Slow Sound | Leon Jean-Marie & Christin Rauter

At TOAST, we aspire to a slower, more thoughtful way of life.

Following this philosophy, we have created Slow Sound – a series of soundscapes designed to calm, reset and enliven the mind.

The soundscapes in this series are the result of a year-long collaboration between TOAST and the musicians and sound designers Leon Jean-Marie and Christin Rauter.

Each soundscape follows the shape of the seasons, taking us from the murmurings of spring through to the lazy days of summer, the turning of autumn and the deep hum of winter. The fifth track, titled Earth, is grounding.

Listen

To receive the full richness of the audio, we suggest listening to the tracks with headphones as they are binaural recordings. 



You can also listen to Slow Sound on Spotify and iTunes.

Christin is a classically trained pianist and her playing underpins each track. Layered within are natural ‘found sounds’, recorded by both Leon and Christin on their travels. These mix with the sounds of singing bowls, Japanese wind chimes and contemporary digital sound.

"We were meditating while recording - it was a rejuvenating and restoring process." Christin

Both Leon and Christin are interested in exploring how sound can directly impact our wellbeing, with particular focus on how the frequencies of sound can positively alter our state of mind. The dominant scales and frequencies in each of the Slow Sound tracks are connected to the TOAST Collection itself. By translating the frequency of each colour into corresponding musical notes, Leon and Christin have uniquely captured colour in sound. The Spring track is led by yellow, Summer by orange, Autumn by red and Winter by indigo.

"I approach sound like a sculpture, carefully and slowly building it up." Leon

Leon Jean-Marie & Christin Rauter

Leon is a critically acclaimed composer & sound designer. He has composed the music for numerous films, including ‘The Painting’, directed by Boldiszár and ‘Pirelli Calendar’, shot by Tim Walker, with the first ever all black cast. He has worked on music for multiple organisations, including the BBC and the London Olympics. He has always been fascinated by the affect that sound and frequency can have on the mind.

As a classically trained pianist and sound designer, Christin has performed in concert halls around the world. She is driven by a desire to connect people and to initiate discussion on the positive benefits of music and sound as an antidote to stress, noise and visual pollution.

In 2015, Leon and Christin collaborated on a sound installation for the Barbican. Since then the pair have worked on various projects, recently launching their charity Noizonics, designed to bring music to all areas of society.