**In January 2023, I recorded IRs in the Jebel Hafeet tombs - small, bee-hive-shaped stone structures that represent the earliest Bronze Age burial tradition in southeastern Arabia, marking the beginning of more permanent and ceremonial treatment of the dead. These tombs were often used by mobile pastoralist communities, and their construction signaled a shift toward territorial anchoring and social memory. (Later, during the Umm an-Nar period (c. 2800–2000 BCE), the burial practices changed: tombs became larger, circular, and collective, like those at Hili and Umm an-Nar Island — often reused for generations).I was commissioned by the Transforming Data Reuse in Archaeology (TETRARCHs) project, by the lead partner from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, to create the piece which you will hear this evening. TETRARCHs explores ways in which archaeologists collect data and use that data for storytelling in ways that are meaningful for diverse audiences. (It is funded by the Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe CHANSE, a joint initiative of 27 research funding organizations from 24 countries, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.)**

\
**Through the Dept of Archaeology York, in collaboration with the University of Durham, and Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism, I was introduced to a project that investigates Bronze Age domestic life at Hili Archaeological Park in Al Ain, UAE—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The focus is on the Hafit and Umm an-Nar periods (c. 3200–2000 BCE), and address longstanding gaps in knowledge about everyday life, domestic architecture, and socio-economic organization in the region. Initial excavations in 2022/3 successfully identified preserved archaeological deposits and features, including mudbrick structures, irrigation systems, and activity areas suggesting cooking and craft production. During their most recent season (2023/4) I observed them analyzing materials from previous and recent excavations, conducting targeted excavations and using aerial and terrestrial surveys.**

**Broadly, the Bronze Age in Al Ain began around 3000 BCE, with evidence of agricultural villages emerging. A century or two later, between 2500 and 2000 BCE, Hili’s settlement and monumental tomb construction expanded significantly during the peak of the Umm an-Nar era. Hili 16 and its associated tombs and structures date firmly to the Umm anNar phase (c. 2700–2000 BCE), making them approximately 4,200–4,700 years old.**

**I attended excavations, participated in project meetings and interviewed archaeologists on site. I also made some field recordings of the surrounding area, of the sounds of archeology itself (mostly digging, tapping, brushing and scratching sounds) and I also recorded the impulse response or echoes of a Falaj water system and some Jebel Hafeet tombs - small, bee-hive-shaped stone structures that represent the earliest Bronze Age burial tradition in southeastern Arabia, marking the beginning of more permanent and ceremonial treatment of the dead. These tombs were often used by mobile pastoralist communities, and their construction signaled a shift toward territorial anchoring and social memory. (Later, during the Umm an-Nar period (c. 2800–2000 BCE), the burial practices changed: tombs became larger, circular, and collective, like those at Hili and Umm an-Nar Island — often reused for generations).**

 \n 

Jebel Hafeet Beehive Tombs

San Giorgio Maggiore ( San Zorzi Mazór in Venetian ) is a basilica on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice , part of the homonymous monastery . The church, designed by Andrea Palladio who also built the refectory , overlooks the San Marco Basin .

As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 14:15 on 10 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore

[Sound mirror](https://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=TKE972) built in 1928 near the edge of Abbot's Cliff as part of a number of acoustic mirrors along the Kentish Channel cost. There was a timber operator's [shed](https://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=TKE747) on the west side of the mirror but all traces of this [building](https://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=TKE600) ahve now gone. The sound mirror system was abandoned in 1938 in favour of RADAR. The mirror exsists in good condiditon. -

Kent County Council

Abbot’s Cliff Sound Mirror

Amphitheatre of Pompeii

**Imagine a sonic artefact arriving from an unknown space and time. *At the Threshold* takes the listener on a journey through the dichotomous architecture of a conch shell, encountering acoustic anomalies told through feedback loops, field recordings and a constructed chorus of the artist’s own voice and that of a digital surrogate at various stages of machine learning.**

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F1c995f47-c412-4875-856f-197ae49c2784-Sharon_Press_Image_Square.jpg?alt=media&token=32b2271a-0f2b-4fbd-8f8d-734b064cfee8)

At the Threshold - Sharon Phelan

Santa Maria della Salute (or Chiesa della Salute or simply La Salute ) is a basilica in Venice erected in the Punta della Dogana area , from where it stands out against the panorama of the San Marco Basin and the Grand Canal . As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded around noon on 10 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone, we didn’t measure the distance - the source was on the opposite side of the inner circle as it was not possible to enter the middle point.

Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute

A Norman, Gothic, Gothic Revival style cathedral built between 1220 and 1877 in Bristol.

Bristol Cathedral, The Elder Lady Chapel

A narrow calle (alley) in San Toma area in Venice, next to Casa di Carlo Goldoni. As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at midnight on 10 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

Calle Centani

A narrow shopping alley near San Marco. As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 01:09am on 10 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

Calle Marzaria S. Zulian

Campo San Apanol was named after the church Chiesa di San Apanol.  The church was founded in 1034 perhaps by the noble Sciavola and Rampana families from Ravenna who named it after the protector of their hometown . In 1400 it it was decided to give it a bell tower in 1407 (completed in 1430) . It was rebuilt in late Gothic style in 1450; other restorations took place in 1570, in 1600 the interior was adapted to a single hall and other restorations were carried out in 1791. Gothic bas-relief on the facade In 1806, with the concentration of the parishes decided by the government of the Kingdom of Italy, it was closed and passed into the availability of state property; from 1810 the dispersion of its furnishings began.

