Hearing the Past through our ancestors’ ears
BBC Radio 4,
11 am, Monday September 12th, 2011.
Imagine being able to eavesdrop on the sound of a ritual at Stonehenge four thousand years ago, or hear singing in the original Coventry Cathedral before it was bombed in 1940.
Broadcaster and Physicist, Professor Jim Al-Khalili investigates how latest research in acoustics is helping us to recreate authentic sounds of the past. It is changing the way we study history and experience tourist attractions. It is also helping us to improve the acoustic design of future buildings.
Jim discovers how architects of modern concert venues are learning lessons from the layout of Stonehenge. He also finds out how acoustic design goes far beyond just making our buildings sound good, in some cases it can save lives.
The research is bringing together a diverse group of scientists, engineers, sound archivists, museum curators and sound artists.
The initial project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
‘Hearing the Past’ will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 11 am on Monday September 12th. The programme will also be available via the Radio 4 website (bbc.co.uk/radio4). The programme has also been selected as BBC Radio 4’s Documentary of the Week.
The Producer of the programme is Jane Reck.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014f9q5
I-Hear-Too on Radio 4... 6 Sept 2011
I Hear Too: Live - 7 October 2009 8pm 19 Sept 2009
York Minster to echo to the sound of heritage
A unique event showcasing sound-art and music in the historic setting of York Minster. I Hear Too: Live will feature seven specially commissioned music, performance and sound-art installation in various locations around the Minster.
Artists include:
Ebor Singers: John Was & Aaron Watson: David Chapman: Craig Vear: Louise K Wilson: HISTORYWORKS: Jon Calver & Helen Weinstein
The varied programme of works will, over the course of the evening, explore, interpret and re-examine the space, architecture and daily life of the Minster, making use of various aspects and features of the building.
We encourage the audience to sit, walk or interact with the works as appropriate - this is not intended to be a traditional concert experience!
Pieces to be performed include:
A Ripple on the World’s Pool by John Was and Aaron Watson
An audio-visual piece inspired by the ways in which York Minster, over many centuries, has been both the focus and transmission point for the key ideas and meanings that bind our culture. The piece will use the sound of the Minster bell(s) to initiate a series of audio-visual sequences commenting upon chains of cause and effect and the spread of influence and ideas in faith, culture and time.
'Cravasse' and 'Melt Water' by Craig Vear
12,000 years ago the geographic position of the Minster would have been underneath a giant glacier - and potentially within the next thousand years, the next 'Ice Age' will start. These two pieces fill the Nave with the sounds recorded from inside Antarctic glacier: in 'Cravasse', giant Icicle bells are used as source material, and in 'Melt Water the inter-moraine smelt water rivers are explored.
Minster Voices by Helen Weinstein and Jon Calver (Historyworks)
A cacophony of found sounds in the Quire aisles leads you via footstep tracks to the Zouche Chapel. In the Zouche Chapel a subdued sound montage interweaving the stories of those who look after the Minster building providing a place of contemplation where the audience can be immersed in story telling snippets woven in to a sound poem about how the Minster is looked after from the waking up of the building to its closing at night.
Sotto Voce by David Chapman
Octo: Sotto Voce is an 8-channel sound installation presenting an audio montage of whispered voices. The whispered prayer, the respectful tone or the irreverent aside are characteristic of the voice hushed to convey private conversations not intended for widespread dissemination. The piece will be installed in the Chapter House to make use of its exceptional acoustic properties and stunning architecture where 8 loudspeakers will be face out from the central octagonal floor motif.
I Hear Too Live starts at 8pm on 7 October. Tickets - priced £10 (£5 conc) - are available now from York Minster Box Office, Church House, Ogleforth, York, YO1 7JN.
Web: http://www.boxoffice.yorkminster.org/
Email: concerts@yorkminster.org
Tel: 01904 557200
UPDATE Programme for 18th May Event 15 May 2009
A small change in the programme as Mark Edmonds has had to pull out at the last minute and will now hopefully be presenting at our Glasgow event in September instead.
We are very pleased to announce that at the 11th hour sound artist Craig Vear has agreed to present aspects of his recent work:
Superfield [Mumbai] - the see-hearing dimension of sound art
Craig Vear, composer and sound artist; Adelphi Research Institute, University of Salford
The programme has been updated below.
Second Worksop, Monday 18th May - The British Library, London
3 May 2009
Sound as a Heritage Object
Hosted by the British Library Sound Archive, our second workshop event will focus on sound as a heritage artefact in its own right, and the speakers during the day have been invited to reflect this particular aspect of audio and heritage research.
Please note: there is no charge to attend the workshop, but places are limited, so please register soon to avoid disappointment.
Please register by Monday 11th May by Emailing info[@]iheartoo.org or by contacting Jude Brereton direct at the contact details given in panel to the right.
Programme
VENUE: Centre for Conservation - see directions post10:00 - Coffee and registration
10:15 - Welcome:
Damian Murphy - I-Hear-Too
Richard Ranft - Head of The British Library Sound Archive
10:30 - Digital Preservation at the British Library Sound Archive
Will Prentice - The British Library Sound Archive
10:50 - The non-contact surface scanning of early sound recordings for the preservation of audio content.
Prof. Martyn Hill, Electro-Mechanical Research Group
School of Engineering Sciences
University of Southampton
11:20 - Renovating historically significant recordings
Jez Wells, AudioLab, University of York
11:40 - Interactive Access to Audio Heritage
Josh Reiss, Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London
12:00 - Sound Archive Tour: Part 1
12:00-13:00 - Lunch, Networking, Ideas Exchange
13:00 - Sound Archive Tour: Part 2
13:30 - Superfield [Mumbai] - the see-hearing dimension of sound art
Craig Vear, composer and sound artist; Adelphi Research Institute, University of Salford
14:10 - Fakes and Forgeries
Nigel Bewley, Operations Manager, British Library Sound Archive
14:30 - Coffee
14:40 - Developing Research Ideas
15:45 - Summary
16:00 - Close
Additional Information
To Follow
More About I Hear Too
Sound is often considered the poor relation of visual stimuli, yet plays a significant role in conveying information for rapid assimilation by a listener, and is a key component in the multi-modal perception of virtual/augmented reality applications. I-Hear-Too encompasses the understanding and preservation of heritage through the consideration of sound objects (recordings, sound archives, music, instruments), the built environment (architectural acoustics, archaeological acoustics, auralization), sites and landscapes (sound in context). All of these elements are subject to change over time and so their audio/acoustic preservation is just as important for understanding of the past by future generations as any of their other material aspects or properties.
Key research issues include the use of sound recordings and archives in heritage preservation, their restoration, organisation and access together with what to record now for future preservation; virtual acoustic reality and immersive sound as a means to preserve and render sounds and environments in new forms; the role of sound, sound-art and archival recordings as a means to access, enhance understanding, or experience the diversity of heritage; the importance of formalising acoustics research in heritage together with its proper contextualisation; the use of soundscape for conveying information to a listener or wider audience.
I-Hear-Too Live, a programme of sound works, installations, demos and audio interactives to be held in and around York Minster in October 2009 will showcase these aspects of science/heritage research and set a benchmark for future work.
I-Hear-Too will facilitate a step-change in how audio is used for preserving, experiencing and researching heritage, and by the end of the project will have brought together communities to form a newly focused stream of multi-disciplinary research.
I Hear Too is supported by:
