I’m delighted to say that Lateral is programmed in the AIR/EAR – Instalación Radial – running through June and July and hosted by Radio-System in Argentina.
Lateral at Air/Ear Argentina
ICMC, Slovenia
Hit or Miss has been selected for the International Computer Music Conference to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in September 2012.
Audio Portraits Morocco
Breathing Space has been selected by Anna Raimondo for diffusion in the gallery of the Institut de Culture de Rabat in Morocco from 26th May – 2nd June 2012.
Code Butterfly | Curious Seed
Joint composer with Erin Scrutton for Code Butterfly, a site-specific performance created by Curious Seed Dance Company for the Leith Festival, Edinburgh, (involving 5 professional performers, (dancers/ aerial artists, singer) and 15 young women from the Leith area. Performances: Out Of The Blue, old Drill Hall. Edinburgh.
Directed by Christine Devaney
Designed by Karen Tennant
Production Manager: John Riddell
with Jennifer Patterson, Skye Reynolds, Kaela Rowan
Fretwork
Fretwork (2013) draws its compositional language from the intimate physical gestures associated with playing the guitar – the act of plucking becomes transformed metaphorically into a range of percussive attacks, pops and clicks. While the piece unfolds as an abstract sound collage, fragments of recognisable guitar sounds emerge and recede amidst more decorative falsely extended vibrations and resonances. Available at Bandcamp
Selected Performances
Acoustic Frontiers, CKCU 93.1, Canada
Last Friday Listening Room UCSD, Enter the Octagon, UC San Diego, US
Sweet Thunder Festival of EA Music Listening Room, San Francisco
Radio Circulo FM100.4 Madrid
NoiseFloor Festival, Stafford, UK
Featured on Thrmnphone Netlabel Album, Spain
New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival 2013, US
Undae Project, Madrid, Spain
Lights Out Listening, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow
Lateral
Originally commissioned and created for High-Slack-Low-Slack-High – a suite of audio works relating to the Clyde River curated by Minty Donald for GI Festival of Visual Art – Lateral was made as a live, site-specific installation set in Dixon Street, Glasgow. Subsequent to that event I created a studio version of the work.
Background info
Dixon Street is a main thoroughfare that runs from the river directly up through the city’s main shopping artery. The aims of the work were to highlight a sense of disconnection from the river and to create multiple cross currents by merging the river sounds of Lateral and the sounds of the city environment. The work was projected over large horn speakers mounted in the street between two buildings, creating a view down to the river. Six vocalists added a further layer of human presence with their resonant tones both emerging out of and being subsumed by the undulating sound density of the site.
The starting point for the work was the idea of a ‘Lateral System’ – a system of navigational aids comprising shapes, colours and numbers, used to guide boats up river channels into ports and docks. However, the multiple resonances of the word ‘lateral’ took on greater significance in the work through the associations and digressions that emerge with the notion of a flowing river. Place names, numerical information from tidal charts and signal/radio sounds serve as signposts along the way, rooting the work in a real world place. But the perpetual flow of water and the periodic rhythms of a vocal landscape contribute to a sense of multiple spatial and historical resonances, and to ideas of flowing with and against the current.
Many thanks indeed to Claire Docherty, Kirstie Edgar, Jessica King, Morag Stark and Hanna Tuulikki for their live vocal contributions both on site at Dixon Street and at the closing event in the Clydeport Authority Headquarters.
Performances/events include…
2016
‘Inter-#6’ (Glasgow)
Curated radio show ‘Glasgow Soundscapes’ WebSynRadio (France)
2015
Curated listening hour at Brooklyn Acoustic Ecology Festival (US)
LOLG project Shona Island (Scotland)
2014
(25 Feb – 2 March)
Here. now. where? Saout Radio, 5th Marrakech Biennale
(12 – 18 January)
Framework Radio broadcasts
12th london, uk ::: resonance 104.4fm
13th amsterdam, nl ::: concertzender
13th vancouver, us ::: radio nouspace
14th south devon, uk ::: soundartradio 102.5fm
14th maribor, si ::: radio marš 95.9fm
15th lisbon, pt ::: radio zero
15th vancouver, us ::: radio nouspace
16th coimbra, pt ::: rádio universidade de coimbra 107.9fm
16th lisbon, pt ::: radio zero
17th ljubljana, si ::: radio študent 89.3fm
17th brussels, be ::: radio campus 92.1fm
17th vancouver, us ::: radio nouspace
18th london, uk ::: resonance 104.4fm
18th new york state, us ::: wgxc 90.7fm
18th brasilía, br ::: rádio paisagem
2012
Foldover, WOBC 91.5 fm, Ohio
Time/Zones, Akademie der Kunst, Berlin
AIR/EAR Installation, Radio-System, Argentine
High-Slack-Low-Slack-High, GI Festival, Dixon Street, Glasgow
High-Slack-Low-Slack-High, GI Festival, Clydeport HQ, Glasgow
Lateral at High-Slack-Low-Slack-High
My work Lateral was commissioned for High-Slack-Low-Slack-High curated by Minty Donald for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in April 2012. For more information and performance times visit Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art and also the Facebook page High-Slack-Low-Slack-High.