Closed for worship between 1965 and 1979 and deconsecrated, it was used as a municipal archive and today as a repository mainly for works of art. According to tradition, the body of the prophet Jonah and a thorn from Jesus' crown were kept in the church.

As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 00:20 on 9 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

Campo San Apenol

Known in Venetian as San Salvador, Campo San Salvador, is located in the Merceria, a main shopping street of Venice. Balloon pop was recorded on the steps in front of the church.

As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 01:00am on 9 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

Campo San Salvador

The Chiesa di Santo Stefano (Church of St. Stephen) is a large Roman Catholic church at the northern end of the Campo Santo Stefano in the sestiere of San Marco, Venice, Italy.

History.

As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 15:20 on 8 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone. 

Chiesa di Santo Stefano

The “Comunale - Pavarotti” Theatre (Modena -Italy) was recorded by Enrico Armelloni and Adriano Farina as part of the  Sipario project.  Impulse Responses were recorded by the 32 microphones of the Eigenmike, (A-format), next converted from A-to-B format using Gary Elko's (MH Acoustics) plugin encoder, they are "3rd order" and lastly converted to "1st order". 

The dodecahedron was placed in the Center position on the stage and then measured in three stalls positions.

Comunale-Pavarotti Theatre

IM thermoelectric cooling tower in Charleroi, Belgium. The cooling tower is a precast concrete structure in the shape of a truncated cone. It has dimensions of 60 meters in diameter at the base and 45 meters at its peak, reaching a height of 75 meters. Its function was to cool water during the coal combustion process. It had a capacity to cool 480,000 gallons of water per minute, which was drawn directly from the adjacent river. Its reverberation time T60 is 15 seconds. The Charleroi thermoelectric plant was originally built in 1921, it was one of the largest coal-fired power plants in Belgium. In 1977, the plant was the main source of energy in the region. The thermoelectric company was responsible for 10% of the total CO2 emissions in Belgium. Due to this, and due to Greenpeace protests in 2006, the plant closed in 2007.

Cooling Tower - IM Power Plant

Hidden away and mysterious, with beautiful reverb.  We positioned the microphone marked with a red dot in the chamber past the Second Chamber.  As you can see on the survey, the cave continues much deeper.  After this ‘third’ chamber, the tunnel gets very narrow and tricky to move with equipment. In this schematic, the microphone (M1) is indicated in red and source positions (S-2 - S7) are indicated in green. The current listening order corresponds to the round thumbnail images from left to right: S1; S2; S4; S7.

Dowkerbottom Cave

**Echo in Dowkerbottom cave... vocal archaeology**

 ![Juliana Venter - Anechoic studio at Audiolab York - photo credit: Cobi van Tonder](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F3d8a8dea-fcea-4133-881a-e9251ea4512f-IMG_4701.jpeg?alt=media&token=c6bd728f-e3ab-440c-8e86-f976fe0a0fac)

**Vocal improvisation - Juliana Venter**

**Recording and virtual acoustics - Cobi van Tonder**

Earth Echo - Juliana Venter & Cobi van Tonder

Ely Cathedral, UK

**Entrapped - Rob Brinkworth**

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F5f2cb1c3-c8b9-4e07-b5b7-a13c168e0d71-image.png?alt=media&token=d3081a88-a8b3-46ca-8d2f-329736c9eb91)

 ![Castle of Good Hope Prison Door  - Photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F8115d3b0-c903-4c19-b54b-c8b2dc7a4367-80bd73f0-cbdf-4a42-af10-537b279f69bf.jpeg?alt=media&token=bea27e8e-9073-40a0-8c67-15eb0e36a143)

 ![Castle of Good Hope - Photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F9da433f6-2062-4101-beb2-c08119ddda2d-fe80d5c6-bc80-4d89-aa96-2d89684db959.jpeg?alt=media&token=b08e4de3-437a-47c4-a521-bc9f23db5d6e)

 ![Castle of Good Hope - Photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F4277a8f7-4738-4c35-8514-b21e239df3c0-77e12d5d-28d9-4068-a432-c1e3b8bf0392.jpeg?alt=media&token=9614349d-e6dd-4d02-8b89-1189eb488290)

 ![Photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Fbe144a73-4124-43ec-8ec2-9fdca1c6fc0b-WhatsApp%20Image%202022-08-04%20at%206.22.25%20AM.jpeg?alt=media&token=8928ca68-5b0b-4795-ac00-fdd288112cc5)

 ![Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F4445c953-1288-4b54-83a1-3efa321ccb27-WhatsApp%20Image%202022-08-04%20at%206.32.12%20AM.jpeg?alt=media&token=f6e7688e-1b6c-420a-9a67-659dd6e44b5c)

 ![Mixing in progress - Photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F6cd0b33b-5783-4ea4-8815-231aba60966a-WhatsApp%20Image%202022-08-10%20at%208.56.16%20AM.jpeg?alt=media&token=5ba20d13-e57e-4b28-9aed-b2a97615c71a)

Entrapped - Rob Brinkworth

**Reflections on encounters with narcissistic devils and loops .... a future foretold in the past by the Cumaean Sybil…**

