recordings

Dark Januaries

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Isabel and I scanning the floor at Bretton Hall to find the creaky floorboards

 

Isabel and I scan the floor at Bretton Hall for interesting creaking sounds …………

 

Over the last 15 years Isabel Jones and Duncan Chapman have been collaborating with each other ,they have co-composed numerous films, recordings, installations and performances including their album ‘Corrosion’, the music for Salamanda Tandems performances and their eight year personal documentary project ‘8 Dark Januaries’

Since 1994 they have met every January to start the year with some sonic research that involves the creation of an original piece of music. This process has been partly one of self documentation as well as a way of reviewing the last 12 months in sound.

The works produced have therefore become a kind of snapshot of our individual and collective work and travels from the preceding year. By “documentising” ourselves we have sought to create an oasis of reflective practice that both looks back and forwards. On many occasions we have discovered connections in our sound palettes and worked these into the pieces.

Sonic materials have included field recordings from all over the world as well as voice, live acoustic instruments and electroacoustic processing.
January 2004

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January 2005

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January 2006

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January 2007

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January 2008

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January 2009

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January 2010

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January 2011

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Horn and Rabab

Friday, October 14th, 2011

12 Years ago Isabel Jones and I made a recording of her playing a one string Rabab complete with creaking tuning pegs and me playing the horn through a harmoniser. Some of this became another piece but yesterday Isabel emailed me a version of the original recording for us to think about making something out of in the future. My breath control isn’t this good any more BUT it the horn is now out of the case and we are contemplating a whole new world of long notes and mysterious textures

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Bamboo Forest

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

A short film made at La Bambooserie (http://www.bambouseraie.com/) in the summer of 2011, the soundtrack is entirely composed of Shakuhachi breath sounds played by Mike McInerney and collected for a “Turning Breath” performance.

 

 

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In response to Ruscha

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Three short pieces made as the start of a project with Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Museum in response to their exhibition of work by Ed Ruscha. All played live using a mixture of field recordings. This will form part of a performance installation at the gallery in October.

Made and played by

Elisha Millard aka Electric Farmer

Odira Morewabone

Webster Siame

Duncan Chapman

1st piece

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2nd piece

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3rd piece

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More information on the exhibition here

http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/wolves/exhibitions

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Conques , Looking up

Sunday, August 28th, 2011

Walking round the church at Conques, camera on my head pointing upwards, soundtrack from fragment of rehearsal that was taking place at the time stretched to last the length of the walk……..

 

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From the River To the Sea at the Royal Opera House

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

On Monday 30th May Isabel Jones and myself will be performing a 4 hour installation performance. This forms part of the ROH Sounding Out For Families week of creative activities (more information on the Opera House Website (http://www.roh.org.uk/)

This short track was made today (Thursday 26th) as part of our preparations for Mondays event. It features field recordings we have recorded on our travels around the world , water sounds from Ireland, France, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, Derbyshire as well as live voice , synthesised layers and a very stretched version of a well know piece of Tchaikovsky Ballet music (a prize for spotting what it is).

From the River to the Sea (Duncan Chapman / Isabel Jones 26/5/2011)

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Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb (website now online)

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

The Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb website is now online @ http://www.rhubarbrhubarbrhubarb.co.uk/

with recordings, recipes, film and photographs of the project

also coming in the  Huddersfield Festival (21st November) a solo performance with Rhubarb sounds in the dark !

A project for the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2011

The Rhubarb Sheds of Yorkshire (its picked by candlelight to avoid the leaves turning green)

(from the HCMF website http://www.hcmf.co.uk/Playing-the-rhubarb-triangle)

West Yorkshire’s proud history of rhubarb-growing is providing inspiration for a new Learning and Participation project created by Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb involves sound artist, musician and educator Duncan Chapman working with pupils from Overthorpe Junior, Infant and Nursery School in Thornhill, Dewsbury to create an interactive online installation using audio and visuals from the farming of local rhubarb.

Yorkshire’s famous ‘Rhubarb Triangle’ is an area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell known for producing forced rhubarb. This technique for growing rhubarb, which is originally native to Siberia, became popular in the 19th century. The plants are grown outside for two years then transferred indoors to sheds that are heated and kept in complete darkness, prompting the sprouting of new stems with a prized tenderness and sweet flavour. In 2010 Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb was awarded European Protected Designation of Origin status, putting it in the same category as champagne, gorgonzola and Swaledale cheese.

Here are a few sound samples of the project so far

a mix of lots of popping sounds that it makes as it grows (with some pitch manipulation)

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more pops

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snapping

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Here’s a short film of it growing in the sheds (the camera is still there taking one photo every 4 hours so there will be more to come soon !)

shed 1 quicktime

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Ambergate Sounds

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Here are some sounds for a project i’ve been doing for Jessie”s Fund (http://www.jessiesfund.org.uk/)  at Ambergate sports college in Grantham

they will form part of a series of sound and image installations around the school next term. The workshops were led by myself with Jess Baker who brought her Ukelele collection along to some of the sessions. Some of the pieces are a combination of field recordings collected from round the school.recording the railingsrecording the railings

DSC03705recording the sound of the bricks being scraped………..

