nicolai stephan asmus tietchens stefan funck gregory buttner - heizung raum 318 (cd)

CD, (54:24 min), limited edition: 300 copies, cardboard sleeve, 2007 / 1000fussler 008

The four musicians have been meeting weekly in room 318 for years, but only now did they create music using the acoustics of the room. To be more precise, using one element in the room: the heating. The heating has two problems: first, it doesnt heat. Second, it whistles. Problem one is unnerving, especially during the winter. Problem two can be used aesthetically: by turning the radiator knobs, not only can the pitch of the whistling be varied, by using several radiators a multitude of sounds and noises can be created. To add to that, the three radiators used influence one another so that the musicians can provoke aimed acoustic situations. The three radiators were played simultaneously and recorded using a room microphone to create the material for the seven tracks. The unedited version can be heard on track eight.

Tracklist:
Stefan Funck: version paris-dakar / 626
Stefan Funck: version hare / 637
Gregory Buttner: heiz / 1423
Asmus Tietchens: keine Wrme / 1004
Nicolai Stephan: ziehung / 507
Stefan Funck: version vier huser / 620
Stefan Funck: version almhi / 022
sourcematerial / ausgangsmaterial / 505

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REVIEWS:

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White_Line / UK

In a futile attempt at defining my particularly oblique taste in the sonic arts, my wife often (disparagingly) classifies it as fridge sounds. Naturally, I take this as the unintended compliment that it inevitably is, and continue to trawl the netherworld of experimentalism for all things rare and unique.
Imagine my delight then, at the appearance on my doormat, of the latest release from German sonic art label, 1000fussler. A truly astounding piece of work from a cluster of artists, amongst whom appears the towering figure of Asmus Tietchens, with a cluster of conspirators in the form of Nicolai Stephan, Stefan Funck, and Gregory Buttner. Fridge sounds these are not in fact the source material for these extraordinary recordings comes from a highly dysfunctional radiator system in the mysterious room 318", frequented by all of the aforementioned artists over the last few years. Realising the sonic potential for this failing system, the group have set about recording the radiators (which do not heat up) with an ambient room microphone, and in the process capture all of the twitches and idiosyncracies yielded by a man made system that has seen better days. Apart from anything else, these radiators whistlethey hum, groan, glitch and strain, much to the delight of Messrs Stephan, Buttner, Funck, and Tietchens, a collective of sonic alchemists who have at last transformed metal into sonic gold.Each artist takes the source material (exampled in the final track; and I would highly recommend you listen to this piece first), and processes it further, transforming each segment into a soundscape. In the main, these treatments are subtle and minimal, and each artists aesthetic is one of restraint; nothing here is overblown, or overworked, and the source material is always transparent and constantly present. Stefan Funck handles the first two pieces, version paris dakar, and version hare, both pieces are spare and engimatic, the former with an overdriven swathe of tones that sounds very much like early Pita, and the latter a warm, rich tone scape, peppered with high pitched tones, and the slightly clanky, metallic harmonic overtones yielded by the radiator body. Gregory Buttner tackles the third piece with an equally spare dynamic that sounds like early tapeloop experimentalism. Tietchens capably handles the fourth piece,Keine Warme with ten minutes of more atmospheric work, taking the ambience of the system into consideration, and creating something more akin to a composition from the source material. Tietchens has also experimented with water basins being contact miked on his infamous Seuchengebeite CD, recently re-released by Die Stadt.Nicolai Stephan takes the fifth track into glitch territory, sampling and splicing the source material, re-mapping its original co-ordinates to create a deconstructionist piece that falters and fluctuates, like water sizzling over hot steel, the high point of the whole collection for me.
Funck takes the last remaining two tracks using noise elements teetering into feedback, followed by version almohl a 22 second howler. It is arguable that the source material should have been mentioned in this collection of pieces, as radiator sounds are hardly a high concept, but this is also the strength of the work, that something unique and startling can be extracted from the everyday, and the apparently mundane. The Hafler Trio and Sons of God did something similar on Resurrection, bringing onto a live stage a range of instruments in the form of baths, gas cookers, saucepans and several other domestic appliances in a conceptually provocative piece of dadaism. Heizung Raum 18 is less of a provocation than a beautifully handled work of artBuy it now.

