Calling singers and non-singers!

Arts group GWRANDO is facilitating a unique recording project working with eidophones and digital technologies.

What does your voice look like? Sing into an eidophone and find out. You only need to sing one note, but you could sing a whole song. The visible sounds will be filmed and the audio will be recorded to form part of a multi-voice film and sound installation showing on 28/04/12.

http://www.gwrando.org/tannery.html

What does your voice look like? Yr Hen Tanerdy, Machynlleth. 11.30 - 4.30 21/04/12

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Galw cantorion a heb fod yn gantorion!

Grŵp Celfyddydau GWRANDO yn hwyluso prosiect cofnodi unigryw sy'n gweithio gyda eidophones a thechnolegau digidol.

Beth mae eich llais yn edrych? Canu i mewn i eidophone a chael gwybod. Dim ond angen i ganu un nodyn, ond gallech canu cân gyfan. Bydd y synau gweladwy yn cael ei ffilmio a bydd y sain yn cael ei gofnodi i ffurfio rhan o osodiad ffilm a sain aml-lais yn dangos ar 28/04/12.

http://www.gwrando.org/tannery.html

Beth mae eich llais yn edrych? Yr Hen Danerdy, Machynlleth. 11.30-4.30 21/04/12

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Specifically designed for voice, the eidophone was developed by singing teacher Margaret Watts Hughes in the late 19th c. Her experiments followed Michael Faraday’s 1831 studies into what he termed 'crispations': phenomena generated by the effects of vibration; and Ersnt Chladni’s experiments with resonant brass plates. Chladni’s book 'Entdeckungen ber die Theorie des Klanges' 7 ("Discoveries in the Theory of Sound"), published in 1787, contains images of ‘Chladni Figures’. Margaret Watts Hughes’ ‘The Eidophone Voice Figures’ was published in 1904.

What differentiates Margaret Watts Hughes from other pioneers of in the field of acoustics, is that her experiments form part of her lifetimes’ attempt to further her knowledge of the singing voice; specifically, in order, to further her teaching ability. Her 1891 article for The Century, discusses how the singer might produce specific patterns by varying pitch, timbre and intensity – in other words, as much as her enthusiasm for the process is revealed in the article, it is the singer’s technique that is the destination of her experiments, rather than a theory of sound. She states that she developed her experiments ‘as a vocalist’, for vocalists.

The eidophone experiments will form part of a creative attempt to develop a clearer understanding of the work of philosopher Adriana Cavarero. Cavarero in For More Than One Voice (2005) unravels some myths of the ‘voice’: in particular, ‘woman sings: man thinks’. Her proposal of a vocal ontology of uniqueness, that the voice is the equivalent of what each person has ‘that is most hidden and most genuine’ is developed into an argument that turns on an idea of ‘uniqueness-in-resonance’: the act of speaking or singing as both making manifest one’s own uniqueness, and as a convocation of other voices. There can be no generalized notion of ‘voice’ and what ‘voice’ means: there is always someone who speaks or sings.

Be that someone! You are invited to continue Margaret Watts Hughes’ eidophone experiments with GWRANDO at the Tannery. On Saturday the 21st the Tannery will be open all day. What does your voice look like? Sing into an eidophone and find out. You only need to sing one note, but you could sing a whole song. You will take away your very own signature voiceprint. The visible sounds will be filmed and the audio will be recorded to form part of a multi-voice film and sound installation. An experiment in visible voice will be open on Saturday the 28th April, 11.30 – 4.30.

Lou Laurens and Jacob Whittaker set up arts group GWRANDO in 2007. Following an MA in Sonic Arts (Distinction) at Middlesex University in 2008, Laurens has worked with themes of sonic histories, acoustics and places/spaces through the medium of voice, listening practices, and audio recording; these are presented as composition, performance, installation, participant-led process, and large-scale community events. A singer, she also lectures in Performance Studies at Aberystwyth University, leads three choirs, and writes for solo voice and choir.

Welsh-born artist Jacob Whittaker gained a BA in Fine Art in 2003 (First-Class); he uses found objects, music, video, photography, performance, and interactive networks/processes to explore themes of memory, nostalgia, aesthetics and perception. His work includes sound and video installation, as well as documentary film for artists, local groups and community organisations. Both artists’ share an interest in critiquing, and continually developing, methods of documenting live arts and sound works which are sympathetic and relevant to the creative process.