About High-Slack-Low-Slack-High
Commissioned Artists: John Cavanagh, Minty Donald/Nick Miller, Douglas Morland, Nichola Scrutton, Hanna Tuulikki
A group of artists with shared, but diverse, interests in sound, space and place – have created audio works to be performed in public spaces close to or on the River Clyde over five days during the Festival (Monday 23rd – Friday 27th April 2012). Each performance is timed to coincide with high tide. In these citywide performances, the natural cadences and flux of the river, once significant in the tempo of Glasgow life, will again leak into the urban fabric.
On Saturday 28th April, all five works will be performed in the Trust Hall of Clydeport Authority Headquarters, an opulent, circular, Edwardian boardroom overlooking the Clyde. Here, the sonic interpretations of the river’s tidal cycle will permeate a building that stands as symbol of Glasgow’s maritime heritage.
‘High-Slack-Low-Slack-High reflects on the functional and symbolic roles played by urban rivers in contemporary cities – and in particular, the role of the River Clyde in Glasgow today. It’s common belief that, following the decline of shipbuilding and other maritime industries, Glasgow turned its back on the River. Now, while the riverbanks are undergoing significant regeneration, the water itself remains a relatively dead space. Through interweaving the natural cadences of the tide with contemporary urban rhythms, High-Slack-Low-Slack-High is an invitation to re-imagine the relationship between river and city – beyond the legacy of Glasgow’s industrial and manufacturing past.’
Perpetually rising and falling yet constrained within manmade embankments, detached from the city that once saw it as symbolic of its industrial prowess, the tidal river is taken as an invitation to reflect on ideas of change and continuity, nature and culture, in relation to the contemporary, post-industrial city.
(press written by Minty Donald)
Performances
23 April – Hanna Tuulikki, Bell’s Bridge, G51 – 3.15pm
24 April – John Cavanagh – Riverside Museum, G3 8RS – 3.45pm
25 April – Nichola Scrutton – Dixon Street, G1 4AL – 4.05pm
26 April – Douglas Morland – Clyde north waterfront between Victoria and Glasgow Bridges, G5 – 4.45pm
27 April – Minty Donald/Nick Millar – citywide – 5.25pm (and throughout the week)
28 April – 5pm and 7.30pm – Clydeport Authority Headquarters
Teaching Fellow University of Glasgow
After being awarded my PhD from University of Glasgow I worked as a Teaching Fellow in Music there for two years.
2009-2011 University of Glasgow (Music)
Teaching Fellow (0.6 fte)
In brief, areas of work included:
Sonic Arts Levels II and III;
Practice-based Composition Workshops;
Contemporary Music Ensemble;
Lectures in Music and Technology;
Advising UG Dissertations and students on the MLitt in Popular Music Studies (Creative Practice);
First GLEAM concert organiser and host;
Music Education Project Organiser;
Course Administration.
2004-2009 University of Glasgow (Music):
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Songs for a Stranger
Songs for a Stranger is a collection or cycle of five electroacoustic works that draws metaphorical inspiration from the many senses of the word ‘stranger’.
Everyone feels like a stranger sometimes – when travelling somewhere new; returning home; confronting solitude. Some feel estranged in close intimacy; others find connection through anonymity.
Songs for a Stranger movements:
i A Fragile Memory (4’40)
ii Blowing In (5′)
iii Solitude (4’26)
iv I Said You Said (5′)
v In the Midst (4’39)
The piece was premiered in the intimate ‘dark space’ at The Arches LIVE! Festival in September 2011, performed and diffused over a 4-channel speaker system. I invited Swiss vocalist Céline Hänni to rehearse and perform the work for Arches Live. Sound diffusion: Graeme Truslove. Many thanks indeed to all at The Arches.
Songs for a Stranger was further supported by a Creative Scotland Quality Arts Production Award.
Songs for a Stranger Quality Arts Production Award
I am very pleased to say I received a Creative Scotland Quality Arts Production Award for the development of vocal performance work Songs for a Stranger.
Songs for a Stranger is a collection or cycle of five electroacoustic works that draws metaphorical inspiration from the many senses of the word ‘stranger’. The work was originally created for, and supported by, Arches Live Festival.