BGN / White_Line, May '07


The Soundprojector / UK

While Im still mentally trying to escape aforesaid cell in my asylum, I might enjoy the sounds of heizung raum 318 (1000fussler 008) to amuse me; its another example in that rare species of experimental music, sounds produced using a radiator! Scoff ye may, but Ive at least two such recordings in my personal stash. Sound-artists worth their salt really dig the sounds of malfunctioning household equipment, and the four Europeans here - Nicolai Stephan, Asmus Tietchens, Stefan Funck and Gregory Buttner - have signed their names to that particular roster with dispatch. They each do one steaming track, with exception of Mr Funck who takes the lions share of the thermostat and turns in four hissing statements. At the end theres a five-minute unedited version of a documentary recordings of the three radiators in the room blasting it out. This is gonna be a lead-pipe cinchit seems the foursome met up in Room 318 on a regular basis, but for what dark purpose the sleeve notes remain silent. If, like me, the only scene youve ever enjoyed in Eraserhead has been the appearance of the Radiator Lady, then this is the album for you.
Ed Pinsent / the soundprojector webblog, May 23rd, '07

Print version:
On this, four respectable European sound artists revive that marginal subgenre of field recording - radiator music. Nicolai Stephan, Asmus Tietchens, Stefan Funck, and Gregory Buttner have been meeting in Room 318 for many years (for what a purpose we don't know, but we can bet it wasn#t to sign off the minutes of the last meeting). One day they decided to make a pieceof music using the acoustics of the room itself. They turned their attention to the heating system, and immediatly noted it had two major difficulties: it didn't work, and it made a whistling noise. Like all good conceptualists, they turned these practical negatives into artistic positives, and found all sorts of interesting ways they could make good radiator music. The whistling noise for example, could be varied by turning the heating control knob, almost the same as 'playing' it like a instrument. And they found if they used all three radiators in the room, playing them simultaneously, they could create an interactive element to set up further environmental situations and influences. If you ever enjoyed the famous 'three-way guitar crosstalk' of Moby Grape, then get ready for three-way radiator cross-hissing!

All of this seems exiting enough, although the record is a much more laidback affair. One suspects that we're not actually hearing a documentary recording of malfunctioning heating; for that, i refer you to an earlier Bruce Gilbert release made in 2000 for Raft Records, where he provides exactly that (to tremendous enjoyment i might add). On this recording, the main concern appears to have been with capturing acoustical room qualities as much as reproducing the radiato's aberrant behaviours, and the sound recordings have probably been reprocessed and edited; for five minutes of an 'unedited version', we click on to track 8 where we hear the amazing whistling sounds the device was capable of. The remainder of the CD comprises four versions by Funck, and one each by Tietchens, Buttner and Stephan. And what great pieces they are too!
Funck transforms the room into a wasteland of tedium, emptiness and existential doubt, letting the creeping snakes of desolation coil and slither around ankles. Buttner emphasises the hissing and rattling aspects of the situation, allowing these distincts events to contribute to an ambient drone during his 15-minute 'heiz' mini-symphony. Stephan, for his part, has found small mechanical clanking segments which interest him, and he loops and overlays them for five minutes to generate a sympathetic portrait of the old, damaged equipment. The results are compelling, but harrowing too; if you're a home-owner, you'll be leaping out of your chair in alarm to phone an engineer.

Asmus Tietchens may scoop the prize however, with his fabulous 'keine wrme' piece, which may take as its starting point a very practical consideration - the total lack of warmth provided. The sleeve note blithely informs us this 'problem...is unnerving, especially during the winter'. Well, that's putting it mildly! Tietchens' responses has been to construct a wishfulfilment solution; the first half of his piece is a musical looping segment which seems to dream of the warmth of summer days, while the second half returns us to the grim reality of a snowy winter, icy winds howling across an empty plain and rattling windows of the room. At length the heating system slowly kicks into life, with a pathetic chugging and wheezing action that gives you little hope for its continued survival. A truly beautiful composition and a very imaginative use of the original sound sources.

