Designs in sound

AMBIENT MUSIC

Sound designer Norrasak 'Kidd' Ramasute, aka Kraffa, released his first recording of ambient electronica, Linear Cryptic, in 2006. Only 100 copies were produced, but he then went on to produce and release two mini-albums, Adoralula and Peko. These subsequently led to the release this month of his first full album, Detail in the Detail on the Panda Records independent label.

Using sound as colour and electronic music as design, 22-year-old Kraffa is a Thai pioneer of a 21st century art form.

His live performances blend his music with video art, and he recently performed at Siam Discovery Centre, as part of the Bangkok Design Festival '09.

Sound design - the manipulation of audio elements to achieve effects - is far from a new concept. Kraffa's music is rooted in the work of such legendary artists as Brian Eno and Steve Roach. This is music designed to evoke sensations and feelings, as in Eno's Music for Airports, which was fashioned to offset the hectic, tense atmosphere of an airport terminal. These beat-less, atmospheric sounds are designed to be played at low volume to colour the atmosphere of a room. If you're not listening closely, you probably won't hear it - it's music that, in Eno's own words, "can be actively listened to or just as easily ignored."

Kraffa's primary influence was John Cage, an American composer and pioneer of ambient music, and he cites a 20-minute track filled with sounds from everyday life, such as those you would encounter in a kitchen or garage.

Capturing sounds present in the environment - the ambience - is the cornerstone of Kraffa's work. "I can gather sounds anywhere because my recording equipment is very portable," he explains.

He began producing electronic ambient music three years ago after getting his first personal computer. Using elaborate computer programs, the sounds he gathers are layered with synthesisers, acoustic instruments and noises produced with anything to hand.

His method of creating new sounds is limitless, something which he demonstrates by running his hand along the metal bench on which he is sitting, producing a clanging, metallic rattle.

The results are richly layered compositions, beautiful sound collages which have the ability to evoke memories and emotions in the listener. "I want people to be reminded of environmental sounds which they had stopped noticing," he says.

In his final year at the Department of Communication Design, Faculty of Architecture, King Mongkut University of Technology Thon Buri, Kraffa runs a studio, Liquid Blooms, specialising in sound design in print, digital and environmental graphics, and producing work ranging from watch designs to album covers and posters.

Immaculately dressed in sharp, minimalist attire, the 22-year-old Bangkok resident cuts the figure of a person who, with a mentality perhaps peculiar to designers, is obsessive about all aspects of his work. It is fair to say that he lives design, and there is a strong link between his visual graphic work and his musical creations.

"I love working by hand, especially with collage and painting," he says. "I treat my music in the same way, that is to say as an artwork on a canvas."

Comments on many of his tracks - "I felt inspired and energised, seeing vivid colours" and "I felt I was walking on the seabed, admiring the marine life" - are frequent. They may seem at first to be pretentious, but this is music that requires more than a normal level of participation from the listener.

On airfully you hear the sounds of an urban park: birds singing, children joyfully shouting, people's footsteps through grass and leaves; they are the sounds of a beautiful afternoon, and you have a clear image in your head of the scene. The track seems to tell a story, and you are invited to make your own interpretation about what is happening.

On an old diary, the rhythm is the ticking of grandfather clock; accompanied by a desolate piano melody, it creates a genuine feeling of loneliness, and you can imagine someone sitting transfixed by an old, forgotten journal, reminded of the past, the piano melody evoking faded, incomplete memories.

Kraffa is frank about the reception his music gets from Thai people, but he's still optimistic.

"They don't generally like ambient electronic music, but I would like to improve appreciation of the genre in Thailand," he says. "I think that most people here, at least those of my age, are only interested in rock music. As musicians we need to share and combine our ideas and open people's minds to our music."

He is not alone in his endeavours. In Thailand, he is part of a growing community of sound designers, many of them, like himself, paying the bills by working in other areas of the creative industry and pursuing musical side-projects.

While it may not be radio-friendly or destined to sell thousands of records, Kraffa's music leads the way in the burgeoning electronica scene in Thailand. His work certainly represents a departure from the type of music usually associated with the Panda Records label, guitar-based indie music; and with producer, DJ Seed, Kraffa is the label's sole practitioner of electronic music. However, the fact that he's there at all is perhaps indicative of Panda Records manager Warranit Ponprayoon's feeling that the musical taste of Thai people is maturing.

Kraffa will be performing as part of the "Noise of Constellation", an experimental music event at Art Gorillas, 2nd floor of Lido, Siam Square, tomorrow (November 28) from 5-8pm. Other artists participating in this event are zKIII, Kijjaz and Sonic Scape Orchestra, with visuals provided by Reset. For more information, visit http://www.myspace.com/delicateth or http://www.dontcan.com. Kraffa albums are available from http://www.pandarecords.com.