Cristian Estrella “The Frozen Oasis”

Odontocete sounds reimagined by Cristian Estrella. Part of the Polar Sounds project, a collaboration between Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). Explore the project in full at http://citiesandmemory.com/polar-sounds.

“Initially I chose other field recordings but they were taken over by other composers. I thought that if a soundscape contained harmonic sounds it would have been easier or more inspiring. But then, already during the creation process, I found that even in the sound of dolphins’ teeth biting, there are small microtonal differences. Rhythms that suggest continuity, but change. Jazz. And there I started with an idea: to take that rhythms and those different heights, to achieve a work where the ambient sound is at the same gain as the instruments, and that works as a roadmap for the development.

“Harps, synthesizers, bells, voices, bass, strings, theremin, some percussion. Everything adapts and fits together like a puzzle, depending on the field recording. The beat definitely emulates the throat sounds of whales. The strongest part of the track is then assembled on this rhythm. A melting ice works as a snare drum and the voices copy the sound of the dolphins. They speak their language. Everything was assembled in Ableton Live, using some virtual instruments, but above all, the greatest work consisted in accentuating and accompanying at the same precise and exact time, each of the sounds expressed by the animals. At the end, the instrumentation game is revealed, being alone without the original track for a few seconds.

“The name “The frozen OASIS” is an anagram of the initial letters belonging to Odontocete Species And Sea Ice, and is used in two senses: oasis as a place to rest, to breathe, to reset. But also as a place in the desert. An alarm of what could happen even in the Arctic, if global warming continues.”

Video edited by Cristian Estrella with footages from Pixabay: Caelan Kelley, Andrea Spallanzani, Vimeo-Free-Videos, Osckar Espinosa, Azhar Hussain, Milan Wulf, FlickrVideos, Andreas, Jun, Агзам Гайсин, Bellergy RC, and Roberto D’Amico.
More about the artist: https://line-a1.com