forthcoming / recent

installations / exhibition / performance:

Lichen Canvas, with Pheobe riley Law

soft-hued vessels (performance) with Pheobe riley Law - Rainy Days Festival, Luxembourg - November 2025

orchestra of objects | vessels (installation) with Pheobe riley Law - Rainy Days Festival, Luxembourg - November 2025

Interference of Objects with Pheobe riley Law - Cafe Oto, London - August 2025

moss listening with Pheobe riley Law - Sonic Acts, Amsterdam - February 2024

releases:

Sleeping for Company

mɜː.məˈreɪ.ʃən - transmit - with participants in the 2024 murmuration gathering of listeners

mɜː.məˈreɪ.ʃən | pərˈfɔr.mɪŋ pleɪs (remixed) - with Pheobe riley Law, Jenny Berger Myhre, Bethan Kellough, Breton Cassette & Felicity Mangan

workshops / talks:

murmuration #6 - sounding objects -Scotland, June 2025

The act & Art of Field Recording - West Dean - October 2025

murmuration #7 - gathering of listeners - 2026

VAST, SLENDER BOUNDARIES
(2024)

Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law

VAST, SLENDER BOUNDARIES - traces that ask us to reconsider the role of perception when listening to environments, their non-human inhabitants, and our effects on them. We invite your ears inside the micro-worlds of moss, tree roots, ants nests, bee hives, coral dissolving, glacier ice releasing air trapped for thousands of years, and to locales interacting with shifting communities.

extremes of scale, time and impact
tidal codings of thirst, drought and opulence

commissioned for Rainy Days Festival, Luxembourg 2024

pre-order now available

mɜː.məˈreɪ.ʃən | pərˈfɔr.mɪŋ pleɪs
(remixed)

feat. new pieces by
Jez riley French
Pheobe riley Law
Jenny Berger Myhre
Felicity Mangan

w/ Bethan Kellough (strings), Coralie Gauthier (harp)
& field recordings by participants in murmuration #4 - performing place

a joint release between engraved glass (UK) & Breton Cassette (Norway)

available as a limited edition cassette + download from April 19th
(pre-orders from April 5th)

murmuration (noun) - /mɜː.məˈreɪ.ʃən/ - a gathering of listeners

moss listening

Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law

Sonic Acts Biennale, Amsterday - February 2024

sugars,
starch light

Blankets, oceanic layers across place. Symbiotic colonisations, sonically intense, revealing their vast, shifting micro-environments.

Moss Listening features recordings (traces) of the inner sounds of common moss species, the soil horizons they maintain and myhychorizal shifts, recorded with self-built microphones. Organ tones mirror systems of circulation and flow, alongside performative objects and touch referencing climate stress and re-connection.

8 + 2 channel diffusion, performative objects, moss

Hannah Pezzack's essay 'Under the Spell of the Sensuous' is now available online & includes a response to our performance of 'moss listening' at Sonic Acts

two places are currently available for murmuration #5 - transmit

(do email if you would like to book or be placed on the waiting list)

listening, making, composing, interacting

The 5th in a series of unique trips curated to ensure both a sharing of diverse experience and knowledge of sound, situation and place, and an atmosphere that is relaxed, inspiring, inclusive and open. Each trip is led by artists working at the forefront of their respective fields, to compliment our always fascinating group of participants.

Alongside our explorations of the locale, our theme for the 2024 trip is transmit; listening to, thinking about, discussing sounding networks; moss-pools, botanics, soil horizons, resonant objects, community, transmission methodologies, correcting histories, ecological shifts, micro-landscapes, place

for more information & to reserve a place click here

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The Secret Sounds of Trees

September 22nd-24th 2023

Forest of Dean, UK

A soundwalk is also now available, with additional music by Lau Nau & narration, guiding you through some of the sounds such as sap, bark, xylem cells, roots, moss & mycorrhizal networks.

thanks to @pheobelaw & Maureen French

[press release]

Sound UK Arts invite you to step into the forest and explore the inner world of trees in a new audio-visual experience at Beechenhurst in the Forest of Dean. Discover the sounds of Beechenhurst’s trees, plant life, soil and insects.

An atmospheric soundscape, feathered, pink botanic, by acclaimed artists;
Jez riley French
and
Lau Nau

will immerse you in a hidden world, revealing microscopic vibrations and secret sounds inaudible to the human ear. Combined with lighting by Ulf Pedersen, we invite you to experience Beechenhurst in a totally new way.

Visit www.sounduk.net/trees for full details & to book.

There is also a two part interview with Jez here & here

Commissioned and produced by Sound UK. Funded by Arts Council England and PRS Foundation. In partnership with Forestry England.

exhibition + talks - Divfuse Art Space, London - April 2023

soil horizons (version)
spit soil beds

traces of durational listening to the inner sounds of plants and to soil horizons; on-going research into transpiration, root systems, cavitation, vibrations in soil systems, situated connections between ground dwelling species, public and private land borders.

recorded with adapted JrF contact microphones and hydrophones.

glacial objects | silica
parts of the steady state*

part of a series of works; ìsland | fjorar, based on material collected in Iceland over several years, mapping shifts in specific environments through an on-going fascination with micro-listening using extended techniques and hand-crafted devices; a small outcrop of rock, lava and moss revealed as a glacier thaws, the minerals dissolving, releasing air trapped for hundreds of thousands of years. Events in the ionosphere, radio antenna cables and remote civic architecture.

recorded JrF contact microphones, hydrophones, and other devices.

*subtitle from a series of text pieces by Pheobe riley Law

the crystal detector

Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law

+

oH o SALINITY

Pheobe riley Law

two multi-channel sound works will be at Burning Man Festival as part of the latest Kugelauditorium sonic sphere installation.

https://www.kugelauditorium.com/

the crystal detector is based on material collected from Iceland, and from our on-going fascination with the possibilities offered by the interweaving of different elements of sound, image and text. Sounds that are not normally detected by our human hearing response / attention, often above or below our attention play an important role in the composition. Using extended techniques and hand-crafted devices, we listen to the sounds of minerals dissolving, the infrasound of the earth's rotation, and the ultrasonics of geothermal activity. These traces are interweaved with documentation of individual temporary interactions between specific locations in Iceland and photographic images, along with textual material by Pheobe.

oH o SALINITY

salty unstable harmonies

the fluctuation of salt in the global water cycle - salinity - a natural barrier of protection for the environment - its use by certain life forms to assist communication. Salt is needed for life, in terms of its chemical position in evolution but it also is a layer of damage able to corrode surfaces, including human-built structures.

thanks to Merijn Royaards for the invite

Happy to be included in this collection, inc. a collaborative score with Pheobe riley Law

alongside Meiko Shiomi, Simone Forti, Alison Knowles, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Stephen Chase, Takehisa Kusogi, Alisa Oleva, Elena Biserna (who also complied the book), Viv Corringham, Peter Ablinger, Milan Adamčiak, G. Douglas Barrett, Blank Noise , George Brecht, Cornelius Cardew, Giuseppe Chiari, Seth Cluett , Philip Corner, Bill Dietz, Amy Dignam , David Dunn, Haytham El- Wardany, Esther Ferrer, Francesco Gagliardi , Jerome Giller , Oliver Ginger, Anna & Lawrence Halprin, David Helbich , Dick Higgins, Christopher Hobbs, Jerome Joy , Katrinem , Debbie Kent, Bengt af Klintberg, James Klopfleisch, Milan Knížák, Jirí Kovanda, Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, Bob Lens, Ligia Lewis , Alvin Lucier, Walter Marchetti, Larry Miller, iLAND/Jennifer Monson, Max Neuhaus, Open City & Emma Cocker, Nam June Paik, Michael Parsons, Ben Patterson, Mathias Poisson, Anna Raimondo, Paul Sharits, Mark So, Standards, Nicolas Tardy , Davide Tidoni, Ultra-red , Isolde Venrooy , Carole Weber, Manfred Werder, Franziska Windisch , Ben Vautier, La Monte Young.

