Soundings: Percussion Stones, Bodies, Pulses This event requires that you pre-register or buy tickets

Soundings is a day of exploration into rhythms, pulses, stones and our bodies through active listening to percussion and sound organised by St Andrews HARK Listening Research and Music Planet. It will take place in the Younger Hall and in the evening in the extraordinary acoustic of the Cupar Silo. The day is free with buffet lunch and drinks at the Silo. No musical expertise is required for listening and participation, just curiosity. You are invited to bring your own sound to make in the Silo.

The day will include:

• An introduction to sensory anthropology and embodied exploration by Huw Lloyd-Richards (HARK) and Bede Williams (Music Centre).
• Performances by Swiss percussionist Alex Wäber with Bede and young percussionists.
• A presentation on Rhythm Theory by Steve Forman.
• A presentation by Tony Prave and Richard Bates from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences on the sound of geological time to explore to what extent geological time and musical time may elucidate each other.
• Soundings of the collected stones of Scotland as a lithophone performed for the first time with electronic sound processing by Alistair MacDonald from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
• Further pieces performed by Alex Waber and Bede Williams.
• In the Silo we will experiment with sound in a highly resonant acoustic: we will improvise with conch, guitar by Roberto Kuhn (RCS), singing bowl, stones and percussion around texts from Stockhausen. Participants are invited to bring their own sound to play.

Programme:

10am to 10.20am: Welcome from Michael Downes and introduction to the day by Huw, Bede and Richard.

10.20am to 10.30am: Sound Meditation.

10.30am 10.45am: No Go by Tilman Collman and a second piece played by Alex Waber.

10.45am to 11.05am: Warm-Up Game: Participants with Alex Waber.

11.05am to 11.20am: MacBeth and MacDonwald by David Jarvis: duet for Percusssion and Trumpet played by Alex Waber and Bede Williams.

11.20am to 12.20pm: Rhythm Theory: talk by Steve Forman. 

12.20pm to 1.15pm: Buffet Lunch in Younger Hall.

1.30pm to 2pm: Geological Time: presentation by Tony Prave and Richard Bates.

2pm to 2.45pm: Lithophone: Sound Experimentation & Improvisation with Stones: Alex Waber, students and Alasdair Macdonald.

2.45pm to 3.30pm: Pieces played by Alex Waber and Bede Williams.

7pm to 9pm: Silent Party: Percussion and Acoustic Experimentation at the Silo, Cupar.

Places are limited to 60 participants: please register by emailing [email protected] indicating whether you also wish to participate in the Silo event, and for further information contact Huw Lloyd-Richards of HARK on [email protected] or 07786 54 8788.

This event requires that you pre-register or buy tickets.