TUNING THE WIND

Wind is air in motion, it won’t make any sound if nothing is in its way.
The wind can make many different sounds depending on its strength and the objects it touches. However, some believe that varying temperatures create different layers of air and the friction between the layers produces a sound that is in fact the true sound of the wind itself. Though this would be very hard to demonstrate, birds may be the only ones able to distinguish it. Sometimes the wind howls, other times it sings or whistles and it can go from a gentle murmur to an angry roar. Many are the frequencies and timbres of the wind.

The composer Grand River has recorded and reworked different types of wind, layers and pitches and integrated them into the musical piece “Tuning the Wind”.
The wind has become a prepared instrument which is sometimes tuned to the 440 Hz reference and at other times the instruments are tuned to the wind.
Nature and music have become one, there is no distinction between a synthesizer and the wind, between the natural element and the human made instrument, between a sound wave and a gust of wind.
In the last two years, people have experienced a reconnection with nature and have embraced it as a safe space to feel alive and free. The representation of an abstract quality in human form of the wind in “Tuning the Wind” expresses our relationship, experience and dialogue with the natural environment.

Duration: 40'
Multichannel sound installation in circular form around the audience
“Tuning the Wind” has also been adapted to a stereo installation, a walk-through diffusion and live performances
Musical composition, arrangements, sound design and installation by Aimée Portioli
Foley wind recordings by Aimée Portioli and Pablo Diserens

PAST SHOWS AND INSTALLATIONS

SONIC CINEMA, 3537, Paris, FR *sound installation in 4D spatial sound
Q3AMBIENTFEST, Kesselhaus, Potsdam, DE *live stereo performance
NEW NOW Festival, Essen, DE *sound installation in 4D spatial sound
Stone Nest, London, UK *live in 4D spatial sound
Mostra Festival, Barcelona, ES *live stereo performance
Folkwang Museum, Essen, DE *live stereo performance
FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, NL *live in 4D spatial sound
CTM Festival, MONOM, Berlin, DE *live in 4D spatial sound
C.P. Company Flagship Store, Milan, IT *Tuning the Wind live

Duration: 20'
Musical composition, arrangements and installation by Aimée Portioli
"Future Desire" has been commissioned by Il Pianeta and presented at Spazio Maiocchi, Milan, IT in October 2021.

Duration: 5'35''
Musical composition and arrangements by Aimée Portioli
"Every Day A Little Less" has been commissioned and presented at La Galleria Nazionale, Rome, IT from December 2018 until January 2019. 
It was part of the exhibition ilmondoinfine: vivere tra le rovine, the piece was played in loop in the soundwundertunnel.

FUTURE DESIRE

"Future Desire" is a musical piece that explores the vision of a prospective upcoming world, yet only existing in one’s imagination. It is a projection of a breakthrough from the unsustainable contemporary times we are living in, a glimpse where images and ideas flutter and fade, where dreams gleam and decay.

The project is a response to “The Planet as Festival,” an embodiment of the futuristic vision of Ettore Sottsass. This projected world rejects the idea of a future based on consumption and production, and instead is inspired by creativity. If properly addressed, technological progress could generate income and bring unprecedented prosperity. The word school comes from skholē, the Greek word for “leisure”: we used to teach people to be free, now we teach them to work. “Future Desire” conveys a message of freedom.
It is a sound experience that accompanies the visionaries somewhere faraway and beautiful. A journey of enigmatic long-form synthesis, colourful electronic landscapes and heady atmospheres, inviting the human senses to drift towards conception.

EVERY DAY A LITTLE LESS

Feelings and emotions are complex experiences that involve a variety of physical, cognitive, and behavioral responses. The intensity and duration of these responses can vary depending on the situation and the individual.
Over time, emotions can fade out or become less intense due to a variety of factors.
One common factor is habituation or desensitization. When we experience a particular emotion repeatedly, our brains can become less sensitive to it.

"Every Day A Little Less" is collage-like composition expressing how time itself can play a role in the fading of emotions. As time passes, our memories and emotional experiences can become less vivid, and the emotional charge of a particular event can weaken. This is known as emotional decay, and it can occur naturally over time.