The Diskery....

:: The Diskery, Birmingham 2014 ::

This morning I successfully managed to detach myself from all luminous screens and venture into Birmingham city centre. On my journey home I somehow eventuated at another sonic Aladdin's Cave. Initially I couldn't believe my luck. After a stunted moment of realisation I pretty much ran through the door - just incase it disappeared before I could get there. The sight was one for sore eyes. On leaving my home town (Adelaide), there were two record stores that I use to frequent - one had a die-hard cult following with the 'younger' music lovers - selling old and new vinyl - with a renowned electronic section that rivalled no other I have come across ever since. The other, was not unlike The Diskery - perhaps less popular musics such as the 'Big Hit' material from any decade. On a quick return to Adelaide about three years later - both stores had folded - I would say the surge in digital would have played a part.

:: Jimmy chats to a regular (which is almost everyone who walks through the door) ::

The photos I took of The Diskery don't really do the place justice. The sheer amount of the collection has reached the point of climbing the walls and spilling across the ceilings. Fortunately, I arrived just before a big rush - when I had to compete with a number of hatted, caned and elderly gentlemen, for the attentions of the two in house experts - Jimmy and Liam. Lovely, lovely people - Liam has been working at The Diskery for 42 years, whilst Jimmy, is going on 47. Entering the store is like entering their home and their love of music (all types) and phenomenal knowledge becomes apparent with each enquiry - no matter how trivial.

My find for the day was the record, 'FIREWORKS! JVC presents the Spectacular Sound of CD-4'. As a rule, I don't let myself buy records when I am travelling - particularly heavy and prone to bending they don't make for good travel companions but in this instance, I thought an exception could be made. As I have come to Birmingham as a student, who works with field recordings in multichannel, it only seems fitting that on seeing a CD-4 record containing sounds of fireworks  - it should be mine. CD-4 is one of the many attempts at commercial release of multichannel recordings on hardcopy media. To be honest - I don't know much about it but a quick wikki tells me it was introduced as early as 1972 (!) I can't wait to get home and try it out - A/B it with my own quad work - should be vEry entertaining! I'd like to also better comprehend its technology - it's fascinating to learn about the many multichannel formats we have tried and old technology in hardcopy appears quite appealing to me at the moment.......

If you would like to hear more about Liam and Jimmy at The Diskery - you can view a clip on youtube HERE - or drop by and say hello at 99 Bromsgrove St.

Winter Sounds of North East England

:: Recording site. North East Coastline, England ::

Recording England's wildlife in Winter is quite a challenge - particularly if wildlife is not your speciality. Unlike Australia (that seems to house a constant crowd of critters all year round), come Winter time in England a number of birds disappear. Along with the Winter closure of buildings whose acoustics I'd hoped to capture, these have been the two biggest hurdles that have arisen throughout this trip. On a positive note, what these unexpected 'exclusions' have given me is a shift of gaze from the obvious splendour of local historic castles and as-yet unheard (to me) birdcall - to the turning cogs in the local community that keep it ticking along year-in and year-out. I mentioned in an earlier post - the blessing-in-disguise of missing the tourism trade times and I think I am still only just beginning to appreciate the impact this will have on my work (with only four days to go....). 

Before I leave I hope to capture the sounds of the local trade. Its butchers it's bakers, its clock makers - those who have lived and worked in this part of the world their whole lives. After chatting to a number of local tradespeople I have found that they are often 3rd or 4th generation in a family business local to the area. It's quite touching to come to this gentle realisation - with each (sometimes a bit awkward) conversation that I have. These families are a part of the past, present and future of these towns. Their names may be found on a street name as they have become inexplicably interwoven into the history of their place of living. Quite a realisation to someone who has lived in four states in the past seven years (ish?) and countless houses... 

