Echoing Resonance

Tanya was selected to take part in the Nomad Lab, a transdisciplinary collaborative project led by Matt Lewis and Christobel Harly at Central Saint Martins (Jan – June 2013), University of the Arts London, to create a audio piece for this ambisonic structure, The BE OPEN Sound Portal. Ambisonics is a full-sphere surround sound technique; in addition to the horizontal plane, it enables sound sources above and below the listener. Sounds are played through 12 individual channels allowing harmonic effects, sounds or tones to be experienced for cross spatial sound effects.

For this audio piece Tanya collaborated with Vera Bohl, a music composer, and explores the concept of creating a sense of space through sound. Vera composed a 6-part choral harmony, using the lyrics of William Blakes poem The Echoing Green. Inspired by the acoustics of a 17th century church, a choir sang this harmony while Tanya recorded them from close-up and distant vantage points around the church. In an attempt to get the sound of the building, Tanya then played this recording back into the church while re-recording it. Inspired by Alvin Lucier, she then played this re-recording back into the church while re-recording it and repeated this process over and over again until the resonant frequencies of the space became articulated through Echoing Resonance. Listen here…