“I have loved my tutors and the technicians and how inspiring they are. I have learnt so much and now I know the ins and outs of both the history of sound; I’ve enjoyed learning to record the sound of electricity and having a deep knowledge of artists and what they do. I’m dyslexic and had very low confidence in myself all my life. I feel the course has really freed me up and I feel I can hold my own now in a conversation in sound and electronic music.”
Tell us a bit about your work
“Here is my artist bio: Experimental pop musician and producer and performer CURRENTMOODGIRL makes sounds that dance between the dark and the light, resembling her the industrial landscape of Manchester, her Northern hometown. Utilising electrical pick-ups and dark, glitching synths, she creates textured soundscapes melting together with her siren-like but raw vocals, her rhythmic beats and anchoring basslines eminently danceable.
“CONTACT is about connections and the means of control between ourselves, our bodies, our minds, and one another. Manifested through sound, movement, and visuals, it is a multidimensional live performance intended to be experienced in the flesh. The work involves a self-made touch sensitive dance pole as an instrument which captures the sensory movement of the body. CONTACT is a sonic experience of electronic music and sound performance presented through a 5.1 soundsystem, transforming our visual sensibilities and challenges our societal idolisation of fragility and the female form. The performance grew out of the heavenly and broken unravelling of the self, trusting one’s own body, sexuality and celebrating being alive through the bad, the good and everything in between.”
CONTACT was performed at the Graduate Show.
What made you choose your course?
“I have been a musician for many years, and I was feeling dissatisfied with how limiting it was and I felt unfulfilled. I found the course when looking for alternative music and sound production courses. As an artist whose work spans numerous mediums, I needed something wild and unconventional that questions everything and uses abstract techniques to create sound. When I discovered DMSA, I immediately felt like I belonged there.”
Can you tell us about your favourite part of your studies and how it helped the development of you and your practice?
“I have loved my tutors and the technicians the most on the course and how inspired thay have left me. I have learnt so much and now I know the ins and outs of both the history of sound, all the facts and scientific stuff about sound too. For example Iv enjoyed learning to record the sound of electricity and having a deep knowledge of artists and what they doo.
“I’m dyslexic and had very low confidence in myself all my life. I feel the course has really freed me up and I feel I can hold my own now in a conversation in sound and electronic music.”
Can you tell us about any staff who particularly inspired you?
“All of them in different ways, its great to have a woman as the course leader Johanna Bramli has really looked after me, I feel she has been there for me alot.
“Stephen Mallinder is is a uplifting person to be around, he’s helped me lots to have more confidence in my writing and studying I’ve always struggled with reading and studying as Ijust have never felt good enough but Mal has always picked things for me that suit me as female artist and I’ve really enjoyed that part of my course witch was unexpected.
“Caleb has been really inspiring, his classes are the most fun for me. I took a lot from him in my exploring new sounds, he understands the way I make music, and helped me dive more into the weird side of sound.
“And our technician Paul, he’s taught me lots of production and mixing techniques and taught me how to play the modular synth and use other equipment.
“I’m planning to move to London and work more on my music. I would like to do a residency to further my practice, I’m also going to be doing some sound workshops. I’m thinking of doing a masters but I need a little break first to reset from all this madness.”
Finally if you could give your 17 year old self any advice about going to university what would it be?
“I’m a older student so I came to uni at 31 years old. I’m glad I waited, I think that was the best thing I would do I also have been against uni for as long as I new so this was a big surprise i never thought I would do, i would say to myself that just cos I had a horrible time in education before this. But uni is different and I shouldn’t let my dyslexia and mental health stop me from thinking I’m any less than anyone else.”
“As an interdisciplinary artist, this course has been the perfect way of building my skill set in various mediums. I have been able to dive deeper into the world of animation in my free time while developing my musical and artistic abilities.”
Please tell us a bit about your work
“The Arcade Project (2024) is an A/V, animated found footage horror installation consisting of a 5.1 sound setup in 3 arcade cabinets. An overwhelming concoction of visual and self-plundered sonic noise builds as we are left to feel helpless, dominated, yet awestruck. We watch as the once-perfect games become corrupted and mangled. The Arcade Project is a look into fantasy culture, tech gore, narrative and nostalgia in a short span of 10 minutes.
“I took inspiration from a variety of source; the analog horrors of Martin Walls; the anti-piracy horrors of ZeroVR; the noisy rebellion of Dreamcrusher, the Plunderphonic attitudes of John Oswald; the orchestration of Peter Gregson’s Patina (2021). These and so many more have led me to create something truly special.”
What made you choose your course?
“I considered so many other courses. I have such a wide range of interests – from visual arts to R.E. Once I dove deeper into the world of sound art, I was hooked. I recall getting odd looks in secondary school for sampling water bottles and rubber bands for bass tones. I’ve always loved sampling. My current methods of textural and Plunderphonic exploration are the direct result of my prior risk-taking.
“As an interdisciplinary artist, this course has been the perfect way of building my skill set in various mediums. I have been able to dive deeper into the world of animation in my free time while developing my musical and artistic abilities.”
Can you tell us about your favourite part of your studies and how it helped the development of you and your practise
“I enjoyed exploring alternative sound systems. The SDL and 5.1 surround systems were truly fun to experiment with as I combined spatialisation with my interest in orchestration. The Arcade Project was birthed from these concepts – moving away from the stereo field inherently creates freedom in composition and audience perception.
“I also enjoyed learning about noise culture, graphical scores and film scoring, each providing fresh, alternative ideas.”
Can you tell us about any staff who particularly inspired you?
“All of them!”
Can you tell us your plans after graduation?
“I will work both commercially and artistically. I have a very entrepreneurial mindset. I want to have that solid financial foundation while I build up my artistic expression. Many artists sit on this spectrum of art and income – I want to strike my own balance.
“I want to continue to develop The Arcade Project while working on my other installation, Swimming Pools (2021), featuring Daithi “Electronic Child” Donnelly. This memorial project almost feels full circle, it being the first project I worked on during my time at DMSA.
“I will also be working on publishing my final essay surround fantasy culture and modern day found footage horror.”
Finally, if you could give 17-year-old advice, what would it be
“Find purpose in what you do.”
Miles M Reid was the DMSA nomination for the Nagoya Prize 2024
including works from: Miles M Reid // Error_0_X106 – The Arcade Project Daithí Donnelly // Electronic Child – Rhythm: In Potentia Greta Carroll // currentmoodgirl – Contact Jude Bowden // Bleedinhart – Neuromancer Avery Laverty Caldwell // Minkgirl – A Little Witch Betwixt the Here and There Denis Sapuntsov – Echoes Bertie Myhill – Bird Talk Denette Lowry // Foamswords – The Moon and Back Harvey Penfold – Home in a Feeling Kristan Brown // Minxxyy – Escapism B. B. Martin // Slitlamp – Puretone Luca Lycksten-Miselbach – Metal Memoir Chloe Lubinska – Visualising Sonic Soundscapes Dante Ombima // DayC 3 – Feet Follow the Flower Owen May-Jones – Echos of Time EDITING: MILES M REID ORGANISATION/FILMING: CHLOE LUBINSKA & BERTIE MYHILL GRAPHIC DESIGN: DENIS SAPUNTSOV
“Coming from a science and engineering background I wanted a course that would allow me to focus those skills alongside an arts practice, and the new MA at DMSA seemed to fit the bill. The reputation of the lecturers and previous students too was a draw, the quality and breadth of work emerging from DMSA makes it a really exciting place to study.”
Hi Bob – please tell us a bit about your work and your influences
“I am a coder music producer, hacker, data scientist, educator, VJ, DJ and immersive experience artist operating in a space that weaves spatial sound, education, technology, politics and electronic club culture, into art.”For my final piece I have created ‘ICU’, an immersive interactive sound installation made from a networked collection of interactive devices and custom software that renders data from the faces of the audience and their movements.
Watch the ICU installation trailer:
Watch an ICU example:
Watch a timelapse of the ICU installation set-up:
“14 speakers and 3 screens surround the visitor with sound, light and images. A giant screen with abstract data towers over the visitor. An interactive scenario is projected on two screens that flank a camera reading the visitor’s facial expression. The left screen encourages the visitor to move while sharing their emotion. The right screen projects the extracted data of the visitor and reveals associated images and classifications.
