current projects

In both music and environmental sound art I'm currently experimenting with a simple concept - figure on ground. The term relates to music, drawing and painting and has meanings both literal and metaphorical. In very simple terms I'm looking to contrast a relatively ordered layer of sound with a more chaotic layer.

music

A recording and performance project: new composed and improvised music for justly intoned zithers, psalteries, steel tube marimbas and electronics.

environmental sound art

The development and exploitation of my digital sound archive of recordings from various locations in the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland. Most of the recordings have been captured at high resolution, often using custom built microphone and contact microphone rigs and relying on various DIY solutions, an important element of my practice across both music and sound art.

Following the new CD release, I'm currently working on a performance and recording project using simple processes in which I mix layers of material, recordings of natural phenomena such as masses of wind and water in motion, with recordings of sonic interventions at various sites and with the live manipulations of found objects. My overall intention is to create a sound world which invites acousmatic listening, where the sonic interventions and live manipulations, though offering contrast, might become feasible or credible events within the overall environment.

In seeking out performance and installation spaces I'm interested in exploring and taking advantage of the architectural and acoustic features of interior spaces, asking questions not only of the representational content but also of the spatial features of sound.