A short étude to contribute towards the STONEsoup event which is being hosted by SOUNDkitchen in association with BEAST. The piece uses sound recorded exclusively in Birmingham, with notable appearances from the Bournville - New Street train line and a now sadly defunct metal press works in Stirchley.

Date of performance: 4th March 2011 - Midlands Art Centre

See http://soundkitchenuk.org/events/4-march-9-10pm-mac for more info

STONEsoup

The wind is an ephemeral force; we know it not as a ‘thing’ in its own right but rather through its effects on the world around us – the movement of branches and leaves, the changing of the weather and as an exciter of resonances. It gives shape to otherwise acoustically transparent landscapes through its interaction with inanimate objects or colouring of sounding bodies. So often we hear the wind as much as sense it physically – the colour and intensity of the sound indicating energy and proximity – causing its resonances to become part of the acoustic fingerprint of a space.

Aeolian Forms conveys the idea of a virtual landscape whose spatial architecture is in constant flux, shaped by the changing energy of the wind. The impressionistic voyage seeks to portray not only the vastness of open spaces but also feelings of intimacy, enclosure and emptiness as the winds evolve and acquire new significance.

* Please note that this is a stereo reduction of an 8-channel work. Feel free to contact me if you would like to listen to the full multi-channel recording.

Aeolian Forms (Stereo Reduction)

Composed for the Sonic Visions installation exhibited at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts between September and November 2013, this work was composed in response to Charles-François Daubigny’s (1817 – 1878) A Seascape (Brittany, possibly 1867). The installation was presented without programme notes; however, the following is a script of a recorded interview discussing the inspiration behind the work and its relation to the painting.

"The first thing that caught my eye with this work was not so much related to the subject being a seascape – the presence of water, waves, etc. – but rather the quality of texture depth and light in the sky which is towards the top-left of the work. For me it was this sky rather than the explicitly sea quality which was the defining element in the work and, for me, creates the mood and depth in Daubigny’s depiction of his seascape. Daubigny’s language also interested me in that, rather than depicting a scene in an overly objective manner, he chooses to depict it in a way which gives a feel or character of it – something almost poetic and emotional which exists beyond what the objects actually are. As a result, in my viewing I felt an impression not only of the power and the violence of the sea, but also things such as darkness, emptiness, and a certain sense of fragility towards the artist who exists in the midst of the tempest. In many ways I felt that by depicting something so vast and without borders in a way which encourages imaginative wanderings in the viewer, the vastness portrayed manifested itself as something quite personal and internal in the listener. I would compare it to standing on a mountain by oneself; you are in the midst of immensity but, by the same measure, acutely aware of your own solitude in the midst of that immensity, and I think that it is for this reason that I felt a certain level of darkness and solitude in my own viewing of the painting. As such my response would not be to depict overly objectively the seascape which is shown in the painting but rather to depict my own aesthetic response to it. The narrative of the work would follow the same exploratory trajectory and guide the listener down a path whereby the listener might have similar sensations or realisations of the work as I did. Also, just as in my viewing of the painting, where the sky and its gestural quality were the elements which drew me into the work, the start of the work is marked by turbulent, wind-like gestures which give a sense of a large space which is also highly dynamic. It is not until the second half of the work where the space begins to open up more, and the attention shifts to the delicate water material, that it becomes representative of the introspective immensity that I felt whilst viewing the painting. 

Finally, in using the multichannel speaker arrangement, I tried to open up the canvas, stretching it beyond the confines of the frame of the painting, both in terms of width and depth of image, and place the listener in a slightly alternative, impressionist world which both my own and Daubigny’s artistic language inhabits."

* Please note that this is a stereo reduction of an 8-channel work. Feel free to contact me if you would like to listen to the full multi-channel recording.

A Moment's Reflection (Stereo Reduction)

Two short sound design studies, exploring the material qualities and sonic potential of two different objects: a piece of currugated cardboard and a metal ratchet.

Ratchet

Carboard

A dark atmosphere reveals an object in motion, only for it to take on a new life.

Dark Spinning Top

The sound types and structuring of Rip are influenced by the gestural shaping and energy of tearing and cutting motions. The piece is built around this fundamental wave-like gesture, whose energy is applied over differing temporal spans to create a changing landscape set in motion by these gestures. Here these sweeping motions and textures interact, forming swirling currents and tides, which ebb and flow and build to moments of strong physical gesture. Sensations of spatial perspective are also important in Rip. The listener has a changing view of the landscape throughout the piece, at times looking out over broad vistas, and at other points being enveloped and pulled along by fast-flowing currents, flowing into new sound worlds.

* Please note that this is a stereo reduction of an 8-channel work. Feel free to contact me if you would like to listen to the full multi-channel work.

Rip (Stereo Reduction)

The steelworks offers a wealth of sonic potential: a world bursting with energy and containing awesome power. We observe the various processes – drilling, welding, sawing etc. – taking place, whilst gradually (and rather tentatively!) getting closer and closer to the source. At times we get so close that we are pulled inside of the steel, revealing a hidden world which resonates to the energy and impulses from outside.

Thanks to Severfield-Reeve Structures in Thirsk for allowing me to record some of their amazing machinery, and giving me a free rein around the works.

Steel Curtain

During a recent recording session I experimented with a collection of skinned percussion instruments, exploring their potential for larger gestures, as well as more subtle, textural material played delicately on the skins. This proved to be sonically interesting, however what surprised me most was the resonant material available via some unusual micing of the larger congas, showing the instruments in a different light which began to move away from the other explicitly drum-like sounds.

Back in the studio I began to explore this contrast further, on the one hand focussing more on the ‘skin’ sounds – the texture and grain of the skin of the drum – rather than the percussive ‘drum’ sounds, pulling the listener into a closer examination of the surface of the drum, whilst on the other exploring the resonant interior sound-world of the instrument. As the piece develops ‘real-world’ sounds are pulled into the music, further exaggerating the environmental qualities of the interior of the drum, moving the listener away from a purely acousmatic examination of the instrument, and into a new landscape, where images, memories and emotions are evoked in the listener, set in motion by the impulses from outside.

* Please note that this is a stereo reduction of an 8-channel work. Feel free to contact me if you would like to listen to the full multi-channel work.

Resonance (Stereo Reduction)

As the listener descends into sleep, they become more lucid as the environment around them comes into focus. Periodically our descent is broken by a jolt back into a seeming reality, only to find that where we have actually arrived is another dream – a false awakening into a distorted reality, with an unsettling undercurrent which takes us deeper into the subconscious...

False Awakening is in many ways a trip down memory lane, exploring sounds and environments which conjure up fond memories of childhood experiences. Recent trips to parts of North Yorkshire have renewed my appreciation for the natural beauty of these places, whilst also filling me with a sense of apprehension, that with the ever increasing rate of inflation and need for space their beauty will not remain untouched for long. Much of the sound material revolves around recordings made in the North Yorkshire Moors and those made at a steel yard in Thirsk, and the listener is pulled between these two sound-worlds in a disturbing reverie, where vast, untouched landscape are encroached upon by the sounds of modern life.

* Please note that this is a stereo reduction of an 5.1 work. Feel free to contact me if you would like to listen to the full multi-channel work.

False Awakening (Stereo Reduction)

An electroacoustic composer, based in  Birmingham, and currently studying towards a PhD under Jonty Harrison. His works experiment with the synthesis of abstract and more recognisable material, seeking to shape the listener’s musical experience through varying levels of focus and perception. Chris frequently performs with BEAST and his works have been played in the UK and abroad.


Chris Tarren

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