“Synchronously the data harvested by the AI facial recognition system are sonified to reveal the secretive process at work. Sound is spatialised around the visitor, 9 ceiling speakers create a cloud of sound. 5 speakers at ear level create the data sonifications, producing an array of digital crackles and arpeggiated granular melodies.”The system exposes the classifications that allow this machine to understand what it sees. Sound is used to reveal these secretive processes; to create an experiential reflection of the workings of this technology.
“I have been influenced by several artists and researchers in the production of this work. Ryko Ikeda’s ‘Datamatics’ digital installations have been a real inspiration in the aesthetics of the work. The research of Kate Crawford (AI institute/ AI Atlas) and the Liquid Architecture (Eavesdropping) series have helped in the work’s conceptual grounding. My work builds upon the themes explored by those operating under the umbrella term of Surveillance Art such as Trevor Paglean and Jasmine Guffond.”
How have you found your course and time at Brighton?
“Personally the MA has been quite an intense but rewarding journey. As a mature student I chose to study part-time due to having a part time job working in music education and a family to support. With Covid happening and the children having to be homeschooled, time to study has been tight and at times has felt almost overwhelming. But the experience has been very rewarding and it’s not something I regret. The lecturers here have really helped me get the most out of what the course has to offer, and I have come away with so much experience and new skills. Initially I was not sure I could write a thesis again as it was twenty years between my undergraduate and the MA – but thanks to the help of my tutor and the structure of the course my approach to research is a skill that has definitely been refined. It is also something I can use day to day in my work moving forward.”
How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study DMSA?
“I was looking for an experimental music and arts course to expand my practice from purely music and digital works into a more holistic arts practice. Coming from a science and engineering background I wanted a course that would allow me to focus those skills alongside an arts practice, and the new MA at DMSA seemed to fit the bill. The reputation of the lecturers and previous students too was a draw, the quality and breadth of work emerging from DMSA makes it a really exciting place to study.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“I look to continue my programming work with Charanga, a web based music teaching platform, that supported me through my MA. The software I wrote for my final project has some practical applications – such as a musical instrument for those with limited motor skills, and is something I look to explore as a way of helping musicians with physical disabilities. I also am looking to reinstall the final work at various venues around the UK and have applied for various residencies and conferences in the EU over the next year. I also am writing several workshops to teach some of the core concepts of web based audio work. During lockdown I had the opportunity alongside Camp.Fr to write a score ‘The Sound of Surveillance’. This went on to be a part of an essay of impossible scores ‘Hearing the Impossible’ published with Accidental Records last month. This trajectory of work is the inspiration for an E.P. based that hopefully will be finished and released by the end of the year.”
“Many courses in this area seemed more focused on the technical considerations within a recording studio whereas Brighton allowed me to interpret the course how I wanted to and take it in my own direction. It was clear from attending the open day that there was an emphasis on pushing boundaries in terms of both content and format, so it was exciting to see how the initial ideas for my final project evolved, under the guidance of my tutors, into the multi-dimensional experience that it became.”
Hi Alex – please tell us a bit about your work and your influences
“I am an audiovisual artist from south-west London, currently exploring the complications surrounding cultural identity in a globalised world and the necessity for a kind of truthful meta-culture within a multicultural society. My final project, Wɔpo, is a digital mindmap and live performance that illustrates a building of bridges between my ancestral lineages of British and Asante (Ghana). A portmanteau of the vocal-oriented ‘doo-wop’ music of mid-20th century African-American communities and ‘ɔpo’, the Asante-Twi word for ‘ocean’, Wɔpo seeks to amplify the voices of ancestors which (appear to) have been drowned out across the Atlantic passage. Despite a resolve to respond to these calls for ‘Sankofa’, whereby the wisdom of your ancestors becomes a guide for your future, Wɔpo makes light of such problems as ‘double-consciousness’ and the lack of writing systems that document sub-Saharan cultures from the emic viewpoint. It is a journey through ancient myth, religion, ritual, proverb, etymology, conspiracy, and diasporic history, narrated through an immersive and semi-improvisational multimedia performance. Though the performances have come to an end for now, the mindmap and clips from the performances will soon be accessible via the online degree show and my website.
“My preceding audiovisual project, Morgo, was recently broadcast as part of The Joyous Thing, hosted by the experimental music network Outlands, which was an exciting experience made possible thanks to my tutors and the DMSA network.”
