A Documentary on The Subharchord

Biosphere and The Pitch - The Subharchord concert (excerpt), at CTM February 2nd 2013 from Atelier Nord on Vimeo.


Biosphere plays on the Subharchord from Ina Pillat on Vimeo.

"During the 'Only connect' Festival in Oslo, june 2013, the Norwegian musician Biosphere played on the Subharchord. Before it had to be restored with the help of Bjørn Roar Svensson, who was responsible for the Norwegian instrument from 1970 until 1991.

produced by Ny Musikk / Norsk Teknisk Museum

Photography: Ina Pillat
Sound: Biosphere, Archive material"

Two videos from an upcoming documentary on The Subharchord sent my way via Atomic Shadow. There's a Facebook Page on the documentary here, which links to an Atelier Nord site here. The following is from the site in Googlish:


"Research, project development and filming for documentaries and pilot

Ina Pillat (2010-2013).

In the early 60s there was built an instrument in East Berlin that was far ahead of its time. Subharchord was an electronic sound generator, constructed by the foremost audio experts in the country. Today there are only a few who know the instrument history.

The protagonist of the film is Gerhard Steinke, an energetic, curious and spirited 85-year-old. Steinke was 1956 head of "Labor für Musikalisch-akustische Grenzprobleme" in East Berlin - where Subharchord was developed and built.

Early in 1968, three employees from the Norwegian Broadcasting on visits to East Berlin. Shortly later became a Subharchord secretly sent to Oslo. Since this meeting, Gerhard Steinke not know anything about what happened to the instrument.

Of the six instruments that were built in the former GDR, there exists today only three - one in Vienna, one in Berlin and one in Trondheim. The documentary makes a deep dive in Subharchord story based on the copy was purchased by NRK and uncovers a story that has parallels to the Cold War, Norwegian experimental music and culture.

Director Ina Pillat is originally from East Germany, but is now living in Oslo.

She was educated at Burg Giebichenstein in Halle and Academy of Media Arts Cologne. Pillat has directed and produced several documentaries and has worked at several German TV stations."

Starring: Gerhard Steinke, Klaus Bechstein, Georg Geike, Bjørn Roar Svensson, Biosphere

Genre: Documentary

Directed By: Ina Pillat

http://ateliernord.no/prosjektarkiv/subharchord/