Sound Performance and Audio Essay (40′), commissioned for “this is the end” at Errant Bodies, Berlin, May 2013. FASE Berlin Sound Art prize in April 2015.

Nice Rain is a soundscape composition that looks inward. While traditional soundscapes often aim to capture a specific environment, this piece focuses on the intentionality behind the act of recording itself, questioning the motivations and processes that bring a sound into being.

The work is built upon two distinct layers: a collection of field recordings and a spoken script. The audio component features 24 recordings from various locations across Berlin, contributed by a group of sound artists and anthropologists from their personal archives. Complementing these sounds is a text composed by the author, based on the contributors’ answers to three fundamental questions: Why was this recording made? How was it made? And how does it represent your own personal listening experience?

During the performance, the audience navigates a double narrative. One layer offers an arbitrary sonic journey through the city of Berlin, while the other provides an intimate look into the recorders’ listening experiences. These two narratives operate on independent timelines; the spoken descriptions do not necessarily align with the sounds heard at that moment, creating a rich, non-linear experience.

Participating recordists:
Rinus van Alebeek, Mario Asef, Boris Baltschun & Serge Baghdassarians, Rob Curgenven, Peter Cusack, Anke Eckardt, Christina Ertl Shirley, Helena Gough, Andy Graydon, Achim Langerer, Ines Lechleitner, Felicity Mangan, Israel Martinez, Anders Lauge Meldgaard, Helge Neidhardt (Tapeman), Udo Noll, Dave Philips, Stephan Roik, Jodi Rose, Fritz Schlüter, Valerio Tricoli, Antje Vowinckel and Kathrin Wildner.