Sound and Image projects by Matilda Tristram
Project 1: Holiest Hymn
A recording of a composition made using only the highest bars from a selection of hymns in the New English Hymnal.
This piece is a wondering about the way we affiliate height with holiness. I made it whilst researching for my dissertation, which was about the desire for height in human beings. People feel that spiritual and intellectual fulfilment can be achieved by being higher. Heaven is always described as being above us, we launch rockets into space, go and look at the world from 'view points'. I wanted to apply this idea to sound, and chose to use religion as an area to work from, as it uses quite bizarre ways to pledge allegiance already. Maybe higher noises could be described as holier?
Pictures from a performance at Boxgrove Priory, sung by Boxgrove Priory choir.
The score.
Amended copy of 'The New English Hymnal'. Elongated fingers take prayers higher.
The piece sounds strange, the tune jumping from key to key, and without the low parts, the high parts don't sound as magnificent. But that's the point. It's about people trying as hard as possible to get close to their God or equivalent, without thinking about why or how they're doing it. This rerecording is a version using my own voice to sing all the parts, so I could have more control over how it sounded. I made this alternative recording because the singers in the choir didn't feel they could sing it well enough, as the musical progressions were too unfamiliar.
Idea for another performance; Sermons could be read after inhaling helium.
Pictures: Gloves with elongated fingers (for praying). A rocket blasting out of Boxgrove Priory graveyard. Me praying with the long fingered gloves.
Project 2: Reflected Water Music
I was thinking about how I could make audio reflections, or wondering if it might be possible to 'fold' sound. Could I make something like the visual reflection of images on water happen using music?
I reflected the musical notation of Handel's 'Water Music' (the title made this piece seem appropriate), along the middle line of the stave. I reflected an image of the performance too, because you can't really tell that the music is reflected just from listening to it, as the musical piece is taken in over a period of time, rather than all at once like when looking at a picture. It sounds pretty wonky and horrible.
The reflected score.
The reflected performance. CLICK TO HEAR THE PERFORMANCE
Project 3: Black on White Noise
'If 'White noise' is a term used to describe all possible sound frequencies heard at once, then 'Black noise' could be read as silence. Conventional musical scores consist of black symbols on white paper. But the black marks (notes) are signals to make a noise, not a silence. I have applied these ideas to the way musicians read notation. I played every note in each bar all at once (white noise, like the paper). When black notes appear on the stave, instead of pressing the piano key down, I lifted my fingers off to leave a silence (black noise). I used Bach's second prelude because it uses lots of notes, close together in a bar, which makes it ideal for demonstrating this alternative way to read music.
Project 4: Water Pipes
Normally, playing a musical instrument is a skill controlled by the musician, who controls the notes, rhythm, and dynamics of a piece. I made an instrument, which is designed to be played in wavey water. The musician is in control of everything apart from the notes. The varying height of the waves, and the levels of water inside each pipe, determines the pitch of the notes produced. Because it relies on the natural movement of water to provide the notes, it sounds quite abstract. I like the idea of being able to measure the movement of water sonically. You could play duets with the sea, rivers, swimming pools or with the bath water.
Here are pictures from a performance in the wave pool at Butlins in Bognor Regis. The pool had just emptied, and all the people who had just been swimming were watching from the balconies. They didn't seem to like it terribly; though I was glad to see that they did appear to enjoy spitting at me from the balconies. I enjoyed doing a performance in a place were conceptual art seemed unsuitable.
CLICK TO HEAR A RECORDING MADE IN THE BATH
CLICK TO HEAR THE SAME RECORDING WITH SOME GUITAR PUT ON TOP