In contrast to the sound of industry I am also gathering the sounds of the beautifully wild and wooly nature that sustains the local communities. Crashing waves, churning waters and howling winds are all a part of the soundscape. Today I went recording near Craster, at the old Bathing House on the coastline. I had looked at images of the area but didn't have much of an idea about what to expect - except that the abundant nesting community of birds would not be present (Winter!). What I discovered was beautifully sculpted volcanic stones that have been carved over thousands of years - by the waves of the ocean. Their shapes looked mechanical, artificial and completely organic - all at once. Trying not to slip I managed to clamber on top of a raised ledge and hang my microphones down into carved pools and blow holes as the tide rose. I saw only one person today - an old man who smiled at me but would not speak as we passed each other. It was a beautiful day - with sounds so perfect that even this stranger would not unsettle it with his voice... 

Article on the British Libraries Sound and Vision blog

Recently I was approached by Cheryl Tipp - Curator of Natural Sounds at the British Library, and asked to write a blog entry for her series on guest field recordists and sound artists. I was very flattered to contribute and must say - it was a little confronting writing about my work in a rather candid way. I didn't expect to be quite so open but Cheryl has a knack of making you feel comfortable enough to do so.

The article titled, 'Tessa Elieff: Witness, documentarian and provocateur.' can be read HERE

I highly recommend having a read of the other contributing artists - such as John Kannenberg's unique twist with his works of sound recordings within museum's and Simon Elliot's life work on recording (and not disrupting) the voice of the wildlife. 

Lovely weekend reading and a way to escape for a little....

Urban London 2013: Sonic postcards L01-L03

:: L03 - London 28th May 2013. Skaters @ Southbank Skatepark ::

                    



I have started gathering sounds for the 'Urban London 2013' collection. These will be posted on Freesound for you to access/comment as you wish. I will also be adding them here as Sonic Postcards.

Recording Technical Specifications are:

Recording device: Zoom H2n

Microphone: Rode NT4 (stereo)

London, May 2013

The recordings sound best on headphones with some beautiful movements from left to right in the Skatepark recordings (above) and again, along the Regents Canal (directly below).

:: L02 - London 25th May 2013. Peering through trees to Regents Canal below ::

                    

The recording, 'Near Festival, by the canal', and 'Festival Inner' both feature the sounds of a festival in Victoria Park that started at about 11am that day. The former, was recorded at a position along the canal whereby the distant sounds of the music from the festival would come and go, between audible and inaudible as the wind would permit. The volume fluctuations are completely natural. Recording was done at a flat input level. The latter was recorded within the festival grounds.

:: L01 - London 25th May 2013. On the way to Festival @ Victoria Park, along Regents Canal ::

                    

I haven't consciously recorded the sounds of a city for years and I was surprised at the inner conflict I had in doing so. Just to be clear - I have recorded the sounds of markets, machinery, live improvisations at night in inner city buildings and trains passing overhead as I am tucked underneath their rolling guts - but to stand in the thick of it, in the middle of the day as traffic and sirens rise to a level that twinges your ears is quite another matter...

- and I didn't really even do that - I still subconsciously discovered pockets of the city that were not completely sonically dominated by the sounds of traffic. 

But who can ignore it? I am standing there, at the edge of the Thames surrounded by swarms of tourists and weekenders and there is not a living critter apart from us, to be seen bar one - a solitary Canada Goose with only one leg remaining, standing remarkably close (too close for his own safety) to a young family who are exploring the shoreline. It was an experience that I can't shake. It's feathers were dirty and uneven and it was obviously tired and not well fed. It wasn't scared of the people only a few meters away - perhaps it's wariness was not as strong as its reasons for watching them. It stood there unmoving, staring at them with a stubborn desperation - I assume it was hoping for food. 

Please don't think I'm particularly targeting London with these thoughts - in any big city you'll find the small critters paying the price of our developed urbanscape. It was a moment of confrontation as I stood there with my microphone, watching this quiet tragedy run its course. I put the microphone down and walked away.

