This patch is designed as a digital art installation with both video and audio. The patch represents four distinct corners of Berlin; Marzahn, Friedrichshein, Charlottenburg, and Kreuzberg. Each district has its own sub patch which is connected to an interactive quadrant where the user can move their cursor to activate a sub patch. We were inspired by ideas of city planning and how urban planning has created concentrations of wealth, living, and class within cities.
Marzahns patch focuses on futurism and the idea of utopia presented by the USSR. An ambient drone represents the sheer space between buildings. The ambient drone is a generative synth patch along with a generative feedback coming in and out. The harmony of this multichannel patch is based on just intonation. We thought it would be appropriate to have harmony breaking away from 12 tone temperament. Representing how the USSR at one point was an alternative to the West.
Charlottenburg is the opposite of Marzahn, but since it represents another superpower we used a patch based off of Marzahn. Using two of the same patches but with subtle differences outlines the idea of the east and west being different sides of the same coin. Also it pushes for a narrative of where the East and West side of the iron curtain defined each other. Charlottenburgs recreates a figured bass styled Baroque ensemble with Harpsichord and Cello. Both focusing on the Harmonic minor scale giving it a 1600s flavour. Also it is a comment on Baroque music’s sometimes formulaic structures.
Kreuzberg works in activating field recordings of both Berlin and Istanbul (particularly islamic prayer and turkish music). We wanted to represent and celebrate the Turkish group in Berlin who were crucial to the city’s rebuilding after WWII. However, one of the videos also have a christian church and islamic mosque which you can fade into one another. The cross fading outlines both assimilation of two cultures and tension – culturally and economically – created by the two occupying the same city. We also have a small easter egg in the patch as it runs on the counter going to 365. At 365 the field recording changes from the Berlin Turkish market to a recording of fireworks in Berlin going off at new years eve.
Friedrichshein is a drum machine mixed with a modulating reverb. A patch acknowledging Berlin’s club scene which is nucleus in club culture around the world. The Reverb represents different rooms and how clubs in Berlin may occupy large industrial buildings to smaller basements. A reflection of Berlin’s varying architecture even within just a neighborhood.