Walking from Scores, available for pre-order via Les presses du réel
An anthology of text and graphic scores to be used while walking.

thanks to Elena Biserna & all involved in getting this to print, translated & available.

‘The Green Planet’, the latest David Attenborough series, begins on January 9th here in the UK & features extensive use of JrF c-series contact mics, JrF adapted plant microphones, d-series hydrophones and some of the techniques I have developed for listening to the actual sound of plants (trees, grasses, flowers, funghi, aquatic species etc).

My microphones have been used in most of the Attenborough series over the past decade or so, along with certain approaches to recording that I have shared with some of the sound recordists involved, & I make the mics I design available to anyone who wants to purchase them, working hard to keep the price accessible in the face of increased costs each year and brexit. Like many in the creative sector it is blatantly obvious to me, and always was, that the ability for us to invent, create, contribute to communities across the world was of zero interest to those who wanted brexit because it served their egos, prejudices and their ability to exploit it for their own gain. I probably don’t have any brexit supporters amongst my social media contacts but if I did I’d want them to reflect on the constant stress and worry their actions have caused as they enjoy sounds that were previously inaudible, and consider the fact that these microphones are also used widely around the world in projects that are helping with research into the environmental impact of our species. We give, they take. At some point we have to change that and put aside our passivity.

https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/jrf-audio-supplies.php

this recently found video is from a durational located sound / listening performance at Stazione Di Topolo festival, July 2011, during which I invited those attending to join me from time to time in listening to ants eating an apricot over the course of around 5 hours, using adapted JrF c-series contact microphones.

part of the work was then used in the piece 'resonances di topolo' released on engraved glass in 2012 along with residences de lumiere based on the resonances of light poles in Japan.

a glacier heated by the sea | dissolve
0:15mins

November 7th 2021 | 19:00 (gmt)
followed by a discussion, talking about the issues raised in the piece and audible greenwashing.

drawing on recordings that reflect the rate of glacial melt in Iceland, over a period of years, this piece asks us to consider not only the effects of global warming but the shift in acidity / salinity in the inter-connected realms of water; marshes, rivers, lakes, ice, rainfall and oceans. We listen in on 10,000 year old air being released as glaciers melt, lava rock dissolved by river water, micro-communications of aquatic species and erosion of tide lines.

As if radio.. is a collaborative radio space created in response to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021.

Based on ideas and practices of ecological radio and acts of listening, this long-form broadcast will bring together contributions by climate activists and artists, both those gathering around the Conference in Glasgow and those individuals and communities around the world seeking to bring their voices to the collective demands for climate justice

trace elements - a series of pieces, broadcast during 2020, drawing on works created from 2005-2020

the intention was to create a set of pieces that reflected relevant questions within my work with aspects of acoustic ecology / acoustic sociology, that in some way were being highlighted during the pandemic;

#1 management of rural environments
#2 duration and the non-spectacle
#3 the urban border
#4 the sonic colonisation of ‘nature’
#5 artefacts and minerals
#6 edging into waters
#7 non-tourism

#4 - habitats - placed two recordings side by side, drawn from a piece created in 2011 that gained some attention and was exhibited several times, and included in talks and workshops. It was also featured as part of the curated ‘a quiet position | slow edition’ that looked at the use of duration in my own work and that of other artists. This was broadcast by wfmu and several other radio spaces, starting in 2011. as with various earlier fence recordings I was interested in listening closer to the sensory, vibrational experience of other species, in this instance, birds and vegetation, interacting with the human interventions into their environments. for this release I have added both the 2020 version and the 2011 piece, then entitled ‘(h)edge’

recorded with JrF c-series contact microphones.

JezrileyFrench · ink botanic - soil horizons (unedited extract)

scores | over borders #2

curated by Jez riley French and Pheobe riley Law

Following on from the first collection, for over borders #2 artists / composers were asked to send scores that, somehow, can use the act of walking as a way to question the objectification of environments and the role of 'stepping back' from a human centric view of place. Our thanks to all those who responded with their work.

It is now available as a free PDF here

Pheobe riley Law
Jez riley French
Nathalie Brum
Isobel Anderson
Catherine Clover
Vivienne Corringham
Francesca Simmons
Veronica Daniela Cerrotta
Eliza Lauren
Geraldine Vanspauwen
Tuomas Ollikainen
Vivian Wang
Cheryl Leonard
Felicity Mangan
Sharon Phelan
Eliza Bożek / moltamole

15 years supplying JrF microphones to 1000's of other artists, listeners, sound designers, composers.

I'm not that comfortable with self-promotion so I'll quote from others but say that it has been a privilege to see / hear how;
"the microphones, & (your own) work including projects highlighting the work of other artists, have had a significant influence on contemporary field recording, listening & Sound Art practices" (BL)

"If you've seen a film produced in the past decade or so, watched a nature documentary, attended a Sound Art exhibition, a workshop on located sound, watched or listened to experimental music, played a game with good sound design, there's a good chance you've been hearing sounds recorded / transmitted / performed via a JrF contact microphone, hydrophone or electromagnetic coil" (BBC)

I don't shout about them, I tend not to advertise as such, preferring for their reputation to speak, & I don't post lots of 'me with recording equipment' pics on social media. I simply work with these mics myself, along with my daughter, Pheobe riley Law, finding ways to make sure they give excellent results at a fair price. It's about community.

https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/jrf-audio-supplies.php

I have an article published as part of World Listening Day 2021; a personal reflection on listening to sounds outside of our attention;

…hearing the timbers of home creak at night. A low tone, humming from my bedroom wall; the washing line, moored to the outside wall feet below the window.

house cooling

home warming again in the morning, further, quieter shifts.

https://www.worldlisteningproject.org/audible-silence-a-personal-reflection-on-listening-to-sounds-outside-of-our-attention/

with sounds & music by Pheobe riley Law & myself

photo by Pheobe riley Law from her 'desire lines' book

over borders

This publication began as an idea to share some of our own scores* connected to the concept or effects of borders, which we then expanded to include work by others in our creative communities. Artists / composers were asked to send scores (photographic scores,text scores, graphic scores) that, in some way, referenced border; social, political, virtual, perceptual, environmental or between species. Our thanks to all those who responded with their work.

* a smaller selection of these are included

It is now available as a free PDF here & via the Walking Festival of Sound website here

including work by;

Pheobe riley Law
Jez riley French
Line Elkjær
Gabrielle Harnois-Blouin
Isabella Stevenson
Signe Liden
Espen Sommer Eide
Manfred Werder
Helen Frosi
Stephen Chase
Manja Ristić
Tomoko Hojo
Yifeat Ziv
lo wie
Carole Finer
Eleanor Cully
Iris Garrelfs
Annie Goh
Asha Sheshadri
Lucie Stepankova
Catherine Kontz

/ˈhʌmbər/ Humber

multichannel sound piece for the Riversssounds project

listening via headphones or conventional speakers is advised as some of the sounds were recorded using self-adapted geophones and c-series contact mics to reveal frequencies normally below our range of hearing or outside of our attention.

d-series hydrophones were used to listen to insects in flood ponds, and other microphones to listen to the slow flow of the river and the reed beds along the banks.