This is one fantastic piece of work; I'd be even happier with just a little more contextual detail. True we've got photograph of a radiator on the cover, and the CD is printed with the image of thermostat dial but for pure documentary purposes, that's not enough. What was the make of the radiator? How long had it been installed? What is Roomn 318, and why do they meet there? Perhaps these unanswered questions add to the mystique of the piece. At all events this is a fully integrated artistic statement, where ideas, intent, environment and methods all interlock in a very satisfactory way, with impressive results. Seriously recommended!

Ed Pinsent 22/07/2007, Sound Projector 16th 2007-08.


brainwashed / USA

Four German composers (Stefan Funck, Gregory Buttner, Asmus Tietchens and Nicolai Stephan) had been meeting in Room 318 for years, but the room had a problem. The heating system didn't work, and made odd noises. Surely a distraction, but with artists like these, they made the natural decision: use the odd noises of the radiators and make an album out of them.
The compilation demonstrates the unique styles of the four artists: even though they all utilized the same five minutes of source material ("Ausgangsmaterial," the final track on the disc), each shaped it into their own different and unique work, making sure that none sound like the other. Stefan Funck's four short pieces differ vastly from one to another, from the minimal slow burn power electronics of "Version Paris-Dakar" (like Whitehouse's "Told" without the misogynist vocals) to what could be initially a cover of Throbbing Gristle's "IBM" done with electric guitar feedback ("Version Vier Hauser"). Buttner's massive contribution, the 14 minute "Heiz" is swathed in reverb and the processed sounds of water dripping, which builds in layers over time, but still retains a distant, subtle tenor that could be a field recording of alien life somewhere deep in the cosmos.
Nicolai Stephan's "Ziehung" is not nearly as complex as the others, based around the sound of a stuttering tape and reversed delays. It's interesting but feels somewhat amateurish compared to the other tracks, and even more so considering it follows avant garde legend Asmus Tietchens' brilliant contribution, "Keine Warme," which is three minutes of rhythmic rattling and noise processed into melody before dropping off into a wind chamber, then coming back in a similarly musical, but with an entirely different sonic pallet for seven more minutes. For this type of music's complexity and obliqueness, Tietchens' piece is extremely accessible and listenable.
As aforementioned, the source material is included as an appendix on the disc, and while we can safely assume it is not something that will make it into heavy rotation, it is good to hear what exactly was used as the proverbial seed for this recording. It is exactly what would be expected: the high pitched whistle of a messed up radiator and the deep gurgling and dripping of water being passed through it.
To be perfectly clear, this is chin stroking music, not something to put on while cleaning the house or entertaining guests. With that in mind, however, it does make for an interesting listen if the proper attention can be paid. It makes for a fascinating example of how many variations can be placed on a simple theme, and just how unique artists of a similar ilk can be..

Creaig Dunton / brainwashed.com, Tuesday, 19 June 2007


earlabs / Netherlands

This is one of the latest releases at 1000 fuessler, and in contrast to most other 1000 fuesslers not a 3" cdr but a full blown cd. It's a compilation of recordings by Asmus Tietchens, Nicolai Stephan, Stefan Funck and Gregory Buettner. The central theme is the noise that is produced by the boiler of the building in which all of the contributors have their studio. It appears to make funny sounds, which is testified by the original recordings that is included in the final track of this CD. The original is a combination of flute tones (caused by the resistance of the water flow in the heating pipes), softly running water and recording noise. By altering the flow of the water (for instance by opening a valve of a radiator) the flute sound changes. It's difficult material as nothing much happens other than the slightly changing sounds of the flow. A challenge for these composers.

