World Listening Day 2014

July 18th marks this years World Listening Day, organised by the not-for-profit World Listening Project, essentially an organisation known worldwide by those interested in the art of listening. July 18th also marks the birthdate of R. Murray Schafer, founder of the World Soundscape Project and author of the book The Tuning of the World which first inspired the study and practice of Acoustic Ecology. This book has had a profound affect on my attitude towards listening and recording, and like so many others it has inspired me to find new ways to appreciate the sonic world.

To celebrate this day, I have submitted a recording to be published as part of the WLD collective release. I hope many of you find your own way to celebrate the event, whether you take just a little time from your day to sit and listen to the outdoors or whether you plan something more extravagant.

For those who are unaware of the World Listening Project and wish to find out more, here’s their website:

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// Heres a link to the Sonic Terrain releases, collections of fantastic recordings from around the world available for free download: http://sonic-terrain.com/2014/07/world-listening-day-2014-sonic-terrain-compilation/
My track Pond Symphony Orchestra is featured on the album Fragility [STR 012]

‘I simply listen, and enjoy what i’m listening to. Not everything has to be an intellectual exercise’

For me, this recording is exactly that. Completely wind-swept standing at the end of the world*.
https://soundcloud.com/lewisgilbert01/ballyconneely-bay-atlantic-ocean-cliffs

*Ballyconneely Bay is not actually considered to be at the end of the world, this is infact Ushuaia in Argentina.(http://www.aroundthisworld.com/the-end-of-the-world-ushuaia-argentina/)

 

 

Anywhere In Leeds – Leeds City Sounds

A friend of mine has organised a launch party for her project Anywhere In Leeds sponsored by Yorkshire Tea (you should see the amount of free tea they have supplied, it’s really something). I was asked if I could contribute some recordings for the event, taking place at Leeds Corn Exchange this Saturday (10th of May) 10am-5pm. With no restrictions or guidelines I was asked to have some sound related fun in and around the city of Leeds. I spent the majority of the 5th of May (bank holiday monday here in England) walking around the city with a stereo mic and a sound devices 552 mixer. The resulting sound piece takes the listener on a journey straight through the heart of the city for 11 minutes. For the event two pairs of headphones will be setup and a short piece of writing will accompany the piece. Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend, but please drop by if you can!
This event has now passed, but you can hear the sound piece here!:
https://soundcloud.com/lewisgilbert01/anywhere-in-leeds-leeds-city-sounds

Hy Brasil

I’m a huge fan of the work of sound artist Chris Watson.
I first heard his work on a superb BBC Radio4 program about sound recording in Iceland which I have listened to over and over again.
Chris often spends time in Leeds, organising recording lessons and lecture talks, and very recently he has curated an installation which has been held within the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds very own Grand Theatre, Opera North.
The installation is called Hy Brasil.

‘Hy Brasil is a mysterious, enchanted island, hidden in fog somewhere off the coast of Ireland. It reveals itself to human eye and ear just one day every seven years. This specially commissioned work by sound artist Chris Watson (BBC TV’s award-winning Frozen Planet), brings that day on Hy Brasil to life in an immersive sound installation.

Hy Brasil is composed of compelling wildlife sounds from around the world, drawing visitors deep into the haunting song of seals and the awe-inspiring shrieks of thousands of Manx shearwaters. With glorious ambi-sonic sound and beautiful lighting, lose yourself in the strange and magical world of Hy Brasil.’

Tim Skelly – Lighting design
Tony Myatt – Spatial sound design and installation software programming  

Media City UK

Pretty much the holy grail of post production in the north.
On a typical dreary Saturday evening in Salford, with heavy-set grey skies lazily leaking rain, I had the pleasure of roaming around. While the general area is fully open to the public, I had an opportunity to visit Dock10 Studio.. a large post production house responsible for productions such as The Jeremy Kyle Show, Countdown and Match of the Day. The opportunity came about through a visit to a short film screening being held in a screening room within the studios. I am currently helping out with a short-film by the impressive producer/cinematographer Mariusz Sciclowicz, who is behind the film ‘Assassin’ which was the film in question being presented for the first time to an audience. Andrew Munro was the sound recordist & sound designer for the film, and is currently employed by Dock10 as a post production runner, hence the screening being held there.
After the screening I had a chance to scope out the studios and was taken aback by how impressive the facilities are.. this being the first time I have experienced walking through a post production house of such a high caliber.
After the mini-tour we headed to the Dockyard bar, a great addition to the place, with a chilled atmosphere full of enthusiastic people and good beer and whisky to boot.