**A collaboration between Chrysler & van Tonder that started with a conversation about Echo and the Cumaean Sibyl cave.  Dorit composed and recorded her theremin and pedals and Cobi auralised and spatialised the sounds further.**

**About the location: “The Cumaean Sibyl cave is a mythological place in the north of Naples, where the Sibyl, a priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle, received the travelers and predicted their future. The cave is length about 140 m, with trapezoidal section excavated in the rock of tuff. The cave has a height of about 4.5 m and it is 2.4 m wide. The legend says that the Sibyl received the travelers in the final part of the cave. Acoustic measurements were done with an omnidirectional sound source in the in the room inside the Sybil cave while positioning the microphones along the cave.” Prof Gino Iannace & Umberto Berardi**

 ![Dorit Chrysler - photo credit: Peter Funch](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F4c0c231b-d2a7-42f1-9fe0-a687a5181356-04DoritChrysler%40PeterFunch.jpg?alt=media&token=27ed7685-b371-4962-bc26-b201a525003b)

Ether Echo - Dorit Chrysler & Cobi van Tonder

The church of Santi Cosma e Damiano ( commonly San Cosmo) is a deconsecrated religious building in Venice located on the island of Giudecca . After being home to the Herion factory , the church has been repurposed into a business incubator.  As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 15:20 on 10 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone, thanks to the Cosmo organisation who gave us permission.

Ex Chiesa dei Santi Cosma e Damiano

The Forn space is an original ceramic kiln located in the Catalan city La Bisbal d'Emporda belonging to the Terracota de la Ceramica museum. "El Forn" space The central axis of the museum's internal circulation is formed by the four inverted flame furnaces. The four have valued heritage and have been incorporated into the permanent exhibition as basic pieces to explain the process of ceramic firing. Three have been musealized (one of them is empty, the second is loaded with work and the third shows an audiovisual that explains the cooking process), while the fourth has been transformed into a space for temporary exhibitions: "El Forn". With a biannual periodicity, the space (reduced: about 15 m2) is designed to exhibit well-chosen ceramic pieces from both private and public collections.

Forn Terracotta Museu de Ceramica

Galli Theatre

Listen to the acoustics of the “Teatro Grande” of Brescia, Italy.

Great Theatre

Great hall of Binche (1549) archaeoacoustic reconstruction:

A simulated Binaural Impulse response from inside a historic palace. It is the result of an archaeoacoustic reconstruction.

Great hall of Binche 

Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres tall, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. The church is named after the Icelandic poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns.

Hallgrímskirkja

This acoustic fingerprint is part of the OpenAirLibrary (openairlib.net), Audiolab, University of York, Damian T. Murphy.

The Hamilton Mausoleum, Hamilton, Scotland, was built for the 10th Duke of Hamilton, 1842 - 1858. It is constructed of marble and sandstone and is surmounted by a dome 36m in height.

The construction materials, size, shape, and dimensions of the latter result in a complex, dense, and very long reverberation. The interior of the Hamilton Mausoleum is approximately octagonal in plan, with a diameter of 18 m. Each side of the octagon is either a plane wall or a further semicircular alcove. The microphones were placed in the centre and the source placed to one side, just outside one of the alcoves, giving a source-receiver distance of 4.8 m.

Hamilton Mausoleum

Hangklip Dome

**Inchindown Oil Tank Nº 1**

The Inchindown Oil Tanks are an underground oil depot in Invergordon, Ross-shire, Scotland, built for war purposes. They hold the record for the longest recorded reverberation in any human-made structure.

The site was officially named "Inchindown, Royal Navy Fuel Tanks" and was also known as "Invergordon Oil Fuel Depot". The complex consisted of six tanks: five were 237 meters long, 9 meters wide, with arched roofs 13.5 meters high; a smaller sixth tank was the same height and width but shorter. Work on the tanks began in 1938 and was completed in 1941. They were built to be a bomb-proof fuel supply for the UK Royal Navy base at Invergordon.

The tank explored corresponds to tank No. 1, built entirely of concrete. It is accessed through a tunnel 200 meters long, 2 meters high and 1 wide, built of concrete and in some sectors of live rock. To enter the tank it is necessary to go through a steel tube 45 centimeters in diameter and 3 meters long. It is currently completely empty and visits are restricted due to the danger of falling rocks and falls due to the large amount of oil that remains. The space has a T60 reverberation of 75 seconds, being the longest recorded in history.

Inside the tank, measurements were made of impulse response, frequency sweeps, vocalizations, found object percussion, and slow feedback. The sounds generated inside the tank escape any logic that we have ever been able to experience, each movement, each word stayed inside the space coming and going in a way where it was almost impossible to have a conversation. Inside the tank there was oxygen, but the smell of petroleum persisted and the darkness was absolute, the flashlights struggled to illuminate the black surfaces and if you stayed in one place for too long your boots melted into the black paste. It could be said that a saturation of the senses was generated, due to the sound, but also due to the strong darkness, a feeling of oppression that was maintained for the two hours that we remained inside. Somehow the tank had engraved in its atmosphere the energy of oil and the war for which it was used.

