Come back after years
For this creative project, my starting point was an archival recording of a Yoruba chant from Nigeria, recorded around 1911. I chose to work with this sound because, living in West Africa, these sonorities immediately resonated in me. They echo my daily environment, my personal history, and my fieldwork, which lies at the intersection of culture, music, and museum practice. In my creative proc...
2m Feb 22
2m
Journey into the secret
Initiation into the Poro, or secret society, constitutes the rites of manhood for the Mende people in Sierra Leone. As a means to develop the emotional landscape of this piece, I sought to put myself in the shoes of initiates, attempting to capture their feelings of excitement and anticipation. I was particularly intrigued by the call-and-response singing between the leader and choir. This ins...
3m Feb 22
3m
Atlas wedding
I tried to stay true to the recording, at the same time reimagining the setting. It is a threshing song; I changed the setting to be more geared towards sitting around a fire and singing; or a wedding. Even in the mix, I opted for the percussion instruments to be overpowering as it is usually the case in such settings. My idea was not to manipulate the recording as much as to re-adapt it; pick...
3m Feb 22
3m
Igbo vocal group with leader and percussion
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of songs and spoken language made by anthropologist Northcote Thomas in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. Recorded by Northcote Whitridge Thomas. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimaginin...
2m Feb 22
2m
Mende Poro song
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of songs and spoken language made by anthropologist Northcote Thomas in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. Recorded by Northcote Whitridge Thomas. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimaginin...
2m Feb 22
2m
Ait Haddidu threshing song
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel tape recordings of Berber (Ait Haddidu) music and soundscapes made by members of the Oxford University Expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Southern Morocco in 1961. Recorded by Audrey Butt, Michael R. Emerson or Ralph Hudson Johnson. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of ...
3m Feb 22
3m
Submersion study (the water remembers)
This is a process-based piece, exploiting the conceptual connection with water. I applied a series of transformations to the original cassette recording, beginning with chopping and looping fragments of the sample, which I "played" back on a MIDI keyboard. I then collage the results, recording them on a multitrack cassette tape, next playing back and manipulating those recordings via a variable...
5m Feb 22
5m
Zande songs to accompany grinding of crops
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of Zande songs, dances and spoken language made by social anthropologist Edward Evans-Pritchard in South Sudan between 1928 and 1930. Recorded by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sou...
3m Feb 22
3m
Musical boxes and cylinders
Musical boxes and cylinders: recording of European musical boxes and cylinders in the Pitt Rivers Museum's collections being played, including English, German and Swiss examples. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a small number of recordings of the musical instruments in the institution's collections being played or discussed. Unknown rec...
27m Feb 22
27m
Bayaka group water drumming
Bayaka group water drumming, with rhythm changes. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a large collection of cassette tape and digital audio tape recordings of Bayaka music and soundscapes made by ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno mainly in the Central African Republic (and the Republic of Congo) between 1986 and 2009. Recorded by Louis Sarno. Co...
1m Feb 22
1m
A subject in a world full of objects
"A Subject in a World Full of Objects" is a brief liaison (around St. Valentine’s Day 1977) between a collection of European musical boxes and a slightly jaded gentleman archivist. The devices he is tasked with recording served as elegant salon entertainment for social occasions, aided musical democratisation and were vessels for cherished memories, and carry a huge weight of human stories with...
6m Feb 22
6m
Zande songs (Andy Lyon reimagining)
The recording was made onto wax cylinder between 1928 and 1930. Sudan has a very turbulent past - a history of trading in slaves and ivory, a number of different administrations, a policy of separate development compared to North Sudan leading to a period of neglect. It's a forgotten history that really needs more prominence. This inspired my approach in a number of ways. I tried to achieve a ...
11m Feb 22
11m
Kano bird, Kano beads, Kano seeds
This sonic work is an attempt to communicate my profound childhood relationship with Kano, as well as to hint at the complex layers of Northern Nigeria. It is a piece of strange juxtapositions, and cross-cultural interferences and vibrations. The sounds of ancient rock gongs in Birnin Kudu reverberating across the plains, beating out Hausa and Fulani rhythms and songs; the colonial British voic...
