radiator by ANAZANAUT
NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLOIT NOISE
For a period of a few months early in 2024, from sometime in January until the end of March, the pipes in the apartment which brought in the hot water for the heating system began to emit a strange rattling noise. It was intermittent and irregular, though when it manifested, it would adhere to a sort of steady rhythmic pulse as something in the system was causing a resonance and vibration. This would generally become noticeable soon after opening the value on the baseboard heater to turn on the heat, or when the value was closed to shut it off. Because the problem was infrequent, bringing it to the attention of the management to get it fixed necessitated making recordings of the noise so that their service person could identify the issue. Fortunately, a good quality portable digital recorder was handy, a ZOOM H1, which was perfect for the job. It was simply a matter of inserting the mic end of the recorder into the top opening of the radiator and balancing it against the rim while it was recording. The results were enough to allow the technician to identify the issue and formulate a plan to deal with the irregularity. But what started out as merely a practical attempt to document a functional issue soon inspired something more creative. Once a couple of recordings were made and processed, which essentially involved normalising the audio levels, it became apparent that what sounded like only a tiny rattle to the naked ear, when recorded and amplified, revealed an entire spectrum of sounds and variations. The longer the recordings were allowed to continue, the more variations became apparent. Each recording revealed distinct characteristics of tempo, overtones and other unique details. The end result of these experiments was to compile the best of the resulting recordings into a composed sound collage, augmenting it with some additional layers in order to turn it into something that is capable of sustaining a fully engaging listening experience. Since the initial recording of the radiator rattling was done, the sound has ceased to occur, and there has been no indication of whether that happened because something was fixed or because something simply fell back into place. The radiators have remained silent, but this artefact now exists to commemorate their era of vibrance.
Tracklist
| 1. | radiator | 44:44 |
Credits
All emanations captured and coordinated by ANAZANAUT. Album production and assembly executed between April 26th through the 28th, 2024, except where noted. Audio elements include: ZOOM H1 recordings of a hot water heating baseboard radiator rattling and vibrating (recorded February 27th, March 5th, 7th & 11th, 2024), 1978 Univox EC100 tape echo feedback sustained through a 1990 BOSS SE-50 digital multi-effects processor and recorded on a 1989 Mitsubishi HS-U80 Hi-Fi VCR (recorded March 3rd, 1994), digital feedback generator (recorded July 1st, 2004), processed thunder & rain sound effects (recorded August 26th, 2009). Baseboard radiator photographs taken April 26th, 2024.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
Walking with the broken rocks upon the heaving thrust of mountain echoes, movement becomes challenged. Something may have taken hold here, but its residue has since faded into the dust of winds long blown away. Though memory shards crack and splinter through the ice age history once foretold, there are now no more than fragments upon a beach receding beyond the breaking waves.