The riversssounds platform allows you to mix between tracks by moving the cursor around the screen, and clicking the (((( symbol on the left of the screen switches to a different set of tracks - in this instance ones focusing further on those low frequencies.

thanks to the riversssounds team, and, always, to Pheobe Law and my mum, maureen, who took me to find sea / river glass and smooth stones by rivers and seas

click here to listen to the main piece

click here to listen to the artist talk

click here to listen to the soundwalk

headphones / conventional speakers required - do be aware that the main recordings are geophone based and therefore include some very low frequencies. Also 'constant surfaces, either level' is a very slowly developing piece. It plays with the tension between our perception of surface; geological, technological, within sound / music cultures and personal.

I have been listening to the four fumaroles pieces for a couple of years now. trying to find space for them, or rather around them. they are traces of the sound of geothermal activity, of surfaces being pushed against.

recorded with JrF adapted geophones.

the musical elements of 'constant surfaces, either level' also reference a surface in flux, a personal connection / distance / questioning of aesthetics within specific areas of experimental music cultures. they were recorded almost two decades ago, some earlier than that. i don’t know whether combining the two traces will work in a few months time, but for now it feels like something I wanted to do. to connect various surfaces. All of the non-fumaroles sounds / music on this track were created using guitar (inc. guitar effects), clear input, piano & electronics in the form of one piece of processing software.

______________________________________________________________________

Pheobe & I should have been in Ljubljana for a residency, installation & performance, but instead the work has been adapted for an FM sound walk, a radio broadcast of a new performance piece, a booklet (available as a pdf, including a link to a specially composed realisation of one of the 'scores for listening' from the series) &, perhaps, an installation at some point if Steklenik can re-open to the public.

Presentation events of the new guest exhibition intended for the Steklenik Gallery, prepared by the artists Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law

ìsland | fjorar - the crystal detector

FAMILY OPENING:
Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 12.00 in front of MGLC Ljubljana - location FM walk through Tivoli Park

EVENING OPENING: Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 6 pm in front of MGLC Ljubljana - location FM walk through Tivoli Park

RADIO OPENING: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 8 pm on the 3rd program of Radio Slovenia - Ars program (with contributions from our friend Eliza Bozek)

ìsland | fjorar is a series of works based on material collected from multiple visits to Iceland, and from our on-going fascination with the possibilities offered by the interweaving of different elements of sound, image and text. Sounds that are not normally detected by our human hearing response / attention, often above or below our range play an important role in the composition. Using extended techniques and hand-crafted devices, the artist listens to the sounds of minerals dissolving, the infrasound of the earth's rotation around its axis, and the ultrasonics of geothermal activity. He interweaves these fragments with documentation of individual temporary interactions between specific locations in Iceland and photographic images, along with textual material contributed by Pheobe riley Law

there is now also a radio programme for Slovenian Radio Arts. Amongst my 'foggy' answers (due to feeling somewhat unwell) to questions you can listen to;

a version of the sound piece (at 28:08)

the performance piece me & Pheobe assembled (also including Eliza Bozek speaking some of Pheobe's text pieces from the book of scores) (at 1:11:07)

a realisation of 'score for listening #100 by me & Pheobe (at 1:28:50)

& Eliza's 'meander' remix of some of the recordings from Iceland, and using words from Pheobe's text pieces also (at 1:34:35)

https://ars.rtvslo.si/2021/03/arsov-art-atelje-186/

gate

Resonances of a communal garden gate and a trace of architectural turntablism.

This piece started with a recording of a tall metal gate, sounded by the breeze and nearby vibrations, leading to a shared garden space in the middle of a rectangle of apartments in Copenhagen. The gate was recorded using JrF c-series contact microphones and the audio was then pressed onto a locked groove dub-plate, played back until the surface began to erode, leaving an even slighter trace of the original resonances.

The record was then placed in the Copenhagen central library sound department

in recent weeks i've been working on a series of collaborations for Marsden Jazz festival, Chronotope.

The first piece is now available online & features Matt Bourne & Keeley Forsyth.

Sound Artist (located sound, field recording, mix, edit) by myself & on this one, Jo Kennedy (assistant).

performances were recorded in full ambisonics, as well as a stereo mix down for the online versions, & other mics to bring out elements of the site and the intensity of Keeley's lyrics and performance.

2 more videos from this collaboration will be published online soon;

https://marsdenjazzfestival.com/…/chrono…/keeley-and-matthew

by Pheobe riley Law & myself

a simple thing for those who want to do it sometime in the coming weeks

score for listening - entice new normality

the score will also be part of the walking from scores event at gmea
http://www.gmea.net/evenement/walking-from-scores…

scores by Peter Ablinger, Doug Barrett, Elena Biserna, Blank Noise, George Brecht, Cornelius Cardew, Stephen Chase, Giuseppe Chiari, Seth Cluett, Philip Corner, Bill Dietz, David Dunn, Haytham El-Wardany, Esther Ferrer, Simone Forti, Francesco Gagliardi, Jerome Giller, Oliver Ginger, Anna Halprin, David Helbich, Dick Higgins, Christopher Hobbs, Jerome Joy, James Klopfleisch, Milan Knizak, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Bob Lens, Ligia Lewis, Alvin Lucier, Walter Marchetti, Larry Miller, Tim Mitchell, Max Neuhaus, Pauline Oliveros, Yoko Ono, Open City [Andrew Brown, Katie Doubleday and Simone Kenyon] & Emma Cocker, Nam June Paik, Michael Parsons, Ben Patterson, Pheobe riley Law & Jez Riley French, Paul Sharits, Hugh Shrapnel, Mark So, Standards, Nicolas Tardy, Davide Tidoni, Ultra-red, Wolf Vostell, Manfred Werder, Ben Vautier, La Monte Young.

0℃ at ICC from Yoichi Kamimura on Vimeo.

___________________________________

'climate symphony' by Leah Borromeo, Jamie Perera and Katharine Round gets its premiere at CPH: DOX, with the Danish chamber Orchestra & field recordings by myself & Pheobe riley Law

'The Climate Symphony was developed in our own CPH:LAB and has its premiere in an audiovisual live concert with musicians from the Danish Chamber Orchestra, where the audience will experience humanity's influence on Earth over 12,000 years. From evolution to revolution, from survival to progress, wealth and war. The issues affecting our climate are tonight represented by the orchestra's instruments in an interplay with the voices from nature's many habitats. In the meantime, a collage of archive footage and images is projected, which make up fragments of our memory and the visual detritus of human history.'

https://en.cphdox.dk/programme/climate-symphony?fbclid=IwAR1n2-zjAGt31inksq4Qs7g9xJ5tPFIR9-N4P-keKxAQaw60bcHIBQqKtco

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also at the festival is a screening of 'Last and First Men' by Johann Johannsson, featuring sound design by Jana Irmert using recordings by herself, Johann, Chris Watson & myself.

musical ecologies at Onassis Foundation program now available online. Thanks to Valia Christopoulou for programming one of my scores alongside works by;