Looking at London

I have been doing a lot of walking around, through and amongst London - as is my travelling ritual. My sense of direction is somewhat questionable and if possible - even worse when my body clock is realigning itself to the position of the sun. Walking puts myself as direct master of my movements and allows me to figure out just where the hell I am in relation to where I plan to be, in the time as required to do so. It's also another good jetlag tip (how to avoid it, deal with it and encourage it to disappear). I will walk or ride a bike before I catch public transport - as a type of physical and mental meditation. Taking steps seems to fall into simpatico with the sorting of my thoughts and the turning cogs of my body's own time measuring mechanism.   

and then there is the element of discovering the small details that would be otherwise missed.....

The lean of buildings, the awkward corners and 'dead' spaces that exist as offcuts of building templates. They hang off the edges of prescribed wall fronts and lurk in the backgrounds of a buildings facade.

The more they are neglected, the stronger their presence becomes.



   

I am already regretting the fact that I did not bring more sophisticated microphones to record sounds with. Once again, I am immersed in a city and once again, I am inspired to listen and understand how I believe it ticks - to find, gather and select my desired sounds. A small and modest collection of urban soundscapes will be my alternate project while I am in London and I am enjoying the thrill of the hunt now it has begun. I don't know why I find it so rewarding to decipher a city - haven't quite pinned that one down yet - but I do know that ultimately - when I begin to plan my recordings of a certain place/time - that is exactly how I feel I am working - by peeling back the layers of a communities outer shell and taking the time to collect what is beneath in sonic representation.

An astoundingly effective snapshop of memory and meaning behind the cities motions.

KunstRadio Commission cont'd

 I have come through the other side with the final piece for the KunstRadio commissions - this would be the composition whose source material is the recordings of Uli Kuehn's works, as completed at KunstRadio at the end of September last year. This piece stumped me for quite a while. Uli's live improvisation on his 'Robot' was the recording that I focussed on and I could not shake the feeling that it was already complete. After time away from the sounds I began again in Jan 2013 and this time, had success..... This composition will be interesting to contrast against the first ('The Broken Return'), in that while the first composition used source material consisting of field recordings of Andreas Trobollowitsch's piece, 'Minigit' as installed at the Moozak festival in Vienna, 2012, this second composition follows a similar process but somewhat reversed. I created a composition using the sounds of Uli's work, for the intent of finding a suitable environment in the ACT, to play this piece back in, and record a field recording of the sonic result. I have finalised the initial composition and now, it is just a matter of finding the correct time and place, to unleash the sounds into.

The image above was taken when I went looking for environments for the sounds. I spent half a day driving out of the ACT city and listening to it's rural edges. There was talk of a storm at the time of leaving home to start the drive and by the time I reached areas that began to interest me, the clouds were well and truly brewing. Perhaps I will end up recording this piece in the rain - I think I would like to - however, the downpours I have experienced in Canberra do not qualify as light enough so as to not damage my microphones. Any equipment left exposed would be well and truly drenched and I do not want to record with a 'blocked' sky. If I am to record outdoors (as is my wish) the the sound must be able to travel unrestricted.

So far I have looked at areas heading towards Brindabella, on the NSW border. I'm still unsure as to where I will end up but I am waiting for the hot weather to start again so as the cicadas and crickets start their songs. Till then, like the storm, I am waiting......

Welcome to Moozak and Vienna.....

:: 'This Mortal coil', 'It'll end in tears' album cover, 1984 ::

Have arrived in Vienna, dragging bags of microphones, socks, spools of copper, power adapters and a relentless ache of focus on sound. It's so easy to submerge yourself in creating and your medium of choice but such a nightmare pulling yourself out again. For now, I'll let myself live the dream and continue deepening the dive....

Preparations for the Moozak Festival (from my end) are well underway. Last post was written from the equator between imagined plans and actual reality. Thankfully, I made it to the other side, ironing out buggs and familiarizing myself with my new programmed controllers so as to work on intuition and ignore the thought of body process. Let's see how it comes together.....

