A Moment.....

:: Reel to Reel at the NFSA ::

I had a moment today, where I realised that I had never threaded up a reel to reel tape......

A few months ago I was spending 14 hour days setting up systems based on the 'Latest Technology'. I had (and will have) lengthy discussions on why the Digico desks are so user friendly and why the Roland's are not.  About the algorithms behind Nexo speakers and how they need to be configured and hung at what degrees to each other for the sound waves to carry correctly and for the the space to sound the best it possibly can. About multicore - opticore and hardcore. About if dubstep is a 'real' genre and wether or not Skrillex is just a poormans Aphex Twin or a talent in his own right. I'd debate wether or not live midi control compared to real musicians and if midi could be classed as 'Live' anyway...??

I'd be treading water in the pool of method and technology.

Today it seems they over-lapped me...

touché

Welcome to Canberra.....

Time has been a precious commodity of late. After spending majority of the year planning, sitting, waiting - pieces of the puzzle are finally falling into place.

And of course - all at once - because where would the challenge be if it was all a realistically paced timeline...

Plans for the upcoming release at the Moozak festival in Vienna have been put on the back burner after a frantic move interstate and acquiring of a new, 'Day Job' - one that I have coveted for a while. After previous knock-backs the opportunity arose and I grabbed it. The position is as a Sound Archivist at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) and is one considerable step closer to the artist's utopia where you can live, eat and create, based purely on your passions in your artform. Who would have thought that the lost night hours of listening to, 'Dreaming Daisies' (3D community radio) would provide me with priceless pieces of knowledge to reference some 20 years later? Can you think of a better way to spend your days other than accessing, collecting and collating the sonic past, present and future of your favoured sounds? Other than being trapped in a perpetual loop of collaboration with Autechre or field recording with Chris Watson and his family in Africa - I cannot...

The move came less than two months before I leave for France, Germany and Vienna and I must say I am a bit anxious about preparations for the live performance and album launch at the 'Moozak' festival. Details to come later but for now - I want to fill you in on my experience of the NFSA's vaults.

As luck would have it, my starting week in the new position was also the same week that fellow archivist Tamara Osicka, unwrapped a number of precious artefacts that had been carefully stored in the archive for number of decades. These items included original wax discs, metal mothers and stampers created by a gentleman called Stuart Booty, in the mid 1920's. Please see my definitions below.

Wax disc: This was the first medium used in a process that involved a series of mediums to create and duplicate recordings via cutting lathes. To record sounds, musicians would play into a large horn, which would amplify and channel the sound down the lathe's arm, to the cutting stylus attached. This stylus rested on the wax disc and worked much in the same way as a phonograph pickup but in reverse that is - feed audio in, get mechanical motion out meaning, as the sounds were 'read' by the cutting stylus, it transcribed them into a spiral groove on the wax disc.

Metal mother: The metal mother was the positive metal mould that could be plated to make a number of negative metal stampers. These stampers were then used to produce the shellac records.

Stuart Booty is an interesting character in Australia's recording history. He was an electrical engineer who also dedicated a number of years attempting to produce records in Australia - round about the 1920's onward. By this time he had built his own cutting lathe under his brand and record label, 'Vitavox'. At a time where record companies tended to record discs for mass production of pressings, Booty put his efforts into creating discs as a small, private operator, utilising his own skills and resources. He also had friendly relations with several classical and vocal artists of the age and made recordings of their works for private listening and even a few for public sale. As you can imagine - there were not many Australian record labels at this time and, 'Vitavox', was one of Australia's earliest. Booty was a bit of a pioneer in the recording and translating of Australian music to record.

:: Underside of a metal master :: Image courtesy of the NFSA Canberra ::

   

:: Wax disc details :: Image courtesy of the NFSA Canberra ::

Historical facts aside - I was struck by the physicality of the objects and the weight of presence their history conveyed. I guess I see similarities with my response towards spaces and places? More and more I refer to what I have coined as, 'Sonic Memory', which if anything - is an idea of my own that combines the sounds as generated and/or affected by the physical characteristics of a space and the knowledge that these sounds have been, are and will be - living/generated within these space irrelevant of our presence to listen to them - completely independent of our own experience.

I like the idea that listening to a sound reacting with a space could be viewed as a window into the memories of a space itself.

Hence the term: Sonic Memory.   

Many thanks to Ian Gilmour for assisting with his technical expertise

&

Tamara Osicka for her research expertise and inviting me to tag along.

Northern Exposure Festival - northcote

Northern Exposure Festival: Program PDF - click on above image

THIS JUST IN >>>>>>>>

I will be installing one of the multi-channel works from Noirlac Abbey, as part of a group exhibition for the Northcote, Northern Exposure Festival, 2012. Fellow sound nut and friend, Martin Kay AKA Mountain Black, is bringing together a group of artists - a few of us (which have worked together in the past and I'd go so far as to say we were part of a 'Time and Place' experimental small sub culture) to install our pieces at the Northcote Uniting Church.

Details are as follows

'I Am Your Surroundings' - presented by Martin Kay

Photographic and multichannel sound compositions, exploring notions of compassion, empathy and comfort.

Featured artists include: Darrin Verhagen, Tessa Elieff, Martin Kay, Nick Van Cuylenburg, Jake Carter.

Northcote Uniting Church - 251 High St Northcote, Melbourne.

Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd of June.

11am - 5pm

Free

I would like to acknowledge the In-Habit international initiative, Punctum Arts and Arts Victoria, for making the work at le abbaye Noirlac, possible.

