method: field recordings, virtual instruments, voice
narration: some of the dirty secrets of self-awareness in relationships ... and one way of dealing with them; this also is an exercise in recovering the integrity of poems that have been belittled, willfully ignored  and poked fun at quite some time ago
image: actually, the device depicted - called a multimemo - before the image was distorted, that is - is included in creating this soundscape, which was somewhat inspired by and refers to elo-covers ....  although those are quite different .... the cover for an album called 'out of the blue'' and the  cover for an album  a friend understood to mean "disco - very". He was a genius musician who already earned an entertainer's income while going to middle school in the 1970s  ... thanks to his hammond and his talent. Only in later years did I understand myself....  that the syncretism of 'disc', 'discovery' and the images of ali baba and a uap is an astonishing feat in itself. copyright jo richter.

poem / copyright jo richter
(as published in 'halb loh, halb zunder, halb glanz):

als sie nicht mehr logen
fühlten sie sich bloß
wie tiere ohne fell
wie fische ohne meer
ein jeder wind blies kalt
im ozean aus luft

sie rezitierten laut
ihr alphabet der furcht
wieder und wieder
im hoffen auf götter
der himmel blieb leer

bis auf zwei vögel

die kreisten auf suche
nach beute und fleisch

interlinear translation; apart from two birds // when they had stopped lying / they felt as naked / as animals without fur / as fish without the seas / and each kind of wind / blew with a chill in the airy oceans // they chanted out loud / their alphabet of fear / again and again / hoping for gods / when heavens remained empty // apart from two birds // circling, looking / for fresh prey and meat //

bis auf zwei vögel

you are mine
b bb ba baby shine
y y you turn back time
baby your mine
testing your limits, resting the moments, todays your 
enrolment, a confesion then bestowment
 

Chapter 5 - The Moment

This track is the result of 3 hours of splicing bits of cassette tape that were cut from various recordings I had made and put on cassette.  3 hours for less than a minute long recording.  Was it worth it?  You decide.  I swear to God this is not even close to the worst thing I've ever done with razor blades.  Will probably be extending this in the near future.

EDIT:  I have reuploaded this a few times already with additions to the original spliced audio.  I may keep adding to it, and if I do, will replace the file with the longer one.  I will start leaving a list of updates, as I plan to keep this going until I fill up a whole 90 minute tape.

Edit 3 - Nov 8, 2025  length: 2:51
Edit 4 - Nov 11, 2025  length: 3:31
Edit 5 - Nov 13, 2025   length: 4:55
Edit 6 - Nov 14, 2025   length: 5:39
Edit 7 - Nov 18, 2025   length: 4:36

Frankenstein Tape 1

Names inspired by "Porter Robinson-Shelter"

"Blond hair and red eyes"

I am overjoyed to partake in sounds beautiful:
https://youtu.be/1TnalFltP_Q?si=VidMVZ9VDKGZiNUm  by Dan and
https://stonerjazz.bandcamp.com/album/up-up-out by Jeff.

Jeff also gifted me a visiting role on his previous album: 
https://stonerjazz.bandcamp.com/album/quintessential

.... and here is my own test account:
https://sonicstructuresandsilentstretches.bandcamp.com/track/eliza

POETRY IS VITAL

This threshold space exists for those who feel like listening to some of my quite professional poetry embedded in rather amateurishly recorded but judiciously arranged sound, a modicum of purely acoustic work notwithstanding.  Fortunately, some other artists have also transformed the symbolic expression of my words into the tangible beauty of real songs and soundscapes - just listen to Sympoetic Ultrasounds: https://soundcloud.com/sonic-textures/sets/sympoetic-ultrasounds !

SOUND, SPACE AND TIME

Tend your listening senses gently. Even though my general approach welcomes and embraces lo-fi concepts like the precision of spontaneously occuring imprecisions, headphones worth their membranes are recommended - unless you like your sounds flat, mangled, battered and helpless. You don't, do you? Be kind to these soundscapes.

STRUCTURING IMPULSE

Due to the nature of "poetry soundscapes", your listening expectations regarding traditionally structured "songs", sonically purified "raw wildlife soundscapes", keyboard-laden "ambient recordings" or voice-centered "readings" might not be met. You will find some of those in my list of /likes/. "Noise" is a recurring structural element like any other. This is what this sounds like - within its own rights, limitations, tangents and interconnections. Sonic structures. Silent stretches. Poetry emerges from the gaps between the ruts, seeps in from the undergrowth, sweeps down.

CARVING, CHISELLING, KNEADING, MORPHING

A quick glance into my toolshed rests on Zoom recorders, Samplitude software and a dizzying array of diverse sonic machinery.

LARGE AND SMALL GIFTS

-----------------------------
Small Gifts

the less to remember, the more to listen
gifts from the ice age reverberate
a simple story, a forest, a coastline
entangled in silence, one starts to relate
---------------------------------------------

In case you have read up to this point, you might be a sonic creator yourself. May I ask you for a helping ear? Above, there is a tiny poem of mine that I do not understand how to translate into sound. If you do - please act on it. It is a matter of common decency, of course, to keep the title (Small Gifts) and to credit the lyrics to me (jo richter). And please do notify me of your version via a soundcloud message. One bewilderingly beautiful version crafted by mono-lux has already gone public, as well as an amazing version by cthonicist.  You'll find both in my playlist Sympoetic Ultrasounds. This is just a small gift, not a challenge - life already has more than enough of those on offer, doesn't it? Treat it this way.

POETRY IS VITAL
sound, space and time
structuring impulse
carving, chiselling, kneading, morphing
large and small gifts
poetry is vital

GENERAL POLICY regarding the use of LIKES, REPOSTS and FOLLOWS:
I like what I like and want to hear again.
I only repost what I've had a hand in creating.
I follow when I see directions or arrivals I like, not when followed (though I might peek in to get an idea of what your sounds are about). I have set myself a limit of accounts I follow not to be all too overwhelmed. Not following does therefore not mean I do not appreciate what you contribute to the enjoyments of soundcloud.
Do not expect other behaviour from me.
(jo richter)

New tracks tagged #splicing