I have met two of the men behind the Moozak legacy. Clemens Hausch and Gerald Krist. It's been humbly touching to meet fellow artists, halfway across the globe who are as consumed by similar passions as yourself - who have that  look of absolute conviction behind their eyes that you know so well. I like not having to explain what I do and why - it's an unspoken code - a shared disposition that keeps me ticking over in the day to day and one with common struggles.

The first night of Vienna was spent with Gerald, his loungeroom tropical underwater ecosystem, a bottle of wine, what could possibly be the 'best' custom-built stereo system I have ever experienced and his vinyl collection. 'Do you want to choose something to listen to,' he says. The three of us walk to his wall of records. I see a familiar album cover and pull out a Spezialmaterial compilation, 'I have this' I say. He grins at the wall and keeps searching. I don't try to find the sounds but leave it to him. I could point out what I know and every now and then I let out a 'Ahh' but there is no need for me to search and really, I am not sure what to look for. He grasps a handful of records and says, 'now we listen'. 

The first and last album I remember is by, 'This Mortal Coil'. It cuts to the bone and reminds me that I am allowed to use more than just raw sounds in my music. I envy those who have the nerve to put words to melody...... We keep talking about our common passions. Music, speakers, the hardships of creating events such as 'Moozak' and the joys that make us do so regardless. Len and Gerald talk to each other in German and the lilting rhythm of their voices merge into room and my experience is complete. The memory is sealed - not to be altered - senses are filled and the time and place has become a uneditable past that will morph with my memory but always stay the same. Gerald says goodbye and leaves and i hear the words of, 'This Mortal Coil' fade with him and the click of the door latch.

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

On the airwaves......

My first post for the new year (cringe)........ Took me quite a while and in my defense it has been so long NOT for lack of things to say but rather out of a mild paranoia of taking the first step. The end of last year left me with a lot to think about regarding my work. I found myself in a position of wondering if I was being heard.

'I know I'm working with sound so others have to be able to hear what I am creating.... but I don't think they are? I feel like I'm stuck in a sonic bubble like a childhood dream of shouting at others only to watch them walk past me with numb faces, unresponsive to my attempts to communicate.'

Internal dialogue Jan 2012

Goodnews is that my response to these feelings was to send out my album (yet to be released so hold onto your hats it's on it's way) to a small number of local and interstate radio hosts. I then sat back and waited. I know airtime can be tight not to mention - selective but nonetheless - i was pleasantly surprised to receive exposure, mild pluggs and playtime from a number of the stations. These included the below

Sound Quality on Radio National: Presented by Tim Ritchie

Far Side Virtual on PBS 106.7FM (Melbourne): Presented by James Parker

Delivery on Triple R 102.7FM (Melbourne): Presented by Owen Mckern

The above radio shows provide an unfathomable amount of support for local artists whose work ventures in, around and even sometimes out of the 'Experimental' genre. If you are wanting to discover something new or perhaps be reminded of just what is possible with sounds then I would highly reccommend tuning in to their frequencies.

Another favourite of mine is/was

Possible Musics on Phoenix 106.7FM (Bendigo): Presented by Jacques Soddell

Was sorry to hear this show had wrapped up and am quietly hoping Jacques will be back on air soon....

Bonjour Paris

  

I arrived in Paris a few days ago and have been trying to cram in as much of the city's priceless culture and the arts as possible (within three days). My backpackers is a half hour walking distance from the louvre and say an hour from centre Paris so I'm travelling on foot - the best way to begin learning about a city! 

You will find me quietly watching foot traffic from a laneway cafe, or standing on a street corner with my small map in hand figuring out my next move. The city itself - it's infrastructure, buildings, developed lifestyles is nothing like what we are have in Australia. The general height of buildings is greater - often creating the feeling of narrower roads and meandering labyrinth's. 

Their use of height gives me a feeling of more space. It opens up the world around me. The signs of life positioned high in the sky (trees on balconies, overgrown vines and flower pots, beautiful ornate outdoor parisian chairs) creates a feeling of being surrounded by humanity as opposed to the stark walls of Melbourne's inner city high rises. The French seemed to have mastered the art of combining hectic inner city living without compromising the joys of everyday pleasures.

