Sounds Absurd

I met Richard playing the bagpipes while out walking with Noodles the dog. It was a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze and the sounds of bagpipes carried through the trees and onto the hills. I started to talk with Richard who told me how he spends time with the bagpipes.

In a series of four short episodes, I read old notebooks and write in new ones with thoughts and experiences evoked by my conversation with Evelyn Glennie

In a series of four short episodes, I read old notebooks and write in new ones with thoughts and experiences evoked by my conversation with Evelyn Glennie

In a series of four short episodes, I read old notebooks and write in new ones with thoughts and experiences evoked by my conversation with Evelyn Glennie

In a series of four short episodes, I read old notebooks and write in new ones with thoughts and experiences evoked by my conversation with Evelyn Glennie

With contributions from David Reby, Richard Bagpipes, Shelina Bhamani and Evelyn Glennie,  Holger Schulze describes where people are located within sound.

From the Aztecs to the Nazis, sound is an exercise of power. Sonic Artist, Sam Auinger, takes us on a journey that begins by exploring how our memories of sound leave marks in us and continues by examining how the  way we listen to the world has changed as the soundscapes of a city become dominated by machine noise and the noise of a fossil fuel burning society. In this environment we change how we see ourselves and how we see people around us.  For more information on Sam and the other interviews go to the Sounds Absurd website

Professor Holger Schulze is a full professor in musicology at the University of Copenhagen and principal investigator at the Sound Studies Lab. In this episode, he talks about how a person develops a 'sonic persona' because of their relationships with their sound environments affect and shape them.  Holger takes us through our sonic relationships with cities and everyday objects, he explains how music affects us as we grow up and then describes how we go inside our own sonic bubbles. The conversation turns to the politics of sound and how the development of voice recognition technology, like Alexa and Siri, has created a new servant class.  For more information on Holger and the other interviews go to the Sounds Absurd website

World leading percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie talks about the many ways that the body perceives sound and how that sound is affected by the  surrounding space and the performance of the sound. Evelyn also reflects on the sound of social media and the sounds of a prison, as she asks us to explore what sound does to us and how we can find a deeper appreciation of life through sound.  For more information on Evelyn look at the Sounds Absurd website or Evelyn's own website