Liquid Sound

Liquid Sound is the experience of bathing in light and music.

Table of Contents

Method

Conceived of and developed by the media artist Micky Remann, the sensation of bathing in light and music is created by a permanently installed, computer-driven multimedia system which coordinates the deployment of sound, light and video above as well as below the water’s surface.

The Liquid Sound concept is an innovative approach to enriching the culture of bathing in thermal baths and unites findings from modern medicine (relaxation techniques, mind-technology, balneotherapy) with art (music, architecture) and wellness (whirlpools, steam baths, saunas, inhalation, solaria, restaurants etc.).

The sensation is best experienced when floating in body-temperature salt water, such as in a spa. With a salt content of 3% the water supports the weight of the body and allows one to float effortlessly. The bather’s ears are underwater while their face is above the water’s surface so that they can breathe normally. While they bathe, they are surrounded by coloured light, different sounds and music. Depending on the desired atmosphere, special compositions are created which can encompass a wide spectrum of sounds and music ranging from meditative jazz, classical music, electronica, experimental sounds, ethno-sounds and pop to whale and dolphin-song, birdsong, sounds from nature or even poems. Images can be projected onto the walls and ceilings. Associations with undersea worlds and the oceans are intentional and are part of the aesthetic concept.

Bathing in different worlds of sounds and images is beneficial to bathers, helping them to relax as well as providing aesthetic stimulation through a contemporary multimedia bathing experience. Initial studies also point to the therapeutic potential of Liquid Sound.

Origins

Historical development

Liquid Sound was developed in the early 1990s by Micky Remann, a media artist, writer, curator and artistic director of the Toskana Therme thermal baths. He also lectures at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

The idea of using water as a tonal space was inspired by musical communication experiments with Orca whales undertaken by the American Jim Nollman whose organisation Interspecies Communication has specialised in establishing a musical dialogue with animals in the wild. An expedition together with Jim Nollman in summer 1985 in the Canadian North-Pacific was the beginning of attempts to make 'whale-hearing' an experience for the human ear. The first step was made with the "First Frankfurter Underwater Concert" by the Off-Tat Theater on the 23 February 1986 in what were then the municipal baths “Stadtbad Mitte” in Frankfurt am Main. A second underwater concert followed in 1988 in the Rebstockbad in Frankfurt.

The interest generated by these experimental events led Remann to develop the concept and technical know-how under the name Liquid Sound in the Thuringian spa town of Bad Sulza. The first permanent installation of Liquid Sound was opened on the 9 November 1993 in the therapy pool of the Klinikzentrum Bas Sulza Medical Spa in Bad Sulza and is the forerunner of all subsequent installations. The overwhelmingly positive response from doctors, patients and psychologists, artists and guests prompted Remann to transfer the concept of bathing in Liquid Sound to larger dimensions.

Since the 24 November 1999, Liquid Sound is the central attraction of the futuristic Toskana Therme in Bad Sulza (named after Tuscany of the East and has been experienced by over 3 million visitors. The concept of Liquid Sound is an integral part of the design of the entire complex. The planning process necessitates the careful integration of architecture and multimedia design with the overall environment. A special feature of the Toskana Therme is an 18 metre high domed construction, called Liquid Sound Temple, which contains a circular pool screened from daylight so that its interior can be filled entirely with light effects. Five of the remaining seven pools in the thermal bath are also equipped with Liquid Sound loudspeakers and underwater lighting and the lighting system within the thermal baths is also part of the light and sound concept providing directional coloured light. The high-tech Liquid Sound installation consists of special underwater loudspeakers, coloured lighting systems, various sound sources, amplifiers, microphones and an operator console and mixing desk. The intense changing colours used in the Liquid Sound concept are inspired by the attractive prismatic effects of light transmitted through water experienced when diving.

Over the years Remann has perfected his method. Subsequent projects included the internationally renowned Liquidrom in Berlin and a second Toskana Therme in Bad Schandau near to Dresden, Germany. A smaller Liquid Sound installation was introduced in January 2008 in the Therme am Park in Bad Nauheim, Germany. A third Toskana Therme with integrated Liquid Sound concept is currently being built in Bad Orb in German state of Hessen and is due to be completed in spring 2010. Liquid Sound is also a registered worldproject of the EXPO 2000 in Hanover. Liquid Sound has been featured extensively in the international press and electronic media (including Stern, Spiegel, the New York Times, Spa Magazine and various television channels as well as in Web.tv, for example on Salve.tv).