How have you found your course and time at Brighton?
“Over my time at Brighton I feel that I have matured much quicker than I would have otherwise, both as a person and as an artist. I have been lucky to receive so much attention from my tutors given the small scale of my course and their unwavering enthusiasm for advising all of us on our projects. My proximity to the sea, particularly throughout my third year, has also had a positive psychological effect while attempting to complete my work under what were frustrating unforeseen circumstances. The highlights of my time here include our ‘DMSA Night’ in second year, where I was given the opportunity to perform alongside my coursemates at Komedia, and more recently the final day of ‘private views’ for our final projects, which included a touching surprise celebration of our efforts, to round out our time here.
How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study Digital Music and Sound Arts BA?
“Fine art had been my passion at school ever since I was little, and I continued with it at A-Level, but I wanted to add audio into my creative practice so I looked for courses that offered me the possibility of working in both the aural and visual realms. Many courses in this area seemed more focused on the technical considerations within a recording studio whereas Brighton allowed me to interpret the course how I wanted to and take it in my own direction. It was clear from attending the open day that there was an emphasis on pushing boundaries in terms of both content and format, so it was exciting to see how the initial ideas for my final project evolved, under the guidance of my tutors, into the multi-dimensional experience that it became.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“I will return to London and continue to play with this idea of ‘performing’ the research of my projects rather than presenting only the project itself, but in a more accessible format than the private views I did in the DMSA studios, such as adapting it for my YouTube channel. This research is likely to go deeper into ancient African empires, cultures and mythologies and attempt to answer some of the difficult questions put forward in Wɔpo, while also ensuring my art and music is original but still authentic to its cross-cultural roots. I am also considering doing an MA degree while in London but I have only been able to go to online open days so I’m still hesitant to make a decision on that front.”
“My time at the University of Brighton has been an eye-opening and artistically inspiring three years. The tutors have pushed my creativity to the edge and given me brilliant guidance throughout the modules. My work has excelled and innovated past anything I could have imagined.”
Hi Joe – can you tell us a bit about your work and your influences?
“I am an audio artist living in Brighton. My work explores the collision between technology and life. As part of my final year audio/visual project on the Digital Music and Sound Arts course, I have been exploring the aesthetics of digital failure, glitch, and inter-twinement of past and present media through the virtual realm. My work has been inspired by reflecting on the consequences of exponential technological consumerism and what these effects are having on a digital generation. I am currently working on a variety of audio/visual projects which exploit technologies and define what it means to be human today.
“Since beginning my studies, I have produced bespoke music compositions for advertising campaigns as well as commercially released my own digital music projects online. My sound is often defined through unusual swung and off-kilter rhythms, haunting and ethereal vocal samples, and ambient washing soundscapes.
How have you found your course and time at Brighton?
“My time at the University of Brighton has been an eye-opening and artistically inspiring 3 years. The tutors have pushed my creativity to the edge and given me brilliant guidance throughout the modules. My work has excelled and innovated past anything I could have imagined. I now feel prepared for the next step in my journey. I have met other brilliant creatives who will be great contacts for the future. This diverse and amazing city is now somewhere I’m proud to call my home.”
How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study Digital Music and Sound Arts?
“I chose to study Digital Music and Sound Arts at Brighton not really knowing what ‘Sound Art’ even meant! After visiting on an open day, I could just feel by the atmosphere and incredible studio spaces that this was the place for me. I was most interested in the new media application of sound, digital culture, and experimental practice. These were eventually areas I became an expert in and continue to learn about every day.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“I have recently just secured a marketing internship with an opera theatre company in London. I hope to pursue my current interests in social media management and digital marketing within the arts, whilst continually progressing as a freelance digital artist. The course I have studied has opened me up to numerous career possibilities and taught me valuable and transferable skills for the future which many employers find desirable.”
“I am now working on a commission with the Brighton Centre for Creative Arts to create a piece to accompany Nika Neelova’s exhibition SILT in the coming months.”
Hi Toby – can you tell us a bit about your work and your influences?
“Project name Foci, plural of focus, the focusing effect of the two dishes projecting sound towards each other. Foci alters the perception of space through two minimal sculptural forms interacting sonically. It is a combination of a kinetic sound sculpture and domed structure above it that amplifies and reflects the resulting sound.
