Homemade jam across time

When I first heard this field recording, I wanted to join in with the band on the beach. With every subsequent listen, I always find myself tapping or nodding along with the beat and wanting to dance. I decided to pursue this idea of jamming with the band across time, mixing in both my own high and low-tech approaches to creating sounds. The recording database and archival descriptions for this field recording described it as both “South Pacific 'pop' music” and “Monica’s wedding dance”, so I wanted to keep the joy and upbeat feelings of those descriptions in my piece.

This piece uses the first 2:20 of the 5:51 field recording with no added effects as the backbone, this sample plays throughout the duration of the track. Within the entire field recording, this section sounds like a specific song that starts and ends. 

First, In order to jam with the band I’ve added two different approaches to composing/creating sonic textures. First, I added a second layer of that same 2:20 section, but this one features ensemble chorus, spectral resonator, reverb, and bathtub percussion effects and weaves above the original track at a few points, while mostly providing movement in the background.

Second, I formed my own one-person jam band to play along and took inspiration from the practical instruments (tea chest bass, vocals, spoons) featured on original track. I created a variety of sounds with found and household objects, thinking about what I have played or might play on the beach during an impromptu jam session. These sounds including playing the spoons, the sounds of my shoes on the floor as I danced along to the track, stringed “instruments” made of rubber bands on lids and fishing line tied to drawer handle and plucked at different lengths, striking driftwood sticks, vocalisations, percussion with jingle bells inside of a plastic egg, and playing with a metal spring bracelet. 

South Pacific "pop" music reimagined by Stephanie E. Vasko .

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Part of the project A Century of Sounds, reimagining 100 sounds covering 100 years from the collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum at the University of Oxford. Explore the full project at citiesandmemory.com/century-sounds