p h i l i p . s a m a r t z i s : : d. microphonics

s o f t a n d l o u d

Originally conceived for eight-channel surround sound playback, Soft and Loud is comprised of field recordings made in japan between 1999 and 2001 that were later arranged and mixed in melbourne over a three year period.
The objective of the field recordings was to document a variety of common environments in order to investigate the behaviour of singular events and their relationships to other sounds occupying the Japanese soundscape. Of particular interest is the cohesion with which artificially generated sounds are incorporated within the generally subdued natural acoustic environment.

Soft and Loud is the first release to be published on Samartzis' Microphonics label, and is the first in a series of works based on his investigations into surround sound spatialisation for installation art.