AW-004: ZIRKEL 92 - Initial Schematics
Aurora Weltklang
- 1Korridor Schema (Einlassform)
- 2Korridor Schema (Lichtverlauf)
AW004
•
Open edition
AW-004: ZIRKEL 92 – Initial Schematics
Label: Aurora Weltklang
Catalog No.: AW-004
Format: LP (140 g vinyl)
Original Release Date: August 1972
Edition: 300 hand-numbered copies
Recording Date: April 22, 1972
Recording Location: Kammerhalle IV, Freiburg-Süd
Total Runtime: 35:58
Genres: Process-Driven Drone · Kraut-Minimalism · Electroacoustic Room Study · Communal Improv · Experimental Sound Environment
SIGNAL PRESSURE REVIEW
Initial Schematics plays like a test signal discovering it can dream. Captured in one continuous night at Kammerhalle IV, it’s less a “record” than a working model of what early Aurora Weltklang stood for: no polish, no plan, just process. The group—Loreta Svein, Mika Krahne, Agnes Furch, Bernd Gostner, and Hennix Duval—treat the hall as a single responsive instrument.
The opening side, Korridor Schema (Einlassform), builds from near-silence: a low thrum under Svein’s elongated syllables, Krahne’s bare-handed taps on metal, Furch’s bursts of shortwave and splice debris. Nothing repeats; everything reacts. It’s music made by attention rather than intention. By the midpoint, Duval’s bass begins to drag the texture forward, but never resolves it.
The flip, Korridor Schema (Lichtverlauf), stretches time out. Duval lays down a slow, circular figure while the rest lean into the room—floor knocks, breath, stray hums. The tape catches the sound of people not playing as often as those who are. The tension holds for nearly eighteen minutes before dissipating into static and air.
Every imperfection stays: phase hums, mic bumps, shifting gain. ZIRKEL 92 called this instinktlich spielen—instinctive play—refusing to edit or fix what the space itself wanted to say. Early copies came with a translucent breath graph from one of the participants and a sealed inner sleeve that had to be torn to play—ritual as design choice.
Half a century on, Initial Schematics still feels raw and direct. No crescendo, no catharsis, just sustained concentration. If MIRRORDEN were the storm and Duval + Furch the trance, ZIRKEL 92 offered the blueprint: communal listening rendered physical.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION & RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS
• Recording Date: April 22, 1972
• Recording Location: Kammerhalle IV, Freiburg-Süd
• Capture: Mono field master dubbed to stereo for LP
• Recorders: Grundig TK 146 + TK 240 positioned at corridor ends
• Microphones: Hanging loop mics (rubber suspension), wall-mounted contact plates
• Signal Routing: Mic-to-reel direct feed; no overdubs, no EQ
• Auxiliary Circuit: Ambient mic signal passed through Concord Sinthpresizer-2 oscillator as tone-sweep generator
• Mixdown: Live stereo bounce; corridor bleed retained
• Audience Protocol: Silence requested; no applause captured
• Mastering & Pressing: Schwarzchild Vinyl Works, Freiburg
TRACKLIST + CUE LOG
Side A – Korridor Schema (Einlassform) – 18:09
Side B – Korridor Schema (Lichtverlauf) – 17:49
Total Runtime: 35:58
INSERTS & VISUAL EPHEMERA
• 8-page PDF of inserts & ephemera
• Outer Sleeve: Matte kraftboard with AW HQ ink-stamp; loop glyph on back; hand-numbered in pencil
• Labels:
– Side A: White, faint resonance glyph in lacquer
– Side B: Graphite variant (some with print drag)
• Insert: Korridor Transmissionmappe No. 1 — parchment foldout with corridor map, mic placement, and participant zones annotated in graphite (likely Furch or Duval)
• Early Ephemera (first 50): Breath-response tracing sheet from audience; sealed inner sleeve (adhesive often failed)
PHYSICAL RELEASE DETAILS