Just because there are limitations - does not mean that it must be stripped of the signs of humanity and of life's small luxuries.

Other points of interest include: The butter patties are MUCH bigger, French women really are thin and beautiful (generally speaking), junk and cheap inner city antiquities are relatively common, 'Sound Artist' is not a term that leads to confusion - it is common knowledge and taken with all due seriousness.

Je'aime Paris

The release that never was

I am confronting the unborn release. He/She is pretty pissed - I should have done this years ago but in the words of a tutor I once considered a friend,

'It's frightening putting something out there - for others to criticise and pick at but you have to do it.'

I know I know, but none of it quite makes the grade.
So I will put it out there anyway.
What choice do I have?
I know that a number of artists I admire, have a first album or ep that is obviously an embryo - not yet fully formed with it's potential lost in layers of unformed technique and meandering direction.
So with this excuse, I will allow it to come into being. While I am not able to exist - this is.

Samadhi Mechanism - Quadraphonic Install

Earlier this year I was invited to present my work at the launch of the Kew Arts Centre. The timing could not have been better to exhibit and install 'Samadhi Mechanism' and the setting was near ideal as I had the use of an old gaol cell (sounds familiar). The size restraint of the cell meant I had to minimize speakers so my setup for the piece was down scaled from 7.1 to Quadraphonic with no Sub. This worked surprisingly well in the space due to how 'live' it was. Natural resonances appeared quickly and with little effort of volume, meaning that the addition of a Sub would only have muddied up the sounds and impacted negatively on the mix.

As the only artist working with Sound at the Arts Centre launch I enjoyed the discovery and experiences of others who were not too familiar with works in the medium. I am use to being surrounded and critiqued by people who are as obsessive and knowledgable of the styles and works created with sound as myself (or even moreso). Being placed as 'The Odd One Out' provided me with the gift of observing extremely honest responses and opinions that can become clouded by the impinging judgments of an art scene.

Many thanks to Caroline Carruthers from Boroondara Artists Travelling Show (BATS) for co ordinating the artists on the day and congratulations on your beginning! 

Machine Recordings

           

:: Sound gathering for 'Samadhi Mechanism' ::

-Have been spending nights hunting and collecting sonic identities relevant to 'Samadhi Mechanism'. The final work will be a 'Frankenstein's Monster' in that it will be a new creation, coming into being by the severing and suturing together of other audio bodies. The above images are of two of these bodies, the first, is beneath a train-line that bridges above a main road. The second, is a floor level that plays host to a number of air conditioning vents and general airflow within an inner city convention centre. Surround recordings were taken from the floor level and MS was used underneath the bridge. Other samples I have gathered include an old electrical printer (2 x contact microphones in stereo), A scissor lift (1 x stereo Rode NT4) and discarded metal sheeting. I would very much like to record the sounds of an old printing press that is operated by hand. Unfortunately I am not having much luck at tracking one down........

Abbaye Noirlac will be a welcome relief after this piece - I have been in Melbourne city for too long - working to acquire microphones and equipment. It's an isolating and soulless experience that I hope to alleviate soon. As a (primarily) sound artist I record and portray what is within my environment and the hard walls of urban landscape have dominated that space for quite a while. Balance needs to be restored I think......... 

Samadhi Mechanism

::'Samadhi Mechanism' Still 2011::

“Such a state is ineffable by definition, but those who have known it, and the traditions that have cultivated it, maintain that it is the ultimate reality.”

Robert Jahn and Brenda Dune, “Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality” 2004

I am Quite excited by my next major piece of work, 'Samadhi Mechanism' - a further exploration into the individual’s experience and sensory perceptions of ‘space’ - the results by which, they form their impressions of their own unique, reality. It will be my first venture into combining the mediums sound and vision and I am already feeling a shift in my everyday sensory perspectives. While I often listen to the sounds of my environment as though they are part of a grand composition, I have never allowed everyday scenery such attention. I actually find vision almost too strong as a sense, to allow myself the freedom of subjective viewing. Sound however, (for myself) is a beautiful sensory stimulation to lose yourself in via multi-dimentional realities. 

