Workshop 5

2 Apr

In workshop 5 we played experimental rhythm machines, collaboratively exploring unusual time signatures and patterns. A simple microphone and speaker feedback system combined with the chalk graphic scores created in previous workshops conjured up oscillations that seemed to hover in the room, with subtle timbral movements dictated by the shapes of archaeological explorations.

A chance interaction with a metal magazine rack, initially considered an unwanted sonic interruption, was soon reconsidered and its sonic characteristics unearthed and warped through the feedback system.

We are nearing the end of the workshop series and we are generating some exciting material that we can’t wait to experience through the 8-speaker surround system at Lighthouse Gallery in May.

Filmed by Rachel Pearce and Simon James, edited by Curtis James

Simon James

Simon James is a self trained sound artist and composer engaging in deep listening to the unheard and hidden - mixing environmental field recordings with electronic sources such as the Buchla Electric Music Box, which over 10 years of exploration and performance has become Simon's main instrument. Simon’s skills with the Buchla have been called upon by Massive Attack, Toy Drum, UNKLE, and Max de Wardener and have featured extensively in Emmy award winning composer Andrew Phillips' soundtracks.

Simon’s compositional approach is exploratory, playful and instinctive, focussed on timbral shaping, finding the sounds in between the sounds and exploring the relationship between these and field recordings.

Sound designs have been created for Heineken, Salesforce, Kaspersky, Dalmore Whiskey, Bushmills, Sheytan Jewellery and The Horror Channel, and in 2023 he produced a multi speaker gallery installation at the RIBA gallery in London. In 2019 Simon visited Shenzhen/Shanghai in China on a British Council residency, exploring the shapes and structures of architecture through sound and music. In 2023 Simon was the recipient of an Arts Council DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) award and used it to focus his practice around listening, the environment and community, which culminated in a residency in the Pyrenees with artists Mark Fell and Michael Von Hauswolff, where he created an interactive installation, ‘Can We Echo the Forest?’.

He has also recorded music as The Simonsound (with DJ Format) Black Channels (for cult soundtrack label Death Waltz) and under his own name for Lo Recordings and Castles in Space Records. An album of architectural resonance and Buchla electronics, 'Sounding the Shadows', is due for release on YYAA Records in 2024. He is currently developing an exhibition, 'Neolithic Cannibals', working with young people from the council estate where he grew up, for Brighton Festival, May 2024.

http://www.simonsound.co.uk

Workshop 5

Workshop 6

Workshop 4