Annea Lockwood, Alison Knowles, Hildegard Westerkamp, Maggi Payne, Katerina Jedaki, Kaija Saariaho, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Toru Takemitsu, Jennifer Walshe, Pauline Oliveros, Judith Hamann, Michael Pisaro, John Cage, Luc Ferrari, John Luther Adams, Alvin Lucier, Sarah Hennies, Messiaen, Ligeti, Anne LeBaron, Berio, Doina Rotaru, James Tenney, Christian Marclay, Max Neuhaus, Bill Fontana etc.

https://www.onassis.org/whats-on/open-day-2020/musical-ecologies-program?fbclid=IwAR0OAEo-7aTDZiaxnmBlQ5Ga3U5XqMKjAIZ_oLRwYqep40f2toMa7RVHZFA

44O+

a set of pieces commissioned by Spikersuppa Lydgalleri for diffusion through the evening and night

at the Spikersuppa in central Oslo - January - february 2020

jez riley french

with pheobe riley law

teleferica (oslo)

for several years I have been travelling to Italy to document teleferica, Searching along hillside paths and roads for those that are still resonating, still perhaps in use or at least maintained, some that have lost their initial purpose but still register. My enjoyment, my practice then is durational listening, often at micro-levels. I listen for hours, days, the weather conditions impacting the teleferica; storms approaching, heat peaks shifting the drones, insects and birds resting or calling through the structures and the ever present, seemingly infinite detail.

island | fjórar | crystal detector

composed from recordings gathered on several trips to Iceland, listening to the sound of radio antenna cables, glacial melt, snipe and lava rock dissolving.
there is a line between sound tourism and allowing an intuitive response to the performative act of listening to new situations. on one side of the line is imposition, on the other an acceptance of an affected reality

voice, tape, reeds, snare | Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law

for voice, percussion, shells, stones, snare, reeds, tape - recorded in Oslo (vigeland) and East Yorkshire.

Only a fraction of a second

in the outline of colour

is applied smoothly and decisively,

salts | sopra

‘salts' is a series of works based on recordings of structures and built spaces (using JrF contact microphones & geophones), either without any additional sound source or when sounded by musicians or other activities. The piece for Oslo involves a string ensemble, 16mm film sound and organ, recorded through architecture, filtered by the space itself and recorded using self developed techniques.

(+) ink botanic (extract)

traces of durational listening to the internal sounds of plants, recorded with self-designed and built adapted microphones. This new series seeks to reveal the actual sound of plants as opposed to their sonification, a factor in our sense of the idyll we often create in our perception of ‘nature’. The microphones and techniques I have developed for these works are also currently in use in the filming of a new David Attenborough series for 2020.

https://www.attenboroughcentre.com/events/3537/acoustic-ecologies-festival/

Acoustic Ecologies festival, centred on the work of Hildegard Westerkamp

I'll be premiering a new piece in the island | fjorar series 'resonant silica';

island | fjórar - resonant silica
(2020)
4 channel

using recordings of geothermal activity and the infrasound of the earth revolving on its axis (recorded using specially adapted geophones), this piece reflects on the connection between the personal elements of durational listening, physical / social resonance and the unravelling of false narratives around 'natural' sound.

island | fjórar is a series of works drawing on listening experiences on several trips to Iceland. Pieces have so far been installed and performed in Norway, Japan, England and Northern Island.

i'll also be delivering a masterclass with students on the wednesday.

further info on the festival:

“Some biologists have made it their calling to use their special knowledge and education to look at the natural world from the ecological perspectives. Why then should composers and musicians not make it their calling to use their special knowledge and education to listen to the world from the ecological perspective?” -- Hildegard Westerkamp - 2002

Join us for Acoustic Ecologies - three days of talks, discussions, concerts, films and installations arts with environmentally engaged artists and researchers from the University of Sussex and around the globe. Centred on a celebration of the music and ideas of Hildegard Westerkamp (DE/ US), other artists include: Leah Barclay (AU), Angus Carlyle (UK), Anja Kanngieser (AU), Annie Mahtani (UK), Jez Riley French (UK), Steven Feld (US), Yolande Harris (US), Hanna Tuulikki (FI) & Voces del Bosque (EC) plus new works from Sussex Music students Dylan Beattie, Ryan Bridgewater, Catherine Ireton, Louis Berna Moya, Pete Myson, Max Worgan and Tim Young.

Hildegard Westerkamp (1946-) is a soundmaker, teacher and thinker who is celebrated today as the mother of acoustic ecology - the study of the sonically mediated, reciprocal relationships between the environment and its inhabitants. Westerkamp’s pioneering work at the intersections of composition, environmentalism, acoustic communication, radio arts, listening practices and soundwalking activate an awareness of sound as a decisive dimension of the world, an idea that underpins, and is transforming contemporary thinking across social, political, artistic and scientific practices of environmental respect and concern.

Acoustic Ecologies celebrates Hildegard Westerkamp’s vision of the artist/composer as a crafts person, trained in all disciplines of sound, and as someone entirely connected to and useful in the real world; Acoustic Ecologies highlights the valuable interactions between artistic and scientific concepts and methods for engaging with the soundscape; Acoustic Ecologies explores the role of listening in developing environmental understanding, empathy, communication and action.

The Festival of Music and Ideas is a collaboration between the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts and the Department of Music, University of Sussex. Artistic Director, Dr. Alice Eldridge.

island | fjorar (glacial objects)

drawing on recordings of glacial melting in Iceland this piece in the ‘island | fjorar’ series this piece listens in on the ultrasonics of glacial ice in situ and drifting in fjallsarlon and jokulsarlon lagoons, minerals recovered from the ice dissolving, the infrasound of the world turning below the glaciers and interactions with a pipe at a harbour fed by an ice-melt river.

Hyperthermia——Thermotherapy ”” related project “0 ° C” will be staged at the ICC theater, Tokyo, Japan - December 13 / 2019 - March 1 / 2020

featuring work by;

Lear Beefman
Jez Riley French
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Philippe Samarzis
Hideki Umezawa + Yoichi Kamimura

“0 ℃” has been operated as a sound project on ice and snow by Yoichi Kamimura and Hideki Umezawa since 2016. While communicating with artists from all over the world, we collect, listen to and perform various environmental sounds of snow and snow, and let us imagine the far-away natural environments such as Antarctica and Greenland. It has been developed as a project to think about the relationship.

This time, we focused on the polar regions where harsh nature spreads, soliciting sounds from artists who went to such areas and recorded the sounds of ice and snow.

The soundscape of drift ice and icebergs spreading under the environment of the 5.1ch sound system of the ICC Theater makes you perceive the ice environment that is definitely decreasing on a global scale. And by experiencing the changes in the environment far away from the city of Tokyo through sound, you can imagine a natural environment that has surpassed human power, but is definitely changing under human influence.

'scores for un-transmitted data'

for this years Newcastle University Degree Show postcard auction (run by students to raise funds for degree show costs) I have put together a series of text scores in collaboration with a number of artists including Pheobe riley Law, Judy Nylon, Eliza Bozek, Gabrielle HB etc.

