Environmental Sound, Sonic Art, Physical Computing, Performance
Sonic Severn
www.sonicsevern.co.uk. Soundscapes, sonifications and compositions by staff & students at UWE and CCRI.
Sonic Severn (www.sonicsevern.co.uk) is a collection of sonic materials inspired by Severn Estuary phenomena. The site is an open invitation to everyone who lives near or cares for the Severn Estuary to listen and discover the rhythms of this rich intertidal landscape. There are many unique tide-specific phenomena and rhythms that deserve public awareness that it could easily take a life-time of listening, researching and composing to make them all heard.
Sonic Severn has been created by Michaela Palmer and Owain Jones in an interdisciplinary research collaboration at the UWE Bristol, UK. Between 2010-2012 Michaela and Owain worked on the sonification of the extraordinary tidal rhythms of the Severn Estuary, in order to bring to public and political attention the very rich ecological and cultural heritages of this estuary, as well as the threats it faces.
Sonic Severn was exhibited at the Bristol Festival of Nature 2012.
Examples from Sonic Severn
Clevedon Pier by Peter Nugent and Leo Croker, 2010, arrangement of field recordings, 2:45 mins
The soundscape leads the listener around Clevedon Pier, the only structurally intact Grade 1 listed pier in the UK. Typical sounds can be heard, such as the pebble beach, the popping of barnacles under the pier, the cranking of the turnstile and a conversation in the giftshop.
A Typical British Day by Jason Britcher, Ethan Higgins, Claire O'Halloran and Rowena McIntosh. Sound composition, 2011
Weather data from Alveston (rainfall, windspeed, temperature, atmospheric pressure) translated into sound. The aim was for a listener to hear, and possibly identify, the weather conditions and changes without viewing the data.
Suspension Bridge by Louis Tompkins, 2010, excerpt of longer field recordings, 2:20 mins
By attaching contact microphones to Bristol's suspension bridge, Tompkins recorded internal bridge resonances. The microphones translate vibrations caused by wind, walking, and car traffic into sound frequencies, revealing a usually inaudible musicality of the bridge structure.