Monthly Archives: September 2015

Transmit/Receive: Making and Experimenting with First World War Sound Technologies

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2 x Workshops, Sunday 25 October & Sunday 8 November 2015 @ Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne

Join Newcastle University sound recording professionals Tim Shaw, John Bowers and Tom Schofield (all School of Arts and Cultures) over two workshops to explore and rebuild sound technologies of the First World War. The First World War was a period of great technological innovation. Many of the communication devices were developed to generate or listen to sound. From radio broadcasts to early underwater microphones, listening was a key strategy in the war effort.

Workshop One – Hydrophones and Morse Code Transmitters

Sunday 25 October, 12-3pm

At the first event you will build and use your own hydrophone (underwater microphone) and morse code transmitter. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Workshop Two – Short-range radio transmitters and carbon granule microphones

Sunday 8 November, 12-3pm

At the second workshop you will build and use your own short-range radio transmitter and carbon granule microphone. You will also explore their use during the First World War.

Price
Workshops are £6 each (plus online booking fee). Advance booking is essential.

Places for workshops are limited. Each session covers different making activities – you are encouraged to attend both although you can also attend one or the other.

No prior specialist or technical knowledge is needed to attend and materials are included in the price.

All attendees must be aged 16 and over to attend. 

For more information and to book tickets, please visit: 

https://discoverymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/transmit-receive

Sing and Dance for King and Country

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Installation – Rachael Hales, Newcastle University

3pm, Friday 11 September @ Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum

Sound artist Rachael Hales will be presenting her audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of local people during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. Rachael will be presenting the findings of her research into Rapper Dancing, Clog Dancing and Children’s Song on Tyneside during the First World War, alongside the three audio-visual artworks that she created in response to this research. This project is part of Decoded 1914-18, commissioned by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and the Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, which involved seven artists producing creative responses to the First World War collections held by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums.

The event is presented as part of the Heritage Open Days at Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum: The Chantry, Bridge Street, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 1PJ.

About the Installation:

Sing and Dance for King and Country is an audio-visual installation exploring the experiences of the people of Tyneside during the First World War, through the lens of local folk traditions and practices. It explores how various folk practices – including rapper dancing, clog dancing, and folksong – can be used to investigate the experiences of war of three groups of people: the rapper dancers of the North East, female munitions workers, and children. Move through the installation in the footsteps of the singers and dancers of 100 years ago, uncovering forgotten and untold stories of how the ordinary people of Tyneside danced and sang their way through the First World War. This installation was presented in collaboration with Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne in February 2015, and at the Chantry Bagpipe Museum, Morpeth in April 2015 as part of the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering.

About the composer:

Rachael Hales is a sound artist, composer and performer, currently studying for a Ph.D. in composition at Newcastle University. Her work investigates ways in which environmental and everyday sounds can interact with musics of place, particularly folk and traditional music, to perform, represent or portray a sense of place. Recent work has included a commission for the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering, exploring the Anglo-Saxon history of Morpeth; an audio-visual piece portraying Rachael’s experience of the High Level Bridge in Newcastle Upon Tyne; and a sound installation entitled ‘Listening to the Border: a sonic exploration of the construction and performance of identity in the Scottish borders’. Rachael is also a busy folk musician, performing regularly at ceilidhs.