A 2 DAY FIELD RECORDING WORKSHOP with Jez Riley French
Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 January 2017
In Newhaven Fort and the surrounding locale.
TICKETS: £35 http://www.wegottickets.com/event/383665
Field recording’, in all its expansive forms, has been through incredible creative growth in the last few decades & yet its essential power to engage us in the act & art of listening remains inextricably linked to its subtle simplicity, its ability to make us listen ever more closely to the world in which we move by making us stop for a time. Its use, as a tool for listening and the experience of place continues to inform all areas of the sonic arts, from the incorporation of spatial acoustics in performance, composition and installation to sound-walking and durational work in the environment.
Using Newhaven fort as our base we’ll spend the weekend exploring the site-specific sounds of the location, from the fort spaces themselves to the nearby harbour, beach and liminal places.
The focus for this unique workshop will be the use of extended techniques (contact microphones, hydrophones, ultrasonics, infrasonics, electromagnetics) and an open approach to interacting with and adding to located sound. There will be opportunity to discuss and explore various aspects of site-specific sound including diffusion, improvised and intuitive response, durational listening and psychogeography. We’ll be able to work in small groups, spread out to work on ones own or collaborate with other participants. The aim is that you will all come away with new ideas and new material to continue working with.
It’s envisaged that participants will perhaps have some recording equipment of their own, though, of course, the definition of ‘field recording’ also embraces text based work, walking, photography and film.
Jez will be bringing with him a range of equipment that participants are welcome to try:
. different pairs of small omni-directional microphones
. hydrophones
. contact microphones
. coil pick ups
. parabolic dish / microphone systems
. vlr receiver
. ultransonic detector
DAY ONE:
. morning: introductory talk, with sound examples and explanation of various techniques.
. afternoon: exploration of the fort and taking recordings.
. some discussion on theory / wider application of listening.
DAY TWO:
. morning: further exploration of the locale outside the fort. taking recordings.
. afternoon: playback session (participants will have time over lunch to select a recording / piece from the weekend to playback). Listening back to ones recordings, in a group setting, can be a valuable way to assess ones work and share insights with the rest of the group.
Participants should bring with them:
. any sound equipment you already have and want to use (recorder, microphones etc)
. memory cards
. batteries
. camera (if required)
. warm clothing, inc. waterproof jacket etc.
. head torch
. notebook and pen
. laptop (for downloading and editing your recordings – if you prefer not to bring one we it will still be
possible to play your recordings back through our laptop)
nb. IF YOU DONT HAVE YOUR OWN RECORDING DEVICE, PLEASE LET US KNOW UPON BOOKING YOUR SPACE.
£35 for the two days (food included).
Jez Riley French
Using intuitive composition, field recording, improvisation and photography, Jez has been exploring his enjoyment of detail, simplicity and his emotive response to places and situations for over 3 decades.
Alongside performances, exhibitions, installations, Jez lectures and runs workshops on field recording and the act and art of listening. He also curates the ‘engraved glass’ label and the ‘a quiet position’ series of online releases / forums exploring the broad ideas surrounding field recording as a primary art of sound / sound art.
Recent work includes commissions for Tate Modern (UK), Artisphere (USA) and for organisations in Italy, Iceland, Japan, Spain and the UK. A section of his piece for Tate Modern was also chosen to be part of the ‘500 years of British Art’ series at Tate Britain.
In recent years Jez has been working extensively on recordings of surfaces and spaces (natural and man made) and has also been developing the concept of photographic scores. He is particularly associated with the development of extended recording techniques, including the recording of structural vibrations, contact microphone recording, ultrasonics, infrasonics, internal electronic signals via coil pick-up’s and recordings made with hydrophones.
Amongst his works are pieces capturing the sound of the dolomites dissolving, ants consuming fallen fruit, the Tate Modern building vibrating, the infrasound of domestic spaces around the world, glaciers melting in Iceland and the tonal resonances of natural and human objects in the landscape. “