10m Feb 22
10m
Katajjaq in Queqqata
For this track, I worked on a ten-minute recording of a conversation between two Inuit women. My usual approach is to research the context to inform the mood, then manipulate the original recording until it tells me its secrets. Greenland has always fascinated me since I saw that large white island on my school atlas. Interested in the dark history and the resilience of its people, I wanted to...
6m Feb 22
6m
Balangi (xylophone) duet
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of songs and spoken language made by anthropologist Northcote Thomas in Nigeria and Sierra Leone between 1909 and 1915. Recorded by Northcote Whitridge Thomas. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimaginin...
2m Feb 22
2m
Rock gong music from Nigeria
Rock gong music from Nigeria, some rhythms accompanied by singing, with spoken introduction. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a number of miscellaneous or individual ethnographic field recordings (rediscovered during a recent research project). Recorded by Bernard Evelyn Buller Fagg. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ...
25m Feb 22
25m
Festival at Rich
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel tape recordings of Berber (Ait Haddidu) music and soundscapes made by members of the Oxford University Expedition to the Atlas Mountains of Southern Morocco in 1961. Recorded by Ralph Hudson Johnson. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A...
4m Feb 22
4m
Polytime
I wondered if I could combine something foreign with the fully formed musical space of African polyrhythms, so I tried creating parallel sounds using a Chinese qin, a Western double bass, and a violin. When I combined the rough sounds from field recordings with the sounds created in the studio, it worked surprisingly well. Listening closely, I also noticed that the rhythms of African drums res...
4m Feb 22
4m
But what actually is this world we live in
This project was a bit of a step out of my comfort zone, since, not having any cultural connection to or knowing anything much about Bulgarian traditional music, I felt extremely out of place working on this project. As someone who works with ethnomusic on a regular basis, the questions of cultural appropration and sensitivity to such things all too often come up. But, it is a tradition that in...
7m Feb 22
7m
Instruments in the forest at dawn
Instruments in the forest at dawn (flute and harp). From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a large collection of cassette tape and digital audio tape recordings of Bayaka music and soundscapes made by ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno mainly in the Central African Republic (and the Republic of Congo) between 1986 and 2009. Recorded by Louis Sarno. ...
1m Feb 22
1m
A breath of time
"Then we heard the grass blades bending under the laziest hooves but they know how slow they should be grazing at noon Then we heard the pine twigs snapping under bare feet and fresh blisters forming from the here and now because they know how fast good pain turns to fluid Then I heard the tallest reeds breaking under boots of rubber and I couldn’t help but think of the 87 months it took thos...
5m Feb 22
5m
Zande "witch doctor" song
Zande "witch doctor" song performed by Badobo. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of Zande songs, dances and spoken language made by social anthropologist Edward Evans-Pritchard in South Sudan between 1928 and 1930. Recorded by Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of O...
4m Feb 22
4m
Phonophany, or the all-revealing medium
Phonophany, or the All-Revealing Medium dramatises the manifestation of occult and hidden mediation processes present in both audio technologies and Zande magic practices. As a composition, it works from a field recording of a Zande revelation song used to detect witches, employing audio mediation to allow the listener to experience a progressive unfolding of the recorded voice from initially u...
4m Feb 22
4m
Ceremonial (wedding) music from the Himalayas
Ceremonial (wedding) music from the Eastern Himalayas in Nepal. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel recordings of music and spoken language (principally Thulung Rai) made by anthropologist Nicholas Allen in Nepal and India between 1970 and 1981. Recorded by Nicholas Justin Allen. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, Uni...
5m Feb 22
5m
Kukimi Lakuhu 'Le (Song of the Kuki War)
"Kukimi Lakuhu 'Le" (Song of the Kuki War): polyphonic song about Sümi Naga interpreter Kekheche, who was involved in the Anglo-Kuki War of 1917–19, performed by a group of Sümi Naga singers ("Kekheche, my father,/ Kekheche, my father"). From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of Naga (Angami, Sümi, Lotha, C...
3m Feb 22
3m
Wading through the crackles, hisses and surfaces of time
This recomposition begins from a deep interest and curiosity towards the material life of the archival recording itself. The source comes from the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum: wax cylinder recordings of Naga (Angami, Sümi, Lotha, Chang, and Sangtam) songs recorded between 1915 and 1919 by administrator and anthropologist John Hutton. Rather than treating the recording of a polyp...