Inchindown, Tank Nº 1

A large part of the Ingleborough Cave system that we worked in was actually an underwater river, the whole 500m stretch is visually exhilarating. As one walks down the curving tunnel the last 100m of the area accessible to the public sounds the most enticing. This is the area named 'Long Gallery, '2nd Bells', 'Skittle Alley' and 'Pool of Reflections'. The play of light, darkness, echo, reflections, shapes and sound is mesmerising.  The connected underground otherworldly network of tunnels, halls and passageways has a tranquility and magical atmosphere, far away from our everyday reality and immerse the senses completely.

Thanks to Mariana Lopez for operating the Sound Devices and Richard Carter for aerial photography and additional photography. Thanks to Andrew Jarman, Ingleborough Cave management, for their support and for giving us access to take measurements in this amazing underground cave.

Ingleborough Cave

Ionion Mirror (part 1): This location in the sea was a tragic site where refugees drowned. A performance video/sound piece was created from this exact point in the water with sounds and video from above and under water (Cobi van Tonder). The acoustics are currently presented as an impression rather than via the standard impulse response methods of taking acoustic measurements. Sing into this space to hear the resonances from the drone music. A short distance from this point is a tiny little island called Zeus, seen in the reflection of the mirror.  Thanks to Ionion Art Centre.

<https://seas.ionionartscenter.gr/seas-arts-program/>  

Ionion Mirror

Joan Miro's Flood Cistern

The rainwater regulation tank is in use and is one of the seven tanks where the rainwater of the city of Barcelona accumulates. Due to the climatic changes that have occurred in the last century, mainly due to the high emission of greenhouse gases, which have raised the temperature of the planet, it rains more sporadically but the rains have become more intense, which has increased the risk of flooding. This has made it necessary to build these infrastructures to store water in case of flood risk.

The Joan Miró rainwater tank is located next to Plaza España, under the Joan Miró park. It occupies a total area of ​​approximately 6,500m2 and consists of two bodies for a total retention volume of 55,000m3.

We had the opportunity to enter the rainwater tank for an hour, with many restrictions, because it is a risk area. The space is presented as a large hypostyle hall, with a total of 175 pillars of 50 centimeters in diameter by 5 to 10 meters high. Inside the place, the murmur of the water coming from the city's underground channels was constantly felt, along with the urban noises that filtered through the air intakes. Within the space, measurements of the space's impulse response, slow feedbacks, frequency sweeps, and soundscape recordings were made. It should be noted that the space, due to its rectangular proportions and the presence of pillars, generated a wide series of harmonics.

Joan Miro's Flood Cistern

Kraftwerk, Berlin. Room Impulse Response from Ableton Live IR collection. We think it’s been recorded by Matt Jackson and Christian Kleine.

Kraftwerk

The Tvísöngur Sound Sculpture designed by German artist Lukas Kuhne is situated in the mountains above Seydisfjordur, northeast Iceland. This mushroom-looking concrete sculpture consists of interconnected domes in different sizes. Each one of the domes has a resonance that corresponds to a tone in the Icelandic musical tradition of five-tone harmony and it serves as Helmholtz resonators, as the wind blowing in off the cliffs rushes into and across the openings, the air within the structure resonates.

Lukas Kuhne Tvísöngur Sound Sculpture

This acoustic fingerprint is part of the OpenAirLibrary collection (openairlib.net), Audiolab, University of York, Damian T. Murphy.

Maes-Howe, Orkney, is one of the finest chambered cairns in Europe, and is dated to 3000BC. Prior work in the acoustics of ancient sites explores how the resonances exhibited therein might have affected regular human ritual and interaction with the space. It has been hypothesized that as these resonances are within the lower male vocal range, they may have been used in ritual to accentuate aspects of the voice. Unlike many similar ancient structures that have been studied to date, Maes Howe lends itself to the presence of strong modal frequencies. It is almost cubic in shape, of dimension 4.6m, with walls made from large, flat slabs of stone, resulting in smooth reflecting surfaces rather than more commonly found irregular placement of smaller stones.

Maes-Howe Cairn

Masini Theatre

Melissani Cave is located on the island of Kefalonia, in the Ionian Sea. In Greek mythology, Melissani was the Cave of the Nymphs. It features a lake surrounded with trees and forest, and is located east of the mountains of Evmorfia and Agia Dynati. The Ionion Art Centre, Kefalonia is making work here possible. The RIR here is imaginary/artistic - no actual measurements were conducted (as of yet) - as this project has been delayed due to travel restrictions. The reverb was extracted from cutting off the tails of other recordings made on a boatride in Mellisani and edited together to form an impression.

Mellisani Cave

The Cercs Mine Museum (Catalan: Museu de les Mines de Cercs) is a museum dedicated to coal mining, located in the Sant Corneli colony, in the Cercs municipal area, in the region of El Berguedà. It is a technology and history museum that describes the relationship between coal and the geological environment, the landscape, the economy and the people of L’Alt Berguedà

Mines de Cercs

Listen to your voice inside the “Municipale” Theatre, Piacenza, Italy.

Municipale Theatre, Piacenza

Museo Correr by the foot of the staircase at the entrance, at the edge of San Marco Square in the late night - As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded around 2am on 9 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone, at distance of 5 m apart. 

Museo Correr

## The old Asland cement factory is a unique architectural work of the first magnitude. It is an impressive modernist building, which highlights the use of the construction technique of the Catalan vault (or flat brick) and wrought iron structures. The complex has a spectacular structure, since a staggered construction was chosen from the quarry to the level of the train, adapting to the unevenness of the terrain in order to take advantage of the force of gravity -fall due to inertia- in the manufacturing process of the cement.

