Sonic Mmabolela Series

AQUEDUCT 2 - Pipe Dreams
Second in a series
(first 6 mins by Antony, last 6 mins by Nikki)
A collaborative composition by
Elan Links/ Elan Valley artist-in-residence, Antony Lyons
https://antonylyons.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-hills-are-alive.html
@novaformula
&
Sound Artist, Nikki Sheth
nikkisheth.myportfolio.com/about

An imaginative geopoetic concept piece.
As well as the water that flows through the 70 mile pipeline from the Elan Valley in the Welsh uplands to the English city of Birmingham, this piece expresses the idea of a two-way sharing - or flow - of watery sonic ambiences.
Echoes, voices, field recordings, temporal reverberations. Reciprocities.
Atmospherics and hydrospherics of the counterflows.
Rural and urban, and in-between.
Sound art and acoustic ecology.

Big thanks to the sheep farming community of the Elan Valley, especially Dean, Jolene and Esme (Pen y Garreg Farm). Also to Cath and Krysia (CARAD) and Matt (Elan Links).
The soundtrack features 6min composed by Antony, followed by 6min by Nikki.
Both sonic sections incorporate pipe-band samples from Birmingham pipe bands.
The Elan Valley Aqueduct was constructed over 100 years ago by Birmingham Corporation, to supply clean water to a rapidly expanding city. A visit to Rhayader Carnival by a Birmingham pipe band was annual celebratory event for many years after.
The artist residency is hosted by the Heritage Lottery Elan Links project, and is connected to the 'Here Commons Everybody' programme supported by Arts Council England and the CCRI (Countryside and Community Research Institute)
http://www.antonylyons.net/antony/Here_Commons_Everybody.html

A linked artist film features archival Super8 film generously provided by Pauline Lewis (Rhayader) mixed with new video footage by Antony Lyons.
vimeo.com/668271183

Aqueduct 2 - Pipe Dreams, collaboration w/ Antony Lyons

4 Exchange Dawn Chorus

3 Exchange Hydrophone

2 Exchange Grass

1 Exchange Electromagnetic

Windmills Of Lapua Binaural

Frog calls are used as mating calls, to advertise location and to designate territory. This piece explores these vocalisations, territorial boundaries and the use of space with the Wave Field Synthesis system.

Composed for the Wave Field Synthesis System on residency as part of the Sonic Cartography Conference 2022 with The University of Kent.

Amphibian Vocalisations - WFS

This project explores the psychological effect of environmental sound in well-being spaces and looks to foster a deeper connection to the natural world. R&D phase supported by Sound UK.

Nikki Sheth - Immersive Soundscapes for Well-Being Audio Excerpt, Sound Generator 2023

Orford Ness- Bats

Orford Ness- Fence

Orford Ness- Beetles

Orford Ness (stereo reduction)

Further Afield (stereo version of 8 channel piece)

Paddabolela was composed using field recordings from a sound artist residency at Mmabolela Reserve, South Africa in 2017. Using advance technologies to capture sound, the piece looks to preserve sounds of the natural environment and engage the audience with an immersive listening experience through the use of multi-channel and ambisonic techniques. The piece takes the listener on a journey through different sound worlds of the South African terrain using a combination of natural sounds and sounds that have been abstracted to bring out an alternative sonic reality, creating an all-encompassing listening experience of the soundscape.

Paddabolela

Commisioned by Barber Institute of Fine Arts for the Crosscurrents 2018 Festival

Mother and child by the sea

Limpopo is the second piece in a series of works composed using recordings from the Sonic Mmabolela Residency 2017. The field recordings used for this piece all contain natural biophonic rhythms that have been filtered, layered and sculpted into a five-minute immersive soundscape composition.

Limpopo

Bird Calls of Sub-Saharan Africa (Barber Late Commission)

From the palm-strewn banks of the Limpopo River to the dark depths of the Hippo Pool, Mmabolela transports the listener through the soundscapes of this remote location in South Africa. A series of interweaving ‘snap-shots’ and constructed realities based upon the many recording locations visited during the 2017 Sonic Mmabolela residency transport the listener to this hyperreal time and place. This work has been composed using ambisonic recordings and is the final piece in a series of three works resulting from the residency.

Mmabolela

Sounding Surfaces @ Artefact Stirchley - Audio Excerpt (collab w/ John Lucy)

Sound Artist Nikki Sheth has created a soundwalk of Stirchley for the Ten Acres of Sound Festival. The walk encourages a deeper connection with the natural environment and a new awareness of the hidden sounds around us – both natural and man-made.

Listen to the hidden sounds of underwater currents, bats hunting above the River Rea, a day at Birmingham Bike Foundry and electromagnetic sounds. As the walk progresses, the field recordings develop into smaller musical compositions, progressing from a natural to imaginative sound world.

Follow the soundwalk on your smartphone using SOUNDkitchen’s free SOUNDwalker app that guides listeners along the walk and triggers audio when at a listening point. If you can't get to Stirchley you can listen to the sounds here!

This project was devised by Nikki Sheth in association with Artefact Projects, Ten Acres of Sound and SOUNDkitchen.

For more info: https://nikkisheth.myportfolio.com/stirchley-soundwalk

Stirchley Soundwalk - Ten Acres of Sound Commission

Nocturnal Insights uses recordings of crepuscular and nocturnal wildlife across locations in Hertfordshire, Birmingham and Dorset in order to document habits and patterns in the behaviour of nocturnal wildlife in the UK and to capture sounds that are usually unheard throughout the night. Through an artistic representation of the recorded sounds, the piece takes the listener on a journey through soundscapes of the night organised according to the time at which they were recorded. It evokes a sense of darkness, loneliness and at times, a melancholic state, reflecting the effects of extinction, light pollution and the man-made world on the natural environment and ecosystem. Be transported to a sonic world of Daubenton, Pipistrelle and rare Greater Horseshoe bats using echolocation to hunt at dusk and into the night, sika deer calling out into a vast landscape in complete darkness and the rhythmic behaviour of crickets and tawny owls.

Commissioned for Land Lines at The University of Leeds.

Nocturnal Insights - Land Lines Commission

Nikki Sheth is an internationally recognised sound artist and composer. Her practice involves field recording, multichannel soundscape composition, multimedia installations, sound mapping and soundwalking. She uses sound as a medium to bring a voice to the environment and encourage a wider awareness of the natural world. She was awarded a Sound and Music award (2020), nominated for the Phonurgia Nova Awards (2020), received an Honourable Mention for the Sound of the Year Awards (2021), nominated for Ivor Novello Composer Award (2021) and awarded a Sound and Music Seed Award for New Voices (2022). Her work has been presented internationally, most recently at The World Forum for Acoustic Ecology Conference (Florida), Ars Electronica (Austria), A&E Labs (Chatham), The Wellcome Collection (London) and MANTIS (Manchester) and she has been featured on Framework Radio, Clydebuilt Radio, Resonance FM and BBC Radio 3.

Nikki Sheth

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