Sound Junction Online

We’re delighted to bring you this online Sound Junction concert that aims to push the boundaries of music with one central aim: to make acousmatic music accessible to a wider listening public.

The Sound Junction series, presented in association with the University of Sheffield Sound Studios, is one of the UK’s longest-running and most significant concert series dedicated exclusively to acousmatic, electroacoustic music. So we are really pleased to be able to bring you this online version of our usual weekend programme of Sound Junction concerts.

The video below will go live at 7.30pm on Friday 17 April – come back then to enjoy the music! You’ll also be able to access the video on our Facebook page.

We hope you enjoy our Sound Junction online concert and look forward to hearing your feedback!

Featuring pieces by Louise Rossiter, Adam Stanovic and students from the Soundhouse – University of Sheffield Sound Studios. Expect juddering spluttering machines, a journey through the nervous system, and an exploration of technology, meditation, time and space. You can download a full programme via this link: Sound Junction Spring 2020 Programme

When we present these Sound Junction concerts in Firth Hall the lights are dimmed and the music is played through our purpose-built sound diffusion system. You can recreate this at home by altering your lighting and wearing headphones. Surrounded by strange yet familiar sounds, this setting should give your mind the space and your imagination the freedom to take you on a personal journey through the soundscapes.

Adrian Moore, Professor of Electroacoustic Music Composition, explains more about acousmatic music, “In its most basic form, music is a collection of organised sounds. All sounds have some kind of meaning, image, or nostalgia associated with them. Take, for example, the sound of an old steam train clattering over the tracks, or the sound of water trickling down a drain. Sounds that we’re familiar with, that evoke certain impressions, feelings, memories or emotions, but most people wouldn’t hear them as music. Acousmatic music takes these ubiquitous sounds that usually go unnoticed and transforms them into the focal point of a composition. Using the microphone as a microscope, acousmatic music delves below the surface and hones in on hidden spaces within the raw sounds, teasing out subtle details such as timbre, density, colour and movement. Through manipulation, reconstruction and layering, the anonymous sounds take on a new, personal meaning.”

Image: ‘Synapse’ courtesy Louise Rossiter