THE FROGS OF VESUVIUS… as if the earth itself sang. Author: Sillyconductor, 2025. Last year, with the generous support of SEMI SILENT, Liminaria, and Tramandars, I spent nearly two weeks in residence exploring the landscapes surrounding Mount Vesuvius. I had been fascinated by volcanoes ever since I first visited Stromboli - Terra di Dio - a divine, destructive force, dominating the other Aeolian Islands yet seemingly still on the Wednesday stage of its creation. During my stay near Naples, I went in search of a hidden underground lake that my friendly guide Tommaso** had mentioned. I had to see it and record it with the hydrophones I always had with me. Along the way, I was “lucky” enough to record what appeared to be a full eruption of Vesuvius – an experience I survived unharmed and am now able to narrate with my very own voice*. // *Not a single moment of this 8-minute plus montage was captured by any sort of microphone but generated artificially through a series of failed AI prompts.
Unusual for someone drawn to field recording, I know – but every sound here is synthetic and hand picked out of other hundreds on account of its approximate aesthetics. Each sound is a 20 second anomaly, a side-effect of a machine that is continuously learning yet still clumsy with irony, facts, and physicality. That’s what intrigued me – the dualistic nature of these sounds. Lava mimics water, birds resemble frogs, and human voices – though emotive – speak convincing gibberish. The music is evocative, but hollow. Much like the underground volcanic lake itself, the entire piece feels like a myth assembled from unstable materials: church hymns, narrator voices, elemental noise - all imperfect imitations conjured from digital ether. I’m not interested in AI that faithfully reproduces the sound of chopping wood. I want to hear how it fails - and in failing, invents something strange and exciting. This Vesuvian eruption worthy of a Giulio Verne tale is one such result. // **Many thanks to Liminaria and Tramandars for their help and hospitality, for real. // The piece is created during a residency in San Martino Valle Caudina, Italy, hosted by Associazione Culturale Interzona & Liminaria, with the support of Tramandars, in the frame of SONIC FUTURE RESIDENCIES 2024. Co-financed by AFCN. // Sillyconductor is the artistic moniker of Cătălin Matei, a Romanian sound artist based in Bucharest. He is recognized for his work as a sound designer, composer, performer and educator, with a diverse portfolio that includes music for silent films, games, animations, fashion shows, theatre and dance performances. His works often feature self-built or modified instruments, field recordings, and improvisational techniques that push the boundaries of traditional music-making. His primary focus is sound and its relationship with science or mathematics, creating instruments or installations that simultaneously explore sound, technology, and the environment. In recent years, his attention has shifted to bio linguistic installations and the sonification of inaudible phenomena, from archaeological sites to jars of algae. // Composition and mixing by Sillyconductor for SEMI SILENT. Co-produced by Associazione Culturale Interzona
