Sonic Herbarium - Mangawhero Forest - Ludus
In an attempt to sonically document our environment, Sonic Herbarium acts as a time capsule of sound. The project consists of a downloadable field recording pack of a location, accompanied by a piece written entirely using recordings from that place.
For the first iteration of Sonic Herbarium, I have chosen the Mangawhero Forest Walk. This Department of Conservation track takes approximately one hour and is located on the outskirts of Ohakune at the base of Mount Ruapehu. It is a walk I’ve done many times, as it is ten minutes from where my parents live.
The main drones you hear are heavily affected recordings from the inside of a fallen tree. So loud in its peace, dead and teeming.
Thank you so much to Pyramid Club for allowing me to realise this project.
Listen to piece above; and below is the downloadable sample pack
Ludus is the sound project of Emma Bernard (She/Her), encompassing her work as an electronic musician, audio engineer, sound designer and writer. Driven by a passion for using sound as a means for artistic collaboration, she has worked with other artists to compose film soundtracks, full-length dance works and sound art commissions. Her practice constantly explores the relationship between sound and the natural environment, striving to deepen our understanding of the world through sound.
In 2020 Emma graduated Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington with a double degree in Sonic Arts/ Composition/ Music Technology and Ethnomusicology, in which time she was awarded the 2019 Rebekah Wilson Scholarship for Sonic Arts and the 2020 Ross Harris Award for Live Electronic Music. Since then, her freelance career has led her to be the resident Mastering Engineer for Pōneke/ Wellington label Strange Behaviour, resident Audio Engineer for New Zealand Video Production agency Musings Media and is constantly performing and releasing new electronic music. Her ever-evolving compositions strive to constantly explore new realms of electronic music, and has toured and played throughout Aotearoa in recent years by way of DJing and live performance.
Her debut album Two of the Same was released in 2021 by Pōneke label Strange Behaviour. Linked here.
