Graduates 2024: Greta Carroll: Digital Music and Sound Arts

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

 

greta carroll

“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.

greta carroll

greta carroll

 

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 feel all the staff have given different things to me so I am going away from this with so much, I feel like Digital Music and Sound Arts BA(Hons) (brighton.ac.uk) can do anything now.”

Can you tell us your plans after graduation?

“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.”

Instagram @currentmoodgirl_ 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/24pePTKrry9Zv7xrmHRqF7

Bandcamp: https://currentmoodgirll.bandcamp.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CURRENTMOODGIRL/

 

Greta Carroll was the winner of the 2024 Outlands Prize.

Find out about studying Digital Music and Sound Art at Brighton.

Graduates 2024: Miles M Reid: Digital Music and Sound Arts

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

“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

Find out about studying Digital Music and Sound Arts BA(Hons)

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

DMSA Showreel 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

 

 

Graduates 2021: Bob Smith: Digital Music and Sound Arts MA

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

“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.”

Graduates 2021: Alex Lewis-Whitaker: Digital Music and Sound Arts BA

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

“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.”

Visit Alex’s website

Follow Alex on Instagram @alexlw.art

Check out Alex’s YouTube: Alex Lewis-Whitaker

Check out Alex on Spotify: Alex Lewis-Whitaker

Graduates 2021: Joe Gilling: Digital Music and Sound Arts

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

“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.”

Visit Joe’s website www.joegillingmusic.com

Follow Joe on Instagram: @joegillingmusic

Find out about studying Digital Music and Sound Arts BA(Hons).

Graduates 2021: Toby Hinks: Digital Music and Sound Arts

Posted on by Johanna Bramli

“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.


Website: thsoundart.co.uk


Foci development blog


Instagram: @th.soundart

Find out about studying Digital Music and Sound Arts BA(Hons).

DMSA: DEBUTANTS

Posted on by Maria Papadomanolaki

Monday 9th December 2019, 8pm
KOMEDIA, Brighton | MAP
FB Event Page

EXPERIMENTAL | LIVE PERFORMANCES | ELECTRONICA | DJ’S

DMSA:Debutants is a showcase of live music performed by students from the Digital Music and Sound Arts course at the University of Brighton.

An event that will encompass a wide range of different sonic and visual material, with live acoustic and electronic music – DMSA:Debutants is a celebration of sound without the constraints of genre.

8PM-1AM
£3 OTD

INCLUDING:
___________________________________
Experimental Music
Live Performance
DJ Sets
Acoustic Sets
Noise Music
Ambient Music
Techno Music
Projections

PERFORMANCES:
____________________________________
Meller & Jared Swift
Ike Goldman
Aidan
Hippo Island
MAL
Cyphon & OBZERV

DJs:
_____________________________________
Patrick Mckeever Crowcroft
Jack James
Finley Mist