Output details

Nijo (8-channel electroacoustic composition)

Nijo (acousmatic, 8-channels, 13 minutes). Premiered at MANTIS (Manchester, 2009). Subsequent performances at ICMC (New York, 2010), New Works Calgary (Calgary, 2010), Electroacoustic Fair (Aberdeen, 2010), Punto de Encuentro (Valencia, 2010), Ai-maako Festival (Valdivia, 2010), SICMF (Seoul, 2010), Nuit Bleue (France, 2010), Sound Travels (Toronto, 2011), Fylkingen (Stockholm, 2011). Appears in stereo on solo-composer disc David Berezan, Allusions Sonores, empreintes DIGITALes (Montreal), 2013 (IMED 13122).

Nijo arose from research undertaken during a residency at Tamagawa University (Japan) in 2007. Field recording work assembled a wealth of sound materials that crossed the historical, modern and urban, leading to a primary aim to investigate sonic means of connecting traditional and modern Japanese soundworlds. The traditional nijomauru (nightingale) wooden floors (designed to groan, creak and chirp when walked upon - the sound often compared to bird song) of Nijo Castle in Kyoto were explored as a primary sound source material, spatial anchor and structuring device and framework. The sounds of the floors were developed to not only highlight the release of the birdsong-like sounds concealed within, but, extending and abstracting this notion of revealing, to an unveiling of a wide array of sounds found in contemporary Japan: trains, fish markets, department stores, musical instruments, toys, Buddhist temples and street-life. The structuring processes within the work were developed to dynamically grow from the impression of history and tradition lying buried (sonically and metaphorically) below the floorboards, to surround and engulf the listener (aided with 8-channel distribution of materials), to create great densities of sonic information, and to engage with the dynamic diversity of the sounds of modern Japan. The sound diffusion of Nijo in performance creates unique potential. Where loudspeaker placements permit, the floorboard sounds in the work are placed at floor level in the concert space, leading to a highly evocative listening experience.