This page is for further supporting content towards the ACE project application: Pyrosonics: Transforming Pyrotechnic Sound into New Music
Project Number: MGFL-00904373
PYROSONICS begins with the sounds Marcus Dove makes as he paints with pyrotechnics: a sharp crack, a low thud, the hiss of smoke. At his studio at LCB Depot in Leicester, Marcus will work with Clarence Street Studios in recording those sounds and turn them into a sample pack.
PYROSONICS concept image: At Marcus Dove’s LCB Depot studio, Clarence Street Studios will use microphones at different distances to capture the crack of ignition and the hiss that follows. Those recordings will become the source material for the project’s sample pack.
PYROSONICS concept image: At Clarence Street Studios, Aaron Hira will isolate the crack of ignition from Marcus Dove’s field recordings. Together, for example, they’ll test it on a drum pad as a percussion sound for the sample pack.
Invited musicians and producers will use the same recordings to create original tracks for a mixtape, each hearing a different rhythm or melody in the raw material.
PYROSONICS concept image: One artist might tap out a beat from the crack of ignition; another might stretch its hiss beneath a vocal or improvise a saxophone phrase over a loop. The mixtape will bring these different responses to the same recordings together.
Young people will have the chance to try the process themselves through workshops in recording, sampling and making new music.
PYROSONICS workshop concept: Young people record multiple random and interesting obects then turn those sounds into samples which can be manipulated for their own beats.
PYROSONICS launch concept: Artists, workshop participants and the public gather to hear the mixtape, live performances and try the sample pack. Visitors can tap out a beat while the film projected behind the performance shows the process video.
Previous work examples:
Filmed and produced by Everywhere Productions, this video shows Marcus Dove using pyrotechnics to leave marks on canvas. For PYROSONICS, Marcus and Clarence Street Studios will record the crackle and hiss of that process and turn them into musical samples.
Other examples of the pyrotechnic sounds Marcus Dove’s practice produces can be found here: www.MarcusDove.com
Below is an image of Aaron from Clarence Street Studios working on spatial audio concepts for the project. The following Google Drive link provides proof of his high-level spatial sound production, previously commissioned by BOSE and John Lewis: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q6WzLwdsrX6mnIrXjiZR624jmfD-mJYy/view?usp=drive_link
