Wavelength EP. 2 - Ghost In The Loop

In this Wavelength episode, sound artist Aurélien discusses his project Ghost In The Loop, which blends field recordings of glaciers with modular synthesis to explore themes of memory, nature, and climate change. He shares insights on his creative process, expedition planning, and advice for beginners in experimental sound.

Tell us a bit about yourself and why you started Ghost in the Loop...

My name is Aurélien, I started my project Ghost In The Loop (a name inspired by the manga Ghost In The Shell and Simon Stålenhag’s Tales From The Loop) during the Covid-19 pandemic. My band projects came to a halt, and with time on my hands during the lockdowns, I became deeply interested in electronic music, its origins, and the pioneering artists behind it. I began investing in analog synthesizers, drum machines, and tape recorders, reel-to-reel, cassette, tape loops, and so on. That’s how it all began, before I took my practice out into the vast outdoors...

I've always been fascinated by modular setups, and I love how you manipulate your field recordings through synths.

When you're starting a track, do you usually build from the modular side first, or do the field recordings lead the way?

It really depends on the environment and its sonic activity, but I often start with the Befaco Instrument Interface. It lets me use geophones, hydrophones, shotgun mics etc., and run them directly into the Erica Synths Graphic Resonant Filterbank. That’s super useful for bringing out interesting details in the recordings, or diving into sound design by sending the signal into my Make Noise Morphagene or through resonators, and so on.

Depending on the textures or patterns that emerge, I begin composing around that foundation. But above all, when I’m recording glaciers, I love when they take control of the machine, the cracking sounds picked up by the interface module generate envelopes, gates or triggers, which I then use to modulate effects or create sequences, drones, etc.

The locations you record in are beautiful but they also look very remote. What goes into planning a field recording trip to a glacier with your Modular Synth?

 I’m starting to get pretty experienced when it comes to glacier expeditions. I know my physical limits and the maximum weight I can carry in my backpack on high-mountain terrain.

I make sure to pack enough batteries, lots of water, and never forget IGN maps. I plan the route carefully, consider the specific risks of the glacier I'm heading to, and always check in with a local guide or someone who knows the area very well.

And above all, never go alone. Then it becomes a real game of Tetris to optimize space in the backpack.

In one of your instagram posts you bring up an interesting point about capturing and preserving memories through sound. This has always been a part of field recording that I've loved. 

Do you find that capturing sounds you're unlikely to ever hear again helps to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia in your music?

That’s especially true when it comes to the sounds of glaciers: the more alive and active they seem, the more they’re actually disappearing… That really struck me during my last expedition to the Grand Méan Glacier with Charles Rose (Chasseur de Sons). It’s a massive glacier that, as it melts, creates a huge glacial lake. On this lake, small icebergs float, and I recorded them using hydrophones and geophones.

What was striking was how the sounds resembled insect colonies or flocks of birds, as if these chunks of ice were fragments of the glacier’s memory, slowly drifting on the lake before melting and flowing toward the ocean. It felt like we were listening, through the ice, to everything the glacier has "heard" over the centuries. That’s the feeling I hope to convey in my music.

Climate change is also a big part of the music you create. How has that influenced your music and the locations you pick for field recording?

I’ve always been sensitive to the issue of climate change, but it wasn’t really present in my music before. It came about almost by accident, a coincidence, really, at a time when I was searching for a new direction for an album to follow Cold Space Symmetry (which was composed and recorded live at the IRAM millimetric observatory in the Dévoluy mountains).

That’s when I reconnected with my very first memory of a glacier and the high mountains: I was 8 years old, at the Mer de Glace in Chamonix, with my parents and grand parents. I thought it would be interesting to explore the sound of ice and reconnect with the glaciers in my region, places I actually knew nothing about.

Photo taken by my father in the summer of 1998 at the Montenvers train station in front of the Mer de Glace. Today, there is nothing left. The Mer de Glace has lost 170 metres of ice thickness at this location.

I wanted to share this journey and experimentation through an ambient album, but also through videos documenting the adventure at the Zinal Glacier (Le Chant de la Glace, 2023).

 

Finally, what is the most important piece of advice you can give to a beginner who's interested in creating music with field recordings and synthesisers?

I’d say: start small. Use cheap or affordable gear that’s easy to handle. Don’t be intimidated by people doing similar projects with equipment worth thousands of euros, what matters is creating, regardless of the tools. Embrace limitations, be creative, and keep a bit of that punk spirit!

A message from us.

Thank you Aurélien for joining us on this episode of Wavelength.

If you want to stream and download work by Aurélien, head on over to the Ghost In The Loop pages which are linked below:

Website: https://www.ghostintheloop.com/
Instagram: @ghostintheloop_
Bandcamp: https://ghostintheloop.bandcamp.com/music

What is Wavelength?

Wavelength is an opportunity for us to shine a light on the creatives that are part of the Rare Finds Community. Showcasing talented individuals in the audio visual space.

If there's a creative that you'd like us to interview, drop us a message via our contact form and we'll reach out to them for a Wavelength interview.

Read the previous episode with Confound Sound here: Wavelength EP.1 - Confound Sound