In research of these ideas, I am reading, 'Filters and Reflections. Perspectives On Reality', edited by Zachary Jones, Brenda Dune, Elissa Hoeger and Robert Jahn. I am only 1/3 in at the moment so cannot make any sweeping conclusions but will say that although it's incredibly dense and scientific text is at first... unexpected and undesired, it brings to light exceptional information re: differing possible and cultural perceptions of our reality. This is how I was made aware of the state referred to by Zen masters as, 'Samadhi' - a state of pure experience,

"It is the visceral feeling that shifts the filters of consciousness from those of passive, objective observation to ones of proactive, subjective participation, and this participatory immersion in the experience modifies it's perceived reality."  pg 22

At the risk of sounding self-important I would tentatively suggest that through documentation of a space my work attempts to act as a catalyst for this state within the observer. The process of documenting a selected space, at a certain time through the eyes and ears of another individual (myself) allows it's (the space) existence to be born anew, in the reality of the observer (their perception of!). This process and experience enables them to participate in the creation of an alternate reality. Overtime I hope to become more skilled and/or successful at stimulating this reaction within each individual. 

For the piece, "Samadhi Mechanism', I have chosen to indulge my inner Futurist (omitting the war glorifying/feminism despising aspects) and document a space that is filled with the body of a machine. It’s giant pumping arms and rotating spindles remind me of what I imagine futurist and pioneer of noise music, Luigi Russolo’s ‘Intonarumori’ to look like. (I have to imagine as the machines were destroyed with only limited photo documentation)

      

Like Russolo’s machines, this device also emits what would traditionally be considered non-musical sounds. These sounds include clunking of gears, grinding of spinning axis and the abrasive humm of energy as generated by the main motor as it powers each movement the machine makes.

As an inorganic object, I perceive it as exhibiting strikingly human behaviour. It is this subjective ‘identity’ existing within its surrounding environment that I wish to translate via sight and sound.

The moving image in my work will be used minimally meaning, that I do not want to use post-editing effects to dramatically manipulate what I have successfully captured but more so, crop, cull and arrange, The unique aesthetic of the machine and the habitat in which it resides will provide me with enough inspiration and source material to work with. The setting is capable of provoking an ‘other world’ feeling from it’s observer on it’s own. My meddling with this connection between space (place) and person would only sabotage the identity I wish to portray.

Sound will be treated with less purist ideals in comparison to the visuals. Not only will I be recording audio from the space with no concern as to matching it to it’s original visual event, but I will also be collecting other sounds I feel fit the nature of the machine. These sounds will be recorded from anywhere and everywhere that I hear what I imagine the sound of this machine to be. The working mechanisms of a printer, rumbles of a train from beneath the bridge it is travelling over, the clicks and clangs of latches, locks or pots and pans – it will all be considered. Post editing of the sounds will create a surround composition that completes the piece, working with the visuals in bringing to life the reality of the machine in each individual observer.

to be cont'd.........

Live Arts Incubator - Conclusive Performance

: Last two evenings of the Live Arts Incubator :

Saturday and Sunday night proved to be two unique experiences, both providing Jacques and myself with rewards stemming from the hours/days/weeks of work beforehand. Final performance consisted of four parts, each flowing seamlessly from one to the other so as not to break the listeners immersion into the sonic experience. Presented works included three solo and one collaborative piece. 

My own solo work was created purely from the surround and stereo recordings that I had gathered from the Sacred Heart Cathedral throughout the first week of the residency. These sounds included a 5 bell peal, creaking pews, footsteps/voices and movement through the space, turning of pages, the playing of the organ and of a wood-carved recorder and voices chanting in prayer. My sounds were considerably naturalistic with selected segments being presented as true to reality as possible.