The set of scores will be printed in an edition of 5, with only 2 being made available publicly via the auction - one online & one at the live auction event in Newcastle later in November.

the scores will be printed on special paper stock kindly supplied by GF Smith & will be accompanied by a coil microphone.

dissolve | lugnas (4 channel)

an extract from a long form recording in the dissolves series

listening in on various structures (built and found) in a state of flux

minerals from near to Lugnas, Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland, Sweden

sublimation

set alongside a geophonic recording of a local building being resonated by the earth spinning on its axis

this work, alongside work by

Pheobe riley Law
Phill Niblock
Yvette Janine Jackson
Katt Hernandez
Peter Cusack
Lorenzo Brusci
Tim Shaw
Lucía Hinojosa Gaxiola
Jez riley French
Brett Ascarelli
Jenny Sunesson
Maria Nordsø Lundberg
David Burraston
Kamen Nedev
Martyna Poznańska
Youngjae Lih
Robert Aeberhard
Jacek Smolicki

will be exhibited as part of Detroit, Stockholm's Walking Festival of Sound - 5th-8th September 2019 & in the Armstrong arches at Newcastle University in October

three soundworks for 'Benjamin', Radio Papesse tram shelter transmission project, Florence, Italy - October 2019

Benjamin. Sounds from the tramway , a sound art festival that will occupy the shelters of the Florentine urban tram, from 10 to 13 October 2019 .

Waiting for the next tram - between one service announcement and another - the travelers - urban commuters, residents and visitors - will become public: surprise, participation, interaction, dialogue, disorientation, fun , are the goals that Radio Papesse will try to achieve with a schedule of audio works - selected via Open Call - that talk about travel and waiting. The goal is to transport travelers into an unsettling, surprising elsewhere , to live - even for a few seconds - the experience of places, real or imaginary, far away, contrasting with what they see from the tram stop.

For the Love of Corals - film by Sonia Levy, original soundtrack by Jez riley French (also using two pieces by Georgia Rodgers)

commissioned by Obsidian Coast (installation) will also be screened at Goldsmiths University, April 2019 and at the Natural History Museum, Paris, April 13th 2019

from Jardins Des Plantes event information (natural history museum of France):

A reflection on the artistic, ecological and political issues of the seas and oceans through presentations of works by artists, projections, speeches ... As part of the exhibition Ocean, an unusual dive:

https://www.facebook.com/events/364415394380957/ ► Introduction by Hélène Artaud (anthropologist, Museum) ► Presentation by Hélène David, photographer, of her book "Noces or the confines of the wild" (sun / sun editions) ► Screening of Sonia Levy's film, "For the Love of Corals" (26 min - French Premiere) followed by a conversation between the artist and Sebastien Faninoz (biologist, observer of the coral spawning in New Caledonia) ► Presentation by Hervé Glotin (bioacoustician, CNRS - University of Toulon) of his work on real cetacean swimming wave signals in more or less anthropised environments using innovative algorithms. Free admission, limited seating available. Auditorium of the Grand Hall of

'elusive fields' collects some of my work with sounds above and below our range of hearing - works exploring electromagnetics, infrasound, ultrasound and vlf signals.

extract from the review in November's The Wire magazine:

'Jez riley French has spent many years in pursuit of the worlds more delicate and overlooked sounds...It's not surprising that his interest also extends beyond the audible realms. Comprising tracks recorded over the past seven years for installations, soundwalks and performances, Elusive Fields captures ultra and infrasound, and electromagnetic frequencies, bringing them within the limits of human hearing. What it reveals is often startling...French's skill is both as documentarian and interpreter, selecting and processing the waves in a way that makes them audible, yet preserves a sense of strangeness...'

an extract from the album will be broadcast on Late Junction (BBC radio 3) on xmas day 2018

the first 'murmuration' workshop took place in June 2018 & was a fantastic week. Having run & tutored on workshops for many years I have to say this one was quite something - a combination of great location, fascinating participants & guest artists and an overall atmosphere amongst all attending of a broad, engaged and inclusive exploration of all aspects of located sound (sound art, field recording, acoustic ecology, bioacoustics, sound design, soundscape, sound installation & diffusion etc).

details of murmuration # 2 - 'view', taking place in June 2019 are now available along with a booking form by clicking here.

murmuration # 2 | view

with Chris Watson, Jez riley French & guest artists

June 15th - June 21st 2019

Glenshee, Scotland

£795 per person inc. full board

limited places available

pleased to announce that the release of the long awaited and much requested pieces from the 'salts | adagios' project is now available. These pieces use JrF contact mics and geophones placed around architectural spaces to capture the buildings being resonated by ensembles performing re-scored compositions - a concept and technique I have developed and established over the past decade or so.

it can be ordered via bandcamp as a limited ty compact disc pr download, or preferably direct from the following link. thanks

'audible silence' series at Blue Dot Festival, Jodrell Bank - July 2018

I was asked by the curator of the arts programme to create some work for the festival and to curate an afternoon of talks & performances based around sound, science and the environment

i'm pleased to announce the line up includes:

Jana Winderen https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jana-winderen-audible-silence-series

Dawn Scarfe https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/dawn-scarfe,-'bee-strings'-audible-silence-series

Sonia Levy https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/sonia-levy,-'for-the-love-of-chorals'-audible-silence-series

Alice Eldridge https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/dr-alice-eldridge,-'learning-to-listen-to-biodiversity'-audible-silenc

Jo Langton https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jo-langton-audible-silence-series

& myself

Jez riley french https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/profile/jez-riley-french-audible-silence-series

murmuration

4th - 10th June 2018

with

Chris Watson

Jez riley French

and special guests inc. Heather Ross, Stephanie John, Yvonne Billimore, Gill Russell

i'm pleased to announce the first murmuration - a Scottish gathering of listeners in an area of stunning habitats from Munros (mountains over 3000 feet) to Loch’s, rivers and glens.

The trip promises to be not only a rich source of inspiration, listening and recording possibilities but a chance to discuss and share knowledge around the subjects of located sound, acoustic ecology and contemporary sound practice in its varied forms.

cost: £795 per person

which includes 6 nights full board accommodation in Glenshee, on the edge of the Cairngorms

Monday 4th June to Sunday 10th June, 2018

to secure your place please email Jez here

ALL PLACES CURRENTLY RESERVEDBUT DO EMAIL IF INTERESTED & YOU WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST SHOULD ANYONE DROP OUT.

(see below for booking terms & conditions)

The week is intended for those with some experience of working with located sound / field recording & other areas of experiential site-specific work as it will be in the format of a field trip / gathering rather than a series of formal, instructional steps for beginners. That said we of course welcome participants at all stages of experience and both Jez & Chris will be on hand throughout to offer guidance, support and deliver talks on various aspects of the act & art of listening. These will be scheduled on site to fit in with the weather and with the interests of those attending, but will include discussion of subjects such as:

. ambisonic recording

. extended field recording techniques (contact microphones, hydrophones, coils, ultrasonics, geophones & infrasound)

. sound diffusion

. the history of field recording & of contemporary sound practices (sound art, sound design, location sound)

. the ecological ear & environmental sonic concerns

. microphone & recorder choice / listening through the technology

. the psychology of listening

Apart from the always varied and interesting participants who will be coming from a wide range of sound based backgrounds Jez & Chris have extensive experience of located sound recording, sound art, sound ecology, sound design, response to locales and related areas, so whatever your connection to sound or a sense of place there will be plenty of information and ideas to share and explore. We’ll also be inviting some guests to join us, to assist, share their insights, give talks, share work and lead sound walks. full details will follow shortly.

location

Accommodation for this unique trip will be at Gulabin Lodge in Glenshee, Highland Perthshire. We have booked the entire site, including the house, to ensure we can come & go as we please at all hours.