      

Initiated as part of Punctum's In-Habit international initiative.

Hope to see you there,

Trip to the NFSA - Canberra

Hands-on exhibit, NFSA 2012

I found myself wandering through the entrance to the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) in Canberra just after the weekend. My only wish was that I had made it there earlier in the day as the Library collection closes at 3 - regardless - it was a bit of a treasure trove worth rumaging through for a dose of Australian history. They have a small and intimate theatre that shows a selection of footage, movies and moving imagery, depending on the program at the NFSA. While I was there I watched some old footage of some of Australia's first travellers to the Antactic (With Sir Douglas Mawson). Was pretty entertaining listening to the tales of the photographer that Mawson selected to take with him on the trip and of course, the weather conditions were brutal. I know that travellers today experience the same conditions but even considering the technology of the travel wear and equipment (shoes, jackets, thermals) now compared to then, made you aware (as the observer) of just how savage the trip to Antarctica would have been in the early 1900's. As a photographer, your dedication to your art would been unquestionable...

Sound Effects Booth, NFSA 2012

They had managed to salvage an old sound effects module as commonly used in radio and movies alike (to your left). The carved wooden 'feet' for the sound of walking and footsteps sounded unreal - triggering memory recall of cartoons and old movie scenes where a character is hiding from someone behind a closed door, as they slowly walk across the room.... Currently, the NFSA is asking for nominations for the 'Sounds of Australia, 2012' - will have to think about this one for a bit. The collection was launched in 2007 and has since had sounds from songs, radio, comedies and speeches added.

It's worth mentioning that the Mediatheque at ACMI in Melbourne also provides access to the NFSA's collection and all for free to the public. Again, give yourself plenty of time though. Sound and vision are time based art forms and it is more than easy to spend a day in Mediatheque booth, watching footage of melbourne's 'Sharpies' movement from the early 70's - or scrolling through the recording snippets in their data base. 

Inspiration for Moozak and Vienna

Gordon Matta-Clark: Conical Intersect, 1975

I am inspired by the space that will house the Moozak Festival. The venue is called MediaOpera - which is a space that was transformed from an old cattleshed into a venue. The thought of unleashing my sounds into such a space definitely sparks my creative intuition - pulling my ideas to the work of 70's artist, Gordon Matta-Clark. Originally schooled in architecture, Matta-Clark became known for his work that entailed cutting out pieces of floors, walls and ceilings from old and unused buildings (building cuts), leaving gaping holes in the walls of our realities.

'I aim to convert a place into a state of mind'
Matta-Clark: 1976

Gordon Matta-Clark: Office Baroque, 1977

I like the fact that he makes physical, changes to our environment that are not dissimilar to the changes that I envision when I work with sound and space. I like the fact that for the Moozak festival, artists are being placed within a space that has a previous identity (MediaOpera - Cattleshed) so there is already present an undertone impression of this character. The space has already been altered - and while we view it's built purpose and intent as being completely different to that of it's origin, the first reality still exists - moulding with the new and creating a new reality that is neither how it was, nor how we think we have made it to be.

Let's see what I will be able to add to the equation.......

Upcoming Release and Journey to Austria

Plans are slowly falling into place for this year with the most recent development being the forming of a connection with Clemens Hausch and his music label, Moozak - based in Vienna. As much as I love Australia I have been facing the cliche boundaries that are not uncommon to the emerging sound artist, where the first release does not stir the greatest interest amongst relative strangers from the same country. I must say I was dissapointed with the response's from the Australian connections that I sent my work to. All responses I had were from international communities and/or artists and while not all of the responses I had were offers to release - they were all positive, encouraging and often asking to receive more potential albums in the future. At the least, they thanked me for my work and acknowledged my efforts.

I continue to wish that the Australian experimental music community was more supportive. Perhaps I am still too idealistic as a young artist ...............

I was not adverse to releasing my album independently - but very much wanted to share the sounds with sonic communities outside my 'normal' surroundings. The thought of my sounds being held captive to their country of origin was frightening enough for me to take a few risks and reach beyond my safe haven of community - with no real control of where my work may or maynot end up......

Enter Moozak - a label dedicated to experimental music and one that very much puts their heart and soul into what they do. Whilst I have only conversed with Clemens at this stage (the label consists of three individuals) I can say that I have been overwhelmed by their commitment to sound and open honesty of intent. September will bring with it Moozak's annual festival in Vienna and I am excited at the open invitation to present my work live for the occasion. Plans are to to release the album in Vienna for the festival and then move on...... but as always - where to is still unknown.


details to be cont'd

Letter to Aphex Twin and Autechre

Dear Aphex Twin/Autechre,

if you could please make the world I project onto you real - if you could take away all those horrors that cease to exist with the reality you entertain, then I might grant you the benefit of the doubt - that you are infact - interested in a greater good, and not just a money making making machine as part of the consumerism that has devoured us in our sleep. Can you promise me this? Can you prove to me that this is still the case? That you did not sell the soul of your sounds to a car commercial (Boards of Canada) or perhaps to a 'larger audience' purely for mass appeal.

I ask you this.

I ask what your intent is.

I ask you not to succumb to the nightmares I know exist.

I ask you to continue creating an alternative to a bigger problem, I ask that you do not give in and decide that all is in vain.

It all is relevant.

Every decision is valid

The passing of time is no excuse for submission or apathy.

Can you promise an anonymous listener?


Regards,