Museu del Ciment de Castellar de n'Hug

**PRESENCE / NÆRVÆR (extract) from the site-specific sound installation composed and produced by Natasha Barrett. Location: Outside the Hjemmefrontmuseet (Resistance Museum) Akershus Fortress (Akershus festning), Oslo.**


---

**Throbbing of the cruise ships in the habour**

**Other harbour and construction site sounds**

**Resonances from the boats and city echoing around the fortress**

**Boat horns**

**The town hall bells (hour strikes as well as tunes).**

**Birds, dry leaves, adults and children, rain**

**Running over the cobble stones**

**The bi-annual air-raid siren test**


---

**What if we make the background foreground? What if the sounds of the past resonate through the present? What if the hidden details, the disguised features, the traces and the artefacts, break out of the everyday noise we tend to ignore and tell a story of space, place and presence? PRESENCE / NÆRVÆR is an outdoor, site-specific sound-art installation that explores the answers to these questions. It reveals the sound-treasures in and around Akershus fortress (Oslo) by resonating them through a hyper-enhanced version of 'the real', hovering just above the existing background sound. The public are invited to experience this revealed sound-space and their own presence within it.**

**The work is made using the latest in environmental sound analysis technology and 3D outdoor sound projection. High resolution spatial sound recordings, including 3D impulse responses made in and around the installation space, are analysed and processed in musical ways. These materials are then played back into the space to resonate with the present, while alluding to the past and future.**

**PRESENCE / NÆRVÆR is part of the Reconfiguring the Landscape artistic research project based at the Norwegian Academy for Music, and funded by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme / DIKU. The research investigates how 3D electroacoustic composition and sound-art can evoke and provoke new awareness of our outdoor environments. The complete piece is a 20-minute cycle that runs continuously throughout the day in all weathers. The work will be installed from 16th September – 16th October 2022. Presented here, a short extract.**

 ![Photo of Eigenmike 3D Ambisonics impulse-response recordings.Location: Outside the Hjemmefrontmuseet (Resistance Museum) Akershus Fortress (Akershus festning), Oslo.](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Fcfd50ad8-a16a-49a2-8107-0042b768350d-IMG_2626.jpg?alt=media&token=fd1f85a1-f422-4c22-b8b3-631e7ae3eed7)

 ![(Artist Portrait - Photo credit: Carsten Aniksdal_2021)](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Fb8a982bb-750e-400a-ac1e-41fe6b910011-Natasha%20Barrett_photo_CreditCarsten%20Aniksdal_2021_print-6b.jpg?alt=media&token=213f886c-965a-4a2c-a0be-dfaba0ce3def)

PRESENCE / NÆRVÆR - Natasha Barrett

Pavarotti Theatre

**==Iti composed and performed this piece based on a traditional Indian classical music scale played/sung in the early evening. It was recorded in by Rehan (Red Media studios) near Aditya Vidyashram Residential School, Porayur. Next auralised with the Taj Mahal impulse response and mixed by Cobi van Tonder.==**

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Fda2bba08-7731-499a-adac-2c5d2c0a0009-_DSC6298.jpg?alt=media&token=d3336f99-b1a1-4dee-8650-3cd7ef66572f)

Raga Todi - Iti

The Rialto Bridge (Italian: Ponte di Rialto; Venetian: Ponte de Rialto) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the sestieri (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its first construction as a pontoon bridge in 1173, and is now a significant tourist attraction in the city. The echo has a very fast prominent early reflection and quick decay.

As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded at 00:00 on 9 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone.

A Toccata of Galuppi's
BY ROBERT BROWNING
I
Oh Galuppi, Baldassaro, this is very sad to find!
I can hardly misconceive you; it would prove me deaf and blind;
But although I take your meaning, 'tis with such a heavy mind!

II
Here you come with your old music, and here's all the good it brings.
What, they lived once thus at Venice where the merchants were the kings,
Where Saint Mark's is, where the Doges used to wed the sea with rings?

III
Ay, because the sea's the street there; and 'tis arched by . . . what you call
. . . Shylock's bridge with houses on it, where they kept the carnival:
I was never out of England—it's as if I saw it all.

IV
Did young people take their pleasure when the sea was warm in May?
Balls and masks begun at midnight, burning ever to mid-day,
When they made up fresh adventures for the morrow, do you say?

V
Was a lady such a lady, cheeks so round and lips so red,—
On her neck the small face buoyant, like a bell-flower on its bed,
O'er the breast's superb abundance where a man might base his head?

VI
Well, and it was graceful of them—they'd break talk off and afford
—She, to bite her mask's black velvet—he, to finger on his sword,
While you sat and played Toccatas, stately at the clavichord?

VII
What? Those lesser thirds so plaintive, sixths diminished, sigh on sigh,
Told them something? Those suspensions, those solutions—"Must we die?"
Those commiserating sevenths—"Life might last! we can but try!

VIII
"Were you happy?" —"Yes."—"And are you still as happy?"—"Yes. And you?"
—"Then, more kisses!"—"Did I stop them, when a million seemed so few?"
Hark, the dominant's persistence till it must be answered to!