As mentioned, the accommodation is fairly remote and so the nearest train station is either Pitlochry or Dundee, some 45 - 60 mins away by car.

The nearest airports are Edinburgh and Aberdeen, both around 2hrs away or Glasgow which is 2hrs 15mins away.

once all places on the trip are filled we’ll email you all allowing you to connect with each other & discuss car sharing options, lifts to & from the station etc.

Accommodation is in shared rooms, most of which have between 2 and 9 beds. The lodge can sleep a total of 37 people however to ensure we have space to spread out and for a good group size places available for participants are limited to well below capacity. Bed lined is provided but you do need to bring your own towels.

We’ll have full catering consisting breakfast, packed lunches (or soup / sandwiches at the lodge if we’re not out & about) & evening meal. All dietary needs will be accommodated of course.

Itinerary:

Monday 4th June: arrive after 3pm, with our evening meal planned for 7:30pm followed by an introductory meeting

Tues - Saturday: daily activities exploring the area + evening talks & playback / review sessions to be scheduled according to the good old Scottish weather - if its fine we’ll be out exploring no doubt !

Given the location & the wealth of environments nearby it is advised that participants have their own transport & are prepared to spend some time during the week working independently or in smaller groups. We will attempt to car share for exploring further afield once there & in the run up to the course we’ll connect all participants so that any car sharing / lifts to & from the accommodation can also be arranged. There are plenty of locations nearby, including several Munro’s & renowned walking routes, for those who want to explore on foot of course. Jez & Chris will of course be on hand to assist and guide people who wish to learn more about the techniques they use or simply to join in their explorations.

some of the locations nearby include:

. 21 Munros within a 15 mile radius inc. Glas Maol, Tolmount, Cairnwell, Can a Gheoildh & Ben Gulabin

. Glenshee Glen , Glen Lochsie & Glen Tairneach

. The Cateran trail - a walking path used by 15th century cattle rustlers

. several Loch’s inc. Loch Vrotachan, Loch Beanie, Auchintaple Loch & Loch Muick

. Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve

. Mar Lodge Estate, home to BBC’s Winterwatch

. several water courses of various sizes inc. Allta Ghlinne Bhig, Alt Coolah & Shee water + small glen pools that should be rich with aquatic flora & fauna.

. during the week we’ll hold screenings of films with a strong connection to located sound including Emily Richardson’s ‘Cobra Mist’ (soundtrack by Chris Watson & Benedict Drew), Amanda Belantara’s ‘Sonotoki’ capturing simple moments of daily life in a Japanese village, Heather Ross' 'Domestic Dawn Chorus' & a rare UK screening of Christopher Thompson’s documentary ‘The New Wild’ on how human use of remote natural spaces is changing.

Sunday 10th June: depart after breakfast by 11am.

Gulabin Lodge also has on site mountain bike rental which is available for an additional charge payable directly to the lodge owners (£20 per day / £60 for 5 days).

We will be based some distance from the nearest town, Blairgowrie which is approx 35 mins by car, so it is advised that you arrive with any additional supplies you might need for the week, though i’m sure we’ll be making at least one trip to restock.

Although we are going to be in a stunning part of Scotland we would advise that there might well be different sonic elements audible in some of our surroundings; walkers, flights overhead, road hum in the distance in some locations at certain times. Aspects of the reality of environmental sound will be discussed during the trip, including whether expectation might serve to separate us from the reality of a planet in constant flux.

Following the trip participants will be welcome to contribute recordings or pieces stemming from the trip to a special edition of Framework (Resonance FM) curated & compiled by Jez & Pheobe, along similar lines to the ‘a quiet position - orford ness’ edition, which can be found here: a quiet position - orford ness

Above all the trip will be a chance for us to gather together & spend several days listening, recording, sharing our experience and generally having a great time meeting good folks. So do join us & be part of this murmuration of listeners !

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to purchase click here

first edition (150 copies)

saddle stitched A5 photobook

with download code to 350+ minutes of sound documenting realisations (listening and performed)

+ initial copies come with a separate limited edition booklet for 'score for listening # 80' prepared for two performances by Nordic Affect in Iceland (at Mengi 2016 & Harpa 2017)

'Jez riley French’s photographic scores series is a compelling intervention in this sea of images. They invite the viewer to see them as conduits, representations, translations or spurs for sound – and this remediation has the effect of reversing some of the effects of our image- saturated culture. Where time in the age of the digital photograph is produced by gliding from one image to the next, French’s photos attempt to bring temporality into the experience of viewing. The images manufacture an experience of time through the visual evocation of sound and soundscapes....By introducing the experience of duration into our consumption of images, via the mediation of phonography, they invite us to attend seriously to our mediated environment and consider our contribution to it'
- Haworth (Source Journal of Photography - spring 2016'

the Icelandic ensemble, Nordic Affect have commissioned me for a new photographic score & the result is 'score for listening # 80 - four variations.

Nordic Affect will premiere their unique realisation of the complete score at Mengi, Reykjavik on October 26th,2016

Halla from the ensemble also included elements of the text based score from myself & Pheobe riley Law in her installation at Nordic Music Days, Reykjavik recently & also at Transistor, Malmo, Sweden

H e (a) r Soundscape connected to ecology, acoustics and embodiment; drawing on encounters and what happens in the connection. Performers are Carina Ehrenholm, Angela Rawlings, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and Liv Kaastrup Vesterskov. Text score extracted from writings and digital works by Angela Rawlings (In Memory: Jökull*, Jöklar) as well as by Pauline Oliveros, R. Murray Schafer, David Suzuki, Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, Jez Riley French, Phoebe Riley French, Bernhard Leitner, Heidi Fast and Roni Horn. H e (a) r was directed and composed by Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir and mixed by Kent Olofsson at Inter Arts Center in Malmö, Sweden.

pleased to announce that I will be collaborating with Opera North, Jan Bang, Eivind Aarset and Arve Henriksen on Ten Worlds - a new piece that blends field recordings of the bridge itself (inside, outside & its locale - recorded by myself for this project) with orchestra, choir, electronics, guitar and trumpet, as part of Hull's Capital of Culture 2017 year. This major new commission will involve an interactive timed, performed realisation and a longer term sound walk along the bridge.

https://www.operanorth.co.uk/news/two-opera-north-commissions-for-hull-2017-uk-city-of-culture

recording of 'waiting / compact (score for listening # 78) realisation by Philip Thomas and Matthew Bourne recorded at Bank Street Arts, Sheffield 30th June 2016

movere | soundtrack for an unfocused image # 1

my piece for the fascinating Acoustic Camera's project is now online.

the soundtrack for a live webcam feed from Iceland is based on recordings of marsh fences, lava dissolving, the ultrasonics of a glacier lagoon and weather events in the ionosphere. this particular webcam has become clouded and hopefully will remain so. as with the listening watching the image involves time - it changes constantly, but subtly - at certain times the sun light creates angular glares or at night car lights spin globe shaped reflections into the camera.

http://www.acousticcameras.org/playlist/jez-riley-french/

whilst you're there you can also find pieces by Chicaloyoh, Sylvain Chauveau, Jarboe, Lionel Marchetti, Simon Fisher Turner, That Summer and more (with more being added)

pleased to announce the release of 'portable music' on Touch's Touchline series - three pieces based on structural resonances, close listening to locales and geothermal ultrasonics from Iceland - featuring myself, Pheobe Law, Sofia Miorelli, Maria Silvano, Maddalena Carta, Michele Spanghero, Sandro Carta, Gabriella Ferrari, Antonio Della Marina, the audience & villages at Topolo & its locale....

https://touchshop.org//product_info.php?products_id=726

the new issue of Source Photographic review is a fascinating survey of the links between sound and photography including Eve Forrest, writing about the 1980s LPs that make up the 'Photographers' gallery of music and sound', an article on recent books that include sound recordings and portfolios of work by Joséphine Michel who has been photographing birds as sound emitting objects, & myself (Jez riley French) whose photographs are designed as 'scores for listening' and Paul Gaffney whose work is a direct response to a piece of music. 