• Format: 140 g vinyl LP
• Edition: 300 hand-numbered copies
• Deadwax Etching: “Z92:L4 KH4”
• Distribution: Aurora Weltklang direct and communal barter circuits
SUBSEQUENT FORMATS & VARIANTS
• 1981 Mono Cassette Variant: Side A only; reel-to-mono transfer at Herzkammer Vault C; cataloged AWR-004L, spine handwritten “Schema (Corridor Mic)”; hum emphasized, uncorrected; used in ISN “listening stance” workshops
• Unreleased Fragment: “Schema II” (3:09) rehearsal excerpt preserved in incomplete form
• Archival Ephemera (1972–74): Graphite loop diagrams; parchment fragment Schema Flächenfeld 3A (Svein)
• 2005 Leipzig Bootleg CDr: ZIRKEL Sleep Tool: Corridor Experiments; reversed track order; doubled chant loop; false credit to Clara von Rhein (zither); MP3-derived with clipped drones
• 2025 Digital Archive Reissue - features 8-page PDF of visual ephemera
OUTTAKES & UNRELEASED MATERIAL
• Schema II (3:26) – rehearsal fragment, later included in digital archive reissue
EPILOGUE
Initial Schematics nails the early Aurora Weltklang brief: no stage, no center, no ego. It’s one of those records that asks for time rather than attention span—a 36-minute study in patience, breath, and shared instinct. In the ISN’s long story, this is the moment when improv stopped chasing freedom and started chasing focus.
FOR LISTENERS OF:
• Gruppo NPS – early drone works
• Taj Mahal Travellers – August 1974
• Aube – Evocation
• MIRRORDEN – Commune Mirror Studies
• Bernd Gostner – Post Ferrite Drift
credits
released August 1, 1972
• Loreta Svein — vocals, guitar, electronics, drones
• Mika Krahne — drums, percussion
• Agnes Furch — electronics, drones, tape collage
• Bernd Gostner — guitar, low-field pulse modulation, ferromagnetic reel pacing
• Hennix Duval — vocals, bass guitar, auxiliary delay routing, corridor mic shifter
• Unknown Participants — communal floor drummers
all rights reserved
Label: Aurora Weltklang
Catalog No.: AW-004
Format: LP (140 g vinyl)
Original Release Date: August 1972
Edition: 300 hand-numbered copies
Recording Date: April 22, 1972
Recording Location: Kammerhalle IV, Freiburg-Süd
Total Runtime: 35:58
Genres: Process-Driven Drone · Kraut-Minimalism · Electroacoustic Room Study · Communal Improv · Experimental Sound Environment
SIGNAL PRESSURE REVIEW
Initial Schematics plays like a test signal discovering it can dream. Captured in one continuous night at Kammerhalle IV, it’s less a “record” than a working model of what early Aurora Weltklang stood for: no polish, no plan, just process. The group—Loreta Svein, Mika Krahne, Agnes Furch, Bernd Gostner, and Hennix Duval—treat the hall as a single responsive instrument.
The opening side, Korridor Schema (Einlassform), builds from near-silence: a low thrum under Svein’s elongated syllables, Krahne’s bare-handed taps on metal, Furch’s bursts of shortwave and splice debris. Nothing repeats; everything reacts. It’s music made by attention rather than intention. By the midpoint, Duval’s bass begins to drag the texture forward, but never resolves it.
The flip, Korridor Schema (Lichtverlauf), stretches time out. Duval lays down a slow, circular figure while the rest lean into the room—floor knocks, breath, stray hums. The tape catches the sound of people not playing as often as those who are. The tension holds for nearly eighteen minutes before dissipating into static and air.
Every imperfection stays: phase hums, mic bumps, shifting gain. ZIRKEL 92 called this instinktlich spielen—instinctive play—refusing to edit or fix what the space itself wanted to say. Early copies came with a translucent breath graph from one of the participants and a sealed inner sleeve that had to be torn to play—ritual as design choice.