“The resonant tone of a metal bowl is activated by the circling movement of large steel ball bearings, put in motion by the user. Contact mics and a surface speaker transfer vibration from the bottom dish to the top, projecting this sound in an isolated area and creating the sense of tangible architectural space around the user. The installation seeks to exploit a disconnect between visual and aural perception of space in the creation of structural form. The piece utilises the reflective nature and sonic qualities of material, to conjure a cohesive impression of architectural space.
“Also through user participation, the role of our own agency in sonically defining architectural space is highlighted, creating personal sonic spatial experience through physical interaction. The project stands at the intersection of sound, architecture, sculpture, installation and perceptual art and its influences reflect this diverse blend of disciplines. It was inspired by various areas within sound art practice including spatial manipulation, kinetic sculpture and structural amplification. Works such as Bernhard Leitner’s Water Mirror (1997), Akio Suzuki’s Space in the Sun (1988) Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s Clinamen v.2 (2015), Nelo Akamatsu’s – Chijikinkutsu (2013-2020) and Bernhard Leitner’s Space Sources (1997) were instrumental in the conception and development of Foci. Aesthetically the project takes large influence from the Light and Space movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This form of minimalism based on the west coast of America focused on perceptual experience rather than conceptual thought. Foci takes its lead from this, altering the perception of space through two minimal sculptural forms, directing focus towards the perception of the spatial qualities of the auditory experience. ”
How have you found your course and time at Brighton?
“I have loved being a part of the DMSA cohort, surrounded by exceptional levels of creativity from other students and true experts in their fields in the lecturers, I have always felt inspired and pushed to create innovative and original work. Also being here has allowed me to widen the scope of my practice, with optional units in the architecture school and interaction with the visual arts and media schools. My time at The University of Brighton has instilled me with a depth and breadth of knowledge and allowed me to establish a multifaceted sound art practice. ”
How did you choose your course – why did you choose to study Digital Music and Sound Arts?
“ I actually came to the course at a transition in my own creative practice. I had completed a foundation degree in creative music production, unable to complete a BA top up. The Digital Music and Sound Arts course seemed to fit with where I found myself but offered a route into developing skills in Art practice. The scope of the course was so wide and allowed the chance to g ain a firm basis in sound art theory that isn’t matched in many places. The syllabus enabled a development in me, to experiment and incorporate a variety of other disciplines and expand what I could do creatively.”
What are your plans after graduation?
“ I will remain in Brighton as it is a beautiful, creative, exciting city. I plan on exhibiting Foci again for the general public to experience in person, potentially creating another version for the Brighton Sound Art Festival that will be coming to the city. Also I am working on a commission with the Brighton CCA to create a piece to accompany Nika Neelova’s exhibition SILT in the coming months. Filmed submission – talking about the work or experience of producing work in lockdown. Working through lockdown mainly meant having to think creatively about how to realise the concept of the project. The biggest change was to not construct any of the main elements or have them custom made, it all had to be created with commercially available items that were modified for their new purpose. A giant fire pit was suspended and a mirrored mixing bowl was used for this project in the end, sonically creating interesting variations.
Before the official launch of our Master’s programme and a much needed holiday break we talk to our recent graduate Amanda Brooks who presented a very ambitious experiment in immersive and 3D sound titled ‘SINKHOLE’. We hope to be able to present Amanda’s project again in the coming year! Stay Tuned and read below to learn more about her.
DMSA: Three important words that represent you as a creative person
AB:Progressive, Classical, Spooky
DMSA: When did you start working with sound and music?
AB: Live bands since 1984, sound phenomena since 2009 after my guitarist/sound guy had a stroke and there was no-one else who wanted to engineer the bands sound. I took the job on.
DMSA: In what ways has the DMSA course supported or helped you to develop into who you are today creatively and professionally?
AB: The DMSA course has inspired me to compose differently, it has helped me to develop technically which is one huge reason why I applied for the DMSA B.A and to understand the concept of sound art on a deeper level.
DMSA: Can you tell us a bit more about ‘SINKHOLE’, the piece you presented in our degree show this year?
