The work is inspired by the Hindu deity Bhramari, "Goddess of Bees". 

An ancient Hindu text, the Devi Bhagavatam, tells how she defeats Arunasura, a demon who threatens to destroy the world. She summons clouds of black bees who cling to her body and swarm around the demon in great waves. In the ensuing celebrations, music is abundant.

 A sonic palette is extracted from this story through exploration of honey and bumble bee field recordings, in an attempt to capture the powerful, colourful imagery of Bhramari. The use of drone is a nod to both Indian Classical music and a yogic breathing exercise of the same name, also known as “bee breath”, that involves sustained vocal notes. The inclusion of the mridangam, a drum used in the Carnatic tradition, provides a reference to the instruments used to celebrate the defeat of Aransura. 

Many thanks to Chris Macleod and her honey bees for guidance and inspiration, Alex Macleod for recording the honey bees when lockdown measures prevented me from doing so, and Joel Cooke for the mridangam performance.

Composed in the NOVARS studio in Manchester in Spring 2021.

Bhramari

A sonic response to Brutalist architecture. The title references the phrase that gave this aesthetic its name: translated as 'raw concrete'. The work explores the texture of Brutalism, from close-up concrete grain to monochrome shadings viewed from a distance. Design motifs of the style such as repeated, angular geometries also have influence. Close recordings of brick being scraped, struck and crumbled are used as source material; fragmented down to granular clouds or filtered and extended to pitch drones. This piece was a result of many long walks around Manchester during lockdown where I had time to contemplate the many Brutalist gems the city holds; their minimal design, textural variety and social significance being a great inspiration for me.

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Sound artist and composer. Textural explorations on the boundaries of electroacoustic, drone and techno.

matthewpinker@googlemail.com

Matt Pinker

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