Source have also commissioned a series of films & audio interviews via their website to go along with the print issue, including myself again, Angus Carlyle, Dawn Wilson, Cheryl Tip, Jon Wozencroft, Laura Pannack and Ian Rawes. 

a valuable addition to the resources on this rarely covered subject - £6 + p&p from the website:

http://bit.ly/sonicphot

the 1st Source film on the subject of the links between sound and photography is now online, featuring myself, Dawn Wilson & Angus Carlyle:

interesting programme on BBC Radio Ulster about Jocelyn Bell Burnell - which happens to also include some of my fence recordings

http://bbc.in/20pIeI9

my article on Sami yoik, featuring interviews with Ande Somby & Chris Watson + audio from Ande, Nils-Aslak Valkeapaa, Johan Ander Baer & Ulla Pirttijarvi is now online at Caught By The River. As you can hear / read Yoik is a tradition that remains locked to the environment & some of the most powerful recorded examples were (& still are) recorded in the field:

http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2016/01/17/yoik-jez-riley-french-chris-watson-field-recording-norway-ande-somby-nils-aslak-valkeapaa-sami-ulla-prittijarvi-johan-anders-baer/

a new interview of the Architect Of Sound website:

https://architectofsound.wordpress.com/2015/08/15/aos-presents-jez-riley-french-field-recordist-artist-and-creator-of-jrf-microphones-qa/

'movere | dolomite paths' - 4 channel field recording piece

as part of:

EMBEDDED FREQUENCIES

is a confluence of sound and materiality. Compositions constructed of field recordings from oil fields, dissolving minerals, sea-life, abandoned space, and cross border travel will play in an atmosphere of nearly complete darkness.

Live performances by Chicago-based artists ambiguously layering the found and constructed.

Compositions Austen Brown Peter Cusack Jez Riley French Alyssa Moxley Martyna Poznańska Jana Winderen

Live Performances Peter Speer Coppice

The locations of contributed recordings include: Bakken (North Dakota), Barents Sea (Norway/Russia), the Dolomites (Italy), Selassia (Greece), Odessa (Ukraine), the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan).

EMBEDDED FREQUENCIES is curated by Phil Peters and Alyssa Moxley.

LODGE (in service of the dark arts) is a winter project-space organized and curated by Angharad Davies and Phil Peters.

Sited in a former banqueting hall, windowless with partially dilapidated faux-finishings, LODGE presents a series of film screenings and public exhibitions; an arc of dark light to guide us through the winter months.

latest edition of 'the organist' podcast on KCRW, produced by Lawrence Dunn, features contact mic recordings by various folks including myself, John Grzinich & others

http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/the-organist/episode-44-contact-milk

Location Sound Recording Workshop

University of the West of Scotland

Ayr

19th-23rd January 2015

Me and Chris Watson headed up north, driving along increasingly snow sided roads, to Ayr on the west coast of Scotland following an invitation from Peter Snowdon (lecturer in film making) and Nick Higgins (director of the Creative Media Academy). As part of the Honeycomb - Creative Works project, funded by the EU and aiming to bring leading creative industry professionals to the border counties of Ireland and the western seaboard of Scotland.

A group of 26 participants joined us for the 5 day intensive workshop, taking in field / location recording, extended listening, critical playback and discussions on equipment and techniques.

day one: introductions

through till lunch we spent the time getting to hear about each participant: their practice, aims for the week and what motivates them to work in the field. As always when we do these courses there’s a wide variety of interests; sound art, experimental music, social contexts, film and tv production and wildlife. After lunch Chris talked through various aspects of his approach to sound recording, playing examples to illustrate. I then spoke about my work with a particular focus on creative settings and the use of non-conventional microphones / devices (hydrophones, contact microphones, ultrasonic detectors, coils, geophones, vlf receivers etc). Essential to these talks is that they aren’t lectures - they’re discussions, a sharing of knowledge. The questions and comments from those attending not only provide an essential social element but also allow for everyone to think about aspects they perhaps don’t usually consider. Someone aiming for a career in film crew work can learn a lot from a sound artist whose concern is primarily the use of material to trigger different levels of listening. Likewise an artist can think in different ways about their practice when hearing how a sound mixer works. The two worlds are often concerned with very different aims and intentions - indeed, there is often a very wide gulf between the values (in terms of listening and the texture of sound) of these different approaches and this is why there’s a lot to be gained from exploring those differences in a sociable and group setting. Having tutored on workshops for some years now I can say without doubt that there’s almost always a total ‘group linking’ in the first hours or day of a course - where everyone involved understands that, whatever our specific approach or knowledge, we are all these through an interest in better and more expansive listening.

day two: equipment and first field trip

before lunch we begin discussing field recording equipment. About half of the group have limited previous experience with field recording (though most have some background in sound, whether in a studio setting or through music) and the other half have some experience and their own kit. So steep learning curves all round - but thats one of the reasons to come on a course such as this.

The Uni campus in Ayr has the River Ayr running though its grounds and so the lecturers decided a theme of the river for this weeks course. With that in mind our first field trip was to Glenbuck Loch, the source of the RIver Ayr. We arrived to find an amazing icicle-covered wood circling the totally frozen Loch, complete with ice-anchored boats and unsteady swans attempting to break the ice sheets. 26 is a big group and lets face it, field recording and site specific listening is a solitary pastime, by necessity. With that in mind I would say that the first thing people learn on these kinds of courses is how noisy we are a species. How challenging it can be to stand or sit totally still for 10, 20 , 30 + minutes without making a sound, or without ones recording or experience being affected by the sounds of others.

I concentrated on showing my approach to recording the ice on the Loch and the fence wires surrounding it. Chris headed into the trees to listen for bird life and we all came away with an additional, unexpected sound-memory, that of the icicles falling from trees when the wind picked up; a rain of small, cold bells - glass like fragments of sound, and very evocative.

]

day three: second field trip

moving down the river, towards Ayr itself, we first visited the site of Wallace’s Cave (or at least one of the caves associated with him). Some of the group went searching for the cave itself and others took the time to find their own spots amongst the trees and along the tracks. Here folks began to get a sense of how radically different the sound of single source (the river) can be every few centimetres or metres, and when its filtered through trees, fences, caves and other surfaces.

The next stop was at Ballochmyle, where we’d been told there were cup and ring markings (a form of prehistoric wall art, the exact meaning of which is subject to various theories) on several stones. Here we walked along one of the paths, leading us past numerous icicle screens where the melting snow was running into the small stream by the side of the track, to a bridge over the river and a rather odd box, marked AV, which at high volume was pushing water up through its cover. This ‘break’ in the soundscape of the walk had the effect of re-setting our ears and, of course, opening up thoughts about how our perception of place is often linked to what we expect rather than a more momentary and immersive openness to reality. Walking further the group began to split - some heading for the cup and ring marks and others taking time to venture down to the river to use hydrophones and contact microphones.

day four: third field trip and recording logging

we began at the Uni campus, following the path along the banks of the Ayr to a footbridge. I stayed near the bridge, with around half the group, attaching contact mics (not enough wind to resonate the structure on its own) and the others spent time recording along the banks or with Chris setting up mics around piles of bread and biscuits to try to attract birds closer to the mics.

