Inspired by minimalist pulse music, more specifically Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, S L O W  looks to explore the possibilities of acoustic/electronic collaboration through large-scale, immersive, meditative, promenade performance and installation.

 

At the heart of SLOW is a rig that takes live audio signals, and pulses their volume in varying divisions of the bar. These pulses are articulated both by myself, controlling the shape and rate of the pulses at my laptop, and by four acoustic instrumentalists, who by creating the sound source itself, control the volume, pitch and timbre of the pulses through improvised sustained notes. This gives four separate pulsing patterns that are played through individual speakers into a large space, resulting in a slowly shifting, meditative, polyrhythmic texture. The audience are invited move around the space during the piece to hear it from different listening perspectives.

 

S L O W  was part of a larger project ran by TOC (The Occasion Collective) in collaboration with Durham Castle and University. The project explored the castle’s architecture and history and culminated in a short film screened at the castle, and the concert of S L O W  in the castle grounds on March 16th, with speakers placed throughout in the great hall and its surrounding winding stair cases, corridors, chapels and courtyard.

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Created by Jamie Cook
Performed by:
Jamie Cook (electronics)
Will Hammond (vibraphone)
Merle Harbron (fiddle)
Ceitidh Macleod (cello)
Adam Sams (bass clarinet)