Murmurate

In Murmurate (previously named Fields) sounds are played through the audience’s smartphones. The connected devices become an array of speakers that the performers can control live, resulting in an omni-directional sonic experience. This piece is a collaboration between Tim Shaw and Sebastien Piquemal.

Murmurate - Mining Institure, Newcastle, UK [Image: Ben Jeans Houghton, 2015]

Murmurate has been performed around Europe and in the USA. Venues / Festivals / Events include:

• Glasgow Film Festival, Glasgow, UK
• Cafe OTO, London, UK
• Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, New South Wales, Australia
• Edinburgh Entertainment Festival, Edinburgh, UK
• MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, USA
• Eastern Bloc, Montreal, Canada
• Piksel, Bergen, Norway
• Stereolux, Nantes, France
• FACT, Liverpool, UK
• NK Projekt, Berlin, Germany
• ZDB, Lisbon, Portugal
• Third Space, Helsinki, Finland
• Connect the Dots, Sheffield, UK
• Sanctuary Festival, Dumfries, UK
• Islington Mill, Manchester, UK
• Music Hackspace, London, UK
• Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
• Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, UK
• Web Audio Conference, Paris, France
• New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Baton Rouge, USA
• Goldsmiths, London, UK
• Culture Lab, Newcastle, UK
• Durham Castle, Durham, UK
• Sussex University, Sussex, UK
• Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
• Louisiana, Bristol, UK
• International Computer Music Conference, Athens, Greece

Murmurate - Gap in the Air, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2015]

In 2016 the Murmurate system was used for a reinterpretation of Chris Markers' La Jetée and presented at the Glasgow Film Festival and the Edinburgh Entertainment Festival.

Murmurate (La Jetée) - Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2016]

Murmurate (La Jetée) - Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2016]

Murmurate has been presented as a workshop at Goldsmiths, Connect the Dots, Stereolux and Piksel. The system is released as an open source project, instructions and information here

A paper was published on Fields for NIME 2015 documenting our creative and technical approach, its open access and avaible here

Murmurate was kindly supported by New Media Scotland, Newcastle Institute for Creative Arts Practice, Culture Lab, The Creative Exchange and Sound and Music.

Murmurate - Gap in the Air, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2015]

Murmurate - ZDB, Lisbon, Portugal [Image: Juan Duarte, 2015]

Murmurate - Piksel, Østre, Bergen, Norway [Image: Zane Cerpina, PNEK, 2015]

Murmurate - Piksel, Østre, Bergen, Norway [Image: Zane Cerpina, PNEK, 2015]

Murmurate - Gap in the Air, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2015]

Murmurate - Gap in the Air, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, UK [Image: Chris Scott, 2015]

Murmurate - Eastern Bloc / Sight & Sound, Montreal, Canada [Image: Justin Desforges, 2016]