Synaesthesia is a repository for my exploration of the relationship between imagery and sound design. Presented as a quadriptych (Grace, Solitude, Light and Dark), it is also a place to consider perceptions, emotions and responses to audio-visual stimuli. A personal playground, if you will.
Shadows
Siekierki, Warsaw, Poland
52.20856° N, 21.08149° E
The dissipating heat from the afternoon Warsaw sun. Shadows of history flicker through my mind. The fortress, the school, the carpenters shop. The summer was humid and warm, and the river.Descent
Sunjammer
Zeran, Warsaw, Poland
52.29375° N, 20.98827° E
The railway lines seem to go on forever. A multitude of pylons beckon. The Tower of Zeran is always there to guide me. Walking into the storm I feel safe. Heading home, full of thoughts.
Heaven
Path to the gas chambers, Sobibór, Poland
51.44632° N, 23.59545° E
Opposite the platform where the barracks stand begins the road to the gas chambers, known as the Schlauch. The road is planted with small trees and looks like a garden path. Down this road, which is covered with a layer of white sand, all must run naked. No-one returns from this road. People driven down this road are beaten mercilessly and stabbed with bayonets, so that after they have been driven down it, the road is covered in blood.
Chil Rajchman
The Also Wall
The Old Ghetto, Międzyrzec, Poland
51.98419° N, 22.78878° E
It’s hard to imagine normal life here. The grey winters’ day blankets any sense of community, any sense of past. But it was here. If you listen carefully you can hear it.
Audio Explanation
The audio in Synaesthesia was, for the most part, created using Norns and SuperCollider.
Norns is a monophonic synthesiser created by Monome. It is known for its unique approach to sound design and user interaction. Norns runs on open-source software and offers a variety of synthesis engines, including FM, granular, and subtractive synthesis.
SuperCollider is an open-source programming language for real-time audio synthesis and algorithmic composition. It offers a flexible and expressive environment for creating complex sound designs and musical structures.
As the project evolved, however, a wider range of audio sources and instruments were used including:
Teenage Engineering (OP-1 Field; OP-XY; TP-7; TX-6 & CM-15), Organelle M, Polyend Tracker, X-Synth, Borderlands and Tardigrain.
