Name: Ron Croudy aka Rontronik
Occupation: Producer
Nationality: German
Recent release: Rontronik's Zero Eight is out via Beans’ Tygr Rawwk.
Recommendations on the topic of sound: Assembling a Black Counter Culture by DeForrest Brown Jr.

[Read our Beans interview]

If you enjoyed this Rontronik interview and would like to know more, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, 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 listen with my eyes open and closed, depending. When I am performing or DJing, eyes open to connect with the audience (I think of the Massive Attack verse: “I was looking back to see if you were looking back at me to see me looking back at you…”).

When constructing music or in my own time/environment, eyes closed.

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

Shapes, objects and colours all becoming sound, indeed!. Listening through a stereo system is always recommended.

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

Just 2 in particular, off the top of my head:

• Miles Davis, “Bitches Brew”: the use of silence as negative space! Epic overall
• My Bloody Valentine's “Loveless”: the “wall of sound” style where noise becomes beauty.



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?

Generally, I hear melodies and rhythms from everyday sounds … I try to capture the randomness of that and apply it to my production.

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 can tell you what I do not like: car-horns and “chalk board scratching” hahhahah

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

New York City Subway: the train sounds and the random sounds of people and environment.

Tokyo Mass transit: Not only the train sounds but the music that plays before and after a train arrives along with just the environmental ambience.

Parks (like New York Central Park): the rich natural sounds of birds, dogs, water, and people – natural environmental sounds.

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

Wine cellars: the sound is pretty amazing (echoing and other subtle ambient noises).

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

Field recording just walking down a city street or sitting in a park, et. General studio recording is always best at my home studio, though.

Love playing music at public venues, ranging from a bar/lounge to a concert hall!  

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

Absolutely. I look at all of my productions as “sound sculptures!”

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?

It is highly important. Who wants to spend time in an environment that does not sound good or has sound problems?

As an example, if an environment has a muffled sound or another audio issue, you immediately leave. Or look for a way to resolve the issue to make it better, just like one would want to get better is one was physically ill.  

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?

Hmmm. There have been times I have been on a beach and listened to the waves crash-to-shore – this is probably the most tranquil time giving a feeling of “everything will be ok …” Melodic and hypnotizing …

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?

I will say that interspecies communication is definitely possible, in that I am a pet-owner and they “talk” to me all the time (lol).

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?

While this is a concern, just the usual care, is all. I do use a decibel monitor but that is about it.

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?

Silence is very important to me.

A time of quiet is needed for moments of rest and meditation as well as a sort of “reset”of my inner tuning fork.

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?

It would probably solve a lot of problems, socially!