In contrast, Jacques Soddell used highly manipulated and processed sounds - some were recognizable and some were not.  All were incredibly pleasing on the ear in their textures and frequencies.

 Final setup included 10 speakers on two levels.

1st level was 6 x 300watt in circular formation 4.5m radius.

2nd level was 4 x (TBC) in diamond configuration, 1.5m above Level #1

All speakers were calibrated by true film standard of Pink noise @ -20db = 83 db SPL (reading taken from center of circle diameter.)

It was extremely satisfying to explore the experience of height. I have had the chance to do this once before, during the event, "Akousmatikoi" but it was not quite so controlled and as flexible as this set-up. Through the use of Audiomulch + midi control + sound system I was able to spatialise and perform live with stereo, mono and surround audio samples. Sounds were able to be triggered when and where I desired with ease. Panning selected sounds from left to right and/or top to bottom was effortless and I am looking forward to further developing my patch and my midi control.

One of the unexpected rewards of the first evening was a followup discussion and constructive criticism of the works by Punctum's artistic director, Jude Anderson and fellow board member, Stephen Henderson. As a sound artist it can be difficult to entice others to tackle the language of the medium and the guidance and reflections of Jude and Stephen were an unexpected luxury within the whole Live Arts Incubator experience. The support that Jacques and myself received in the form of equipment, studio space and technical expertise was matched by an emotional element. This element assisted in our confidence throughout the work process, encouraging us along the way and resulting in the completion of a live performance we hope to continue on with post Seedpod.

The eye of the storm.............

: Day four, final week of Live Arts Incubator :

This week has been one of the most, 'Challenging' I've had for a while regarding computer related glitches and bumps.  (This would be why I am halfway through the conclusive week of my Bendigo residency and only just now entering my first post). I'll save you the kill-my-computer-don't-even-BOTHER-introducing-bootcamp-to-a-mac-yet-if-you-wish-to-use-it-for-sophisticated-audio-processing rant and just say that I suffered a couple of largish setbacks at the beginning of the week.

On the flip side to this experience - I can say that I now have successfully developed my new prototype for live performance and spatialisation. In the past I often used Logic pro teamed with midi controller, sampler and mixing desk. The new design replaces Logic with the astoundingly accommodating software 'Audiomulch' by fellow Australian Ross Bencina. The brilliance of this software (for myself working specifically with multi speaker spatialising) is it's routing capabilities. As a modular, patch-based software (think Max msp in lamens terms) the choices, possibilities and potentials are at the minimum - endless!

At this stage I am working on midi control of the basics

-Play

-Mute

-Gain

-Send

-Panning

-Matrix routing

-basically all the elements that are utilised when exercising the traditional methods of acousmatic performance.

In the future however - I plan to venture into realtime signal processing and effects - unfortunately I doubt I will have time to explore this before the live performance

Speaking of which ...

If you happen to be in Bendigo, Australia this weekend - head to the Old Fire Station for an evening of auditory dazzling.

It's a wrap.......

: Day Seven of Live Arts Incubator :

Photos are of the workshop space we setup for our residency. Not only did we have 8 speakers at 1meter height for surround but also four in the ceiling for us to play with. Our final configuration is yet to be decided upon.......

The final day of my residency was spent capturing a Sunday Mass in surround sound. I had setup my equipment the night before, at closing time in the cathedral. (Mass started at 8:30am and I had no idea just how reliable my senses would be in the morning..) Microphones were placed in the middle of the pews with stands alternating between the benches. Care was taken to keep the walk-in pathway clear and to ensure that I was not in the way of the service attendants. Traffic was lighter on Sunday morning (why didn't I think of that before!) and I even managed to capture some sounds of morning birds filtering into the cathedral.

On listening to the recordings I'd say that the sounds I enjoy the most are the 'throwaways' or the ones which occur inbetween the main moments of action. Events such as the dragging of pews or the mixture of random conversations throughout the cathedral. People lining up and moving to the altar for communion - those transitional moments work very well and I look forward to working with them.