AB: My final degree project ‘Sinkhole’ is about travelling sound lines, vertically, horizontally, and diagonally engulfing and surrounding the listener on a large scale (5 meters high sound cylinder) Inspired by Austrian architect and sound artist Bernhard Leitner. The concept derives from modern life as a human being where everything seems to be a race against time. ‘Sinkhole’ represents standing in a insurmountable sink under a giant tap where the listener hears pipes creaking and swelling, then the inevitable ‘water’ comes as sound, crashing vertically onto and around the listener. It is sonically big as well.
DMSA:You have been performing in quite a lot of bands. Any gigs coming up?
AB: I don’t have any gigs right now as I ‘walked’ from my two bands, ‘Undercover Agents’ and 20+ year old ‘Soul x Press’, I felt stuck and stagnated. Personally, from time to time, I do feel the need to maintain my place in the ‘un-comfort zone’ so I started a new project ‘Ditch the Demon’ where the music and band members are a little more ambitious.
DMSA: Other plans for the future? projects, events, visions?
AB: The future: I have applied for the DMSA M.A. which I am very excited about, I feel I need to continue my journey into all the aspects of sound phenomena in the field of sound art and design. I have a vision to gig, compose, freelance as a sound artist/designer and a session vocalist. I may even become an acoustician as well and sort out some live music venues !!
To mark the course’s longstading partnership with Chris Evans-Robert’s (DMSA Alumni, 2007) ITHACA Studio, Chris and DMSA have created a new award, launched on this year’s graduate show. Known for its cutting edge audio and light installations, ITHACA Studio and the ITHACA Prize want to celebrate innovative creative work by our students.
This year’s winners were Jedd Winterburn’s breath-taking Zenith and Olivia Louvel’s (Runner Up Prize) intense and through-provoking The Whole Inside.
You can watch excerpts from both pieces in the videos below.
1-9 June | DMSA Facilities| Grand Parade, University of Brighton The private view is on the 31st of May and starts at 4pm. Last Entry – 9.30pm Weekday opening times are from 10am until 5pm, and weekends from 12pm until 5pm. FB Event
We are honoured to be presenting to you the works by our third year students consisting of an eclectic mix of sound and musical compositions, live AV performances, experimental films, sound murals, generative art and installation pieces. Spanning across this wide range of practices and processes, all the works are supported by an underlying thread of challenging our perceptions and engaging us in a more attentive process of listening, feeling and experiencing.
This year we are happy to nominate four of our student pieces for the Nagoya Award and the newly launched Ithaca Awards. An * will be added next to the nominated pieces.
Good luck to all our students and congrats on their hard work!
Detailed schedule to follow.
AD Design: Jedd Winterburn
::Works on Display::
Thom Aurelius – MAX (Animation) | SS1
MAX is a short, animated film that depicts a story of a young boy, Max, who is experiencing the struggles of fitting in socially at high school. The project itself is a collaboration between two creative artists, Thomas Aurelius (producer, composer and sound designer) and Peter Golijanin (animator).
The animation’s main intention is to use the power of punk-inspired musical motifs and naturalistic sound-design to represent the feelings of Max as a character and the world that he is living in. This results in the audience relating themselves to the character of Max and his onscreen experiences.
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Sonny Bacon Sonny Bacon – Lost In Process ( Experimental Film) | SS1
Lost in Process is an audiovisual experiment intended for large screen projection. The film explores sound’s ability to evoke, shift and steer atmospheres in combination with visual material. The audio of the piece was created using a variety of elements, featuring self-captured field recordings, foley and manipulated instrumental compositions.
The visual material was created through the recording and arrangement of still and moving image content captured using an array of visual technologies; DV Tape, 35mm and 16mm film. Themes of destruction, time and surveillance are presented as the experimental film unfolds.
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Danny Baron – A Call To Perish (Immersive Radio Play) | SDL
A Call to Perish is an immersive radio play, which explores a fictional settlement that takes a turn for the worst. The play travels through different areas of the settlement, highlighting its diverse and unique soundscape, executed through diffused sound. The main concept behind this project is to use sound to create an observable story for the listener without any visuals or, in other words, the internal cinema. This project is to be exhibited in a 5.1 surround sound setup, optimising the realism and making it as engaging as possible for the listener.
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Amanda Brooks – Sinkhole (Sound Installation) | Performance Studio
Sinkhole is a multi-channel sound art installation exploring themes of descent and life’s daunting threat of ‘going under’.
