Symphonie Electromagniques Vol 1, by Arvik Torrenssen

Symphonie Electromagniques Vol 1

by Arvik Torrenssen

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AB Spectral sonics that sound like time is moving all around you as you pace out (and navigate) past, present and future sonic paths in the radio spectrum. An incredible album that is easy to get lost in especially in these liminal low light days of winter.

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1.	Sentinelle 04:15	buy track
2.	Contreforme 04:15	buy track
3.	Voix panoptique 04:50	buy track
4.	Phase torsadee 08:22	buy track
5.	Symphonie des machines (part 1) 03:55	buy track
6.	taux de symbole 03:08	buy track
7.	De l_acoustique 07:08	buy track
8.	Module deux fois 03:22	buy track
9.	Symphonie des machines (part 2) 03:58	buy track

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Symphonie Electromagniques Vol 1

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration”
- Nikola Tesla

For some time now we’ve been experimenting with software defined shortwave and high frequency radio signals (SDR) and modular synthesis technology e.g., Eurorack and VCV; the combination appears ideal for experimenting with long piece ambient drones, undulating textures and for wavetable sampling and triggering.
Of course, use of radio transmissions in music is nothing new; yet in this release we’ve surpassed just the simple use of recorded audio instead by using the digital nature of SDR to use the radio waveforms and modulations to create this collection of long form pieces; we captured some of the essence of how radio signals fade and phase as they cross the troposphere and the ionosphere which form their undulating waveforms and changing shapes of modulations, usually too subtle for the conscious mind to savour, but perfect for delicate use with Eurorack modular.

Some pieces have had a minimal post-processing applied to soften some of the harshness of some of the signals e.g., using reverb.
Allow yourself to be drawn into the subtle undulating layers as they resonate from the energies traversing our earth atmosphere and be rewarded with an experience through each of their journeys; listening to the pieces from start to finish, you may hear something new within each time.

sentinelle

15763 KHZ HF OTHR (HF); a new Over-The-Horizon Radar was used slowed and resonated; it is interspersed with the background of occasional ionospheric crashes, lighting in the atmosphere.

contreforme

8843 KHZ HF ACARS (HF); Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) is used by aircraft to identify themselves as they travel around the globe; we time-stretched a particularly well-formed signal, decoded to be a passenger jet off of the coast of Africa.

taux de symbole

17444 KHz HF UNID (HF); an unidentified signal using a phase- shifting modulation was passed through a series of resonators of which the underlying ionospheric fading created an almost unearthly menacing piece that disappears in a wisp (to where?) at the very end.

symphonie des machines – part 1

434 MHz FM (VHF) domestic machine to machine; car fobs, weather stations, monitors, IoT devices; a wave table was captured and then triggered when signals were detected; minimal reverb to add spaciousness.

modulé deux fois

6758 KHz RTTY (HF); a maritime radio teletype (RTTY) uses two tones and Baudot encoding to transmit simple text messages for shipping, and we used one of the tones to modulate a simple pad sound, a melancholy of repetition of self-identification to which no other station replies.

phase torsadée

4224 KHz QPSK (HF); data transmission common use Phase Shift Keying (PSK), the fading and phasing as the signal passes through our ionosphere was used to ; the track also uses this fading from the high frequency bias to low over the course of the track.

voix panoptique

7844 KHz HF UNID (HF); an unidentified signal using an amplitude- shifting modulation and encrypted data link, common across HF; time stretched and audio band-separated to produce the sub-bass.

de l'acoustique

15190 KHz AM (HF); many commercial broadcast stations use standard Amplitude Modulation (AM) for voice transmissions and reused the modulation to wave shapes, together with the original audio, to create the digitised robotized effect giving a mesmerising quality.

symphonie des machines – part 2

434 MHz FM (VHF) domestic machine to machine; SDR recordings played in reverse to play out this collection using time based intriguing effect.

credits

released December 25, 2023

Mastered by James E. Armstrong

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