Composition
![](http://d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/711123/95633d251563aa06ca9f54242e41ba55a9c0932d/original/img-4274.jpg/!!/b%3AW1sicmVzaXplIixbMzAwLG51bGwseyJ3aXRob3V0RW5sYXJnZW1lbnQiOnRydWUsImZpdCI6Im91dHNpZGUifV1dXQ%3D%3D/meta%3AeyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ%3D%3D.jpg)
Here's some samples...
Sonic Warfare (2023)
Sonic Warfare is a 3 track EP, exploring war protest through the appropriation and subversion of audio recordings made at war. Sound is often used to assert dominance in war-torn areas. The shockwaves of ear-shattering explosions and jets overhead possess the power to cause physical damage as well as lasting psychological trauma. Over this project, I explored how artists in both audio and visual media, have repurposed malicious sounds and technologies in an act to disarm and undermine their power. This project was largely a personal response to the Ukrainian crisis being forefront of social conscience; many of the sounds I sourced from current news reports.
Under the umbrella of warfare, I explore different areas within the three tracks. The first, 'Onslaught' reflects the raw destructive power of weapons on the battlefield – featuring heavy distortion, samples of explosions, marching soldiers and pilot radio jargon. The second, 'Refuge' uses an assemblage of home recordings and war samples to build the imagined environment of civilians clinging to the rubble of their home existence in bombed-out towns and cities. Finally, my third track 'The Silent Victim' reflects on the wider environmental effects of war by contrasting wildlife recordings made in my local countryside against the sounds of destruction.
The Garden City (2021)
This EP was a conceptual project theorising how humans will interact with the natural world in the future, as well as how music in this future could sound. The first track 'Anthropocene' touches on the dystopian present, in which humans are the primary driving force behind climate disasters and nature's destruction. The second track 'Recreating Nature' opens with a David Attenborough speech on how humans need to re-learn sustainability and become 'a part of nature'. The track then comes to reflect the melding of these two worlds, by hybridising natural sounds with synthetic and heavily processed sounds. 'The Garden City' is an arrival at a utopian future in which humans and nature share a symbiotic relationship catalysed by technology. The aesthetic was inspired by the Gardens by the Bay project in Singapore, it's 'Supertrees' exemplify forward-thinking design taking visual and technological inspiration from the natural world in order to harbour life.
The Storm (2021)
I wrote The Storm in response to a commission from the University of York Drama Society. They were looking for music to accompany their rendition of the James Fritz radio drama 'Comment is Free'. The drama follows the story of a controversial journalist whose political opinions evoke a storm of social media response. Upon writing lyrics, I worked around the extended metaphor of stormy weather. The song is written from the perspective of the main character, crying out for the rains to come and wash away their troubles. At the climax, samples of downpour mixed with pointillist 7/8 guitar, saxophone and vocal layers create showering rain-like textures. I also included samples of crowd angst to reflect the storm of online aggression faced by the character in the story.
This song was initially intended to simply bookend the show – however, the director really liked elements of my sound design and had strong visions for how it could be weaved throughout. Working closely over Zoom (during the pandemic) and being sent a document with specific timestamps of the layers desired, I ended up providing sounds for the whole drama (excluding the spoken word and foley).
This was a fun project to be a part of, and really interesting to see how the input of other creatives transformed my idea beyond what I originally thought it could be.