Using processed field recordings taken in various railway transport systems, the piece extensively uses audio relocation and movement, with sound panning between multiple speakers in an immersive cylindrical formation. The audio of the piece is manifested as a heavy volume of ‘water’ dropping onto the listener, creating a feeling of standing in an insurmountable sink under a giant tap. The sound then takes on different directions, engulfing the listener horizontally, vertically and diagonally.
The digital audio workstation Logic Pro X audio was used, alongside a fundamental production system with IRCAM plugin software. T.R.A.X Voice Transformer v.3 was utilised for sound processing with S.P.A.T Revolution controlling the vertical, horizontal and diagonal movement of the audio.
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Duncan Cabral – Digital Forest (Surround Sound Composition) | SDL
Digital Forest is a surround sound composition that utilises environmental sounds to create a sonic space. Examining concepts of audio exploration and immersion, Digital Forest looks at sound’s potential to transport a listener to another place. Sound design, soundscape building, and surround sound mixing are all used within this work. The digital audio workstation Logic Pro X was used extensively, with plugins such as Serum, ES2, ESE being utilised alongside hardware synthesisers such as the Korg Monologue, Microbrute and Yamaha CS.
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James Carroll – London Atmospheres (Experimental Film) | SDL
London Atmospheres aims to utilise soundscapes and visuals in order to capture the urban atmosphere found in various locations of London. Exploring the relationship between sound and image in film, London Atmospheres focuses on how atmosphere and tension is created. The footage of this piece was shot in central London at night in order to relay the intended atmosphere, with field recordings of the various London locations also being taken.
The soundtrack London Atmospheres uses musicality alongside environmental sounds in order to create an immersive piece, with a sense of underlying suspense in order to capture the listeners attention. A variety of software was used in the recording and editing processes, such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC, FL studio 12 and Logic Pro X.
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Jack Cleary – FLUCTUS (AV Performance) | Performance Studio
Fluctus, which is Latin for waves, explores the concept of brightness in sound and visuals.
The work synthesisers the ideas of musical “Brightness, Flux and Logos” presented by philosopher Heraclitus, which attempt to describe how the universe works.
Brightness is a sonic quality determined by the number of harmonics, the more harmonics the brighter the sound. Flux is fluidity whilst Logos is structure, generating the tension necessary for the string to vibrate to create sound.
Inspired by classical Indian and ambient music, the performance is produced using Ableton and a collection of electronic instruments. The visuals, created in Touch Designer, are vibrating lines organised into a spherical shape while the timbre of sound informs the colour of the visuals through interaction with an OSC controller.
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Nile Ezra – Nightshift (Musical Composition) | SS1
Nightshift is a series of three atmospheric instrumental tracks, which explore themes of darkness, inspired by science fiction and horror films such as Interstellar and The Shining. Using the digital audio workstation Ableton, various sound design techniques such as sampling, granular synthesis and Foley have been implemented to create varying aspects of sounds reminiscent of nightfall.
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Daniel Fadil – Erosion (Short Film) | SS1
Erosion explores the physical forces at the coast as a metaphor for Britain’s erosive nature towards languages from other shores, with the sounds of the physical washing out eternally those of a minority culture. In this case, the examined language is Romany, or rather, the remnants of it familiar to the artist. Even in its distanced existence from British influence, it has still been diminished to the point of no longer being a language. A narrative based on isolation and foreignness is used to play out the history of this phenomenon.
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Tarek El Goraicy – Singularity (AV Performance) | Performance Studio
Singularity is an audio-visual live performance of two songs from of my upcoming release Human Condition.
The presentation, containing elements of improvisation, consists of one laptop running an Ableton Live set, which is navigated through the use of a MIDI controller. Live synthesizers and live vocals are utilised, with a second machine also generating realtime visual projections through the use Touchdesigner and a MIDI-interface.
The performance aims to present a coherent interactive relationship between sound and visuals in the context of an immersive live performance, countering the traditional DJ/laptop-performance of electronic music.
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Brianna Leeds – The Safe Space (AV Installation) | SDL
The Safe Space uses a quadraphonic audio set up to combine meditative tones and abstract art, forming an encompassing environment of mindfulness and peace. This project integrates research from the field of colour therapy, music therapy and spiritual influences. In the safe space the audience can gradually disengage from personal symptoms of anxiety or stress by experiencing the serene audiovisual display in their own time.
