s6t8r (2009)

The piece is based on recordings made inside several of the rooms of the Stralau 68 building, a former venue for experimental music in Berlin, now empty.

The sound of the trains passing periodicaly on the bridge nearby is very loud and participates strongly to the sonic identity of the building. These sounds and others from the surroundings are resonating inside the building, 'coloured' by the specific acoustics of each room.

The many cultural meanings of trains sounds are haunting the piece, from death trains during nazi Germany, to a more universal longing for travel and the paradoxal 'home' feeling induced by recursive sounds in the daily soundscape.

Additional onsite found sounds have been included in this composition.

For live performance, these original recordings are used as sound material to activate the acoustic qualities of the performance space.

's6t8r' has been released on CD in september 2009 on label Wind Measures Recordings (Brooklyn).

Review on Vital Weekly
"Aubry records 'empty' spaces and then treats the resulting sound into a massive block of sound. Quite minimal and drone like in the first part, but the second part, which starts out as an expansion of the first, develops into an almost musical piece, with sounds bouncing in and out, almost like a factory starting up, machines being switched on. A great menacing piece of music. In the third and final part it seems as water sounds play a part, but no doubt here the trains play an important role. Quite a great CD of drone music that stems from the world of field recordings and surely one of the best works I heard from Aubry so far."
(FdW, Vital Weekly 703)

Listen to an sample of the composition: