The musical album "Clear Octave" by the Ahimsa Quintet team, created during an experimental art project by Rostec, the Leo Tolstoy Museum Estate and the platform Syg.ma , published today on major music venues. The compositions are based on a collection of sounds that the musicians collected at the estate of the great writer in Yasnaya Polyana. The release date was not chosen by chance — 109 years ago, on November 20, 1910, Leo Tolstoy passed away.
The album "Yasnaya Oktava" became the final stage of a special project initiated by Rostec and the Yasnaya Museum Estate Polyana" this summer as part of the Tolstoy Theater Festival, presenting fresh ideas and images that our contemporaries find in the legacy of the classic. To hear the sounds of Yasnaya Polyana as music, which we often do not notice, to create a piece of music from the very background of life – this is the idea of the project "Clear Octave". It belongs to the journalist, the head of the educational project "Polka" Yuri Saprykin.
"The Yasnaya Oktava project is a vivid example of our basic principle of supporting cultural initiatives, which can to put it in three words: technology, culture, man. The fusion of these three factors allowed us to reveal the atmosphere of the place where Tolstoy lived in a new way, to express the spirit of the Yasnaya Polyana estate in music. With the help of modern acoustic technology, the musicians recorded very accurately, cleanly and voluminously the voices of birds, the striking of the clock of the XVIII century, the creaking of floorboards, the sound of the piano in Tolstoy's House. The musicians turned this acoustic series into 12 unique compositions, presenting their creative vision of the place of genius," said Ekaterina Baranova, Director of Communications at Rostec.
Each track has a name associated with Tolstoy's birthplace – Nugget Forest, Zhitnya and Riga, Preshpekt, Guseva Polyana, Kuzminsky Wing, Chepyzh. All compositions are made up of sounds recorded in these locations.
"Already during Tolstoy's lifetime, Yasnaya Polyana became a cultural center: musicians, writers, and artists came here. Music was always heard in the manor. In this project, it was interesting for us to continue the existing traditions and invite modern musicians to join us. The partnership with Rostec State Corporation and the Tula electroacoustics plant Octava, which is part of it, has made it possible to combine heritage and technology," said Ekaterina Tolstaya, Director of the Yasnaya Polyana Museum Estate.
The participants of the musical residence at the Leo Tolstoy Museum Estate worked together for the first time as part of the Yasnaya Octava project, so the name of the quintet appeared after finishing work at the residence. "Ahimsa" in Sanskrit means nonviolence towards all living beings; the idea of nonviolence and non–resistance to evil by violence was central to Leo Tolstoy's worldview.
"The most difficult thing on the project was to figure out what could be the connecting element around which the final record could be built. We thought about it for a long time, reread Tolstoy, exchanged quotes that seemed relevant to us, discussed his texts," says composer and musician Dmitry Ustinov. "We were very impressed by Tolstoy's late philosophy, related to the search for the meaning of life, enlightenment. Before that, he thought quite secular. Therefore, I suggested that we focus on the theme of this transition, the breakdown in his worldview and do something on the border of modern electronics and the avant-garde of Stockhausen," says musician Karina Ghazaryan.
The "headliner" of the Octave product line, the MK–012 condenser microphone, was used for recording. It has compact dimensions and the ability to transmit sound as accurately as possible, to capture its important nuances. Such microphones are available in different configurations: with a narrowly focused capsule for sound segmentation and with a circular capsule that allows you to collect the maximum palette of ambient sounds, down to the smallest rustle.
You can choose a venue and listen to the album on the https://onerpm.ru/yasnayaoktava #
The Museum-estate of Leo Tolstoy "Yasnaya Polyana" is a state museum opened in 1921 in the family estate of the writer Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). The architectural and landscape ensemble of the estate was formed under Lev Nikolaevich's grandfather N. S. Volkonsky in the first quarter of the 19th century. It was here that most of Tolstoy's life took place; the novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina" were written here. After the writer's death, thanks to the efforts of his family, the objects that made up the furnishings of the Tolstoy house were preserved, later becoming a museum collection. For almost a century, the exposition of the Tolstoy Memorial House has remained unchanged: the interiors and the purpose of the rooms are preserved according to the last year of the writer's life.
Founded in 1927, the Tula plant develops and mass–produces studio microphones, intercom microphones, telephone and microphone headsets, hearing aids and capsules. It was into the microphone of the Octave in 1961 that Yuri Gagarin said his famous "Let's go!" Flagship products include condenser and tube microphones for professional studio work. By the end of 2018, the share of exports in the total revenue of the Oktava plant was 14%. At the same time, the company's exports of studio microphones account for over 47% of all Russian exports of musical equipment. Due to the high quality and attractive price, Oktava studio microphones are popular among musicians and recording studios all over the world. Among the most famous names are U2, Sting, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, Marilyn Manson, the Turkish Choir, and the sound engineers of the Black Star label. Hollywood films, dialogues in films by Unlimited Films, and entire scenes in the Russian films The Last Test and BEEF: Russian Hip-Hop, as well as the TV series Sniffer, were recorded in Octave.
Rostec State Corporation is one of the largest industrial companies in Russia. It unites more than 800 scientific and industrial organizations in 60 regions of the country. The key areas of activity are aircraft manufacturing, radio electronics, medical technologies, innovative materials, etc. The corporation's portfolio includes such well-known brands as AVTOVAZ, KAMAZ, Kalashnikov Concern, Russian Helicopters, UEC, Uralvagonzavod, Shvabe, etc. Rostec is actively involved in the implementation of all 12 national projects. The company is a key supplier of Smart City technologies, is engaged in the digitalization of public administration, industry, and social sectors, and is developing plans for the development of 5G wireless communication technologies, the industrial Internet of Things, big data, and blockchain systems. Rostec is a partner of the world's leading manufacturers such as Boeing, Airbus, Daimler, Pirelli, Renault, etc. The corporation's products are supplied to more than 100 countries around the world. Almost a third of the company's revenue is provided by the export of high-tech products.