IX
So, an octave struck the answer. Oh, they praised you, I dare say!
"Brave Galuppi! that was music! good alike at grave and gay!
"I can always leave off talking when I hear a master play!"

X
Then they left you for their pleasure: till in due time, one by one,
Some with lives that came to nothing, some with deeds as well undone,
Death stepped tacitly and took them where they never see the sun.

XI
But when I sit down to reason, think to take my stand nor swerve,
While I triumph o'er a secret wrung from nature's close reserve,
In you come with your cold music till I creep thro' every nerve.

XII
Yes, you, like a ghostly cricket, creaking where a house was burned:
"Dust and ashes, dead and done with, Venice spent what Venice earned.
"The soul, doubtless, is immortal—where a soul can be discerned.

XIII
"Yours for instance: you know physics, something of geology,
"Mathematics are your pastime; souls shall rise in their degree;
"Butterflies may dread extinction,—you'll not die, it cannot be!

XIV
"As for Venice and her people, merely born to bloom and drop,
"Here on earth they bore their fruitage, mirth and folly were the crop:
"What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?

XV
"Dust and ashes!" So you creak it, and I want the heart to scold.
Dear dead women, with such hair, too—what's become of all the gold

Rialto Bridge

The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in the North Yorkshire city of Ripon. Founded as a monastery by Scottish monks in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. The cathedral is notable architecturally for its gothic west front in the Early English style, as well as the Geometric east window.

Ripon Cathedral

**Nora van Tonder performs Yatsuhashi Kengyo's (1614 – 1685) koto song called Danmono.  It was used as background music for traditional dances and festivals for many years. The title means six and this is because the song is composed of six stages. Rokudan no Shirabe is the first of the six stages. The piece was recorded by Rob Brinkworth at Resonate studios, Cape Town.**

 ![Nora playing the Koto - photo credit: Rob Brinkworth](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Fa5e99aa6-21f2-48c2-a0b2-7b54544692e1-nora.jpg?alt=media&token=ded6272d-0839-486d-be90-0cc3f9a5c2b8)

Rokudan no Shirabe - Yatsuhashi Kengyo performed by Nora van Tonder

This work is part of the PhD thesis "Patrimonio Acústico de Teatros Romanos en España" by Angel Alvarez-Corbacho. More info, <http://www.sea-acustica.es/fileadmin/publicaciones/ASL-0_025_01.pdf>.

Roman Theatre of Regina Turdolorum

**SNØMASKN (chimera) - Aurélie Ferrière**

**“Mais tu ne peux pas l’entendre,**

***la chimère aux yeux de rêve/de verre.***

**Et où disparaît la route**

**Quand la nuit tombe sur nous ?”**

**(*But you can’t hear it,***

***you’re the chimera with eyes made of glass/of dreams.***

***And where does the road disappear,***

***when night falls upon us?)***

**(Cikatri$, Quand la Nuit Tombe sur Nous)**

**Chimera through time-space reflection. I had this idea to make something “impossible” - or unreal, as a “chimera”: an impossible appearance of sources originating in an electric or electronic process, in an acoustic atmosphere where they do not belong. The resulting space is an attempt to connect several different acoustic worlds through immaterial underground paths. To enter the imaginary space, listen to the piece: it starts with electronic drops, like morse signals from an unreachable space. The space builds up as the narrative develops around an interview with the snow maintenance company for railways, from processed news prep archive tapes from the 60s, that I process time-wise - thinking of “mirroring” as a timely process, time running back and forth, continuing into another subject about future space stations.**

**Monolith Cathedral impulse response:**

**A rare type of marble has been discovered beside a regular mine in the region of XXX in Northern Scandinavia, off a faraway drift deep underneath the surface. An underground excavation is secretly started, that follows the extracting habits of marble quarries from the Alentejo region in Portugal - think, building a pink marble cathedral underground as a monolith. This works fine for a while, as the added dimension of a “roof” do not seem make the whole structure weaker than the usual open-sky excavation site. When the marble runs out, the idea of installing an experimental nuclear reactor in the created space is investigated, as an underground location was believed safer at the time (in the end this reactor will be installed at R1 underneath Stockholm instead). Unfortunately, as years go by the mining ground in the region becomes unstable. The tunnel connecting the “cathedral” to the regular “official” mine is walled off and the space condemned, any trace of information such as exact location is discarded. All remaining equipment is re-labeled as belonging to a company in charge of snow maintenance in a distant city. Since the exact location of the secret marble excavation cannot be displayed, we are using as GPS coordinates a barycenter of all mines in production in the area in the late 60s, when the unusual snow maintenance equipment mentioned above was reported.**

 ![Aurélie Ferrière - Snømaskn Artwork](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F4b3f3ef3-2331-479c-bae1-59f1304f29e9-Aure%CC%81lieF%20Sn%C3%B8maskn%20artwork.jpg?alt=media&token=8d4632fa-99ea-4a74-9692-a1b325020ba1)

 ![Photo credit: Mats Bäcker](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F7da472bb-3a94-4809-a7d7-1e5590c9814a-Aure%CC%81lieF%20Photo%20Mats%20Ba%CC%88cker.jpg?alt=media&token=b1076dc0-9091-4dd0-9f4c-539d4b6487ac)

SNØMASKN (chimera) - Aurélie Ferrière

San Marco Square in the late night - As part of the *Listening to Venice* project, we recorded San Marco Square at 1:33am on 9 May 2023 with red balloon pops and a Sennheiser Ambeo VR microphone, at distance of 5 m and 10m apart. After waiting for a while, only 2 persons were left and they agreed to be silent so we could capture the squre.  The seagulls however, did not always play along. 

