Musicity X Culture Mile (2019)

In 2019 with EMS Collective I co-created a piece for the Musicity project, entitled Eternal Descent, for the Smithfield Rotunda Garden.

Inspired by the architecture and history, our collaborative work plays on the cyclic and eternal themes described above using a technique known as ‘process composition’. Designed to enable all six musicians to exercise their individual creative freedom, the structure brings everything together in unity for the common good of the complete composition and therefore the listener.

An ‘eternally descending’ bass line (actually a simple six note ostinato sonically sculpted to give the illusion of continual descent) draws the listener symbolically back through 47 decades of time, while the disparate tonal centers, represented by 12 layers of sound design (2 per musician), are cyclically cross-faded and merged for coherence and progression – illustrating that harmony in diversity is very much possible where space is given for ‘difference’ to resonate. A descending pulse mirrors the descending bass and points towards introspection and eternal destiny. As the piece draws to a conclusion, the ambient spacial sound matches that of the bottom of the tunnel – achieved through a sampled impulse response of the space itself .

Whether historically, spiritually or physically, the music is designed to pull the listener away from the business of the ‘present’ and into a ‘deeper’ experience lying just blow the surface. How much deeper is very much in the mind of the listener.

'Musicity works collaboratively across the disciplines of architecture, music, acoustic engineering and virtual reality (VR) to lay out alternative routes of experiencing contemporary cities. The interface it creates between architecture and music aims to reveal the intimate depth nestled in the acoustic qualities of our urban landscapes.

Following the collection and acoustic survey of 10 locations across Culture Mile conducted with Flanagan Lawrence Architects (award-winning architecture studio with a focus on acoustic and performance spaces) and Arup (global leader in acoustic consulting), Musicity assembled a wealth of perceptive musicians and sound artists to re-introduce human emotions into the architectural realm.'

EMS Collective for ‘Eternal Descent’:

Mike Roberts – concept, design and lead producer

James Allen – layer producer

Will Davenport – layer producer

Sam Dinley – layer producer

Giacomo Farigon – layer producer

Vicky Sanders – layer producer

Listen to the piece here!