The Pages Of A Book......

: Day Six of the Live Arts Incubator :

Have you ever noticed that psalm books and Bible's have a unique type of paper that is used for their pages? I hadn't consciously noticed it until now - at the moment when I decided I wanted to record the sounds of someone turning the pages during Sunday mass. I then realized that not any book would do - it had to be a book with pages such as those found in the above. A quick trip to the local secondhand book store and I have my mentioned manuscript - a hard cover no less - because we all know the sound a dropped book makes within the reverberant hall or church and it most certainly is not a soft cover or leather bound that we are hearing in our imagination.

Sacred Heart Cathedral Surround Recording

 

: Day three/four of the Live Arts Incubator :
 

Finally have some images to show of the Cathedral and of the setup I used to gather the recordings. As a last minute decision I moved the DPA omni's further out at either end, so as to adequately capture the natural effects within the chamber. Rode's were then positioned behind the DPA's.

The main downfall of the recordings is the traffic noise........

Sacred Heart Cathedral is positioned alongside of the main road Bendigo (it is one block back by definition but you'd never guess from the traffic level). Despite the fact that Monsignor Frank Marriott was generous enough as to allow me after hours access to the space, I was still unable to avoid the relentless hum that plagues cities, towns, and even countryside worldwide. All I could do was work with it as best as possible and hope that I am able to execute some kind of damage control in post editing.

Gathered sounds included creaking pews and doors, footsteps and a wood carved recorder. Despite the underlying constant of car engines I am very happy with the spatialised outcome. The use of the recorder was a last minute carefree decision made in the spirit of the artists 'let's hear what happens' - one that resulted in the discovery of a key sound for the planned composition. The tones and decay of the instrument in the space were audibly astounding and became the primary sound in the formation of the cathedrals identity.

How Do I Record Thee - Let Me Count Thy Ways.........

                           

: Day two of Live Arts Incubator :

: Enjoying Bendigo and the welcome of Jacques and Fran Soddell :

The last couple of days have sparked what I think will be a sharp learning curve in my surround recording technique. As part of my artist residency at the Old Fire Station in Castlemaine, I will be recording the sounds of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in surround configuration.

I would like to mention for the record, that the body and infrastructure of the cathedral is mind achingly different to that of a six level stairwell.............

After spending a number of hours/days/weeks/months etc researching surround recording setups that are both within my budget and suitable to my own ideals I have managed to decide upon my own recording technique. This setup is a hybrid consisting of the designs of other recordists, interwoven with my own.

The first recording design relevant to my own requirements that I stumbled across was that of Peter Caeldries. (I highly recommend having a look at his website as it is not only informative but also incredibly coherent and easy to understand.) It was via this website that I came across the idea of recording in MS configuration but replacing the cardioid microphone that is traditionally used for the Mid with an omni directional. Selected mic's would now be the Sennheiser MKH 30 and the MKH 8020.

While I had considered this combination of figure 8 polar with omni in the past I has never had confidence in it as an idea. I liked the theory of using the MS technique and allowing it to develop into the surround domain via the use of the omni and on reading Caeldries entries have decided to go ahead with the setup. The second source of information and inspiration came from John Willett, who just happens to have designed his own Rycote shock mount and blimp system suitable for my selected microphones. (Many thanks to Willett for being so helpful with all the details re: equipment list.)

The combination of both these two ideas will form the center of my recording configuration. In addition to this, the front facing side will have an omni directional DPA  4060, headed by a stereo Rode NT4. The rear will also have the same configuration (Omni DPA, with Rode NT4 pointing out).

Spacing between the microphones will be kept tight - I hope to fit the configuration into roughly 60cm length. The body of the cathedral is quite long hence, why I have decided upon a placement of microphones in linear form from front to rear. After listening to sample recordings I gathered within the space using only a spaced pair of DPA 4060 I was surprised to find that the natural reverb and delay at the rear of the building was slightly lost - again, this gave me further reason to place microphones in linear form.