Here are some of the pieces we made

Weird things

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Whale songs

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Dinner Hall music

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Trumpy B (it really is the sound of a Bee !)

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Shimmery Bells

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Sams Piece

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Alien Harmony

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Uke piece

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Spitalfields Festival Walks project

Monday, May 31st, 2010

SPITALFIELDS

SPEAKS

– Free, downloadable sonic guides

It’s time to throw out the guide book and open your ears as we invite you to take a guided tour of the East End, through the experiences and imaginations of local people with compelling stories to share.

Working with artists Marcia Farquhar and Duncan Chapman, five very different local residents have created sonic guides, providing unique perspectives into the area, revealing the connections and locations that matter to them. Simply explore each individual’s piece online, print out the map and download the mp3s, then come to the area and listen through your headphones to the sounds of the East End, as heard by the people who live here.

Download the PDF maps and audio here

spitalfieldsfestivaladmin.new.mindunit.co.uk/images/resource/Spitalfi.pdf

PDF Grab

Madge

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Sharif

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Miss Beryl

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Jez Self

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Mike Myers

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Time Dance

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Time dance postcard

Time Dance was a collaboration in 1997 between choreographer Catherine Seymour, artist Tatsuo Miyajima with Duncan Chapman (Composer) and what was described as “an extraordinary cast”.

The performance took place on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall with a sound installation (recording below) and projections onto the sides of the building. This co-incided with an exhibition of Miyajimas work at the Hayward Gallery.

http://www.tatsuomiyajima.com/en/index.html

Here is a recording of the sound installation that was installed in the roof garden on top of the Festival Hall, the Latin Names are the names of the fossils that are in the marble that clads the building and are spoken by Sarah Goldfarb other sounds include signal horns, sounds made from Oyster Shells and environmental recordings.

time dance horns.php

Some of the installation sound

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Corrosion

Monday, May 25th, 2009

Corrosion


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 Artistic Director of Salamanda Tandem, choreographer and composer Isabel Jones was commissioned by Opera North and The Bonington Gallery to embark on a new period of research and development exploring the question ‘What is Opera?’ . To conduct this research Isabel brought composer and sound artists Duncan Chapman, together with sculptor and visual artist Gerard Renvez.

‘Corrosion’ treats the body, voice and material to an accelerated state of change and flux, organic and manufactured chemical processes interact …sounds decay, pulp dries out, metal disintegrates, bone imprints, stone crumbles, clay cracks, water evaporates…. In the accumulation, distillation, and sedimentation a transformation occurs…. Traces remaining are left behind and out of the corrosive debris arises something beautiful.

Installation and Performance Research
Artistic Director / Co -Composer / Choreographer – Isabel Jones
Co – Composer / Sound Installation Artist – Duncan Chapman
Visual Artist / Sculptor – Gerard Renvez
Singer / Composer -  Moira Smiley
Poet – Tony Baker

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Performers

Singer – Moira Smiley
Singer / Dancer – Isabel Jones
Live electronics / composition – Duncan Chapman
Singers – Bryony Jones, Richard Lindsay, Naomi Line, Aric Prentice
Costume Designer – Helen Segal
Poet – Tony Baker

Corrosion installation was performed at the Studio Theatre, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, and at The Bonington Gallery, Nottingham during March 2003.

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Ambulatincula

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

A sound installation for Forbury Gardens in Reading.

I was one of 7 artists commissioned to make soundworks for the Gardens. For a year audiences could pick up a portable mp3 player and listen to specially created works for particular locations in the Victorian Gardens.

amb

Here is some information about my pieces from the catalogue

The sounds of bells and gongs signal significant events in our lives. Beginnings and endings, birth, death, and marriage are all marked by these sounds. Bells are a universal signifier of stopping, pausing and change. In the past, the days in the Abbey were structured around the sound of bells. A bell signalled the time for monks to rise at 2am to sing the Office of the Lauds, and other bells signalled the time for work, silent contemplation and meals. In the prison the bell marks the division of the day into work, mealtimes and sleeping.

A series of seven short works respond to the juxtaposition of the prison with the Abbey ruins. The sounds of bells and gongs correspond to different parts of the day, inviting the listener to pause, listen, contemplate, and move on, changed in some way. Combined with recordings of daily activities, and the crackling of candles at St James’s Church, the sounds of bells ultimately disappear into silence. Thanks to: Professor Brian Kemp and Tony Stokes

 The pieces

walk

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mother

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morning

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busy

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calm

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12 bells

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3am

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