Lifeguard – Cove Park Residency
Cove Park residency for Lifeguard research and development with Adrian Howells, Minty Donald, Nick Millar, Mike Brookes and National Theatre of Scotland.
SoundAround at Perth Concert Hall
SoundAround was a mental health music/sound workshop and performance project co-facilitated with Erin Scrutton.
Over 10 weekly sessions we created a range of musical materials using voice, drumming, percussion and recorded sounds to create a final live interactive performance for the ‘Come Awa’ In’ opening weekend of Perth Concert Hall in Scotland.
Songs for a Stranger Reviews
**** Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman 23/0911, Arches Live!, Glasgow
……And down at the rough end of the basement, in a bare tunnel of a room, there’s composer Nichola Scrutton’s Songs For A Stranger, a 25-minute piece that moves beyond the limits of language into five segments of abstract electronic sound, accompanied by the increasingly fierce and brilliant vocal improvisations of Scrutton and her performing partner, Celine Hanni. There’s a central moment of meditation – titled Solitude – that recalls the deep resonances of Tibetan chant; then a final, shattering visit to what sounds like a dying rainforest, as a fierce richness of animal sound gives way to crackling cataclysm, and the soft, low sigh of a final breath….
*** Mary Brennan, The Herald (“…as a live performance, full of vertiginous vocal techniques, it was always impressive…”)
HumDrum film
A short film about HumDrum.
All We’re Skilled In | Plantation Productions
All We’re Skilled In was a film, sound art and heritage project run in partnership with Plantation Productions, Glasgow Film Theatre and Scottish Screen Archive. Erin Scrutton and I worked with young carers in Glasgow to create atmospheric sound tracks for silent film clips using original historical footage of the Govan shipyards and the people who worked there. The film below, made by Jamie Dempster, is a short documentary of the project itself. The film has had several screenings, including the Glasgow International Film Festival.
HumDrum
Sister duo Nichola Scrutton and Erin Scrutton as And Then She Said in association with Plan B Collective created HumDrum pop-up singing and drumming events to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day. Subsequent events included the West End Festival and the Royal Highland Show.
Watch a short film about HumDrum.
Check out some press photos of the HumDrum event at the Royal Concert Hall steps in Glasgow to celebrate 100 years of International Women’s Day at Universal News.
Big thanks to our sponsors above, and a huge thanks to all involved!
Events included: International Women’s Day 100 year celebration, Concert Hall, Glasgow, Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery for the West End Festival, and the Royal Highland Show.
Popular Music Journal Review
I was delighted to be invited to review Tara Rodger’s excellent book Pink Noises: Women in Electronic Music and Sound in Cambridge University Press Popular Music Journal.
Panic Patterns by Louise Welsh and Zoë Strachan
Panic Patterns – sound design commission for theatre
I was commissioned by Glasgay! as composer/sound designer for Panic Patterns by Zöe Strachan and Louise Welsh. The work was further supported by a Creative Scotland New Music Award. The play was directed by Alison Peebles and ran from 19th – 30th October at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow.
Reviews
“… sound designer Nichola Scrut(t)on’s noises off for comfort…” ****The Herald
“Nichola Scrutton’s sound design plays a starring role…” Broadway World
“…an atmospheric set and soundscape…” ***The Scotsman
“…while Nichola Scrutton’s ghost-radio music……add to a twitchy atmosphere” Times Higher
@zoestrachan
@louisewelsh00
@NicholaScrutton
Soundgate, Denmark
Some of my works have been selected for ‘Soundgate’ – an exhibition of sound art in Aalborg, Denmark at the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, Utzon Architectural Centre and Platform 4. The works will also be streamed online for the duration of the exhibition.
Creative Scotland New Music Award
New Music Award for Panic Patterns
I am absolutely delighted to say that I have been awarded a Creative Scotland New Music Award to support my composer/sound design commission by Glasgay! for Panic Patterns theatre production at the Citizens in Glasgow.
Panic Patterns is a new play by Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh, directed by Alison Peebles. The show will run from 19th – 30th October 2010.
Hooks + Bites/Glow Co-Create Film
A film about Hooks + Bites – a Glow Co-Create project for the Curriculum for Excellence. The project worked in partnership with Perth Concert Hall, Perth and Kinross Council, Learning and Teaching Scotland and Creative Scotland.
Hold Your Breath audio
Hold Your Breath was a large-scale visual/sound art project set up to improve the entrances/exits to the Clyde Tunnel, with the participation of the Whiteinch and Linthouse communities at each end of the tunnel. I composed the various contributions of source sound and music into one large 40-minute work, which was to be projected by radio into the cars traveling through the Clyde Tunnel. More info at Hold Your Breath
NAISA Deep Wireless 7 CD
An excerpt of Sustenance has been selected for the Deep Wireless 7 CD produced by New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA), as part of the annual Deep Wireless festival in May, a month-long celebration of radio art. NAISA is based in Toronto and produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art.
