The festival “Sound Days” took place from April 23 – 27 at “MPLab”, Kūrmājas prospekts 13, “RTU Liepāja”, “FabLab Liepāja”, the concert hall “Lielais dzintars”, the club “Kursa”, and the cultural venue “Kursas putni”.
Sound Days is a yearly festival in Liepaja dedicated to sound, art and experiments. This year’s festival’s central theme is DIY culture – searching for new means of expression, developing unique and creative thinking – as well as innovations in sound art and electronic music.
The festival featured nine creative workshops covering a wide range of topics, from designing and developing sound instruments and event decorations to creating spatial sound works, electroacoustic composition, and audiovisual experiments, including making video music and learning other skills related to the materiality of sound and music. The workshops were led by internationally recognized artists, musicians, and designers: Lise-Lotte Norelius (SE), Christian Faubel (DE), Shawn Pinchbeck (CA), Julie Delisle (CA), Émile Gingras-Thérien (CA), Marco Timlin (FI), Ģirts Ozoliņš (LV), Mārtiņš Zutis (LV), Fricis Kalvelis (LV), Paula Vītola (LV), Rogier Jupijn (NL/LV). The evening masterclass program included a lecture on music publishing and copyright issues by Hari Karvinen (FI), as well as an introduction to the activities and current trends in the Canadian electroacoustic music scene by representatives of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), Jeff Chippewa and Shawn Pinchbeck (CA).
Workshops:
Marko Timlin (DE/FI) “Quadrophonic Orchestra”
April 23 – 26
A workshop that introduced participants to the fascinating world of sound improvisation.
Christian Faubel (DE) “Electronic Oscillators for Organic Patterns and Polyrhythms”
April 23 – 27
A practical workshop where participants developed electromechanical motorized rhythm machines.
Lise-Lotte Norelius (SE) “Graphic Scores – Composition, Interpretation, and Improvisation”
April 24 – 27
Participants created a piece or performance using various objects, household electronics, and other sound-producing items as musical instruments.
Shawn Pinchbeck (CA) “Animating Sound: An Introduction to Live Sound Spatialization Practices”
April 23 – 27
This workshop covered creative methods for sound diffusion in space, using a mixer to present electroacoustic music and sound art live with an eight (or more) channel sound system.
Émile Gingras-Thérien (CA) “Introduction to Audiovisual Creation”
April 23 – 27
Participants learned the process of creating visual music to produce a video music work.
Julie Delisle (CA) “Interactive Audio and Music with Wwise”
April 23 – 27
Participants gained basic skills for working with Wwise and creating real-time performances.
Mārtiņš Zutis (LV) “Visual Design for Events”
April 24 – 27
Under the guidance of a mentor, participants created the visual elements for the festival’s closing event, including scenography elements, spatial sculptures, and accompanying visuals.
Paula Vītola (LV), Rogier Jupijn (NL/LV), Fricis Kalvelis (LV) “MOCI”
April 24 – 27
Participants developed a mechanical instrument combining several modules to form a kinetic installation and rhythmic sound composition, known as MOCI (Modular Crankshaft Instrument).
Ģirts Ozoliņš (LV) “DIY Synthesizer Module Creation on the mki x es DIY.EDU Prototyping Platform”
April 25 – 26
In this creative workshop, participants used the educational Erica Synths DIY module series to learn the basics of electronic musical instrument design and created a performance.
The festival’s public program was complemented by a seminar featuring artist talks and presentations by sound technology designers, an open stage for emerging artists, a spatial sound concert, and, at the festival’s conclusion, a pop-up exhibition and an extensive evening of audiovisual performances.
Seminar, April 26 at the cultural venue “Kursas putni”:
The seminar featured presentations and talks by artists and industrial designers from sound technology companies on instrument design, artist associations and artistic practice were represented by Ģirts Ozoliņš (Erica Synths), Fricis Kalvelis (Gamechanger Audio), Kristaps Puķītis (Dirty Deal Audio), Lise-Lotte Norelius (Fylkingen), Julie Delisle and Mimi Allard.
Concert, April 25 at the concert hall “Lielais dzintars”:
The 2024 festival was held in collaboration with the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) and the JTTP 2023 competition. CEC members and JTTP winners, emerging composers from Canada, participated in the festival with presentations, workshops, and a spatial music concert titled “Play of Time: Canadian and Latvian Electroacoustic Music,” held in the chamber hall of the “Lielais Dzintars” concert hall on April 25. The concert featured electronic compositions spatialized through an 8-speaker surround system positioned around the audience. The concert, divided into two parts, showcased the latest in electroacoustic music and immersive sound from Canada and Latvia. The first part was dedicated to the works of the JTTP competition winners, with seven pieces performed, including two live performances (by Julie Delisle, Jules Bastin-Fontaine, Émile Gingras & José-Gabriel Bazán-Gauthier, Parisa Sabet Sarvestani, Mimi Allard, Kristian North, Parisa Sabet Sarvestani).
The second part featured a program of works by Latvian composers, curated by artistic director Voldemārs Johansons in collaboration with the immersive sound and science festival SWIRL.SPACE, presenting compositions by Voldemārs Johansons, Platons Buravickis, Krista Dintere, Anna Fišere, and Agita Reķe.
Festival “Sound Days” closing, April 27, at the club “Kursa”:
On the evening of April 27, a diverse program of audiovisual performances marked the conclusion of the “Skaņas dienas” week at the “Kursa” club in Liepāja. The pop-up exhibition and performances showcased the results of the creative workshops, including performances, sound works, audiovisual pieces, and other artistic experiences created throughout the week under the guidance of international artists and designers. The closing concert of “Skaņas dienas” featured a diverse and experimental program of audiovisual performances by a total of 13 artists: Christian Faubel (DE), Lise-Lotte Norelius (SE), Marko Timlin (DE/FI), Shawn Pinchbeck (CA/EE), Julie Delisle (CA) and Mimi Allard (CA), Spāre Vītola and Marta Ansone (LV), Paula Vītola and Alvis Grigaļūns (LV), DJ SAIRAM (LV), Unauthorized (LV), and Deelis (LV).
The festival is organised by ASTE. Art, Science, Technology, Education and “RTU Liepāja” Art Research Laboratory (MPLab). Sound Days are made possible by the support of Liepaja municipality “Culture department” and Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.