Sound Art and Sound Design are two concepts which are surprisingly quite new to me.  The definitions of what they actually are are a little ambiguous but generally  Sound Art concerns the use of sound to express artistic ideas for their own sake, whilst Sound Design refers to the practical application of such ideas.

In my music, my main pursuit has always been atmosphere.  This term may be a bit vague, but I have always thought of it as creating something rich that envelopes the listener and takes them on more than one journey in parallel.  Subtleties and the more salient aspects interact to produce some sort of sub-text, musically rather than lyrically.  This allows for the words to tell one story, the music another (although linked and supportive) and other sounds, themes, ambiguities to point at other feelings.  All these aspects should work together to produce something that seems to have depth.  The listener can choose to take on board the more obvious aspects only or get a richer experience through more involved listening.  I have by no means accomplished this yet but I’m hoping that you can maybe see what I have been trying to do when you listen to my music.  For example, with Henry Spencer Project I have tried to mix the dark with the light in an effort to make them co-exist; making the songs fun but also a little bit melancholic.  I have also been working on some sound design ideas which my mailing list will get access to this week as well as anyone that signs up to my mailing list on the left side of the screen.  The music is a conceptual idea used as a pitch for some ‘no budget’ film music I may work on and  I am very excited about what I have produced here so please do take a bit of tome to check it out.

You may or may not think this is all rubbish but my atmospheric goals are there and the pursuit of these has recently been made even more accessible by thinking about music differently.  My research into Sound Art and Sound Design has been teaching me more about using sounds in a general way and looking at them for what they are.  I have found that this is much more helpful and exciting rather than just thinking of one part as a guitar part, another drums, etc etc.  The possibilities are endless and I am very excited about what I may find travelling this road.

I hope to go see/hear some installations at galleries as they become available to help my understanding of this movement and I’ll let you know about my progress on here!  Hang around and see if these ideas manage to creep into my work more convincingly….