Today, the Japanese musician Taro Ishida posted a video clip to his Instagram of a rainshower in Nasu Forest (Nasu-machi Nasu-gun, Tochigi.) He also shared a 30-minute audio recording of the rainshower via his dropbox account. I downloaded the audio and decided to improvise a little piece of ambient music around the rainshower recording using my electric 12-string guitar and two patches on a Microkorg synthesiser.

As I listened to Taro's recording, I made a sketch of the rainshower.

I was feeling quite miserable this wintery morning, so I went for a long walk into and around the city of Adelaide. On the way there, it started raining heavily and I sprinted to the nearest shelter at the Himiji Japanese Gardens in the southern parklands. The shelter adjacent to the beautiful stone garden provided a bit of respite whilst the rain cleared. As the rain subsided and the sunlight peeked through, it was a beautiful moment there by the stone garden and my mood improved significantly from that point on! The sound of the dripping rain was particularly lovely and hearing Taro's recording later in the day reminded me of this moment. Hence, the title of this piece.

I want to thank Taro for uploading and sharing the recording of the rainshower in Nasu. 

Taro Ishida: field recording
TLR: electric 12-string guitar, synthesiser

It rains today (in Nasu & Adelaide)[feat. Taro Ishida]

Tristan Louth-Robins is a South Australian artist working principally in the medium of sound art and field recording. Ideas of sound and its signification are key elements in Louth-Robins' practice, traversing the space between the visual and aural his work is realised through the mediums of recordings, installation, visual art and performance. He is interested in sound and its associative implications - including its relationship to objects, technology, urban space, memory and the natural world. 


Since 2005, Louth-Robins has presented work in Australia and internationally as a solo artist, whilst also collaborating with artists, writers, researchers, musicians and performers. 

Working across a vast array of activities encompassing composition, sound design, installation art, field recording and workshops, his work has been featured in events such as the Adelaide Festival of Arts (2006), The National Regional Arts Festival (2012), Mildura-Wentworth Arts Festival (2013), Fairfax Festival (2013) and Adelaide Fringe Festival (2014); and selected works exhibited at galleries including The Australian Experimental Art Foundation (2009), SASA Gallery (2012, 2015), Light Square Gallery (2012) and FELT Space (2015). His audio works have been broadcast on radio including Radio National, Classic FM, The BBC (UK), Acoustic Frontiers (USA) and RBB (Germany).