'Sonic art is an extended form of sonic creation that does not resort to reference models or formalized disciplines '     

                                                             markus@markusjones.co.uk                                                                                                                                                                  

Hydrophonia is a festival of underwater recordings (hydrophonics), dedicated to raising awareness of ocean noise pollution. The project is based entirely on samples recorded & collected by sound artist Gianni Pavan & CIBRA.

A total of 56 sound artists were involved in the project from all around the globe and is due for release sometime in the near future. I'll keep you posted.

Listen to the Weather is a web-based project, produced for the Ear to the Earth festival, which uses sound  to examine the role water plays in our ecosystem, as well as in our collective psyche.

Artists from various international locations recorded weather data from the area they live in, then using the data combined to create their own sound piece.

All data was recorded on England's National Day St George's Day 23rd April ( Some guy named George romped around on his big white horse wrestling a few dragons or so the fable goes anyway), focusing on wind speed, min-max temperature, Air Pressure and humidity. Then using the figures provided each range  of numbers were transformed into frequencies of sound.

 All works from this project can be purchased on vinyl only at the following link

Send & Receive

The work concentrates on the sound of data when transferred across at network server. Comprised from 16 different servers and from 1200 different ports, collecting close to 16,000 sounds. The first section of the piece is the sounds heard when the data is being ‘Sent’ and the second half of the piece is the perceived sound of the data being ‘Received’.

Complete works can be found at Con-v

The ROOM (soundleak project)

A study of hearing through walls, partitions, and visually blocked areas by Keiko Uenishi. The piece was created by attaching two contact microphones to the wall, bleeding into the conversation in the room next door. Within the walls were series of waterpipes connected to a very old heating system that dominates the sonic environment.

The project was performed in Wels, Austria as part of the Soundleak project.

Portaural_56-24-16

As part of the Pixel Palace programme, Tyne side Cinema selected a series of new sound pieces titled Step Sequence, offering an alternative sonic experiences for visitors to the central stairwell. The Installation will be available between March & April.

The Pixel Palace

Encontro das Aguas, Careiro.

This was part of a two week residency within the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, where I was invited to share the unique experience of collecting the sound from the surrounding area, covering approximately one thousand miles of the river, documenting the time spent through the recorded sound.

When not recording, living mainly on a river boat, where the days were spent getting very wet, eating Piranha and relaxing in my hammock. When on land I spent three days as a guess in the village Careiro, living amongst former tree loggers, now making a living through fishing and hand crafts.

Hoax Caller

The piece consists of a series of recorded hoax telephone calls made by obtuse individuals to the fire service during 2008. The core sounds throughout the piece was created using a lightreader(self-made device used to transform light energy into sound), focusing primarily on sirens and general light sources emitted from a Fire Engine. 

The project is part of the SoundNetwork, Liverpool Biennial 2008.   

Made Up

Tunnel Visions a project designed by Elaine Speight

Project designed by Elaine Speight and supported by the Arts Council North West and the University of Central Lancashire. The work explores a disused railway track and tunnel in Preston, Lancashire, and was developed through the process of questioning the idea of 'what makes a space a place'.

My role was to design the sound that reflects what can be heard within Miley Tunnel. Naturally a very dark place, swarming with rats, detritus and general city waste. With walls 10 feet thick the majority of  sounds available were the sounds created through your own presence, so the rustling of the pebbles along the railway track, the wind running throughout the tunnel and the light (using my Light Reader) at either the end was the basis of the sounds used.

For further details about the project please follow the link below

Tunnel Visions

Wet Sound

The audience dips in and floats around within the swimming pool, both ears submerged, absorbed in sounds coming from underwater speakers. Before tackling the project I began to think about the unknown possibilities of recorded sounds you might hear on a daily basis, only for the output to be performed beneath the water and with relatively little indication of what the results might sound like between the source and the receiver, excepting the possibility that all original nuances and sonic textures maybe lost at sea, whilst only to be replaced by something completely unfamiliar.

A large percentage of the chosen material used was carefully selected due to the high frequencies and because of their opposed relationship to aquatic sounds. A proportion of the sounds are field recordings and granular sounds collected over the years.

Wet Sounds

Hungry Hedgehog

Hungry Hedgehog was recorded on a recent trip across the Yorkshire Moors, England (Hound of the Baskervilles country) where it was my intention at the time to collect insect sounds. However, once I placed two nails in the ground, attaching a contact microphone to each, I stumbled across a very active and inquisitive Hedgehog in search of food. The recording basically accounts 3 minutes in the life as this very brave and hungry little fella or lady of course.

The work was part of the Con sordino, musiques électroacoustiques feutrées, focusing on the experience of listening to low level diffusion sound.

Sympathetic Vibration(prolongation of sound by reflection)

Developed over a period of 12 months a number of recording devices were set up in key areas across York St John University. Adopting a slightly voyeuristic approach to the collection of the audio,focusing on telephone conversations, delivered teaching sessions and the placing of a small microphone inside an internal envelope, quite literally recording the journey of an internal piece of mail.

To try and get an understanding of the importance of sound to the people that work and study on campus, a number of YSJ students and staff were asked key questions about their encounters and how the sounds they hear can affect their experience.

In addition to several audio microphones in use, photoelectric sensors were used. The sensors were attached to the eye piece of a telescope, emitting a small pulse of electricity generated from the light they receive which was then be converted into sound. The idea behind using the sensors was to  reflect not just the audio that can be heard but the light that is obtained.

Complete works can be be downloaded at Ambit Din Records

For further details about the project please follow the links below

Sympathetic Vibration Report( 1.14mb) and Interview