After the Beep

The artist Marcel Duchamp once observed that 'one can look at seeing but one can not hear hearing'. The process and philosophy behind the documentation of sound is explored in a musician's project to capture the sounds of his hometown in London.

Featuring the music and field recordings of Andre Louis. More of Andre's wonderful work can be found with the following links:
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/andre/
http://soundcloud.com/andre-louis

This piece was awarded bronze at the Charles Parker Prize 2015.

Image courtesy of Ian Rawes, (London Sound Survey)

See Without Seeing - Charles Parker Prize winner

With visions of his voice gliding across the waves, this short audio drama follows the story of retired naval officer, Archie Balfour, as he attempts to reach his life-long goal of becoming a Radio 4 announcer.

The Announcer - Audio Drama

The sounds and stories of a forest on a remote hill in Northumberland. Planted only 30 years ago, the forest has encouraged flora and fauna to flourish. But what effect has it had on the humans that interact with it?

Speaking to the last shepherd to work the moor, a deerstalker who now roams the forest, and an academic with research in the concept of 'rewilding', this programme explores the forest and the effect it has on the human spirit. 

(The painting referenced in the programme is 'Der Chasseur' by the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, which demonstrates the nuanced relationship man has with the forest). 

With thanks to Mike, Jimmy Robson and Dr Jamie Lorimer.

An English Forest

Ex inmate and current prison reformer, Carl Cattermole talked to me about the world of prison economies, a system almost entirely unknown outside of the prison walls. 

Explaining why tins of tuna are so lucrative in jail, Carl offers an insight into human nature when it is stripped of normal modes of currency. 

Played on BBC Radio 4's 'Outsourced Radio'. 

You can hear the piece here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07375cb

Outsourced Radio – Interview with Carl

Sounds Inside

This is a short clip of writer Carl Cattermole describing the unique soundscape of British prisons, accompanied by audio recorded in HMP Brixton. 

This clip was played at the pitching event for the Radio Funding Prize offered by the Whicker's World Foundation, and we went on to win first prize, receiving £5,000 to make the programme in full, along with National Prison Radio. 

You can read more about the programme and the other great winners here: https://whickersworldfoundation.com/2017/06/2017-audio-award-winners-announced-at-radio-academy-festival/

Thanks again to Whicker's World!

Winning 'Sounds Inside' entry to Whicker's World Foundation Prize

‘A flustered looking man on a tiny moped pulls over to ask me directions to Buxton. I tell him to head for the hills and keep on going for three or four hours. He looks a bit blank and then asks where the nearest petrol station is.’

For the last eight years Kevin Boniface has been writing succinct descriptions of conversations and incidents that have taken place whilst out and about on his postal round in West Yorkshire, his daily route taking him from the main sorting office to the outlying neighbourhoods above the town. 

Kevin’s commentaries rarely feature a story, but there are glimpses of hundreds of stories. ‘I walk past an elderly man sweeping his lawn with a dustpan and brush.’ Just like walking by someone’s house and briefly peering in, we can only peer for so long, until we carry on walking again.

‘A few doors down, A note scribbled in marker pen on lined paper from a ring bound notebook has been sellotaped to a window: "Gone to Blackpool for good. Andrew". 

In a style that’s at the same time observant, enigmatic and often highly surreal, Kevin’s writings are an important documentation of the ordinary goings-on of an ordinary English town. For Kevin, ‘scratching beneath the surface of the ordinary is endlessly fascinating.’

This piece was shortlisted for the Hearsay Festival Create Award.

Man Of Letters

Radio producer and aspiring Sound Lord. Formerly at 
@BBCRadioDrama, @TBIMedia, @PrisonRadioUK, @Overtoneradio
 and others. http://soundcloud.com/tom-glasser

thomasglasser89@gmail.com

Tom Glasser

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