3m Feb 22
3m
Blue mystique mountain
The original sound source for this composition is a selection of Nuristani songs. The voice is accompanied by a plucked and bowed string instrument as a type of rhythmic drone. This recording is a recently rediscovered item in the Pitt Rivers sound museum and I was drawn to it based on its historical and tonal ambiguity. I find it interesting that the library information is not able to give an ...
18m Feb 22
18m
Bulgarian village conversations and women singing
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a number of miscellaneous or individual ethnographic field recordings (rediscovered during a recent research project). Recorded by Anne Elizabeth Pennington. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the...
28m Feb 22
28m
Chuluth: a song for a favourite bull
"Chuluth": a Laarim man's song for a favourite bull ("I love cattle without horns/ This bull is called Logralim"). From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of cassette tape recordings of music and spoken language (principally Laarim) made by anthropologist Patti Langton in South Sudan during 1979 and 1980. Recorded by Patti Langton. ...
2m Feb 22
2m
Logralim
With a project like this, I knew the work had to begin with research. I immersed myself in the cultural textures of South Sudan: its music, its landscapes, its people. From photographs and descriptions, a sense of place started to form. I wanted the first section of the piece to feel intimate yet quietly observant. I found myself picturing the Laarim man and his beloved bull, Logralim, moving ...
5m Feb 22
5m
Boundless
The warrior sings gently and lovingly to his favourite bull. As he repeats his song, we're drawn into the beautiful moment and as the communication continues, voices weave in and out with the past and present. A reminder of the musical connection between humans with each other and other animals on the planet. Laarim warrior singing to his favourite bull reimagined by Lostworldsounds. ——— Par...
8m Feb 22
8m
Laarim warrior singing to his favourite bull
Laarim warrior singing to his favourite bull ("This bull is the whole of my love/ I will never say anything against it"). From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of cassette tape recordings of music and spoken language (principally Laarim) made by anthropologist Patti Langton in South Sudan during 1979 and 1980. Recorded by Patti Lan...
5m Feb 22
5m
Traditional Nuristani songs
Nuristani music: recording of traditional Nuristani songs, featuring the waj (five-stringed harp) and sarangi (two-stringed fiddle), with vocal accompaniment, recorded in Afghanistan by anthropologist Lennart Edelberg. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a number of miscellaneous or individual ethnographic field recordings (rediscovered duri...
49m Feb 22
49m
Stringed instrument and tabla
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of cassette tape recordings of songs and instruments made by playwright David Mowat across several different states in India during 1987. Recorded by David Mowat. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ——— Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 10...
7m Feb 22
7m
Look me in the eye
This recording was originally broadcast in 1963, in the first year of Taiwan’s first terrestrial TV station, the Taiwan Broadcasting Company. "Look me in the eye" takes a short sequence of a mountain folk song sung by a women’s chorus, from the original 30-minute recording. I layered sound in GarageBand, selecting and editing archival material, contemporary field recordings, overheard dialogue...
6m Feb 22
6m
Jaibaná
A significant aspect of this project has been research into the location of the recording - the Colombian Chocó department, one of the rainiest regions on Earth. With dense rainforest and flooding, the terrain is uncompromising and one of the most isolated regions of Colombia, with no major infrastructure due to underdeveloped roads, yet it is one of the most richly biodiverse zones on the plan...
14m Feb 22
14m
All in Elgar
I composed this piece in an attempt to understand trance. I sought to merge specific leitmotifs and elements,embedding them within a classical orchestral context. This purely intuitive and emotional act, guided by the sensations inspired by the sound archive, follows no predefined methodology other than that narrated by improvisation itself, as articulated by the archive. The guiding thread is...
6m Feb 22
6m
Torrential rain in Colombia
Storm: recording of torrential rain made during fieldwork in Colombia. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel tape recordings of Chocó music and soundscapes made by students Jonathan Ambache and Richard Saumarez Smith in Colombia in 1965. Recorded by Jonathan Ambache and Richard Saumarez Smith. Copyright Pitt Rivers...