(There is a mismatch in the images used for listening to San Marco - the current 360 visual was taken in the daytime, whilst the sound is recorded at night.  In order to listen to the B-format impulse response, it is necessary to have a matching 360 image.   I will go back during the night to update the 360 images with matching night shots).

San Marco Square

Set in a bay at the foot of high chalk cliffs this sand and pebble beach stretches for around 1.2km. Many rockpools, at low tide and hardly any beach at high tide.  Sea lions, gannets, oyster-catchers, gulls and eider ducks can all be found here. There has been a lighthouse near this spot since the 17th century.  The current structure, built in 1806, still guides vessels safely around the rocky headland.

Selwicks Bay

**Ant Farm Arts Building, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, June 2022**

**Through the vehicle of sound, we can move freely from the confines of physical parameters. As materials start to shift, and elements drip, ooze, and fracture once-solid planes, we can model the sound -not as a series of linear movements, but as a polyphony of quantum superposition.
My most recent case study involves the Utopian architecture built by the collective, Ant Farm at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA (c.1971). The building, originally a media laboratory for the college,
has just recently been designated with landmark status in an effort to preserve its now deteriorating structure. The group, Ant Farm Antioch Art Building Creative Preservation Initiative \[AFAAB\], has been working to preserve the structure and to build a virtual simulation to interact with the building, its history, and possible futures.**

**I approached AFAAB with the idea to sound the building as an encapsulation of presence. By listening to and recording the building, I was able to focus on a kind of macro/micro existence. Here, agency and presence overlap where a building’s facade within an academic forum, exists simultaneously with its derelict state, inhabited by birds and stalactites, emerging organic matter, and material decay. This composition meshes microphone-based recordings performed within the building's four stories from June 7-12, 2022. Incorporating a series of microphones (cardioid, dpa, and omni directional microphones, as well as a geophone, and hydrophone), I recorded seismic vibrations, bacterial growth, birds (particularly the nesting starlings and red shouldered hawks), and inside HVAC ducts, elevator shafts, stairwells, brick piles, pigment powder, enclosed rooms, slide cupboards, glass, metal, and concrete. Also present were exterior sounds from wind, rain, and a tornado siren. Locked from public use, the building, (along with the complex make up of materials and elements inside its of it), was very much alive-moving, opening and closing, vibrating, humming. The composition is an entrance into a much longer, durational audible occupation.**

**-Victoria Keddie
July, 15, 2022**


---

 ![Ant Farm Arts Building, Antioch College Interior - photo credit: Victoria Keddie](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F56e7ddfa-a454-4876-8327-1b93bb35be5e-AFAAB_KEDDIE_06072022_c.jpg?alt=media&token=4af8e8e9-2810-4978-bc2a-8aa483d81fbd)

 ![Ant Farm Arts Building, Antioch College Interior - photo credit: Victoria Keddie](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F5ae36cf9-59fb-406e-a930-b73204c70dc0-AFAAB_KEDDIE_06072022_b.jpg?alt=media&token=1e4c0767-f91f-4ffb-a7b5-19e958a3ec35)

 ![Victoria Keddie - photo credit: MargeauxWalter2020](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F6c9722c2-1bfc-46f4-919b-b0dc361ed155-06victoriaKeddie%C2%A9MargeauxWalter2020_5x7_1.jpg?alt=media&token=ad87b4bb-8f91-4e95-895d-14fde0f51374)

Sensory Feedback I - Victoria Keddie

Spro Cave, Nesodden close to Oslo. Balloon pop recorded in centre of cave.

Spro Cave, Nesodden

The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658) to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. 

The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2020 would be approximately 70 billion rupees (about U.S. $1 billion). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. (Wikipedia)

Taj Mahal

“The Cumaean Sibyl cave is a mythological place in the north of Naples, where the Sibyl, a priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle, received the travelers and predicted their future. The cave is length about 140 m, with trapezoidal section excavated in the rock of tuff. The cave has a height of about 4.5 m and it is 2.4 m wide. The legend says that the Sibyl received the travelers in the final part of the cave. Acoustic measurements were done with an omnidirectional sound source in the in the room inside the Sybil cave while positioning the microphones along the cave.” Prof Gino Iannace & Umberto Berardi

The Cumaean Sibyl

“According to the legend, witches were women with magical knowledge that with the use of herbs cured illnesses and performed spells. In 1639, the book “De Nuce Maga Beneventana” described how the place where the “witches” gathered was an area south of the city of Benevento in South Italy in a long and narrow gorge. This valley with high rock walls was called the “stretto di Barba”. According to the legend, under a walnut tree in the “stretto di Barba”, the Longobards were used to perform sacred rituals. To make the rituals more effective, the sounds were amplified by the narrow gorge with flat and parallel rock walls”. Researched and recorded by Gino Iannace, Umberto Berardi, and Amelia Trematerra. (URL: [researchgate.net/publication/328378258_The_acoustics_of_the_Witches_Valley](http://researchgate.net/publication/328378258_The_acoustics_of_the_Witches_Valley))

The Witches Valley

Verdi Theatre

Victoria Cave in Langcliffe, Settle.  

