Name: Jan-Philipp Lorenz aka Bi Disc
Nationality: German
Occupation: Producer, composer, songwriter, sound engineer
Recent release: Bi Disc's new album Pieces, Falling is slated for release November 15th 2024 via Bigamo. It features cellist Philipp Thimm (Apparat), drummer Moritz Baumgärtner (Matthew Herbert) and mix engineer Olaf Opal (The Notwist).
Recommendations: I’m afraid I don’t have many books or websites in mind that I can specifically recommend on that topic, sound, but Rick Rubin wrote a beautiful book about creativity. It’s called The Creative Act. I really enjoyed reading that.
Otherwise, what about listening to e.g. Nick Drake’s Pink Moon album, Pharoah Sanders & Floating Points’ Promises album, songs like Susumu Yokota’s "Azukiiro No Kaori," Alice Coltrane’s "Wisdom Eye," CLARAGUILAR’s "Plataforma" or LCD Soundsystem’s "All My Friends?"

If you enjoyed this Bi Disc interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, and bandcamp.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I almost never close my eyes when I listen to music. Not sure why, but it feels like my brain walks away once I close them. I’m more ,there’ when they’re open. I always wanted to listen to music with my eyes closed though ... it seems right to do it.

When I listen to music I don’t really see things, but it makes me feel different. It makes me feel more confident, or warm, relaxed, stressed.

I have to say though, I hear differently depending on what I look at. While I am making music for example, I look at videos and pictures that I like - they take me to another place, if that makes sense.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

Well it depends on the circumstances. When i’m working on my music, I prefer to work with headphones these days.

I had years in which I didn’t care too much about using all of the stereo field in a song / production. I almost ignored it and I’m not sure why, but since working on the first Bi Disc record, I became almost obsessed by stereo sound. Maybe because I used headphones when I made it.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

One of my favorite records, in terms of sound, is probably The Notwist’s The Devil, You + Me album. Of course I just love their music, they’re an incredible band, but the recordings, mix ... the whole production of it is just beautiful.



[Read our The Notwist interview]

Olaf Opal, the guy that produced and mixed the record, together with the band of course, also mixed my record. And the reason I asked him to mix it, was definitely very influenced by specifically that The Notwist record.

Other than that, I love a lot of ambient music specifically for it’s sound. There are many ambient records that I can’t stop listening to, but if I had to pick one, it would be Bibio’s PHANTOM BRICKWORKS album. A beautiful sounding record.



Another artist that immediately comes into my mind when I think of ,sound’, is Caterina Barbieri. Her music is so intense, and the sounds she produces, on her records but also live, always reach me on a very deep level.

[Read our Creative Profile of Caterina Barbieri]

But the list could go on forever. Floating Points’ Crush album, Salami Rose Joe Louis, I love her sound too.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Absolutely. It’s almost annoying sometimes. I can’t ignore it if certain music makes me feel awkward. But the positive thing about it is obviously also, that specific music can make my mood shift in a good way. I can be very moody - listening to music always helps.

I also respond a lot to nature sounds. Field recordings, or music that reminds me of nature. I’m a lot into musicians like Carlos Niño, projects that he was involved in, Turn On The Sunlight, or also Laraaji, ... i’d say a lot of that contemporary, american spiritual jazz and ambient music. I hope I’m right to call it like that. They give me a strong feeling of comfort.

[Read our Carlos Niño interview]

Also, I feel a very deep response to noise in general. White noise, tape noise, transistor noise. I think many people do. If music has a certain amount of noise in it, I like listening to it more. My music is full of it. And I have instruments, or more, synthesizers, that I specifically love because they are very noisy.

There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

I’m very sensitive to high frequencies. A lot of music sounds too ,high’ for me. Sometimes I’d love to make music without any high frequencies. But that’s also almost impossible, for me at least. I do love drums ... and they have a lot of high frequencies too.

I have to admit that while I was working on this record, PIECES, FALLING, I specifically enjoyed making songs like ,BREAKS’ or ,STEEP WATERFALLS’. They’re basically the two more calm and peaceful songs of the record - and I loved that they didn’t express the need to have many high frequencies on them. Besides all the noise.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

A lot of my synthesizers do. Or an upright piano. I miss my old piano, it’s still in my old studio in Berlin. I've had it since my childhood and it feels and sounds like home.

I’m also very much into modular synthesizers. There’s this module called the Panharmonium, it basically resynthesizes every signal that you send into it. It almost makes anything sound like you’re asking a robot to sing. I love that.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

No, unfortunately I have never managed to visit an anechoic chamber. It’s very interesting, but also frightening to me.

Caves yes, they sound good - a bit like a hug.

What are among your favourite spaces to record and play your music?

I love recording music at home. How I feel in the space I record and work in, is more important to me than how it sounds.

I worked and recorded in many studios over the years, but some made me feel more comfortable than others, and that was mostly not really depending on how they sounded, but more on how they felt.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

They don’t really feel material to me. I think I feel specifically drawn to them because they feel like nothing else, a language that goes beyond words or material.

But I do feel like I’m shaping something when I’m making music.Something immaterial. As if there is an idea of something and I work until the idea is represented in the most direct way possible to me. Taking away things, adding things, until it feels right.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

I’d say communication is one of the key factors that contribute directly to our well-being. We feel and think in so many different ways and only through communication we can try to align our thoughts to each other.

Knowing that we communicate through sound or frequencies - not necessarily through words - I’d say sound is essential for a society, or the environment.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds?

Rain acoustically surrounds us when it happens. I don’t exactly love rain, but I think it sounds absolutely beautiful. One million drops.

I remember many moments in which I experienced heavy rain. And even though I felt like escaping the water at the time, those moments feel like beautiful memories now.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?

Well, we are animals too and I think our best way to communicate is through sound. So yes, interspecies communication is definitely possible I would say.

And besides being important, it’s also beautiful to know that we can communicate with almost anything, through sound.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Luckily I don’t suffer from any of these. But I’m very aware of the possibility and to be very honest, I should be more careful.

I love listening to music very loud, and especially when I’m making music and I get very emotional about it, I tend to forget how loud I listen. My ears definitely don’t appreciate that and I hope I will be more thoughtful about it in the future.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Since my childhood, I felt the need to be surrounded by sound. Not only music, anything. I often turned on the television without actively looking at it, just because I felt better while I heard someone talk or do something.

Silence on the other hand is something I really have trouble to cope with. Although the idea of silence is really interesting to me.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

Since even within language we communicate through sounds, that are maybe even disconnected from the words that surround them, I would say it is essential to listen, or pay attention to sound. Though I also think since sound is so immediate, we can’t really escape it and even if we don’t actively pay attention to it, or listen, we still feel vibrations and we communicate.

I sometimes feel like I didn’t use the right words to explain something I had in my mind, but I still feel that I expressed how I felt. Feelings are quicker than our mind. And we express them with sound, even if it’s ,just’ the tone of our voice for example.