Workshop | Spaces and Sound

Ziad Moukarzel

April 18 – April 28, 2022

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 4:30–7:00 PM (Beirut time/GMT+3)

This workshop will be held online

REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED

What if we create space through sound?

This workshop will aim to address this question by tackling synthesis and spatial definition through the prism of sound. What is a synthesized or sampled sound, and how does it work? What is spatial hearing? Why do sounds constantly change around us? How do we draw a space with our ears, and what draws sounds to our ears? How does recording change these experiences? By understanding the difference between unorganized and organized sound (i.e. music), the spatial dimensions of sonicity, and the creation of “sound fields”, we may begin to grapple with the potentialities of sound and sonic production as they pertain to the conception of space. 

Over the duration of two weeks, the workshop will be divided into six chapters of 2 hours each, punctuated by moments of reading, listening, watching, and experimenting. In each chapter, Ziad Moukarzel will share the tools and techniques he uses, existing scholarly practices, and examples from his work as well as that of other sound practitioners and musicians in recorded music (Pauline Oliveros, Bill Fontana, Éliane Radigue, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bernard Leitner—to name a few). Each chapter will conclude with hands-on exercises and interventions that can be practiced individually. 

Participants should be interested in education, listening, and sound practices. Prior experience of working with music or sound is not required. Participants will need a pair of headphones/earphones, and Reaper, a free audio mixing software (see below).

Software needed: Reaper

(Almost) free editing and mixing audio software. Download using the following link.

Ziad Moukarzel is a music producer, lecturer, and studio engineer. 

In his work, he strives to create a sense of acoustic space through his sound work with softwares and synthesizers. An admirer of aural environments and room tones, he translates what he hears in the real world to the analog and virtual realm, and also creates otherworldly atmospheres that do not pertain to physical space.

As managing partner at Woodwork Sound Studio, he handles music recording, mixing and mastering, and also designs sound for podcasts and radio shows, moving images, and performing arts. Moukarzel is a live electronic music artist and DJ, with collaborations ranging from classical and rock musicians, to experimental musicians and sound artists. His solo work has been featured in The Listening Biennial 2021 and at the Gangwon International Triennale 2021. His collaborative work with Kinematik Ensemble was presented in Re|sound VII at the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2022; and his collaboration with Chrystèle Khodor on the radio play Rise and Fall of Orient Swiss: Bedtime Stories was presented at Zürcher Theater Spektakel 2021. 

Moukarzel teaches at the University of Balamand as Sound Instructor for the first and second year cinema students. He is also one of the co-founders of the Beirut Synthesizer Center.