From a scientific point of view, many caves (e.g. Victoria Cave) are time capsules, with flora, fauna, bacteria, minerals and fossils that hold treasures from an immensely large timescale compared to human life on earth. Additionally, caves present themselves as archives for understanding peoples’ mythological landscapes and how they have evolved. Victoria Cave produced prominent artifacts, including evidence of the first humans in the Dales starting in 12,500 BC. It provides evidence that throughout the centuries of mortuary activities indicating that people used the Dales caves to mediate with the spirit world. By the Romano-British, AD 100 to 450 period, various Roman military accouterments were found inside of Victoria Cave was used as a shrine and there was a workshop area outside. If you feel like reading more, here are some references: Lord, T., et. al. (2017). The Pleistocene laminated sediments of Victoria Cave, North Yorkshire, UK: characteristics, age and significance. Cave and Karst Science. 44. 143-144. Lord, T., et al. (2012). A guide to work at Victoria Cave-from the 19'h to the 21" centuries. Cave Archaeology and Karst Geomorphology of North West England. Field Guide. 84-97. Otley, Jonathan., (1823). Guidebook, A Descriptive Guide of the English Lakes. Published by Kirky Lonsdale, Cumbria, 8th ed. 1849, 193; Lord, Tom & Howard, John. (2013). Cave Archaeology in the Yorkshire Dales.

 ![View from Victoria Cave](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F2f8dfd27-a004-4ae4-9553-d21218ebd896-BON_0355-min.JPG?alt=media&token=cf3d890b-564b-452c-a33b-2e2d8a4dacc1)

 ![The impulse responses for Victoria Cave were taken with in-ear binaural microphones and balloon pop.](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F5097eb06-4a90-4f32-9549-213e44fc2652-BON_0239.JPG?alt=media&token=01bd9b31-36f6-49f9-95fc-2496f621dd06)

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2Faf68ddec-3152-4172-b29c-117a634ed933-BON_0217.JPG?alt=media&token=b56a7dbb-a28c-493e-a127-e07fddb11bb8)

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F5e961d14-67b2-4a1f-a9d8-8bef9b785bfa-BON_0321.JPG?alt=media&token=fec02ada-16ce-448c-872d-07b68649679f)

Victoria Cave

Waenhuiskrans Cave is a limestone cave, within the Waenhuiskrans Nature Reserve on the South African Cape coast. Due to ocean water sound levels inside the cave, this site does not have an impulse recording, only some ambient sounds to listen to.

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F85406685-369a-426f-af9d-cf17b5744550-IMG_3022.jpg?alt=media&token=b8d56568-a3a6-46e0-8eff-9719a3ddf232)

 ![](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/acousticatlasdata.appspot.com/o/users%2FySEj7xpMKRhIETEPrBBqSEveD9o2%2Fimages%2F6f97b52a-ded6-4f74-b68e-46c18353b415-IMG_3019.jpg?alt=media&token=dd516696-e938-448d-8cbc-b466df770105)

Waenhuiskrans Cave

The name ‘Ripa Lupina’ is indicated in the drawing of Piperno’s book titled ‘De Nuce Maga Beneventana’ which describes this place as located in the valley of the river Sabato.  There exists a legend of witches that used to gather in the countryside and dance to the sound of beating drums under a magical walnut tree.  The natural acoustics from a very steep rock of about 50m would have amplified the sound of the drums.  Nearby are ruins of a defensive tower built by the Langobards and also in this area, a statue of an Apis bull, suggesting the existence of an Egyptian temple nearby.  The cliff is composed of a very steep rock At the foot of the cliff there is a side forest with a small stream collecting rainwater. 

Wolf Rock

York Cathedral was built between the 12th and 15th centuries on the foundations of the previous Norman church that was in turn constructed on the foundations of the original Roman fortress.

Its dimensions are approximately 27m high to the vaulted ceiling, 160m long and 76m wide.

It is constructed mostly of stone with extensive, large panels of stained glass windows.

York Minster Cathedral

Thingvellir is an Icelandic national park located about 50 kilometers from Reykjavik and Its surface area is 237 km2. Due to its cultural, historical, geological characteristics and its distinctive biodiversity, it represents one of the most significant places for Icelandic society. These characteristics led it to be proposed and declared a World Heritage Site in 2004. One of the most relevant events that occurred in Thingvellir is the establishment in 930 of the first Icelandic national parliament called “Althing” (Alþingi), becoming one of humanity’s first documented parliamentary institutions. According to most studies, a significant área of this assembly was located in a sector of the park called Lögberg (Law Rock), probably due to the layout of the natural amphitheater that this area has. In this place, the so-called Law-Speaker recited the laws, speeches were given on important topics and legal disputes were resolved. Some studies on Lögberg suggest the influence that the acoustics of this space could have on these meetings, however they do not delve much into this aspect. This article initially raises the question whether through an in-situ impulse response measurement it is possible to determine and quantify this influence. Subsequently, this investigation details the planning and field execution of these measurements. The results obtained, contained in an impulse response library, not only propose new research lines for future studies in the field of archaeoacoustics but also constitute an important safeguard of Iceland’s acoustic heritage.