The real creative stuff starts off with 2 compositions/versions by Stefan Funck. The first (version Paris-Dakar) is a rather rough noisy base that carries a distant version of the flute tones. Resulting in fluttering basses (there go my speakers!) juxtaposed by the higher pitched flutes in reverb. The second composition (version Hare) starts with a nice soft bass flow (flute tones slowed down). This works quite nicely and is much more subtle. Funck allows snippets of the original sound to play a role in this composition too. This is good stuff!
Then Gregory Buettner presents a 15+ minutes lasting composition. Buettner clearly dissected his original material and presents the different material in new setting. This is an adventurous setup. Because there are few 'landmarks' in the composition is becomes sort of ambient. The structure is circular. This could be looped endlessly and I guess that is what Buettner wants to express. The heating system does basically the same, but Buettner does a much better job.
Next in line is the most famous and most experienced of the team, Asmus Tietchens. Tietchens presents a much clearer structured piece. Building from the most distinctive aspect of the original, the flute tones he sets out to slowly build up a first part of this composition. By looping and enriching the harmonies of the flute tones he works towards a first peak at 6 minutes. Then the flutes are enveloped in noise and reverb. At 7 minutes Tietchens then starts playing with the few more discrete changes in the original. Looping is the name of the game but it is combined with the original flute tones again thus adding to the listening fun. A clever composition that remains entertaining until the end at +10 minutes.
Nicolai Stephan seems to offer a conceptual work, where loops of the slightly edited original are submitted to a regime of sudden changes in volume. The second half of the composition starts as nothing more than a faster version of the first, slowing down by the end.
Number 6 is by Stefan Funck. A first 1.5 minute blast off at the beginning is followed by a much more subtle, almost instrumental, approach at the different tones that are produced in the original recording. Too bad that after a minute or so, Funck reverts to looping and droning again. This small interlude was quite promising. The rest of the composition is not bad at all. So cut out the first 1.5 minutes and we have a good work at hand.
The final piece is a 22 seconds lasting blow pipe solo by Funck again.
The net result of this compilation is positive. It's interesting to see how each composer attacks the auditive nuisance that they experience each time they are working in this building..

Jos Smolders / earlabs.org, 9/9/2007


Vital Weekly / Netherlands

Perhaps the sensation of a low humming sound that is not annoying is something that many readers will recognize. I once slept next to a refrigerator, but was fascinated all night by all the sounds it produced. Room 318 is the name of a room in the building where Asmus Tietchens teaches sound at the University of Applied Science in Hamburg and 'heizung' is the German word for 'heating'. Except that it doesn't produce heat, but it makes a nice whistle. By turning the knobs of the radiator the whistle changes. Since the three persons (or took) classes with Asmus Tietchens have paid close attention to the old master, it's a small step of recording the radiator - actually, all three of them - and turn them into music, along of course with an excercise by the master himself. The original source material is at the end of the CD, and the crude whistling makes it hard to believe that it leads to the preceding seven sound pieces. It's easy too assume that all of these composers work with computers these days, and that one could also wrongly assume that their pieces would sound similar. This is not the case. Each of them approaches the source material in a different way, and this leads to quite interesting pieces of music. Asmus Tietchens delivers a piece of his trademark style processing: silent but loaded with small sounds and even a rhythm of some kind. Gregory Buttner applies the recent Tietchens methods (his 'Menge' series) into a well-crafted piece of sizzling electronics. But there is alson the more industrialized noise of Nicolai Stephan and Stefan Funck (especially in his last two versions; he has four in total), who take an entirely different route in their approach. Their music is closer to noise than to microsound, but they make a nice variation on the matter. Quite a nice compilation altogether.

Frans de Ward / Vital Weekly 579


Touching Extremes / Italy

Here is something interesting, an idea that probably other artists have tried to put at work but certainly not with the depth and musical sense perceivable in this CD. It deals with the effects of a malfunctioning heating system in the room (thats right, the 318) where the four participants have been meeting once a week for a long time to perform. As the apparatus in question not only doesn't work properly, but it even whistles (!), what's better than bringing on a microphone and record a few of these disturbances? On top of that, it looks like the different radiators influence their respective behaviours, thus a series of different combinations are obtained through the sheer rotation of selected knobs. The parties created seven tracks from these noises (whose original essence can be heard in the eighth and final track), their solid basis as sonic designers helpful to develop structures that make good use of cyclical creaks similar to feedback, low-frequency lamentations, purring drones and menacing reverberations. A subtle energy is released from a living organism that, undergoing various types of stimuli, reacts in ways that could be predictable or less. What's striking since the very first listen is the peculiar elegance of these sounds, which seem to spring out of a single mind (it must be told that Asmus Tietchens is an obvious reference in this kind of treatment, and not just because he's involved). It all feels like a reassuring presence, whirring whispers and on-and-off pulses whose timbral qualities explicit the soul of what is usually just a cold room, which is also the detached testimony of many years of almost clandestine manipulations by a bunch of forward-minded musicians.

