Trumpet and Electronics

ATRA-HASIS - (18 minutes)
Beach soundscapes and choral works sung from portions of the ancient flood myth poem Atra-Hasis.

Written nearly 4000 years ago, the Babylonian Atra-hasis is an iconic poem with an eternal message for mankind. It tells the story of how a thoughtless mankind weighs heavily upon the earth, such that the gods are forced to act. They first send forth a great sickness, then a great famine. But when neither of these can quiet the noise and chaos of humans, they are forced to send forth a great flood to wash away mankind.

FOR MORE DETAILS -  https://www.ahillav.co.uk/atra-hasis-2021/

These soundscapes and choral works were developed as part of the 'Over Lunan' performance project.

Composition and Sound Design - Andrew Knight-Hill

Choir - Chamber Choir from the University of St Andrews Music Centre
Rebecca Black
Sarah Greer
James McNinch
Nathanael Fagerson
Ross McArthur
Guy Minch
Elizabeth Unsworth Wilson
Jane Pettegree
Choir Director - Claire Innes-Hopkins

Voice - Prof. Nathan Wasserman

Additional Sound Recording – Steve Urquhart

Babylonian Language Consultants – Dr. Martin Worthington, Prof. Nathan Wasserman, Charlotte Steeb M.A.

Atra-Hasis (2021)

Stille Lyd means ‘Quiet Sound’. This piece was developed from recordings made in January 2014 around the log cabins at Høvringen, 1000 meters above sea level on the edge of the Rondane National Park. The air temperature was -13ºC and there was significant additional wind chill, which made the recording process a challenging but highly rewarding experience. The site was almost completely deserted and the isolation and silence of the location highlighted how many sounds there were to hear.

The work itself is developed from a range of different sound recordings captured at Høvringen, from the patter of snow falling on clothing, to the bubbling of water underneath a frozen stream and the crunch and swish of skis and boots on snow.

The work attempts to capture an impression of the experience of being in that ‘quiet’ location, an environment that is as beautiful as it is brutal.

Stille Lyd: Part II – Høvringen (2014)

A recording of a Bentley Comet sock knitting machine at work in the Pantherella factory, Leicester.

Bentley Comet - Knitting Machine

Demolition of the New Walk Centre building in Leicester.

http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/council-and-democracy/council-news/our-news-service-/future-of-new-walk-centre/

Demolition of #NewWalkCentre in Leicester 22/2/15

This work is composed from materials captured on the factory floor of one of the largest factories producing utilities in the US, Nela Park, Cleavland, Ohio - GE's lightbulb factory. The humble lightbulb is ubiquitous, driving our modern culture and providing us with a sense of controlling time and the working day. But few think about the origins of this nondescript object and the people who develop them.

The lightbulb, and the incandescent glow that it provides, is both a symbol of idea, of freedom and liberty. But it is an object which permits us to work late into the night, extending the working day and entrapping us in prolonged toil and function. 

The original recordings are lo fi, made on minidisk recorder with a low quality microphone, but this character of the materials is evocative of the dim, grainy, obscurity experienced as we strive to peer into the darkness. These original sounds are complemented by transformed materials that represent the light, pure tones which elucidate the noise in counterpoint.

This piece was premiered in a performance at Lincoln Centre, NY as part of MONO NO AWARE's MONO X festival in December 2016 (http://mononoawarefilm.com/mono-x-imagesounds). 

It was originally performed as a soundtrack in response to the film 'House" by Ben Rivers - http://www.benrivers.com/house.html

Original field recordings made by Jim Hobbs - http://jimhobbs.org/home.html

incandescence

[ Trumpet - Bede Williams - http://www.bedewilliams.com/About.html ]

The first movement of composition for Trumpet and Electronics, extending and exploring the spectral content of trumpet timbre within an immersive 360 degree soundscape. 

The electronics part, composed in 3OA, morphs and swirls around the performer and the audience. The performer moves through the space and between the audience members, at points standing in opposition to the electronics, while in others coalescing and merging seamlessly into a unified mass of sound.

This performance was recorded at the L-ISA studios in Highgate on 24th July 2019.

