Page Text: Civic Sound Week
30th January to 5th February, Civic Theatre. Catherine St, Rotherham S65 1EB, Opening times 2pm to 8pm daily.
A week long series of sound art, featuring world leading figures, presented over a specially designed and installed multi channel speaker system in the Civic Theatre. Visitors can drop in during opening times to relax and experience a selection of immersive works.
Timetable
Sunday 30th and Monday 31st of January, (drop in between 2pm 8pm)
Jana Winderen, Transmission, 2017. Commissioned by VAC foundation Moscow. European premier.
The ocean is full of sounds - from the toothed whale's use of echo-location, the crackling sound minute creatures, to the melting of ten thousand year-old ice. Norwegian artist Jana Winderen’s Transmission uses underwater wildlife recordings, searching for barely audible and often inaccessible sounds in order to demonstrate their detail and complexity. Listen to fish, crustaceans, insect species and mammals which swim and move around you. With the spatial sound design developed by Tony Myatt. Winderen is an award winning artist whose work has been presented around the world.
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Tuesday 1st February, (drop in between 2pm 8pm)
Alex Mclean, Broken Symmetry, 2022 premier.
Alex works in his handmade and free/open source TidalCycles environment, created for exploring algorithmic patterns. This work will show an array of eight of Alex's TidalCycles sessions, captured on loop, drifting out of sync, spread around the speakers in the space. Alex McLean is a musician and researcher based in Sheffield UK, and part of the independent, open access research studio Then Try This.
Broken symmetry - TidalCycles workshop
An introductory, beginners workshop exploring musical patterns with simple algorithms. We will use the free TidalCycles software ( https://tidalcycles.org ) made by Alex, which lets you explore patterns by "live coding" - making changes to algorithmic patterns while listening to them. TidalCycles lets you describe simple patternings like repetition, reflection, time shifting and stretching, but allows you to combine them at different scales, to break symmetries and create strange interferences. No prior knowledge of music or coding is required! Participants will need to bring their own laptop, with the free/open source TidalCycles software installed. Once you sign up we'll send more information, and support will be available if you need help with installing the software. For more information or to sign up for the session please go to https://rotherhamtheatres.ticketsolve.com/shows/1173620629 .
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Wednesday 2nd February, (drop in between 2pm 8pm)
Mark Fell, Protomusic#1, 2018, commissioned by Sage Gateshead for The Great Exhibition of the North.
Mark’s piece Protomusic#1 brings together recordings of 40 performers and instruments from various traditions to recreate environmental recordings made in the North of England, these range from bus stations, steel factories, archaeological digs and walks in the mountains. Mark is a local artist who started out making electronic music in the 1980s. Since then he has gone on to perform all over the world and is recognised as a pioneer of sound art and experimental music.
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Thursday 3rd February, (drop in between 2pm 8pm)
Ed Martin and Ryoko Akama, untitled - 2022 premier (approximately 65 minutes looped)
Ryoko has been fascinated by ed’s voice and firstly approached him to collaborate to create sound pieces together in winter 2020. This exclusive sound piece for the 20 multi-channel system introduces Ed as a poet, listener, music lover and 'loiner' (demonym, the citizens of Leeds). In the week together, Ryoko collects their conversations, recordings and electronic manipulations. These unprocessed and raw materials, intimate and accidental, are constructed into a sound journey exploring ideas of humanity, place and identity.
Poem, voice and field recording by Ed Martin (aka edv3ctor).
Concept, electronics and composition by Ryoko Akama
Ed Martin is a ground-breaking DJ, edv3ctor who lives in Leeds.
Ryoko Akama is a sound artist who lives in Huddersfield.
Workshop 2pm.
Ed and Ryoko invite you to join their DJ salon, to listen together, while talk and discussing life and music. For more information or to sign up for the session please go to https://rotherhamtheatres.ticketsolve.com/shows/1173620636 .
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Friday 4th and Saturday 5th February, (drop in between 2pm 8pm)
Rian Treanor, Polymutant Spikes, 2022, Premier.
Treanor’s Polymutant Spikes uses digital synthesis and mathematical patterns to create sounds that move around the space. Visitors will be able to connect using their smartphones to change the sounds around them and interact with the patterns. Growing up on Broom Valley Road, Treanor is recognised as one of the UK’s most exciting and innovative producers, earning awards in DJ magazine, MixMag and Spotify, with guest spots on Radio 1. His latest album 'File Under UK Metaplasm' takes inspiration from his residency at the Nyege Nyege collective's Boutique Studio in Kampala in 2018. Incorporating the bass weight of his home town with the enigmatic energy of Tanzanian Singeli and Footwork. Here Treanor brings these influences to a new multichannel composition.