Ákos Garai - Pilis
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Ákos Garai’s work “Pilis” takes us to the mountainous region not far from Budapest by the same name. It received its name from the old Hungarian word for tonsure, that is to say the practice of cutting the hair from the scalp, as Christian monks used to do. Reason for this name was that the mountains were used for growing grapes, and therefore looked like a bald head. Those days are now long gone, and the Pilis is nowadays a lush forest, with streams, hiking trails and wildlife.
One day Ákos was hiking in this beautiful place, and on the descent from the highest peak in Pilis he recorded the sounds that surrounded him. The material recorded during this hike was used as the starting point of this composition. Computer-generated layers were added and in time these layers changed into sonic thoughts, that were inspired by the original field recording and memories from the hike.
The recording itself starts off presenting the sounds of the natural inhabitat of Pilis. We soon come to hear the sound of the stream that Ákos followed down on his path from the mountain top. The theme of water is encapsulating this composition, with Ákos returning to this sound repeatedly throughout his work. The progression from the natural sounds of the Pilis to the computer generated sounds has clearly defined points at the start of the recording. The pace of change from one world to the next slows somewhat down the further we move from the top of the mountain, and the sound of what is man-made and recorded grows in sonic strength.
The power of water is shown both through the way Ákos lets the intensity of the field recording play out towards the end by itself, and through the addition of a deep generated sound. The combination of sounds marks the crescendo of “Pilis”.
The journey we undertake is finely structured and themed. The continuous flow of the stream works well with the context of the composition. All in all “Pilis” is a fine piece of work, one where neither the field nor the layers of manufactured sound dominates.
Adding to the sound is the physical presence of Ákos Garai’s first release on his own label 3Leaves. “Pilis” comes as an exquisite CD-R. As written on the label’s homepage: “Label releases will be consistent in appearance: 300gr art paper printed digitally in 4+4 colour with inserted CD-R on the sleeve, packaged in tracing-paper or crystal clear sealable PP bag. Writable media is the Japanese Taiyo Yuden brand that is known for highest quality and reliability. Three Leaves releases are hand-numbered and comes out in 150 copies.” Yours truly is the proud owner of number 026. In the age of quick fixes, it is highly appreciated that artists and record companies go an extra step when it comes to presentation.
Soundscaping warmly recommends you to take part the aquatic-laden aural trip that is “Pilis”.