This piece is dedicated to Rolf Gehlhaar.

Trumpet And Electronics - Pt.1 Attack and Continuants

[ Trumpet - Bede Williams - http://www.bedewilliams.com/About.html ]

The second movement of composition for Trumpet and Electronics, extending and exploring the spectral content of trumpet timbre within an immersive 360 degree soundscape. 

The electronics part, composed in 3OA, morphs and swirls around the performer and the audience. The performer moves through the space and between the audience members, at points standing in opposition to the electronics, while in others coalescing and merging seamlessly into a unified mass of sound.

This live performance was recorded at the L-ISA studios in Highgate on 24th July 2019.

This piece is dedicated to Rolf Gehlhaar.

Trumpet And Electronics - Pt.2 Spectral Spaces

Commissioned by Jasie McArdle and Ellen Bianchini to develop a soundtrack that serves to enrich the visual and tactile aspects of the work and to evoke associations with nature and the environment.

The summer soundscape is composed from sounds captured in Kent and Leicester, with additional materials provided by the British Library Sound Archive.

The soundscape is more active than winter and full of life, from insects to birds to dogs and humans. The climate is also more dynamic with a shift in weather and situation from fine to stormy. This further reflects the general transition of Spring -> Summer -> Autumn (though it wouldn’t really be a British summer without rain).

List of sounds:

Ambience and birdsong (recorded in Clarendon Park, April 2014).
Insects and bees (recorded in Leicester, Spring 2012).
Park ambience (recorded Victoria Park, Leicester in April 2014).
Cuckoo call (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Dog Barking (recorded at Formby Beach, nr. Liverpool December 2012)
Wood Pigeon (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Swift (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Swallow (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Dry Leaves blowing across tarmac (recorded near Formby in Liverpool December 2012).
Rain and Thunder (recorded in Leicester, Summer 2011).
Rain and foliage (recorded in Kent, Summer 2010).
Stream (recorded in north Oslo, February 2014).
House Sparrow (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Leaves Blowing through the trees (recorded in Kent, Summer 2010).
Crunching through leaves (recorded in Kent Spring 2014).

Precious - Summer

Commissioned by Jasie McArdle and Ellen Bianchini to develop a soundtrack that serves to enrich the visual and tactile aspects of the work and to evoke associations with nature and the environment.

The winter soundscape is composed from an array of sounds captured in Norway and sounds received from the British Library Sound Archive.[1]

The soundscape is deliberately sparse and static, to give the impression of open and empty spaces devoid of foliage / leafy materials. The soundscape is harsh and cold reflecting the conditions of the environment.

List of sounds:

Mountain ambience, various (recorded Høvringen January 2014).
Red Fox Scream (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Footsteps crunching in snow (recorded Høvringen January 2014).
Barn Owl Scream (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Tawny Owl Howl (from the British Library Sound Archive).
Finches tweeting and pecking in tree (recorded Høvringen January 2014).
Wind whistling past telegraph poles (recorded Høvringen January 2014).

Precious - Winter

A playful journey through the sounds of a modern city.

The work seeks to playfully explore the sonic textures present within audio recordings, transporting the listener on a surrealistic journey in sound. 

The sounds were recorded in external locations around Liverpool and Leicester, before being transformed, edited and montaged.

Abstracted Journeys was comissioned as part of the 'EARS2' / 'Compose with Sounds' project and was premiered in Paris at the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM), Akousma festival, January 2013.

Abstracted Journeys

02 - Oven

An excerpt from initial composition sketches for the soundtrack to the immersive theatrical performance piece "Over Lunan" - by Aproxima https://www.aproxima.co.uk/over-lunan

Arrival to the Dunes - Over Lunan

Andrew Knight-Hill (1986) is a composer specialising in studio composed works both acousmatic (purely sound based) and audio-visual. His works have been performed extensively across the UK, as well as in Europe and the US.

His works are composed with materials captured from the human and natural world, seeking to explore the beauty in everyday objects.

He is Associate Professor in Sound Design and Music Technology at the University of Greenwich.
www.ahillav.co.uk

Andrew Knight-Hill (1986)

Pinned to spotlight

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