down the hole

release rationale:

The "Pozzo del Merro" is a sinkhole (a depression in the land surface) located a few kilometers east of Rome.

It is like a big funnel in the limestone of Lias age (about 200 million years). The name "Merro" is a Central Italy dialectical word meaning a "very deep and steep precipice". The mouth of the sink has a circular boundary with a 150 meters diameter.

The dry section, with walls covered by luxurious vegetation, is about 70 meters deep. On the bottom lies a small circular lake 100 feet in diameter, hiding a dark liquid abyss more than 1016 feet deep. In early 2000 three different Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) were used to explore the sinkhole.

The first of these, the "Mercurio" dived to 210 meters (maximum operative pressure limit) without reaching the bottom.

The second ROV "Hyball 300" reached 310 meters without touching down either.

Prometeo, the third ROV, apparently reached the bottom at -392 meters in March 2002 but actually the sinkhole may continue on a curved, deeper path. In any cases, the "pozzo del merro" remains the world's deepest sinkhole.

The tracks of this CD were obtained using only original recordings made in the Pozzo del Merro sinkhole in the first, dry part of the hole, and in the wet, bottom part, using special microphones and sensing hardware. The recorded sounds were then treated in studio with some basic processing: pitch shifting, filtering, reverberating, mixing, fading. When possible, arbitrary musical structures were avoided in the final mix.








and another underwater project by Olhon







release rationale

These recordings were obtained by treating and mixing underwater recordings made in a set of Italian volcanic lakes. The sensing device hardware was built around a hydrophone sensor, enclosed in a heavy waterproof steel body. A very long cable (200m) as been used for connecting the recording device, placed in the deeper point of the lakes to a digital recorder on a boat.
These recordings cannot be considered a pure audio documentation: the recorded sounds have been treated and re-mixed with the intention of recreating the moods and sensations of the recording sites.
All "unwanted", accidentally recorded noises were also used in the final mix: boat noises, water drops, noises of the metal sensor hitting the lake bottom, remote preamplifier hiss, clicks and pops etc. No synthesizers or additional sounds were used during the re-mixing phase.

Veiovis: Ancient pre-Roman god, responsible for earthquakes and volcanic activities.