The River Orwell

The Norfolk / Suffolk Border

In early 2002 I was given a cassette tape by a friend, a fan of classical and opera music, which contained short extracts of predominately classical music. This tape contained only the first few seconds of a track and then the tape would stop with a thud wherein there was a short gap and then another snippet, seemingly the opening of another track... the tape continued like this for 90 minutes without relent. It was strangely moving, almost spooky on places. But every three or 4 seconds the sound would change.  I have no idea why my friend created this tape with it odd array of snippets and thuds or why he give it to me, the only copy as far as I understand. 

A few years later I began to create digital electronic sound on my computer, using a basic music program (called Cool Edit Pro) and I wondered if I could in any way use this strange little cassette tape. Unfortunately the condition of the tape and the old cassette walkman I pulled out the cupboard which I used to transfer this onto my computer and resulted in a loud metallic buzzing constantly whirring through the recording. Yet when on the computer among the static and buzzing of the recording something of the beauty of the tape still came through. The music program I was using although basic was able to clean up some of the buzz and static but still the worn bruised fuzzy brown quality of the tape remained and I grew to love this quality and lack of quality. From the mid to the late 2000s some strands in underground music grew a fascination with cassette music so I decided to start cutting up the tape as it was on my laptop and so this project was born. 
 
What follows then are compositions based purely on the contents of this tape. At times the metallic sounds seemed to swell my ear drums till I it felt like my ear bleed, of course they didn't but I got many headaches making these sounds. It is  experimental, avant gadre and minimal. Its a fractured, bruised, defeated sound, like insects swarming or failing. But there is beauty here somewhere and also a sadness in the doleful gaps between the echos.


   

Experimental Tape Piece Number 1 (recorded 2008)

In early 2002 I was given a cassette tape by a friend, a fan of classical and opera music, which contained short extracts of predominately classical music. This tape contained only the first few seconds of a track and then the tape would stop with a thud wherein there was a short gap and then another snippet, seemingly the opening of another track... the tape continued like this for 90 minutes without relent. It was strangely moving, almost spooky on places. But every three or 4 seconds the sound would change. I have no idea why my friend created this tape with it odd array of snippets and thuds or why he give it to me, the only copy as far as I understand.

A few years later I began to create digital electronic sound on my computer, using a basic music program (called Cool Edit Pro) and I wondered if I could in any way use this strange little cassette tape. Unfortunately the condition of the tape and the old cassette walkman I pulled out the cupboard which I used to transfer this onto my computer and resulted in a loud metallic buzzing constantly whirring through the recording. Yet when on the computer among the static and buzzing of the recording something of the beauty of the tape still came through. The music program I was using although basic was able to clean up some of the buzz and static but still the worn bruised fuzzy brown quality of the tape remained and I grew to love this quality and lack of quality. From the mid to the late 2000s some strands in underground music grew a fascination with cassette music so I decided to start cutting up the tape as it was on my laptop and so this project was born.

What follows then are compositions based purely on the contents of this tape. At times the metallic sounds seemed to swell my ear drums till I it felt like my ear bleed, of course they didn't but I got many headaches making these sounds. It is experimental, avant garde and minimal. Its a fractured, bruised, defeated sound, like insects swarming or failing. But there is beauty here somewhere and also a sadness in the doleful gaps between the echos.


Experimental Tape Piece Number 2 (recorded 2008)

In early 2002 I was given a cassette tape by a friend, a fan of classical and opera music, which contained short extracts of predominately classical music. This tape contained only the first few seconds of a track and then the tape would stop with a thud wherein there was a short gap and then another snippet, seemingly the opening of another track... the tape continued like this for 90 minutes without relent. It was strangely moving, almost spooky on places. But every three or 4 seconds the sound would change. I have no idea why my friend created this tape with it odd array of snippets and thuds or why he give it to me, the only copy as far as I understand.

A few years later I began to create digital electronic sound on my computer, using a basic music program (called Cool Edit Pro) and I wondered if I could in any way use this strange little cassette tape. Unfortunately the condition of the tape and the old cassette walkman I pulled out the cupboard which I used to transfer this onto my computer and resulted in a loud metallic buzzing constantly whirring through the recording. Yet when on the computer among the static and buzzing of the recording something of the beauty of the tape still came through. The music program I was using although basic was able to clean up some of the buzz and static but still the worn bruised fuzzy brown quality of the tape remained and I grew to love this quality and lack of quality. From the mid to the late 2000s some strands in underground music grew a fascination with cassette music so I decided to start cutting up the tape as it was on my laptop and so this project was born.

What follows then are compositions based purely on the contents of this tape. At times the metallic sounds seemed to swell my ear drums till I it felt like my ear bleed, of course they didn't but I got many headaches making these sounds. It is experimental, avant garde and minimal. Its a fractured, bruised, defeated sound, like insects swarming or failing. But there is beauty here somewhere and also a sadness in the doleful gaps between the echos.

Experimental Tape Piece Number 3 (recorded 2009)

Experimental Tape Piece Number 4 (recorded 2009)

The sounds you hear were recorded on various locations over the last few years. I took them afresh and manipulated them for a while, creating loops of pure sound to get to where it is!?
There is a buried piece of music here which drifts in half way through which I found as an untitled piece in some old music files. I don't know here its from.   


Manipulated Field Recording April 2015

This is part of an ongoing collaboration I'm undertaking with  https://soundcloud.com/audio-obscura-music
It is still a work in progress. The track is a ghostly fragmented piece which is very loosely based on the composer Mahler, which should be more apparent with later mixes we are making with more strings and orchestrations to come. We started after messaging each other on Soundcloud for a while, then exchanged sounds files without any preconceived ideas, Audio Obscura sent me mainly ambient synth sounds and percussion and I sent back old field recordings of London. We then met and just improvised with our laptops fed into a digital 4 track, turning these fragments into loops over two long sessions. The field recordings you hear is made in and around King Cross Station, London in summer 2013. At the time they had a free piano people in the middle of station just near the eurostar check in area, people can play as they wait for trains - this is what you hear after about 8 mins into the piece. 

Sound fragments for Audio Obscura

The Sea organ of Zadar is an architectural object located in Zadar, Croatia and an experimental musical instrument, which plays music by way of sea waves and tubes located underneath a set of large marble steps.
This recording was made sitting on the marble steps of the organ over two nights on on 1st and 2nd August 2012. 
I tried to include a photo of the plaque which sits next to the organ on the marble steps but soundcloud wouldn't let me upload it somehow? 

Field Recording: The Sea Organ At Zadar, August 2012

Oslo-London-Norfolk. Drifting-floating-walking. Thinking-unthinking. English-Norwegian-Orwellian. Noise is Peace. 
(
Biography: I was born in Norfolk, England to Norwegian parents. I divide my time; farming, working and recently to writing professionally in both Norfolk, England and in Oslo, Norway (where my parents have now retired.) I also spend a lot of time in London.  As of December 2015 I will be moving to Scotland for most of 2016 working on a contract for a Scottish Environmental charity.     

I speak little Norwegian having spent much of my time in the UK. I record sounds and field recordings and also use computers for music - always interested in collaborations and doing interesting things!)  

The Norfolk Fjords

Popular tracks