Half a century on, Initial Schematics still feels raw and direct. No crescendo, no catharsis, just sustained concentration. If MIRRORDEN were the storm and Duval + Furch the trance, ZIRKEL 92 offered the blueprint: communal listening rendered physical.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION & RECORDING SPECIFICATIONS
• Recording Date: April 22, 1972
• Recording Location: Kammerhalle IV, Freiburg-Süd
• Capture: Mono field master dubbed to stereo for LP
• Recorders: Grundig TK 146 + TK 240 positioned at corridor ends
• Microphones: Hanging loop mics (rubber suspension), wall-mounted contact plates
• Signal Routing: Mic-to-reel direct feed; no overdubs, no EQ
• Auxiliary Circuit: Ambient mic signal passed through Concord Sinthpresizer-2 oscillator as tone-sweep generator
• Mixdown: Live stereo bounce; corridor bleed retained
• Audience Protocol: Silence requested; no applause captured
• Mastering & Pressing: Schwarzchild Vinyl Works, Freiburg
TRACKLIST + CUE LOG
Side A – Korridor Schema (Einlassform) – 18:09
Side B – Korridor Schema (Lichtverlauf) – 17:49
Total Runtime: 35:58
INSERTS & VISUAL EPHEMERA
• 8-page PDF of inserts & ephemera
• Outer Sleeve: Matte kraftboard with AW HQ ink-stamp; loop glyph on back; hand-numbered in pencil
• Labels:
– Side A: White, faint resonance glyph in lacquer
– Side B: Graphite variant (some with print drag)
• Insert: Korridor Transmissionmappe No. 1 — parchment foldout with corridor map, mic placement, and participant zones annotated in graphite (likely Furch or Duval)
• Early Ephemera (first 50): Breath-response tracing sheet from audience; sealed inner sleeve (adhesive often failed)
PHYSICAL RELEASE DETAILS
• Format: 140 g vinyl LP
• Edition: 300 hand-numbered copies
• Deadwax Etching: “Z92:L4 KH4”
• Distribution: Aurora Weltklang direct and communal barter circuits
SUBSEQUENT FORMATS & VARIANTS
• 1981 Mono Cassette Variant: Side A only; reel-to-mono transfer at Herzkammer Vault C; cataloged AWR-004L, spine handwritten “Schema (Corridor Mic)”; hum emphasized, uncorrected; used in ISN “listening stance” workshops
• Unreleased Fragment: “Schema II” (3:09) rehearsal excerpt preserved in incomplete form
• Archival Ephemera (1972–74): Graphite loop diagrams; parchment fragment Schema Flächenfeld 3A (Svein)
• 2005 Leipzig Bootleg CDr: ZIRKEL Sleep Tool: Corridor Experiments; reversed track order; doubled chant loop; false credit to Clara von Rhein (zither); MP3-derived with clipped drones
• 2025 Digital Archive Reissue - features 8-page PDF of visual ephemera
OUTTAKES & UNRELEASED MATERIAL
• Schema II (3:26) – rehearsal fragment, later included in digital archive reissue
EPILOGUE
Initial Schematics nails the early Aurora Weltklang brief: no stage, no center, no ego. It’s one of those records that asks for time rather than attention span—a 36-minute study in patience, breath, and shared instinct. In the ISN’s long story, this is the moment when improv stopped chasing freedom and started chasing focus.
FOR LISTENERS OF:
• Gruppo NPS – early drone works
• Taj Mahal Travellers – August 1974
• Aube – Evocation
• MIRRORDEN – Commune Mirror Studies
• Bernd Gostner – Post Ferrite Drift
credits
released August 1, 1972
• Loreta Svein — vocals, guitar, electronics, drones
• Mika Krahne — drums, percussion
• Agnes Furch — electronics, drones, tape collage
• Bernd Gostner — guitar, low-field pulse modulation, ferromagnetic reel pacing
• Hennix Duval — vocals, bass guitar, auxiliary delay routing, corridor mic shifter
• Unknown Participants — communal floor drummers
all rights reserved
