Air Residue (Studies in Air and Silence) is an ongoing project exploring air as material, infrastructure, and condition. This album presents two tracks built from recordings of gas meters in Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Tehran, and Zanjan, alongside air shafts, ventilation systems, and the subtle hiss of archival recordings. The sigh of air, the hum of gas meters, the quiet corners of rooms, and the hiss that usually gets cut out of sound form the core material. These “leftovers” are amplified and transformed, letting them speak for themselves.

Failure to Lock-up unfolds as a sustained, steady hiss. In gas metering terminology, “lock-up” refers to the regulator’s ability to fully stop gas flow; failure to lock-up suggests continuous passage, a condition associated with leakage or unsealed pressure. The track adopts this uninterrupted flow as a structural principle.

Diaphragm Reciprocation features rhythmic, pulsing hiss. In diaphragm gas meters, reciprocating membranes move back and forth as gas passes through measurement chambers, producing cyclical mechanical motion. The composition mirrors this motion through accelerated pulses and shifts in pressure.

Rather than adding new material, the work focuses on revealing what is already there. Across both tracks, subtle variations in continuity, pressure, and interruption become the main events. Air Residue continues as a long-term exploration of air, silence, and attentive listening.

Deniz Tafaghodi is an Iranian sound artist and composer based in Toronto. She began her musical training as a classical pianist and studied music at the Art and Architecture University in Tehran before shifting her focus toward electroacoustic composition and sound-based practices. This foundation informs the structural clarity and attentiveness that shape her current work.

Her ongoing series Air Residue (Studies in Air and Silence) investigates air as both material and infrastructure. Through recordings of gas meters in different cities, ventilation systems, and extracted hissing frequencies from archival recordings, she constructs minimal compositions that foreground pressure, flow, and the quiet mechanics of built spaces.

Since 2019, Deniz has also developed a parallel body of work using tongue twisters as compositional material. In these pieces, language becomes both instrument and critique. Through repetition, misarticulation, and humor, she exposes the fragility of speech under systems of power, using absurdity and vocal tension to reflect the tragicomic conditions of contemporary political life.

Her work has been presented internationally at CTM Festival, BBC Radio 3, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Suoni Per Il Popolo, Space21 Festival, and Tehran Contemporary Sounds, among others. She is part of Zerone Duo and curates Chaparkhooneh, a multidisciplinary platform connecting sound, image, and audience.

Credits
Deniz Tafaghodi (field recording, electronics, composition)
Published by Elektramusic Berlin – Paul Clouvel
All rights reserved 2026 © Deniz Tafaghodi
2026 ℗ Elektramusic Berlin – Paul Clouvel