I don’t care much for winter, but I do love a good road trip! Throw in a borrowed obsession for all things bird, some moody mist-filled mountains, and the best lemon tart in the antipodes and you won’t hear another peep out of me ’til spring.
Sound art collective Triangulate have been very busy in the lead up to their bird inspired concert Whips and Tendrils – both in the studio and out in the field. Luckily, I got to traipse around the countryside with them as their unofficial fieldwork documenter, while they hunted the most elusive of bird sounds.
While I wasn’t involved in the recordings in any technical capacity, I like to think that I helped in the search for any and all bird-related sounds. This involved lots of wild pointing at the sky and various other muted mannerisms. I also learnt to stop dead in my tracks on command in order to avoid becoming an electroacoustic soundbite.
I certainly didn’t start out as a bird nerd, but this experience has changed me. Not only have I been sensitised to the minutiae of sounds that their wings, feet and beaks make, I have become hyper aware of the persistent hum of humanity encasing them.
After the concert has been performed in September at the Campbeltown Arts Centre, I’ll put be putting a short video together documenting the trio’s process.