Name: The Mockingbird by Billy Shelton
Duration: 7 min 23 s
Description: I recorded a very vocal mockingbird in a field in Virginia. The field recording is slowed way down and accompanied by a couple of tape loops and an improvised guitar track with liberal use of a volume pedal and magnets.

The Phone Woman

Bass, Bass Clarinet and Drum Trio..part of a suite of tunes focusing on the Bass Clarinet - coz its cool : )

Open All Night

More music for Bass Clarinet, solo piece this time

Release

The Complete Collection

Blue in Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDqy42geXE
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHl65t2q5XG/

La Isla De Las Menucas

I recorded a very vocal mockingbird in a field in Virginia. The field recording is slowed way down and accompanied by a couple of tape loops and an improvised guitar track with liberal use of a volume pedal and magnets.

The Mockingbird

Aneto

Murmurations No.2 is built from 13 improvised tracks, each recorded in sequence and each responding only to the track that came immediately before it. In practice, that means the ear never listens to the full structure — only to a single sound in the moment, and then reacts.

The mix follows the same rule: volume and panning respond solely to the previous layer, creating depth and dimension from a chain of one-to-one interactions rather than a top-down design.

What results is a kind of emergent form.
What’s the shape — the motion — of the piece when each gesture only knows the one that came before it?

Murmurations No. 2 (For 13 guitars — ambient, spatial 🎧)

A second try like a track to explore, to search around...The sea, the ocean...

Vagues D'Océane.WAV

Life's A Beach performed Live at Woodshop Recording Studios. 

Watch the video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVsaRBeRCAU

Photo By Nick Sopczak

Life's A Beach - Live at Woodshop Recording Studios

Opening number of POAUW! 6 Intonarumori and percussion. 
POAUW! was a commission for MONA FOMA 2013 celebrating the 100th anniversary of Futurist artist Luigi Russolo's manifesto  "the art of noises". In a nutshell he wanted to abandon the modern orchestra as he felt it no longer reflected the aural reality of the early 20th century. In its place he designed and built many INTONARUMORi  (sound generators) and played them wherever he could. he was often beaten up for his efforts. We remade 6 of these intonarumori and added all kinds of machines, found objects and noisy people for this series of concerts. We got the audience to join in every nite and help create a unique racket. Around 10,000 people saw and heard POAUW! over its 4 nite run. Very keen to do more with these amazing machines

POAUW! Movement 1 La Varieta Dei Rumori e Infinita

These are my explorations in sound painting… plus a song or two that accidentally resemble actual music. This is less like a record store and more like stumbling into an artist’s studio: things in progress, things half-finished, things I’m still trying to understand myself.

I’m a guitarist, improviser, and composer based in the Washington, DC area — a Berklee grad from way back when I still thought knowing modes and chord scales would fix everything. I now split my time between two worlds: textural, experimental solo work and the more traditional jazz language I explore with my trios.

In the solo pieces, I chase self-organizing sound — music that tries to form itself without asking my permission: fluid, dynamic, occasionally confused, but alive. With the trio, the focus shifts toward groove, swing, and melody, though improvisation remains the one thing I haven’t managed to ruin.

Both sides come from the same place: curiosity, listening, and trusting the music more than I trust my own plans.

If any of this resonates — or if you just want to talk shop, collaborate, or say hi — feel free to reach out. 🙏

The Mockingbird

Billy Shelton

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