(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
History is so often told through objects (that you look at), images and photographs, but the potential of sounds to reveal place and space is often neglected. Our research project ‘Sonic Palimpsest’ explores the potential of sound to evoke impressions and new understandings of the past, to embrace the sonic as a tool to understand what was, in a way that can complement and add to our predominant visual understandings. Soundscape studies explore and expand our existing knowledge about sound and listening, and the relation between human beings and the acoustic environments they inhabit and perceive. Our research project emanates from soundscape studies and examines the sound environments of past incarnations of Chatham Historic Dockyard. We are digitising the oral history archives held at the dockyard, which provide an insight into the daily routines of dockyard workers and those that lived in the Medway Towns, and the sounds that dominated their environments. We are currently interviewing women who worked at the dockyard, since women are under-represented within the archive. This paper will respond to the following questions: How does the inclusion of sound influence our experience of objects, places and histories? In what ways can we utilise sound to construct hybrid experiences of overlaid histories? What steps can we take to ensure that this mediated experience of the past does not adulterate the heritage it seeks to evoke, while responding to key issues? Our research highlights the social and cultural value of Oral History and field recordings in the transmission of knowledge to both researchers and the public. Together these recordings document how buildings and spaces within the dockyard were used and experienced by those who worked there. We can begin to understand the social and cultural roles of these buildings within the community, both past and present.
Dr Aki Pasoulas is a composer and a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Kent. He is the Director of MAAST (Music and Audio Arts Sound Theatre), Chief Examiner and the Principal Investigator for the AHRC-funded project ‘A Sonic Palimpsest: Revisiting Chatham Historic Dockyards’. He has served as Director of Education, Director of Music Programmes, deputy Director of Research and Senior Tutor. His research interests include acousmatic music, time and timescale perception, psychoacoustics and sound perception, spatial sound, acoustic communication, and soundscape ecology especially in relation to listening psychology. In addition to electroacoustic music, he has written for instruments, found objects, voice and mixed works with live electronics, he composed music for the theatre and for short films, and organised and performed with many ensembles. Aki received honourable mentions at international competitions; his scholarly and music works have been published through KPM/EMI, ICMA, Sonos Localia, HELMCA, Pinpoint Scotland, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, and his compositions have been performed worldwide.
Dr. Brona Martin is an Electroacoustic composer and sound artist from Banagher, Co. Offaly, Ireland. Her compositions explore narrative in Electroacoustic music, acoustic ecology and spatialisation techniques through the creation of metaphorical and real-world representations of soundscapes. Brona’s portfolio of works explore the layers and textures of sounds that contribute to the overall sonic-makeup of specific places both real and imaginary. Her research also explores ways in which creative music technology can be more inclusive and diverse through the facilitation of community engagement projects. She is currently exploring ways in which different media are being used to bring soundscape studies into the wider community through VR projects, smart phone applications and streaming technologies. Her works have been performed internationally at EMS, ACMC, ICMC, NYCEMF, ISSTA, ZKM, BEAST, Balance/Unbalance, SSSP, iFIMPaC, Sonorities and MANTIS. She has been guest composer at EMS, Stockholm and Associate Artist in Residence at Atlantic Centre for the Arts, Florida. Brona is currently a Research Associate at the University of Kent, on the AHRC funded project, A Sonic Palimpsest: Revisiting Chatham Historic Dockyards. She is also a member of the SOUND/IMAGE Research group at the University of Greenwich.
Dr Andrew Knight-Hill (1986) is a composer specialising in studio composed works both acousmatic (purely sound based) and audio-visual. His works have been performed extensively across the UK, in Europe and the US. Including performances at Fyklingen, Stockholm; GRM, Paris; ZKM, Karlsruhe; New York Public Library for Performing Arts, New York; London Contemporary Music Festival, London; San Francisco Tape Music Festival, San Francisco; Cinesonika, Vancouver; Festival Punto de Encuentro, Valencia; and many more. He composes with materials captured from the human and natural world, seeking to explore the beauty in everyday objects. He is particularly interested in how these materials are interpreted by audiences, and how these interpretations relate to our experience of the real and the virtual. He is an AHRC Leadership Fellow (Audiovisual Space: Recontextualising Sound Image Media) and Co-Investigator on the AHRC Research Projects – Sonic Palimpsest & Exploring Cultural Diversity in Experimental Sound. He is Senior Lecturer in Sound Design and Music Technology at the University of Greenwich, curator of the Loudspeaker Orchestra Concert Series and SOUND/IMAGE festival and director of the SOUND/IMAGE Research Group.