Massimo Ricci / www.touchingextremes.org, Nov. 2007


Bad Alchemy / Germany

Eine Heizung als Klangkrper, sogar als Musikinstrument? Wenn man am Thermostat dreht, ndert sich die Tonhhe der Pfeif- und Brummtne, den speziell die drei Heizkrper im Raum 318 aussenden. Das ist ein Raum, in dem sich seit einigen Jahren Hamburger Geruschknstler treffen. Es war wohl nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis der musikalisch nutzbare Aspekt der schlecht funktionierenden Wrmespender erkannt wurde. Die Heizung an sich hrt man als 'Ausgangsmaterial'. Daneben dann eingerahmt von Stefan Funck, die Verarbeitungen von Gregory Buttner, Funcks Partner in Fr Diesen Abend und 1000fussler-Grnder, von Nicolai Stephan, der eigentlich und hauptschlich Fotograf & Filmemacher ist, und von Asmus Tietchens, dessen Erfahrungsschatz mit Geruschquellen Wasserhhne und Druckmaschinen miteinschliet. Entsprechend seiner spttischen Warnung vor dem 'Mythos Basismaterial' gengt den Vieren ein denkbar prosaischer Alltagsgegenstand, um damit alle gestalterischen Finessen von 'Geruschmusik', von Musique concrte als Kunst der feinen Modulationen, auszureizen. Das Material beginnt zu 'sprechen', bei Buttners 'heiz' fast wrtlich, mit paranormalen Zisch- und Labiallauten, feucht-dampfig und geisterhaft, von feinen Drhtchen oder Kristallen durchknistert. Tietchens berrascht mit munterer Rhytmisierung, bei fast noch ausgeprgterem Electronic Voice-Phnomen. Bei Stephan 'spricht' kein geist aus der Heizung, dafr klickert und tackert 'es' (sie?) stottrig impulsiv und uerst heftig. Ein Morsecode? Aber eigentlich ist schobn der O-Ton ausnehmend pfiffig.

Rigo Dittmann / Bad Alchemy 55


sonhors / France

La nostalgie des ronflements... La salle (Raum) n318 est celle o Asmus Tietchens enseigne la musique l'universit de Science applique de Hambourg et "Heizung" signifie chauffage en allemand : tout est dit (ou presque) dans le titre du disque ! Asmus Tietchens et ses trois comparses, alchimistes sonores (qui ont galement frquent cette pice n318 au cours des dernires annes) ont donc enregistr les sifflements, bourdonnements et autres gmissements du radiateur de cette pice (cf visuel ci contre) afin de les incorporer dans les crations sonores figurant sur cet opus. La piste n8 comporte la source sonore, matire premire de ces ralisations, qu'il est d'ailleurs souhaitable de se saisir en tout premier lieu afin de mieux se rendre compte de l'tendue du travail de composition... Sept approches diffrentes donnent vie sept crations singulires, bien loignes d'un sentiment de lassitude vers lequel pourrait tendre un tel projet !

Rsolument bas sur l'exprimentation, l'opus de ces quatre compositeurs allemands (Stefan Funck, Gregory Buttner, Asmus Tietchens et Nicolai Stephan) voque invitablement des souvenirs enfouis dans notre inconscient : souvenez-vous de ces nuits d'insomnie passes dans votre minuscule studio o depuis votre lit vous tiez aux premires loges pour couter les cylces sonores imparables d'un frigo et de son ternelle symphonie musicale rptitive.

"Il faut rompre tout prix ce cercle restreint de sons purs et conqurir la varit infinie des sons-bruits" disait un certain Luigi Russolo dans les annes 1910...

sonhors / 2.10.07