Testing the Electronic Sections at the Helsinki Music Centre with Timo Kurkikangas

On Saturday, March 19, 2022, we attended the Spring Meeting of the Society of Finnish Composers in Helsinki. It was such a joy to finally see colleagues in person again after such a long time!

As we entered the restaurant lobby where the meeting was held, a waiter came up to Sanna and kindly asked if she needed help carrying her things upstairs. Sanna opened the cooler bag that Tapio had brought and took out two ice blocks—each about 20 × 20 × 15 cm in size, with two-meter audio cables dangling out of them. She then asked the puzzled waiter if the ice blocks could be kept in the restaurant freezer during the meeting.

Luckily, the request was granted! We joked with the association’s executive director that we’ll definitely be coming back to this venue—since they seem to handle composers’ unusual requests with such grace.

On Sunday, March 20, we had a testing session at the Helsinki Music Centre with music technologist Timo Kurkikangas, focusing on the special electronic techniques used in our orchestral work Water.

At the end of the section depicting drought, a single drop of water is released from a syringe into a measuring cup. A small microphone attached to the cup picks up the drop sound, which is then amplified through the speakers. Timo managed to capture and amplify the delicate plink of the drop beautifully—adding a shimmering echo and removing the background noise from the microphone signal.

In the glacier section of the piece, an ice block is scraped rhythmically with a serrated-edged lasagna spatula. Timo made an excellent observation: while the performer can hear the high-pitched squeak coming from the ice surface, the audience cannot—unless it’s amplified. So, in addition to the hydrophone that captures the lower frequencies, we added another microphone outside the ice block to enhance the high-frequency sounds.

It was an absolute honor and pleasure to work with such a skilled professional. Thank you, Timo!