As the bridge wasn’t sounding I then attached contact mics to a tree nearby, choosing one with dry, crisp leaves. Several of the group listened and then got on with finding their own tree sounds, either allowing the breeze to cause the sounds or taking a more interactive approach.

From here we decided to push back the scheduled lunch break and head to the docks at the mouth of the Ayr. By this time all participants were fully heading off on their own to use whatever kit they had or had borrowed. Some spent time on the beach and others concentrated on the diffused sounds of the active docks on the other bank of the Ayr; 2 cargo vessels were being loaded , the small pilot boat ran up and down the river, a nearby construction site, and of course the wind and water.

I took the opportunity to test some new omni mics, comparing them to my trusty DPA4060’s. Having made several recordings along the pier facing the docks I then switched to contact mics. As is often the case I stumble across one surface that offers up something special and here it was one of the large, flat metal pier plates stretching from the top to just below the waterline (at the time we were there). A massive low end filter for the tide and all activity on the river - deep drones from machinery, less focused elements which, whilst somehow representing the sensation of being on this windswept promontory, were abstracted - mirroring again ones ability to listen beyond the obvious. I’d have happily stayed listening to this one surface for hours.

Returning to the Uni campus participants either stayed and logged their recordings or set off to work on this at home. The point was to fully document each recording they’d kept, noting location, date, time and equipment used (either from notes taken in the field or from spoken idents on the recordings).

day five: critical playback

coming together as a group we listened back to one or two recordings from participants, discussing each one. Amongst the tracks were recordings of:

icicles falling from trees

ice sheets on the loch

fence wires

swans pecking seeds from the ice

sound of the river from inside and outside Wallace’s cave

frozen waterfall at the gorge

icicle drips

metal pier plate

dock ambience

and more....

These playback sessions are always valuable, not only to compare different microphones, recorders and techniques but to hear the radical differences that even small decisions can produce. Quite often someone will say ‘I don’t think this is very good’ and on hearing it played back to the group, through speakers rather than in the enclosed world of solitary headphone listening, it becomes obvious that the recording not only ‘works’ but represents something of the individual. It is the aspects of our work that we doubt that we perhaps perceive what makes it ‘ours’.

interview for the Audio Spotlight website:

http://theaudiospotlight.com/jez-riley-french-interview/

nice to be asked to write something for issue 3 of 'Reflections on Process in Sound' and some of my daughters (www.pheoberileylaw.yolasite.com/) photo's are also included.

Issue 3 of "Reflections on Process in Sound" is online now: Viv Corringham gives an account of how her ongoing series Shadow-walks came about, as an amalgam of singing and walking; Riley Frenchconsiders three specific trips he took this year to record telefericas, geological dissolves and other fascinations in Italy and Iceland; Felicity Ford explores how wool and sound come together for her in her project KNITSONIK, with some excursions into feminist concerns; Michelle Lewis-King explains how and why her Pulse Project blends accupuncture with sound; Jo Joseph Hyde considers his take on visual music; Rob MacKay discusses the parameters of the world’s first concert for artificial and human voices.

http://www.reflections-on-process-in-sound.net/issue-3/

GENE POOL#69 SONIC SEASON: JEZ RILEY FRENCH

click here to listen

This episode is the first of a five episode “Sonic Season” of improvisation and sonic arts shows.

The life of the field recording artist explored in conversation with Jez riley French.

Independence and integrity of artistic practice are strong themes with the globetrotting Yorkshire-man whose DIY JrF contact microphones have become something of an industry standard tool among sound artists.

We discuss community, microphones and recording equipment including geophones, hydrophones and contact microphones as well as vibrating staircases and the “Stairway to Heaven” of the field recording world.

This podcast features some original recordings made during a weekend workshop led by Jez as well as audio from his own archive material.

More Info

jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com
jezrileyfrench.co.uk Jez riley French on Bandcamp

The podcast can be delivered directly into your Mac/PC, tablet or mobile via the iTunes Channel, Blackberry Podcast, Blubrry, Miro

Listen: Gene Pool#69: Jez riley French

5 short films from topolo - Jez riley French & Pheobe riley Law (headphones advised) from Jez riley French on Vimeo.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

'foxley wood fence posts'

will be part of the new season of concerts / events at the Juan March Foundation, Madrid, Spain during March 2014

____________________

a special 8 channel mix of 'teleferica's' will be premiered as part of Artisphere's Fermata exhibition.

line up for this major exhibition:

Alvin Lucier
Christine Sun Kim
Jez riley French
Lawrence English
Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Books
Brian McBride
Eddie Ruscha
Francisco Lopez
CFCF
Alberto Gaitán
Annea Lockwood
Chad Clark
Kate Carr
Forest Swords
Jarboe (Swans)
Scarfolk Council
Devin Underwood (Specta Ciera)
Markus Guentner
Toni Dimitrov
Lucianne Wolcowicz
Salome Voegelin
SaåadIM Rawes (London Sound Survey)
Don Zientara and Ian Mackaye
John Henry Blatter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/spring-arts-preview-gallery-picks/2014/01/31/5a080e12-82b6-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html

4 extracts (sheffield staircase, tate ultrasonics, bethlehem wires and teleferica's) are now part of MoMa's 'Soundings' online resource / exhibition archive:

https://soundcloud.com/groups/moma-soundings

i'm pleased to announce that my commission for Tate Modern 'audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking' is now available online, to listen of download free from the tate modern website: click here

UPDATE:
my piece for The Tate is being included in TWO news installation for Tate Modern / Britain:

LIMINAL (Mcgallery, Tate Britain) will be soundtracked constantly in the space by the piece

+

Juke Box Meets Tate Britain will be based in the new Learning Gallery from 23rd November till the end of February 2014. Devised by sound artist Yuri Suzuki, Juke Box Meets Tate Britain will aim to provide a wide-ranging and accessible sound archive related to Tate Britain's collection. Each week the aim is to also offer vinyl-cutting sessions where visitors and invited guests will be able to create a record to go in the juke box, contributing their personal response to the Tate Britain collection displays.

original installation:
the piece is available at the Tate Modern gallery as a headphone listening experience from June 22nd & is available to experience saturdays, sundays + thursdays & fridays during school holidays.

audible silence: the tate, sleeping and waking

jez riley french

buildings sing....their walls, their floors, chairs and tables are full of sound, of their own music, made by vibrations, made even by the world turning. these pieces feature only untreated sounds directly recorded with special microphones and listening devices in the tate building itself.

'for this set of 3 new pieces Jez spent several nights alone in the Tate Modern building, listening for hours, capturing moments when the surfaces of the structure resonated or the sounds normally beyond our range of hearing offered up particularly evocative, unscripted compositions'

2013 also sees the publication of a new book on the art of field recording 'in the field' (click on the image below to order), which features conversations with myself & other recordists + a nice cover picture taken by my daughter, Pheobe (proud dad moment here !)

Jez riley French - teleferica (extract).mp3