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Olivia Louvel – The Whole Inside (Generative AV Installation) | SDL * ITHACA AWARD NOMINEE
Guidance: this work contains sensitive content.
The Whole Inside is a generative sound mural combining artificial and human voices, expanding the plastic dimension of voice on contouring the body.
The work confronts femininity and abuse, when the body is being depersonalised, subsequently dissociated as a defence mechanism to cope with a traumatic event.
The harrowing polyphonic vocal composition is based on a text sourced from the Incels (involuntary celibates) forum. On debating how to murder a woman, some members of the Incels community propose diverse actions, one being to rape her then to “take a surgical knife, cut open her abdominal area and remove the organs”.
Since October 2018, the site incels.me has been suspended due to the content that violated the domain’s anti-abuse policy. Applying principle of conditional logic, the randomised audio is carrying on indefinitely, revealing itself to the experiencer over time.
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Jamie Moore – The Lily Pond (AV Installation) | Performance Studio *NAGOYA AWARD NOMINEE
Consisting of three large projector screens and 6.1 channel surround sound, The Lily Pond is inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies series (1914 – 1926), in a modernisation of their concepts. The work runs for a total length of 1 hour 40 minutes, creating a slow moving and enveloping spectacle on a grand scale, which cannot be interpreted in the same way from any viewpoint or temporal instance.
It uses field recordings and video taken at Monet’s garden in Giverny, as well as images taken of his paintings at Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, re-imagining the works and expanding them into a multi-sensory environment, within a contemporary context.
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Joseph Purefoy – Sampling the World (Musical Composition) | SS1 – 229
Sampling the world is a five track EP exploring the art of sampling in an attempt to demonstrate the vast possibilities found in manipulating and repurposing a sound. The work was produced with the digital audio workstation Logic Pro and focuses on expanding audio from its original context, shifting sound to a new sonic dimension.
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Dominic Rae – Fits the Frame | SS1 – 229
Fits in The Frame is an experimental folk-inspired concept EP. Informed by themes of narrative, Americana, analogue photography and folk music, it aims to explore the gap between the continuous, uninterrupted flow of time and people’s tendency towards quantizing the idea of time into discrete, separate moments and sections.
A key facet of the EP is the consideration of ‘Morii’, the desire to capture a fleeting moment, which brings together the ideas of music, photography and storytelling by each component’s intrinsic nature: music as continuum, photography as instantiative capture, and storytelling as a bridge between the two.
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Luke Vosper – My Bedroom (AV Performance) | Performance Studio
Stemming from a desire for a more natural and immersive way of composing and performing electronic music, My Bedroom is a studio and live setup that focusses on DIY and self-built hardware and instruments. Drawing inspiration from a space used for composition, performance, and instrument construction, My Bedroom explores an improvisation-based approach to electronic music.
As well as analogue and acoustic instruments, My Bedroom takes full advantage of digital tools. Using custom software and patches alongside complex synthesis techniques and an extensive sample library, this allows the music of the piece to be created in an improvisation-driven, performative way.
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Matt Were – Piano I Ching (Prepared Piano / Interactive AV Installation) | 229 *ITHACA AWARD NOMINEE
Piano I Ching is an interactive audiovisual piece. The audio from the installation starts when a webcam picks up movement within close proximity to the piano. This results in solenoids and motors being triggered, brushing, scraping and hitting the piano, giving a familiar object a completely new vocabulary of sounds.
Each casting yields two trigrams (a hexagram), and each of the trigrams is associated with a sound sequence relevant to the time of the year. This piece attempts to create a synthesis of a Western cultural icon, the piano, with an Eastern cultural icon, the I Ching, by interpreting the latter divinations through sound on a prepared piano.
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Jedd Winterburn – Zenith (AV Composition for multiple screens) | Performance Studio *ITHACA AWARD NOMINEE
Zenith is an audiovisual installation that incubates the practise of attentive listening, inviting the listener to discover an awareness of sound that can enrich one’s life after the event. The unique viewing experience of Zenith is notably engaging, operating over two screens and 4.1 surround sound in a highly curated environment. Hosting a palette of noise curated to explore the fringes of musicality, Zenith aims to promote the abstraction of sound’s form and function.
