Louis' Composition Blog

  It was time to create a sound collage using the samples I had taken on Bardon Moor. After loading them all into Ableton, I set about filtering through my samples, removing the ones corrupted by wind noise and ones without many interesting sounds. Once left with my highest quality sounds, I put a low pass filter on all of them at 300hz. This reduced an overwhelming amount of low-end rumble and mud that was making many of these tracks unlistenable. A noise reduction plugin cleaned up the remaining few recordings that were still suffering from excessive background noise. My plan was to create a rich tapestry which aimed to recreate and represent the soundscape of Gateshead's countryside that I had experienced that day. A backdrop consisting of a combination of bird song recordings set the foundation for the piece. On top of that, I was able to lay many other sounds, including footsteps, bees, sheep, and water features. Many of these sounds have digital effects applied to them. I pla...

  In order to collect sounds for my m usique concrète project, I scanned Newcastle's adjacent countryside for somewhere to explore. Quickly I noticed a location I had been eager to visit for a while. The hill south-east of Sunniside, known as Burdon Moor, overlooks the city with panoramic views for miles. I first noticed its arboraceous slopes in the distance from the Quayside's High Level Bridge years ago, and wondered at the sort of views it might offer. After some brief research, it seemed the most of this land was in fact private and not accessible to the public. This irritated me and put me off visiting for months. I thought that such a scenic spot should have the chance to be enjoyed and appreciated. Looking more closely this time, I searched topographic and OS maps to see if there was an option which didn't involve trespassing. Sure enough, parts of the hilltop itself were free to roam and contained one or two public footpaths. During this research, I learnt about Ga...

  One strange idea I had for my outdoor composition was to record at a park three miles from my flat, the Rising Sun Country Park. The plan was to set off at around 4am in order to capture the undisturbed sounds of the place before the early morning dog walkers had arrived and the sun had risen. To complete the trifecta, I wanted to write something with the song "House of the Rising Sun" in mind. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning with mixed feelings about my mission. I had only slept around four hours and had a fair trek ahead of me. I opted to borrow my flatmate's bicycle rather than walk, giving me extra time to compose when I arrived. I took the coast road which was eerily quiet at this time of the morning. It felt special to be one of the few people awake at such an hour. Around 20 minutes after setting off, I had summited the Rising Sun's peak, Beacon Hill. From here you are offered almost panoramic views of the surrounding suburbia. I was immediately struck by th...

After choosing the egg-shaped amulet as my museum artefact, I knew I wanted to record my composition at Housesteads fort on Hadrian's Wall, the location at which it was discovered. I thought that being able to compose my piece at its historical home would inspire an authentic connection to the landscape. A short train ride brought me to Bardon Mill where a five kilometre uphill hike awaited me. Failure to collect the H5 microphone I had booked from SACS meant bringing my own recording equipment - a microphone, stand, laptop, audio interface and numerous cables. Paired with my guitar, this made for a deceptively heavy cargo that needed to be hauled 200 metres up Northumberland's hills!  During my hour's trek, I chose to listen to an album that I have always associated with a "Roman" sound - Argus by Wishbone Ash. Something about the guitar harmonies, dark chords and natural and ancient imagery in its lyrics evokes a sound I'd like to recreate in my own piece. A...