Sound

A circle in 12 parts: Pisces

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My guest for Pisces this year was unwell unfortunately and rather than put pressure on them to participate, or try and find another with little time for preparation, I decided to take another break from working with guests and use the time once again to revisit work created in the first circle.

This is a live remix of the 2020 Pisces mix. Played on a laptop it goes through a HDMI – AV converter and on into circuit-bent analog video processors and into an analog capture device in Resolume Avenue.

Towards the end of the original recording I started using morphagene to take samples and mix them in. I let the video loop to explore this for a while.

A Circle in 12 parts: Scorpio

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A combined live audio visual improvisation with contributions and vinyl selection from this years guest Scorpio, Jack Smylie Wild.

I really enjoyed working on this experimental project with Jake. For me, it was a chance to leave my usual writing practice to one side, and focus on enjoying the collaborative process, dipping into areas I’m interested in, but don’t give much time to.

I found a lot of old footage I’d taken, and Jake was happy to play around with it. I also made some new bits of film especially for A Circle in Twelve Parts, transforming myself into a kind of Green Man in the woods, with river clay and leaf litter.
For the live recording on the night, I revisited some characters I used to draw when I was a teenager, for a comic I made called ‘Creatures of the Moonshine’ – which explores ideas around the multifaceted nature of self, and the seeming contradictions and juxtapositions therein.

This work felt more like the start of something than an end-product, and I’m looking forward to getting back into Jake’s lab to conduct further multi-media experiments, perhaps with some spoken word and rap, in the future. 

A circle in 12 parts: Virgo

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A combined live audio visual improvisation with contributions and vinyl selection from this years guest Virgo, Anna Sherratt.

“I’m a writer, director, producer and sound designer from Aberystwyth, but currently living in Cardiff. When Jake approached me with his brilliant avant garde project, I was excited but nervous – not knowing quite what to expect. True to my star sign, I am a meticulous planner, but I also love improvisation and chaos, and the creativity that brings. 

In the end, I went with a “Desert Island Discs” approach, taking ideas from where life and music intersect and responding to Jake’s amazing mixing in chatter, spoken word and song. 

It was an honour to take part in such a unique series, and to have a go at making Virgo whatever it happens to be – especially if that’s a bit messier than the stereotype!”

Analog outputs

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Revisiting some old tech including the Sony FD Mavica! what a camera!

A popular digital stills camera about 20 years ago, I remember there were 2 available in West Wales School of Art where I was studying at the time, so popular we had to book it at least a week ahead!
One of the first digital cameras to save to removable media, it used a floppy disc and could hold around 10 photos a disc!… amazing! It also boasts the ability to record short low resolution videos and has an A/V out!

Experimenting with the analog output – after not pressing anything for a while the camera went into a lovely demo cycle…

After rearranging the studio, I can now reach the turntables and synths at the same time! This is really quite exciting, these are the second or third time I’ve played the two together seen by Sony A1E and GoPro4 cameras through a Skytronic A/V switcher.

A third half – Layers of live

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Halfway through a third year of a circle in 12 parts.

Thanks again to all the lovely people who have been part of this years series.

I am very excited by the process of making these works and how it has developed this year.
Both visual and sound elements are now being created live, though not necessarily concurrently. Where possible guests have come to my studio and interacted live with the turntables or synths, playing them or their own instruments into the mix. I then have live cameras and recorded video clips, images ready in VJ software to mixin real time with the live audio.
Where we have been working over zoom the audio mix is created and recorded live both ends and both zoom visuals feeds are recorded. I then process those recorded visuals and any other material from my guests to input into a different format for the VJ software where I manipulate and mix all of the visual elements while playing the live recorded audio from earlier.

monoprint circle