Author: Dylan Roys

Some really useful sounds in this for the musician to work with as this piece is made up of raw sounds and some examples of effects which he considers may find their way into the final piece.  In this way from the choice of material to the editing this is a collaborative work between him and the musician certainly but also with you as an audience since you will be wondering too how this is going to be woven into the final piece. There are examples of reverb and reverse in this which tell me of a link between the horse and the human both working the city streets; one the animal subservient to the other. However the marching style of the human could be interpreted as being representative of our enslavement to capitalism, in other words that were as beholden to capital and the acquisition of capital as the horse is to our burdon.

This is further highlighted by the question and answer session  between 15 and 20 seconds and industrial sounds thereafter as the horse disappears into the distance.  Does this indicate the horses escape while we are still working!

Unlike the majority of soundscapes produced C1 have delivered a work which seems raw and unpolished. This will give the sound artist and musician much to work with. However as I mention in other posts don’t think this is a sign of poor artistic ambition on the part of C1. This is just as valid as one which is highly “effected”.

What C1 have given is a naturalistic piece which illustrates a vital point. Even by recording raw audio the artist can never hope to get close to the natural! Within this there have been a range of diversions from the natural. the recorders choice of location and sound, the editors choice of clip and finally my choice of interpretation means once again the art is not within the artifact but the interpretation.

There can be little doubt that this represents Lincoln from the start and certainly the use of the cathedral bells as a motif is a classic example of a “lincoln soundscape”. However C6 have chosen to subvert this by cutting the bell chime to give and edge? Why did they do this and what does it indicate? Perhaps an cry for each generation to take ownership of their city and to mould it in their image?

It will be interesting to see how Steve Kirkby uses and interprets this in the musical work.

Macaulay has left me his completed soundscape but also a range of raw recordings as well. From an artistic point of view this is highly significant. Some artists will choose to present the audience with little or no interpretive information, some will not even offer a title. Why would they do this? Art is a contract between the creator and the audience. (although I am prepared to debate that point) The creator demands that the audience is not passive in the process, in other words the art is as much in the interpretation as it is the physical artifact. The absence of information ensures that the audience needs to work harder to make their own meaning.

However in this case we have the raw audio to work with; the artist has chosen to share his process with us and this to is a valid strategy allowing us into his creative world and rather than “spoil” the art he  leaves us to ponder on his influences and editorial choices in a collaborative paradigm.