In an earlier post I began to think about the soundworld that I would have to play with in the installation. Since I’ve got to be able to do “industrial” but not obviously diegetic sounds on one hand, and “push emotional buttons” in a film music manner on the other, I thought about synthesizing the “industrial” sounds myself, and then about using some real acoustic instrumentalists who could workshop ideas with me in the spaces (i.e. on the warships) and record them, instead or as well as sampled film orchestra sounds (which is the obvious was to achieve that effect, and we’re trying to avoid all cliche here – that’s important to all of us).

In 2012 I was lucky enough to be commissioned to write an experimental work for the amazing contemporary (and often avant garde) music group Ensemble Offspring. That’s it, in the video above … each player has snippets of music that they can move between in any order they like. You can download a PDF about how it works from here (scroll to the bottom of the page). EO have just recorded this piece for a new recording to be released this year, and it sounds amazing!

While thinking about who would be great to workshop with in the amazing spaces, especially on HMAS Vampire, Ensemble Offspring came to mind not just because they’re open to zany projects like this one, but because in thinking about sounds made in the spaces it occurred to me that the double, virtuosic percussionists Bree Van Reyk and Claire Edwardes could be at the centre of the connection between ‘traditional’ music and industrial sound. I’ve lined up coffee with Claire!