empty rooms

The Novars studio's quiet soundscape served as the initial (emotional) starting point of empty rooms. Because the studios are sonically highly insulated, sounds from outside of the studio are almost fully blocked and previously unheard sounds suddenly creep into the user's perception: The quiet transformer hums of the various electronics in the studios become audible, as well as the occasional chattering of other studio users behind doors or the slight distant rumble of passing trucks. But all those sounds occur on very, very low sound level, contrasting highly with the loud soundscapes of Manchester with its raving city centre and bars. In a way, both sonic states encroach on the listener's personal space equally: Both force him/her into the Now, pushing him/her out of the state of pure observation, either through silence as he/she becomes aware of his/her own overloaded senses, or is overwhelmed by a massive wall of sound. empty rooms aims to recreate this change in perception from observation to active partaking. It harnesses the physicality and power of encroaching on the listener's personal space through interlocked recordings of unpopulated spaces, mechanised spaces and overwhelming noise.