Check out the Facebook page for the latest project (Dragon Ball Z) by Mariusz Sciclowicz here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dragon-Ball-Z-Project/293421614104436?fref=ts

Sounds of Stockholm

On a recent venture to our Scandinavian counterparts in Sweden I spent some time recording sound in the beautiful capital city Stockholm. There were some fundamental changes to the soundscape of the city when compared to my experiences within the UK (to be expected). For one, Crickets occupied the night forming a blanket of restless noise. I am very grateful for the welcoming warmth provided by the Swedish, and I hope to make yearly visits.
Here is a collection of snippets taken from in and around the city..
https://soundcloud.com/lewissoundworks/sets/sweden

Leeds City

I will be leaving Leeds soon after my 3 years at University. 
The city has been an inspiring place to study and to meet new people.
I spent the day walking around the city centre recording sounds which I soon won’t have easy access to. The Dark Arches, a series of underground brick tunnels beneath the rail lines and above the River Aire which has become a car parking facility with a few cafe’s scattered around. The flow of the river and the overhead rumble of the trains creates an eerie atmosphere that is hard not to take notice of. 

https://soundcloud.com/ljgilbert/dark-arches-river-aire-train
https://soundcloud.com/ljgilbert/dark-arches-drip

Soundscape Photography (a collection of acousmatic composition & photography)

My final year project entitled Soundscape Photography (a collection of acousmatic composition & photography) has finally been produced. The project started with conversations between myself and my housemate Christian Geldart studying cinema & photography at University of Leeds, conversations which led to a collaborative project bringing our two specialities together: Sound & Photography. The finished project has been presented in hardback book form including cd & dvd. We hope to submit the audio visual work for the Night Contact London Multimedia & Photography Festival later in the year. http://www.nightcontact.co.uk

Here is a detailed evaluation of the project: http://www.academia.edu/3522783/Soundscape_Photography_Project_Evaluation. 

The book can be previewed here on the Blurb website: http://www.blurb.co.uk/books/4218238-soundscape-photography

Kim Cascone Lecture & Concert – Leeds Met

Subtle Listening / Meditation / Composition

I have been a fan of Kim Cascone since reading his ‘Aesthetics of Failure‘ paper during some research work last year, his opinions on the future of electronic music really hit home and I immediatly researched more into his work. The moment I heard that one of my university lecturers had organised Kim to present some of his ideas and perform a new composition in my very own Leeds I was over the moon. 
As much of my current work is based on sound art and composition it seemed like the perfect timing for his visit. One of the main topics discussed was the use of meditation to aid the creative process, he took us back to a time when he was meditating under a tree and the sound of birds hovered over head, preparing to migrate, the sound of the birds entered into the meditation and soon became the primary focus, he mentioned how suddenly his focus shifted from this sound to the sound which occupied the space with no birds, suddenly it occurred to him that he was focusing on the empty space, the silence surrounding the birds, this opened up a new way of listening for Kim- highly reminiscent of the zen saying: “It’s the silence between the notes that makes the music”.  As a keen meditator myself, I found Kim’s thoughts on this to be very interesting. 
After two hours of more interesting talk and a few good questions we had a short break before moving on to the performance.
The live diffusion piece by Kim is entitled ‘Dark Stations’ and was presented over 3 speakers in a triangular shape with the audience situated within. Kim advised the group to close their eyes and sit comfortably and the lights were switched off. Binaural beats occupied the piece, composed in a way to slowly lull the listeners into a meditated state. The composition itself was very enjoyable, and at one point I opened my eyes and felt very unnerved as the pitch black room which was once boxy and small now seemed infinite in this new soundscape, I closed my eyes and carried on meditating on my breathing with the sound pulsating around the space. 
40 minutes later the piece dissipated and we discussed the experience as a group, with many people describing their visual experience while others felt physical reactions with their body. 
The event was a brilliant journey into Kim’s thoughts on the current state of listening, and lots can be taken from the event in terms of advice and inspiration.
Many thanks to Kim Cascone and Phil Legard.

Sebastian Meyer – War Sounds // Matthew Herbert – The End of Silence

Sebastian Meyers photograph and audio recording of a bomb hitting down in Libya (http://sebmeyer.com/war-sounds) was part of the inspiration behind my current project with photographer/cinematographer Christian Geldart, experimenting with the relationships between sound and the still image.
Matthew Herbert’s new album ‘The End of Silence’ is made up of that very same recording.

Details on Herberts album here (taken from residentadvisor.net):
“As always with Herbert, there’s a concept behind the recording: according to a press release, The End Of Silence was composed “entirely from a 10-second sound recording” of war photographer Sebastian Meyer being bombed by Libyan air forces in 2011. “I wanted to freeze history, press pause, wander around inside the sound—trying to understand its component parts, wondering why it was so scary when I had never actually heard any bomb first hand,” Herbert says. “In stark contrast to the written reports of the atrocities committed by dictators in the Arab word during the Arab Spring, here was something that rendered it real. It turned the virtual word back in to the visceral. Despite immediate and disparate access to news of world events, it’s rare to find something that punctures the safe veneer of distance that computers create. By hearing this sound, one is compelled to live inside the moment.””

“The recording was “fragmented and atomised” into samples, which were then played by members of Herbert’s band. The album, which is split into three parts, was recorded over three days in an Welsh countryside barn in June 2012. It will see release three months on from Herbert Complete, the exhaustive digital retrospective of the producer’s work as Herbert.”

Tracklist
01. Part One
02. Part Two
03. Part Three

Accidental will release The End Of Silence on June 24th, 2013.

http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=19596 (2013)

Here is Part One taken from ‘The End of Silence’
https://soundcloud.com/accidentalrecords-1/matthew-herbert-the-end-of