Zündeln Residency, 2022
There was a lot of ignition in Mannheim.
I am very happy to have been given the opportunity, as part of my residency by the Kulturamt Mannheim and the Alte Feuerwache, to work with a group of exciting people on the question of how to expand a collective improvisation to include the senses of taste and smell. The Zündeln program gives artists the opportunity to try out non-results-oriented concepts that they have had on their bucket list for a long time. Usually there is a lack of resources for the realization of these exciting projects - in the context of Zündeln, space and production budget are provided and to be used by the artist on their own responsibility.
The process was very intense and enlightening. In improvisation sessions in a wide variety of instrumentations, we experimented over several days - developing a common vocabulary and considering how to incorporate taste and smell not only for the musicians as an additional instrument, but also to make these senses tangible for the audience. Even though video footage can't depict what are probably the most exciting two components - smell and taste, here's a look back into the completely improvised session that took place at the Alte Feuerwache studio as part of the Werkschau.
Featuring:
Constantin E. Herzog - bass, synth
Lukas DeRungs - keys, electronics
Jascha Giebel - drums
Michi Hubert - drums
Dominik Jahn - keys, electronics
Felix Truong - taste
Lex Brown - smell
Flo Huth - electronics
Pictures: Daniel Wetzel
Recording/Cameras: Malte Appel
Küchencombo
The "Küchencombo" is a project that is especially close to my heart. While the Corona lockdown brought all cultural activities to a standstill from one day to the next, I had the good fortune to live in a musician's flat-share. After the initial fright had subsided, we began to make music and improvise together in the shared kitchen. Although we had already made music together in the context of our studies or other band projects, these jams were new to us. Freely improvised jazz and groove-oriented, organic instrumental music was in the foreground - just punchy enough that the neighborhood listened to us happily, grateful for any cultural variety, and cheerfully shouted or cheered at us from the opposite balcony. In this line-up we played several cultural events, which had become possible again during the creeping awakening after the pandemic. Each event is not just a concert, but actually a road trip of four friends who shared and lived out their musical passion in a rather uncomfortable time.
Impulse responses
Every room has its own acoustic fingerprint. During Lockdown, I had the opportunity to search for spaces in Mannheim that could normally be played musically, as part of a grant received from the Kulturstiftung BW.
With the help of a short, loud impulse, one can excite the space and thus take a snapshot of the acoustic properties in that place with a set of microphones.
In short - you pop a balloon, record it, and then you can overlay the recorded room sound on any audio source using VST plugins that can read impulses.
So you can pretend after the fact that you recorded something at that point by putting the acoustic filter over the track you previously recorded without room information. Sounds super dry and boring - was totally fun and got my spirit of discovery going. First I played a short improvisation with my trumpet in this spot, then we popped a balloon. A very good pair of microphones and a great recording interface, made it possible for me to capture the sound in the best possible way. Places like the Alte Feuerwache Mannheim, Hafenkirche Mannheim, TiG7, zeitraumexit, Rama Studios, Klavierwerkstatt Stimmgabel and many small exciting rooms are now digitally available for you.
Rutger Martens, Flo Huth and Christoph aka "Piano Man" helped me with this.
