sound
CD's
2002
CD ‘sama 2’
The track on this CD was a recording I made in Taman Negara in Malaysia, on the 22nd of April 2001, during sunrise at approximately 5.30am.
After a 4 hour boat trip into the jungle, we walked for 1,5 hour to reach the hide where we spent the night. After a night of heavy torrential rain, the jungle came alive again when dawn came. The recording was made outside the hide, as the sun was rising.
The second recording made in Taman Negara, Malaysia, but at dawn. Although recorded in the same area, this recording presents an almost completely different soundscape than the one made at dusk, further illustrating the equally interesting and amazing sonic diversity in this particular region.
2002
CD ‘sama 1’
The track on this CD was a recording I made in Taman Negara in Malaysia, on the 21st of April 2001, during sunset at approximately 19.00pm.
After a 4 hour boat trip into the jungle, we walked for 1,5 hour to reach the hide where we spent the night. As it got darker, it started to rain. This then developed into a huge tropical rain. The recording was made outside the hide, as the sun was setting. Throughout the recording, the rain became heavier and eventually subsided, after which the jungle came alive again.
2002
CD ‘untitled’
This CD consists of 6 tracks, which are recorded in South East Asia. The tracks do not contain treated or sampled sounds, but were shaped by manipulating the acoustics during the recording.
I like the idea of capturing sounds as a photographer takes images. Often the space in which music is recorded is abstracted to the point of erasure. It's not particularly quiet, but there's a hum of a generator or something. To appreciate it in depth we have to face the challenge of profound listening. By abstracting these sounds, we refocus our attention, and the silence becomes audible again.
Perhaps this is the composer's role, to command our attention. To let things happen, rather than to make things happen. It taught me to accept the sounds as they are, and it made me accept the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.
Track 1 - 18/04/01, Kota Bahru, Malaysia. A recording of a fan on a wall, made by attaching two piezo microphones on the wall.
Track 2 - 24/04/01, Perhentian Islands, Malaysia. Sounds of Cicada's.
Track 3 - 12/04/01, Pethburi, Thailand. A recording, made at midnight on the railway station, where people are waiting for a train that stops once every two hours, in order to sell drinks and fruits to the passengers.
Track 4 - 22/04/01, Taman Negara, Malaysia. A recording made in the Taman Negara rainforest.
Track 5 - 13/04/01, Surat Thani, Thailand. A recording I made with two piezo microphones attached on a pier in a river.
Track 6 - 03/04/01, Vang Vieng, Laos. A recording made in the jungle near Vang Vieng.
MP3's
:: MP3 :: - 12/04/01, Kota Bahru, Malaysia. Islamic chants are heard on a busy street near a mosk.
:: MP3 :: - Bali, Indonesia. On a full moon night we passed a little village where a full moon religious celebration was going on. Lot's of gamelan, and people in a trance, dancing the whole night.
:: MP3 :: - Bali, Indonesia. A lady, singing on a beach in Legian, in Bali. When I heard her singing I decided to go the house to get my MD and microphones. When I came back, she wasn't singing anymore. She didn't speak English, I didn't speak Indonesian. I think it took half an hour to make her understand that I wanted to record her. But it is worth it.
Reviews
Review in Vital Weekly 296
25 Oct 2001
Jarra - Untitled (CDR)
I don't much about the person behind Jarra, but I do know a little bit about this CDR release. The six pieces deal with various silences around the world. As you may know silence does not exist, there is always sound somewhere. Jarra recorded six of those silence/sound pieces around the world, which appear as a static thing. There is no addition of treatments, samples but rather shaped during the recording (moving the microphone around for instance). True ambient music I'd say. From remote sounding airplanes coming over at a high distance, to the feedback like sounds in the second piece (no titles are given, nor recording sites), to street and water sounds. In terms of soundscaping, the usual stuff you can expect, operating within very strict definitions of soundscaping.
(FdW)
Review in Vital Weekly 343
16 Oct 2002
Jarra - Sama’ I (CD by And/Oar)
This is Jarra's second disc of environmental works. Or rather: work. His first one, reviewed in Vital Weekly 296, was a collection of silences, recorded around the world. Here, on his new release, he has one piece of unprocessed environmental recording, recorded in Malayasia. The sunset comes in at 19:00 and while it gets darker, it's starts to rain, gradually developping into a tropical rain. We hear the insects and other animals of the jungle, and the rain pouring on the hide, where Jarra is with his recording equipment. When the rain is getting less, the animals come back and the jungle is ready for the night. In all it's simpleness an effective recording, which is a true beauty to hear throughout. It's a composition by all means, a lively one for that matter, with subtle changes, head and tail. Nature composes it's own music. All we have to do is sit right there and register it's composition. It takes two good ears to do so. Jarra has these ears, fortunally! One of the better works in soundscaping I heard recentely.
(FdW)
Review on the Phonography Site
Jarra - Sama' I (and/OAR and/3, 2002)
A recording of the Malaysian rainforest at dusk, just as a sopping tropical rainstorm blows through. Primeval and verdant.
(Robert Carlberg)
Review From EAR/Rational Music
15 Mrt 2003
Jarra - sama’ 1 (dusk) CD-R (and/OAR) [and/3]
Jarra Schirris is a sound artist from the Netherlands. He has a track on phonography.org 2. Both recordings [sama' 1 & (soon to be available) sama' 2] were recorded in the same jungle region in Taman Negara, Malaysia, only one was at dusk and the other at dawn. Even so, each recording presents a complex array of wildlife sounds not heard in the other recording. Both include tropical rain storms as well, which further add to the sonic complexity.
(Dale K Lloyd.)
[ear-subscribers] this week's update
Review in Vital Weekly 370
07 May 2003
Jarra - Sama’ 2 (CD by And/Oar)
This is the follow up to 'Sama’ 1', which was reviewed in Vital Weekly 343. Made on the same trip to Malaysia, but now at dawn, while sun is rising. Jarra is awake early and outside the hide where he spent the night, he sits there with his microphone and minidisc to record the events in the jungle. Quite contrary to 'Sama 1', this is a much more minimal affair. In 'Sama 1' we could hear the rain coming, which eventually grew into a large tropical rain. Nothing here of that kind. The jungle comes alive after the night of rain and we hear the insects, birds and other animals waking eachother. 'Sama 2' is a very minimal work, that, when superficially heard, is maybe one static work, but when listened more closely is a very vibrant work. Small events happen, sounds disappear as they rise, outbursts, far away, of insects. It's not as impressive as 'Sama 1', but once again Jarra proved to have a great pair of ears to capture, in all it's simplicity, the sounds of the jungle. Great work of soundscaping.
(FdW)