Last night, Marvin recorded in the Octagon Room at the Greenwich Royal Observatory. An amazing, oak paneled room designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Wonderful reverb!
Marvin Ayres’s latest project is 'Sacred Spaces'. The idea behind 'Sacred Spaces' is to use incongruous places for composition and performance and reawaken the inherent and/or dormant spirit residing in these unlikely locations. “Pilgrims in search of sonic beauty”. These include anything from derelict industrial sites to historical places of interest, (incorporating National Trust and English Heritage ) and re-appropriating them for musical purposes.
'Sacred Spaces' is an ongoing and evolving project with recordings in different environments. The instruments will be randomly tuned to compliment the environments, and microphones will be used to pick up the full ambience of the spaces once excited by the cellos, violins and violas.
One element which will link all the locations will be the same series of notes which will be
assembled to create one collective piece composed from the overtones, sustains and reverberations recorded in each environment.
The intention is to return to some of the locations at a later stage to perform the compositions that were inspired by and recorded there.
To accompany these journeys, the project will be documented with a film diary.
Marvin Ayres is a British modern-classical composer, cellist, violinist, pianist and producer. He has composed and recorded a diverse selection of minimalist albums, incorporating spatial soundscapes and psycho-acoustics and latterly 5.1 and True 3D Surround in the 'Wall Of Waves' Studio. www.marvinayres.com Ask me anything
'Sacred Spaces' is an ongoing and evolving project with recordings in different environments. The instruments will be randomly tuned to compliment the environments, and microphones will be used to pick up the full ambience of the spaces once excited by the cellos, violins and violas.
One element which will link all the locations will be the same series of notes which will be
assembled to create one collective piece composed from the overtones, sustains and reverberations recorded in each environment.
The intention is to return to some of the locations at a later stage to perform the compositions that were inspired by and recorded there.
To accompany these journeys, the project will be documented with a film diary.
Marvin Ayres is a British modern-classical composer, cellist, violinist, pianist and producer. He has composed and recorded a diverse selection of minimalist albums, incorporating spatial soundscapes and psycho-acoustics and latterly 5.1 and True 3D Surround in the 'Wall Of Waves' Studio. www.marvinayres.com Ask me anything
May 15, 2012
April 10, 2012
Last night Marvin recorded in the very opulent BBC Bush House. He chose to use the marbled stair wells for the amazing reverb. The recordings were embellished with the occasional bell ring from the old lifts in the lobby behind where Marvin played! Special thanks to Sarah Holmes for her help in setting up this recording session.
March 28, 2012
Recording in Concorde prototype 002 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Marvin breaking the sound barrier in his own way…..
March 19, 2012
Marvin to record in Concorde!
The next Sacred Spaces location will be inside the Concorde prototype that is exhibited at the Fleet Air Arm museum, on the 20th March.
February 27, 2012
We had an eventful day recording in Winchester Cathedral on the 24th February. We based most of the recording in the north transept, with mixed results. Later on we were allowed access to the crypt, which was fascinating. We will hopefully be returning to record again in the crypt at some point soon!
February 22, 2012
Sacred Spaces welcomes Martyn Ware
Martyn Ware and his company illustrious will be involved in the Winchester Cathedral Sacred Spaces Live event.
February 16, 2012
Next Location: Winchester Cathedral
Marvin will be recording in the North Transept on 24th February, and hopefully will be exhibiting a 9.1 surround sound installation of the recording in the same part of the cathedral some point next year!
Two more locations are confirmed for March and April - Concorde at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, and The Big Pit coal mine in Wales. More details to follow.
February 13, 2012
Thursday 9th February was an eventful recording session on Orford Ness, an ex. Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, with many secrets still not known. We started recording in Lab 4, a laboratory used for environmental testing of nuclear bombs in the 1960s, only to find that half of the recording equipment would not stay switched on. Apparently this has happened to other visitors….with no obvious explanation. We then found the armoury where the bombs were stored when waiting for tests - cold, damp, cracked concrete and lots of rubble, (and a strange smell), but with a beautiful reverb. We recorded some amazing music in these inspiring locations, which is now a nature reserve.
Thanks to Duncan and Andrew from National Trust who looked after us and made us feel very welcome.
February 8, 2012
Sacred Spaces project donations!
If you wish to contribute to the Sacred Spaces project, please visit the We Fund page (click the link above).