The Liquid Sound Concept is a constituent part of the so-called Toskanaworld concept – a consulting concept offered by Toskanaworld Consulting for municipalities and local government or for operators in the spa, hotel and entertainment sectors. The aim is to show how experiences with the Liquid Sound concept can be of use to project planners around the world. Together with his business partner Marion Schneider, Micky Remann provides consultation and Liquid Sound installations through their joint company TTS Product & Service GmbH Bad Sulza.

Additional background information

70% of human beings consist of water, a similar proportion to the earth. 71% of the surface of the earth is covered with water. The salinity of the seas and of blood is almost identical. And when people consume food and drink with a water content of around 70%, they feel fit and well. Water, life and human beings are inseparably linked.

Every person spends the first months of their lives in water, in the womb and is from then on accustomed to floating and weightlessness. Bathing in the weightlessness of salt water connects with this prenatal experience.

According to Tomatis, deep sounds are almost entirely masked out in the uterus while energy-rich high-frequency sounds reach the human ear. Accordingly, Remann assumed that underwater music creates a sense of comfort and original trust among humans as acoustic signals are the first thing that the human organism experiences in the mother’s womb.

In addition, the medium of water is well-suited to transmitting and perceiving sound. Sound waves dissipate in water around five times faster than in air which makes it difficult to identify where the sound is coming from (unlike with stereo sound). The sound appears to be everywhere at the same time and one senses it with one’s entire body. Muscles and bones, the whole water-filled human organism, becomes a resonating body. In water people are unmistakably aware that they are sensitive to subtle vibrations.

Effects

Experience has shown that Liquid Sound can instil a sense of deep relaxation within a relatively short space of time. Bathers often report feelings of “inner harmony”, “happiness” and “well-being”. Bathers can relax from the stress of everyday life, switch off, regenerate and generally “recharge their batteries”. The effect is heightened with a sufficient salt concentration of the water so that the body begins to float giving rise to a psychologically liberating sensation of weightlessness.

Initial studies undertaken between 1995 and 1999 and in 2001 by the psychologist Renate Maerten together with the Klinikzentrum Bas Sulza Medical Spa indicate that Liquid Sound offers promising therapeutic potential. Patients suffering pain, for example, reported that they felt relaxed in the hours following bathing or a reduction in the level of pain. Doctors, patients and psychologists have observed how Liquid Sound has helped relieved sleeplessness, depression and even chronic pain. Many patients, regardless of their illness exhibit a sense of “inner radiance” which is generally beneficial for healing processes.

Application areas

Liquid Sound is suitable for use in hotels, sanatoria and health clinics but also for swimming and recreational baths. It does not require any special training and can be experienced by young or old alike. Depending on the intention, the application areas of Liquid sound are wide-ranging, for example in the field of events and entertainment, further and adult education, wellness and health or medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Examples of events include special Liquid Sound events and underwater music festivals in conjunction with both live music and DJ sets as well as other staging concepts with quite different concepts. Classical concerts such as underwater opera are also possible. The Toskana Therme Bad Sulza and Bad Schandau, for example, have established themselves as cultural institutions with a varied selection of concert programmes leading them to be described as “water-filled concert halls”. Liquid Sound event platforms have proved popular among both artists as well as culturally-interested bathing guests. For example, live-concerts at the night of the full moon have become a tradition at Toskana Therme since 1999. Usually in early November, the annual Liquid Sound Festival takes places with an all-night-programme uniting musicians and performance artists with their different variations on the theme of water and music. The weekly programme “Classical music under water” and the monthly “Liquid Sound Club” (with contemporary Chill-Out sound) demonstrate the bandwidth of the Liquid Sound concept and show how it differs from other thermal baths.

In the training and seminar sector, Liquid Sound can assist personal and professional development. Offerings include anti-stress and relaxation options as well as meditation or fantasy journeys that help one find creative solutions, access new knowledge or learn unfamiliar behaviour. Liquid Sound is also used in music and movement therapies as well as for rehabilitation. Water-based bodywork therapies such as Aqua Wellness or Liquid Bodywork make use of the special connection between Liquid Sound and individual wellness applications.

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