CD – Gruenrekorder

The field recordings of Mosaïque Mosaic, collected by Christina Kubisch & Eckehard Güther, were captured in Cameroon and selected on the basis of their ability to evoke the sensibility of this African region. Specific workshops were held which questioned the legitimacy of the documented sounds as representative of an area. How can “the real Cameroon” be defined? This question appeared cryptic to us: the work can be analysed from several viewpoints but from a theoretical perspective the most significant aspect derives from the totality of the captures and manner in which they were recorded, not necessarily from elements regarded as “typical”. The recordings range over churches, markets, natural places, percussion, voices and native songs. Perhaps one of the aims of the work was to challenge listeners to re-evaluate their initial impressions. “In Cameroon the music is a glue that links together hundreds of different tongues and ethnic groups” and “reveals unexpected and subtle audio scenaries”, explained Kubisch. The recordings were made quite simply; microphones were turned on and left to record. In the colourful accompanying booklet the authors underline that they found listening a more significant experience than recording, and that they had a shared experience of a democratizing of cultural and technical procedures that is usually only found among groups of musical elites in developed countries. From this point of view, this interesting musical journey can be seen as daily journal that documented conversational techniques, a process somehow also influenced by users’ expectations.