The source material for this composition was recorded in and around the villages of Nodar and Sequeros in central rural Portugal during a residency hosted by Binaural Media in 2011. In going to Nodar we wanted to engage with the young people living in the region and consider their relationship to local myths and stories. 
Our starting point was an open invitation to meet for a storytelling session. This was attended by the senior female population of Sequeros and a group of young people from neighbouring villages. Following this, we facilitated a number of voice workshops with a group of eight teenagers. In finding common ground without language, we focussed on Alice’s practice of extended vocal technique as a means of representing the shared stories. The possibilities of non-lingual voice became our shared exploration ground, with the stories forming a frame of reference for imagination and play. 
The phrase ‘end of the world’ (fim do mundo) came up a number of times during the storytelling workshop. The women were referencing a village in the region that was home to a sorcerer and has since been abandoned and burnt down in a fire. Coming back to our Nodar recordings after 18 months to create this work, the memories of our experiences in Portugal were vivid yet distanced, as was the lost village to these women. 
Nigel’s attendance at the residency was supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria. 


Fim Do Mundo

Edited excerpt from a 31'30'' live performance at Montsalvat, Eltham, VIC, Australia, 6th December, 2012.

As part of Translocal Music Series, curated by Simon Charles.

Listen to the full performance: https://soundcloud.com/nigelbrown/live-at-montsalvat-12-dog

Performance photo taken from performance at TNUA, Taipei, Taiwan, April 2012

12 Dog Cycle, live performance, Montsalvat, 4min edit

This is an edited excerpt from a 9'18" composition. The full work can be listened to here: https://soundcloud.com/nigelbrown/12-dog-cycle-fim-do-mundo

The source material for this composition was recorded in and around the villages of Nodar and Sequeros in central rural Portugal during a residency hosted by Binaural Media in 2011. In going to Nodar we wanted to engage with the young people living in the region and consider their relationship to local myths and stories.

Our starting point was an open invitation to meet for a storytelling session. This was attended by the senior female population of Sequeros and a group of young people from neighbouring villages. Following this, we facilitated a number of voice workshops with a group of eight teenagers. In finding common ground without language, we focussed on Alice’s practice of extended vocal technique as a means of representing the shared stories. The possibilities of non-lingual voice became our shared exploration ground, with the stories forming a frame of reference for imagination and play. 

The phrase ‘end of the world’ (fim do mundo) came up a number of times during the storytelling workshop. The women were referencing a village in the region that was home to a sorcerer and has since been abandoned and burnt down in a fire. Coming back to our Nodar recordings after 18 months to create this work, the memories of our experiences in Portugal were vivid yet distanced, as was the lost village to these women. 

Nigel’s attendance at the residency was supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria. 

Fim Do Mundo by 12 dog cycle

Excerpt recording from a sound walk in Krems, Lower Austria on the 5th October, 2015. Please listen with headphones. 
A fan-driven, modified piano accordion was mounted on the back of a bicycle and set to drone at a low volume during the walk. A quasi-binaural microphone setup (Jecklin disc) was also mounted on the bike by inserting a mic stand in place of the seat post. 
The recording was made whilst pushing the bike slowly through the city in the early evening.

20151005, 1845, Krems, Lower Austria

Studio solo improv 01

Live at West Space, Melbourne, 20 October 2012

Dale Gorfinkel: automated sound sculptures and modified trumpet
Alice Hui-Sheng Chang: extended vocal technique
Nigel Brown: deconstructed accordion and custom amplification

Dale Gorfinkel, Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, Nigel Brown at WestSpace

12 dog cycle. Live recording at Trans Local Music Series, Monsalvat, 6th December, 2012. Series curated by Simon Charles. 

12 dog cycle live at Trans Local, Montsalvat

Live at Make It Up Club. 13 April 2013. 
Alice Hui-Sheng Chang (extended vocal technique), Rohan Rebeiro (drum kit), Nigel Brown (modified accordion and pickups)
Listen via something that can reproduce sub frequencies. 

12 dog cycle with Rohan Rebeiro live at MIUC 13 April 13

I've been working with the piano accordion for the past six years, often in collaboration with vocalist Alice Hui-Sheng Chang as 12 dog cycle. Gradually deconstructing and modifying the instrument to suit my needs, the most recent development has been the complete removal of the bellows and keyboard components of the instrument to allow access to the internal bass reed blocks for tactile manipulation. Combined with an assortment of pickups and microphones the instrument now has the capacity for bending cluster drone explorations through to pummelling metallic excursions.
 
Nigel has performed through Australia, Asia and Europe and also works as a sound designer in various collaborative projects. 


nigelbrown

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