Simpozeum | Sarah Tripp
I composed electroacoustic music for Simpozeum – a live performance by writer and artist Sarah Tripp.
Sarah created three spoken word/gesture performances: customs, objects, people, as part of ‘(Sim-poze-um)’, a collaborative installation event by four Glasgow-based artists created for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts. The performances took place in the Jeffrey Room, Mitchell Library, Glasgow. The music for the performances was projected and diffused through a four-channel speaker system.
Hold Your Breath
Hold Your Breath was a large-scale visual/sound art project set up to improve the entrances/exits to the Clyde Tunnel, with the participation of the Whiteinch and Linthouse communities at each end of the tunnel.
I composed the various contributions of source sound and music into one large 40-minute work, which was to be projected by radio into the cars traveling through the Clyde Tunnel.
Various groups were involved in creating sound/music source materials for the soundscape: Paragon Ensemble working with St Jerome’s and Whiteinch Primary Schools; Art Form with Bryan Tolland; Tigerstyle and Dhol Infusion drummers; and the MacAlpine Family all contributed. I worked with Paragon Ensemble in the schools, gathering up sounds/songs from the children, the playground and surrounding streets, and recorded songs at the MacAlpine’s (four generation) family party
(photos courtesy of Kathy Friend)
Sustenance
Sustenance is a studio composition (14’37) that explores human interaction with objects and processes that make up our daily existence. The sound materials progress through sections, each defined by a specific sonic/material character drawn from the objects and processes used in cooking. At a higher level of structure, the work traces a general transformation from dry to wet, reflecting decay. Selected for various international broadcasts, SONUS online listening library and for NAISA Deep Wireless 7CD, produced in Toronto, Canada.
GLEAM concert University of Glasgow
I am delighted to have organised the first GLEAM electroacoustic concert in the University of Glasgow Concert Hall. A call for works drew of 60 submissions. The event includes fixed medium works by:
Christian Banasik, Géraud Bec, Iain Campbell, Timothy Cooper, Jonas Foerster, Annelie Nederberg, Felipe Otondo, Dale Perkins, Calum Scott, Pei-Yu Shi, Graeme Truslove, Matt Walch.
Date and time: Saturday 20th March 2010 at 6 pm.
Free entry.
GLEAM Concert – Call for Works
I am delighted to be organiser and host of the first University of Glasgow Music Department electroacoustic music event GLEAM on 20th March 2010 . Here is a call for works.
Academic Awards
Academic Awards and Qualifications
2009 PhD in Electroacoustic Composition, University of Glasgow
Portfolio ‘Hearing Voices’
Funded by an Arts and Humanities Research Council Award – selected from open competition (2005 – 08)
2005 MMus in Composition, University of Glasgow
Supported by a Bellahouston Scholarship and a Broomhill Scholarship
2004 BMus (Hons) First Class, University of Glasgow
The Goudie Prize ‘Most Distinguished BMus Hons Graduate’.
Hooks + Bites | Glow Co-Create
Sound artist and facilitator in the creative team of Plan B Collective, who were awarded £30,000 for a Glow Co-Create project Hooks + Bites for the Curriculum for Excellence (2010-2011). The project worked in partnership with Perth Concert Hall, Perth and Kinross Council, Learning and Teaching Scotland and Creative Scotland. Hooks + Bites was one of ten education projects across Scotland commissioned to take artists into schools to work with pupils to generate creative content for the national schools intranet, Glow.
The Hooks + Bites project culminated in an exhibition in Perth Concert Hall’s unique media art space Threshold and included a digital audio-visual artwork on its soundbox, bank of screens and sound/audio unit in the public toilets. Plan B Collective was later selected to present a seminar on the ‘Hooks + Bites’ project at the 2010 Scottish Learning Festival.
Creative Team: Fiona Fleming, Nichola Scrutton, Erin Scrutton and Barbara Chalmers.
Watch a film about Hooks + Bites
More on Glow Co-Create
The Co-Create project has been set up through a partnership between the Scottish Arts Council (Creative Scotland) and Learning and Teaching Scotland. GLOW Co-Create recognises the important role the arts can play in learning, in supporting and enhancing the Curriculum for Excellence, and in developing innovative new approaches to learning and teaching through Glow.
Managed by Learning and Teaching Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, Glow is the world’s first national intranet for education. It provides a platform for online collaboration and sharing and allows Scotland’s 54,000 teachers and 750,000 pupils to work and learn in ways that have not been possible before. Glow is breaking down barriers and making learning experiences and opportunities more widely accessible to users across Scotland. Also read more at TES news.