Marc NAMBLARD
“Chants of frozen lakes”

“Marc Namblard, sound artist and naturalist living in the northeast of France, has spent several years listening to and recording an acoustic phenomenon occuring in the winter time. The tiniest crackles inside the ice of frozen lakes produce mechanical vibrations. Under specific atmospheric conditions, these impulses propagate in the ice, whose tension makes it similar to the skin of a drum. The acoustic result is an unbelievable blend of drumming sounds and etheral resonances. This cd retraces the whole phenomena: in 55 minutes, one can discover the different steps of what happened at Lac de Pierre Percée (a lake close to Marc’s village) on the 16th of January 2006. It began with the frost falling on the vegetation accompanied by birds in the distance. The first brief percussive sounds announced the ice beginning its work under the first sunrays. A little bit later, the ice started to crackle : sounds became longer and more intense. At the end of the session, ice was breaking everywhere, the lake was singing. The phenomenon vanished with the appearance of a slight breeze. This soundwork gathers some of the most beautiful moments of hours and hours of Marc’s recordings into a whole piece, but there was no processing or overdub in the production of this publication : the aim is to propose to the listener an experience of what he would expect in the front of the lake (with the exception of the temperature). Marc’s recording technique is based on ORTF stereo configuration using condenser microphones and high-end preamplifiers. “Chants Of Frozen Lakes” can easily be classified in the domains of Naturalism, since it is based on straight observation of natural events, and in the field of Sound Art as it proposes a very intense listening experience. Therefore, this cd should delight listeners of nature sound recording, experimental music as well as electronica.”