will be released this year. This tape served as a framework for an improvisational set, including objects, Atlantic shells, an electromagnetic microphone, a hydrophone submerged in different chemical compounds, a wheelchair wheel, a violin, and an open upright piano.

All sounds recorded & composed by Manja R  
Cover art by Manja R 
Master by Goran Simonoski / La Plant Studio

Tape for Ring Ring

On Friday, March 28th, I had the pleasure of performing a concert at Beton Kino, part of the Novi Šum program organized by MKC Split. The exceptional production and the warm, welcoming audience made this experience truly special.

During the performance, I debuted two new pieces: "ghosts remixed" and "genesis." The recording of the set is 35 minutes long, featuring a snippet of "ghosts" and the entirety of "genesis."

mkcsplit.hr/novosti/novi-sum-manja-ristic/

Organization: MKC Split, Program Novi Šum 2025
Production: Luka Barbić
Sound design: Eugen Jeličić
Cover photo: Miroslav Lelas

All sounds recorded, composed, edited and performed by Manja Ristić
Tape mastering Goran Simonoski / Studio La Plant

Live at Beton Kino

An elliptical and enigmatic new release by Mark Vernon. Named after the microscopic crystals of calcium carbonate within our inner ear that can cause vertigo when dislodged, the album has an equally disorientating effect as all sense of time is dissolved in its delicate folds. Otoconia is an abstract and deeply immersive sonic experience crafted through the intricate interplay of field recordings and the EMS Synthi 100 synthesizer.

Known for his evocative soundscapes and narrative-driven compositions, Vernon has ventured into uncharted territory with this album. Unlike anything else in his oeuvre this fifty-plus minute work is an immersive, hypnotic sound bath of frequencies and tones. The deft use of ambient textures and abstract sonic gestures draws listeners into a liminal state, offering a meditative, introspective listening experience.

Composed using the legendary EMS Synthi 100, the basis of the piece is formed from processed field recordings run through a chain of the Synthi's filters and effects. For the most part the piece was mixed live with some tinkering and adjustments after the fact. A significant departure from the work with found tapes and audio archaeology that Vernon has become known for, we hope you enjoy losing yourself in this sublimely mysterious musical mirage.

Released on Greek experimental label Granny in a limited edition of 100 CDs.

Composed and recorded by Mark Vernon · Mastered by Yannis Tsirikoglou · Artwork by Yorgos Vourlidas


Otoconia (excerpt) (Granny Records, 2024)

For bookings: meagreresource@hotmail.com

Mark Vernon is a Glasgow based sound artist who works with found tapes and acousmatic presence. His work explores themes of magnetic memory, audio archaeology, voyeurism and nostalgia. 

His solo music projects have been published through labels including Kye, Glistening Examples, Flaming Pines, Misanthropic Agenda, Gagarin, Sonoris, Granny, Psychetropes, Persistence of Sound, Flag Day, Entr’acte, Discrepant, Futura Resistenza, Vice de Forme, Calling Cards and Canti Magnetici. 

He co-runs and curates Glasgow art radio station, Radiophrenia and has produced programmes for stations internationally.

New tracks tagged #ems synthi 100