Description

CAMPBIENT Volume One is a collaboratively produced recording by the participants of
the inaugural session of CAMPBIENT, an annual sound art residency program
sponsored by REALMOREREAL. Campbient brings together 22 participants for 44
hours to conceive and record two 22-minute ambient sound compositions realized
entirely on location at a public campground. Participants divided into two groups, each
responsible for one side of the record, building layers of sound from on-site field
recordings, improvisation with electronic and acoustic instrumentation, and digital
processing. The result is a work of ambient sound art that is listenable, cohesive, and
compelling, with an induced, enigmatic narrative.
Participants had free reign as to the content of the final recorded pieces, as well as
organizing the collaborative creative process in whatever fashion was mutually agreed
upon. Recordings were made on a battery-powered, multitrack mobile recording rig
with an assortment of transducers including an ambisonic microphone.
By combining deep listening exercises, critical discourse, and collaborative sound art
production, Campbient is a catalyst for both a dialogue with nature and a soundscape
intervention. Each Campbient takes place at a different site every year. Public lands
are utilized to encourage community and inclusivity, environmental awareness, and the
conflation of the social utility of art and stewardship of the commons.