4m Feb 22
4m
Cezve
After several listenings to the beautiful 30-minute music program of Turkish folk songs (I encourage all of you to listen to the original audio in its entirety. It's a wonderful cultural window), I selected my favourite piece. From there, I chopped out the main musical theme and then I dissected that section into even smaller bits. I then played along with in on my piano and came up with the m...
2m Feb 22
2m
Turkish folk songs about weddings and wrestling
Turkish Folk Songs and Dances about Weddings and Wrestling": a recording of fourteen Turkish folk songs and dances issued by the Turkish Radio and Television Association (with publicity sheet). From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a small number of recordings issued or released by foreign broadcasting corporations or radio associations. Reco...
31m Feb 22
31m
Regional music of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
"Regional Music of the Republic of China" (Taiwan): a recording of instrumental music and folk songs issued by the Broadcasting Corporation of Taiwan (literally: 'Broadcasting Corporation of China'), performed by its national orchestra and choir. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being one of a small number of recordings issued or released by foreign b...
33m Feb 22
33m
What are they doing for us?
I joined the project late and so this was one of the only remaining sounds - The Bwiadogan Kadede from Goodenough Island chose me, recorded by anthropologist Diamond Jenness. I was delighted because this randomness fits with my experimental approach to creating music. But I became increasingly concerned with the disconnect between this project and the people who live in the place the sound was ...
4m Feb 22
4m
Bwaidogan kadede: a dance song
"Bwaidogan kadede": a dance song performed by Biliko, Kwaiago and Wakalubu, a trio from the Bwaidoka district of Goodenough Island. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of wax cylinder recordings of songs and spoken language (principally Bwaidoka) made by anthropologist Diamond Jenness and Methodist missionary Reverend Andrew Balla...
1m Feb 22
1m
A case of tongues
I love the rhythm of the exchange between the anthropologist and the Chidigo speaker in the first section of this recording, and at first I thought about building a percussion piece around it. But I chose this piece to work with because of my deep interest in languages, especially marginalised ones, so I decided to work with words in the tradition of the Pitt Rivers collection, which brings tog...
5m Feb 22
5m
Researcher discussing vocabulary and translations of various English words
"American researcher discussing vocabulary and translations of various English words": fieldwork recording of anthropologist Roger Gomm discussing with several men and women the language of the coastal Digo people of south-east Kenya, asking his interlocutors for the translation and precise meaning of many different words in the Digo (Chidigo) language. From the sound collections of the Pitt R...
2hr 16m Feb 22
2hr 16m
Downstream
When approaching a project like this I try to come up with a concept quickly - the immediacy of ideas is what makes most sense to me. To me, the sample reminded me of people rapping, and the flow of the original sample seemed to ask for some accompanying electronic instrumentation to give them centre stage. I tried three different approaches and stitched them together - the first part lends it...
6m Feb 22
6m
U'wa group chant
U'wa group chant from the Andes in north-east Colombia. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel recordings of U'wa songs and stories made by anthropologist Ann Osborn in the Northern Andes (Sierra Nevada del Cocuy region) in Colombia between 1969 and 1977. Recorded by Ann Osborn. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, Univers...
5m Feb 22
5m
Anew
I chose this field recording because I liked that it’s a documentation of someone imitating the music of nature. In that original recording itself there’s so many layers of the art. There’s the birdsong that the person presumably heard many times, then spent time learning how to make the whistling sound, then they made their song, which was recorded onto magnetic tape, and converted into a digi...
6m Feb 22
6m
Gooma (tree drum) played with sticks
From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a large collection of cassette tape and digital audio tape recordings of Bayaka music and soundscapes made by ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno mainly in the Central African Republic (and the Republic of Congo) between 1986 and 2009. Recorded by Louis Sarno. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. ...
2m Feb 22
2m
U'wa whistling
U'wa whistling from the Andes in north-east Colombia. From the sound collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, being from a collection of reel-to-reel recordings of U'wa songs and stories made by anthropologist Ann Osborn in the Northern Andes (Sierra Nevada del Cocuy region) in Colombia between 1969 and 1977. Recorded by Ann Osborn. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, Universit...
1m Feb 22
1m