In a series of short simple texts accompanying a new work by composer Matthew Sansom, Tony will describe his personal impressions of the sounds of Kings Cross. These are based on a close listening to the area in a number of visits over the past few weeks. From footsteps and voices at St Pancras to robins and falling leaves in Argyle Square the descriptions hope to encourage others to consider their relationship to the often overlooked everyday sounds and silences that accompany our lives.
Sat quietly at Bellever Tor for one hour just after dawn this morning, watching the driving southerly wind and rain, considering my respose to the 17 score (see previous post).
Dawn, Friday 5 September 2008
As the sun rises I will clamber onto one of the low, flat granite blocks of Bellever Tor. The walk from Bellever Youth Hostel will take an hour, a gentle steady climb through coniferous plantation and heather moor. It may be misty with drizzle. Or the sky may be clear; the air cool, moist and still. I will sit. I will listen, in my head, to the sound of a choir consisting of precisely 17 people. I will remain seated, quietly listening, for one hour, and note what
happens. I will then have a cup of tea.
This will be my requested response to this score.
For this years Sonic Arts Network annual Expo I ran a series of overnight soundwalks in Plymouth City Centre.
All walks started from Smeaton’s Tower on the Hoe, the first at 6:07pm the last at 4pm. Attendance’s varied, with the most popular being the one straight after the Evan Parker concert attended by over thirty people. The least popular was, not suprisingly, the 4am one, with just me and Sonic Arts director Phil sitting on a bench listening to the fishing boats go out and having a very odd conversation with a young chap who was a tad `tired and emotional’.
Best listening? Probably having the group of thirty people sitting in silence, in darkness, in an ampitheatre next to the sea in the old Tinside Lido complex listening to the sound of waves and distant ships. Or the rippling of sails on racing yachts in the early evening.
(more…)
