sound

Save our Sounds is the British Library’s programme to preserve the nation’s sound heritage
via http://www.bl.uk/projects/save-our-sounds

The British nation’s sound collections are under threat, both from physical degradation and as the means of playing them disappear from production. Archival consensus internationally is that we have approximately 15 years in which to save our sound collections by digitising them before they become unreadable and are effectively lost.

The British Library is home to the British nation’s sound archive, an extraordinary collection of over 6.5 million recordings of speech, music, wildlife and the environment, from the 1880s to the present day. We need both to ensure that the existing archive is properly preserved, and that there are adequate systems in place for the acquisition of future sound production in the UK.

The Save our Sounds programme has been created to answer this imperative need. It has three major aims:

- to preserve as much as possible of the nation's rare and unique sound recordings, not just those in our collections but also key items from partner collections across the UK
- to establish a national radio archive that will collect, protect and share a substantial part of the UK’s vibrant radio output, working with the radio industry and other partners
- to invest in new technology to enable us to receive music in digital formats, working with music labels and industry partners to ensure their long-term preservation

UK Sound Directory

We are undertaking a national audit to map the condition of sound archives around the country and identify other threatened collections – if you have a sound collection which you think could be at risk, get in touch and let us know.

Support the project

Please get in touch with us if you would like to donate to support this project, or to discuss how you or your organisation can help preserve the nation’s audio heritage.
Sounds

Our Sounds website has over 60,000 sound recordings for all to enjoy, covering the entire range of recorded sounds: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.
The British Library Sound Archive

There is more information on our Sound Archive and how to use its collections on our Help for Researchers pages.

Follow us on Twitter @soundarchive and use the hashtag #saveoursounds

Keep up with the latest news on Sounds through our Sound and vision blog.
- See more at: http://www.bl.uk/projects/save-our-sounds

"From Field to Publication" - Douglas Quin workshop

On Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 June Quin will present a workshop "From Field to Publication".

During the workshop Quin will discuss audio equipment and field recording techniques and share with workshop participants his approaches to recording wildlife and natural soundscapes in environments around the world. Later, aspects of production such as the translation of recordings and experiences for publication in avenues such as films, games, artistic exhibitions and historical exhibits will also be discussed.

This workshop will be ideal for emerging and midcareer composers, sound designers, naturalists and artists with an interest in music and the arts of sound.

Places are limited and we will make selections by an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
Residents from around Australia are encouraged to apply. Please note that residents of NSW will have the opportunity to access our ‘WIRED EARS’ (Emerging Artist Residency Scheme) subsidy program, which will assist them with the costs of attending the workshop, which will be held onsite at The WIRED Lab.

WHEN:
Sat 16 June, 10am - 3pm
Sun 17 June 10am - 1pm
Lunch provided by The WIRED Lab, BYO recording equipment

FUNDING FOR NSW ARTISTS

WIRED EARS The WIRED EAR Scheme provides financial assistance for emerging and mid career artists from NSW to attend WIRED Lab workshops and initiatives. For this intensive masterclass The WIRED Lab will be offering funding support to assist 10-12 emerging artists with the costs to attend the masterclass. Artists who consider themselves to be "emerging" or "mid career" are invited to submit a brief expression of interest (EOI) detailing their arts practice and how they feel they will benefit from being a WIRED EARS participant.

On your EOI please cite the cost of your return travel to/from Cootamundra NSW and keep your EOI to one A4 page. Also note that we don't follow the standard age determined definitions of "emerging" we expect you to determine where you place your practice and experience. Interdisciplinary artists are encouraged to apply.

WIRED EARS is supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW, the scheme is currently offered to NSW based artists, we have offered WIRED EARS nationally in the past and hope to do this in the new FY.

WIRED EARS expressions of interest are due Monday 28 May
(places will be confirmed no later than Friday 1 June)

To obtain an EOI form and for more information email: workshops at wiredlab dot org

Experimental Music: Audio Explorations in Australia is written by artists, producers and participants in alternative music-making, and including a companion CD, Experimental Music explores the development of forms, ideas and scenes in Australia from the 1970s to the present. It brings together a wide range of musical experimentation, from post-punk, noise, appropriation, electronic dance and listening music, to free improv, computer process music, experimental radio, instrument building and audiovisual fusions -- practices that have formed an integral part of Australian creative culture. Experimental Music illustrates how these forms have influenced each other to create a fertile and diverse culture, and highlights why it is vital to question, experiment and break the rules.

Liquid Architecture 10 : Festival of Sound Arts is a landmark occasion for the festival and for sound culture in Australia. Celebrating its tenth consecutive year, the Liquid Architecture sound festival runs for four weeks and goes to seven cities across Australia, presenting an exciting program of contemporary sound arts. With a decade of experience to draw upon, the diverse program features live events and installations showcasing the highest quality sound work in an intense focused listening environment, privileging our most unsung sense: listening.

The breadth of diversity of artists and artistic practices includes meticulous recorded work, improvised instrumental performance, new sound for screen work, radical uses of digital technology, inventive self-made sound making devices and historically informed practices.
-- info via Liquid Architecture website

SCANZ 2009: Raranga tangata
The Weaving Together of People

Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand (SCANZ) is the interCreate Research Centre's major project, a two week residency for artists, producers, writers, theorists and curators will be held in New Plymouth New Zealand from January 26th to February 8th 2009. Project partners are the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Puke Ariki integrated library and museum.

Raranga tangata refers to the weaving together of people, a phrase used to describe the internet and adopted by Sally Jane Norman and Sylvia Nagl in their work. The aim for SCANZ 2009 is to weave an enduring fabric of people and technology, located in this place: Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, Pacific Ocean.

Residency
January 26th–February 8th

Symposium
February 7th–8th

Residency
January 26th–February 8th

The residency themes are Environmental Response and Participate/Display. Occurring along side the residency are a two day symposium (February 7 and 8), presentation evening & opening event (February 7), and curatorial workshop.

cicada is a collection of artists who work with landscape - urban, natural, constructed and imagined... a combination of results occur, including site-specific installations, performances and interactive pieces... cicada also make other bits of sound+image works for theatre, dance and performance projects... and occational urban gifts of unexpected enlightenment...

Cicada projects have included :
* Mob - an installation exploring the crowd as a discrete organism.
* Saltmilk and other wonders - work resulting from a residency in the West Australian wheat town of Kellerberrin.
* Amensal - an interactive street level installation, a purely negative urban symbiosis.
* Re_Squared - an immersive outdoor audio visual performance celebrating moments of discovered beauty in the city.

visit http://www.cicada.tv for more details

JOLT and West Space present SONIC BODY - sonic installations and video works by, through and for bodies. Artists are Brandon LaBelle (USA), Philip Samartzis & Marcia Jane, Bruce Mowson, and James Hullick. October 1-4 2008 at West Space. OPENING Thursday October 2, 6-8pm ::: with performance by James Hullick at 7pm (no entry fee) ::: CLOSING Saturday October 4, 5pm ::: with performance by Philip Samartzis & Lizzie Pogson ($5 entry) :::

Brandon LaBelle (USA) is an artist and writer working with sound and auditory issues. He is the author of Background Noise: Perspectives on Sound Art (Continuum 2006), and Professor at the Bergen National Academy of the Arts, Norway. http://www.errantbodies.org/labelle.html

Marcia Jane is a video and film artist based in Melbourne. Her interests lie in flickering, pulsating, rhythmic abstraction; and audio-visual sensory experiences. Marcia lectures in visual art at Swinburne University and studies at RMIT's School of Art. http://www.permutations.net

Philip Samartzis is an internationally acclaimed electro-acoustic maestro and teacher to many of Melbourne's most successful sound artists through his work at RMIT. His current practice is dominated by the use of field recordings as source material for sonic works. http://www.microphonics.org "one of the leading lights of Australian experimental music" Rare Frequency 2006

Bruce Mowson is a Melbourne-based sound and video artist. He has conducted research into the phenomenon of absorption in audio-visual media though a series of exhibitions and performances and teaches at RMIT University. http://www.brucemowson.com

James Hullick is an installation artist, composer, pianist and electro sound-artist. Hullick is also Artistic Director for JOLT. http://www.jameshullick.com "...a highly reduced transparent psychogram, that shocks as much as electrifies the listener" Reutlinger Nachrichten (Südwestpresse) 2007

read more or visit http://joltarts.org and http://westspace.org.au for more details

Starkwhite is pleased to present BODYTOK a sonicsfromscratch video and sound project
by Phil Dadson, with interactivity design by James Charlton.
(a 3 screen trial towards a larger public gallery installation)
Upstairs backroom, 510 Karangahape Rd, Auckland, from 10 to 26 September 2008.

Over the past three years, Dadson has been compiling the 'human instrument archive'. He says: "The first instrument is the human body and the human instrument is the most unpredictable and unique of all. From childhood worldwide humans explore the sonic potential of their bodies, often discovering a unique and/or individual sound. I had some expectations of this variety, but when I started asking people to show me their unique sounds, I was astounded by the invention."

Tracts is a group show of sound installations at Melbourne's Blindside Gallery as part of the 2008 Next Wave Festival that examines the role of sound in the world. The exhibition explores how sound can shape our understandings of our surroundings and ourselves, bringing into question the nature of space within a gallery and the role of the subject in experience. Assembled by several of Australia's premier emerging sound artists, the exhibition invites the audience to enter, surround, and interact with the installations.

Liquid Architecture 9, Brisbane Powerhouse July 4+5

Liquid Architecture, Australia's premiere festival of audio arts returns to Brisbane this July for an incredible line up of sound and exploratory music from across the globe.

This year, the festival pulls together artists from Germany, France, Portugal and Australia, all of whom test for the very edge of contemporary practices in sound.

Included on the line up are the likes of the influential Portuguese electronic music pioneer Rafael Toral, Australia sound artist Nat and French Musique Concrete composer and environmental recordist Toy Bizarre, who prepares a unique site specific concert in each location he visits, to name but a few of the guests attending this year.

Held in the Rooftop Terrace, the event will feature a spatial sound system to maximize the listening experience for all in attendance! Limited seats, book early. A true festival for the ears!

-- info via http://www.room40.org/events.shtml