If there is an acoustic hell, it is in today’s oceans, places now filled with far-carrying engine noise, the explosions of seismic oil exploration, and sonar. Hear how a small outboard engine drowns other sounds. This is a small example of Earth’s most severe sonic crisis, noise pollution in the seas. 

The book Sounds Wild and Broken is an invitation to listen to the marvels and fractures of the world. I hope that it inspires you to listen in your own place, finding your own sonic wonders. I offer the sound clips here as a sampler of the sounds and stories from the book. Longer versions of most are available for radio and podcasts.
Sounds Wild and Broken is available for pre-order in the US and UK, with translations forthcoming.
Copyright David George Haskell 2022.

Outboard Engine Amid Snapping Shrimp (Sounds Wild and Broken)

Tg.[0x4E].Q1

Heglin & Djll, long a presence on the Bay Area experimental+other scene, have been making music together since 1986. Their brass trio Brassiosaurus, with late trombonist Toyoji Tomita, performed improvised and commissioned works from Pauline Oliveros, Chris Brown, Wendy Reid and other adventurous composers 1996-2009 and appeared at numerous West Coast festivals during that time. A trombonist and tubaist by training, Heglin in recent years has concentrated on creating an imaginary language somewhere in the region between monastic chant, automatic writing, and scat-singing, employing phoneme constructions and syntactical strategies from the languages of his Scandinavian background. Djll accompanies on electronics from the Dutch instrument designer Rob Hordijk (1958-2022)and Meng Qi (inspired by Hordijk) which employ sonic and data feedback to create humanlike sounds and crude AI-driven events in real time. Their duo together can be in turns haunting, trancelike, or abruptly surprising whilst traversing wide/deep sonic territories that skirt the cities of meaning and humanness. (Photo ©2023 by Michael Zelner under the Creative Commons License.)

Live at 2023 Skronkathon: Ron Heglin & Tom Djll

"white wide eyes" (2014) for 23 musicians (4 ensembles), electronics, projection
- Ensemblekollektiv Berlin (Ensemble Mosaik, Sonar Quartet, Ensemble Adapter, Ensemble Apparat)
- Manuel Nawri (conductor)
premiere January 22nd 2015, Festival Ultraschall Berlin, HAU2

live recording: dradio

"white wide eyes" 2014 - for 23 musicians, electronics, projection

upcoming on obskyr records compilation lp.
photo by nikki sneakers

2018

any form of definition will eventually work against itself

Solo performance(hybrid-trumpets and "Naga Phoenix" slide trumpet) on Nov.17, 2018 at the Vigeland Mausoleum, Oslo as a part of Rajesh Mehta's guest professorship & workshop on "sounding buildings" at the Norwegian Theatre Academy, Fredrikstad, Norway.

Rajesh Mehta Solo Performance at the Vigeland Mausoleum, Oslo

Final test fo the VCF2 mkII. It will go into production soon.
1. Variable BP out
2. 24dB LowPass out
3. VCF2 patch programmed as VCO
4. Variable BP out again

Serge / R*S VCF2 MKII - final test accomplished

Odd hacked hand built electronics, Benjolin semi modular  FOR SF Sound noise soundscape sessions, 8/2020 by :LORI VARGA

"Atmospheres on Sulpher Marsh & Mucky Moon Walks" By Lori 16mm Varga

A track featuring the early creations of master-synthesizer designer and builder Rob Hordijk. The instruments, Robtronium II and  TwentyFourSeven are prototypes of synthesizers like the Blippoo Box and the Benjolin.

Live at 2023 Skronkathon: Ron Heglin & Tom Djll

Tom Djll

Recent comments

Tom Djll

Related tracks