Creative industry entrepreneur and audio design specialist Jānis Vērzemnieks has created a digital music tool titled Vantofons, which transforms the Vanšu Bridge into a virtual 25-string instrument. The website allows any user to «play on the bridge», record and remix music, and listen to an album that serves as a soundtrack to city life. With this project, Jānis not only plays on the expressive form of the Vanšu Bridge but also draws attention to the need to restore it as one of the symbols of Riga.
«The Vanšu Bridge has always looked to me like a huge string instrument waiting for someone to play it. Has that ever occurred to you?» asks Jānis Vērzemnieks. Vanšu Bridge was opened in 1981 as a technological marvel and symbol of Soviet modernism in Riga. Its construction embodies the architectural and engineering innovations of the time, symbolising progress and a future city developing on both sides of the Daugava River. As Jānis points out, today the Vanšu Bridge seems tired; it is in poor condition and is often criticised, but its silhouette is still part of Riga’s face.
To draw attention to the city’s relationship with the Vanšu Bridge and its sad state, Jānis has created an online app titled Vantofons, which allows users to synthesise sounds, bringing architectural heritage to life in a new context. It is a non-commercial project that was created as the author was experimenting with technology, sound, and design in his home recording studio. On the website Vantofons.lv users can click on the strings of the Vanšu Bridge, compose soundscape sequences, remix music, and record their work. A series of sound effect pedals named Straume (Flow), Gaita (Pace), Daugava and Korozija (Corrosion) is also available.
Vantofons’ sound design is characterised by lo-fi or unpolished sounds, ambient music and post-electronic aesthetics, offering a journey of sound that is reminiscent of traffic noise, the wind blowing over the Daugava River, and the silence at night. You can hear them not only by creating your own sounds but also by listening to the album Vanta Fei — Transports. The hour-long recording combines songs with titles that tell a story about life in the city.
The virtual music tool is available on the website Vantofons.lv. The Vanta Fei — Transports music album is available not only on the project’s homepage but also on Spotify and Youtube.
Viedokļi