Sound It Out

'History is written by the victor, but in this case history is written by the doctor.' For the album Audible Songs from Rockwood, the songwriter and performer Simone Schmidt  dug into the archival records of the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane, operative between 1856 and 1881. What Schmidt came out with are eleven compelling audible arrangements of songs sung as fictional dramatizations of personalities from the Asylum’s patient directory. Hear a recent discussion with Simone about the the process and purpose of creating this collection of songs, as well as clips from a previous conversation on the topic of character journaling, speaking uncomfortable truths, and the impact of work as a speech facilitator on her song writing process.

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode of Sound It Out was broadcast on CFRU on October 17, 2017.

‘History is written by the victor, but in this case history is written by the doctor.’ For the album Audible Songs from Rockwood, the songwriter and performer Simone Schmidt  dug into the archival records of the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane, operative between 1856 and 1881. What Schmidt came out with are eleven compelling audible … Continue reading Episode # 67 – Historicizing Criminal Insanity: Simone Schmidt →

German-born Newfoundlander Florian Hoefner plays the piano like a puffin diving into the Atlantic. Or at least he can. He can also tell a wordless tale about the extinct Great Auk, a drifting iceberg, or even the motion of the surging ocean itself. On this episode, hear Florian Hoefner talk about his experience composing a series of improvisations for solo piano, Coldwater Stories, that imaginatively narrate his experiences of the intimate motilities of Newfoundland’s living and abiding natural beings. This episode is best experienced while dancing expansively in the privacy of one's own living room.

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode of Sound It Out was broadcast on CFRU on September 26, 2017.

German-born Newfoundlander Florian Hoefner plays the piano like a puffin diving into the Atlantic. Or at least he can. He can also tell a wordless tale about the extinct Great Auk, a drifting iceberg, or even the motion of the surging ocean itself. On this episode, hear Florian Hoefner talk about his experience composing a series … Continue reading Episode #66 – Puffins and Piano: Florian Hoefner’s Kinaesthetic Storytelling →

The Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium gets underway on Wednesday September 13! Listen to this episode of Sound It Out to hear music from some of the intriguing performers scheduled to descend onto Guelph this week. Hear the sounds of Bernice, Bass Drum Bone, Animatist, Matthew Shipp, Barnyard Drama, Pierre Kwenders, and Eucalyptus, as well as some improvised commentary from your host Rachel Elliott.

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode of Sound It Out was broadcast on CFRU on September 12, 2017.

The Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium gets underway on Wednesday September 13! Listen to this episode of Sound It Out to hear music from some of the intriguing performers scheduled to descend onto Guelph this week. Hear the sounds of Bernice, Bass Drum Bone, Animatist, Matthew Shipp, Barnyard Drama, Pierre Kwenders, and Eucalyptus, as well … Continue reading Episode #65 – Jazz Fest Fever →

The paradox in human relationship to wilderness is that despite being understood as a region untouched by human activity, we seek to experience this wilderness at close range. Our quests for wilderness always begin with a human idea about what wilderness is – in cultural signifiers of wilderness. One of the most prominent of these is the Wolf Howl. Hear my discussion with Chief Park Naturalist Rick Stronks of Ontario’s Algonquin Provincial Park, and a talk by Sound Artist and Scholar Erik Deluca about how we can overcome the nature/culture distinction in our engagement with the howling wolf (both within and without).

Sound It Out airs on CFRU in Guelph on Tuesdays at 5pm. New episodes usually appear on a fortnightly basis. Sound It Out is produced, researched, edited, and hosted by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

This episode of Sound It Out was broadcast on CFRU on August 22, 2017.

The paradox in human relationship to wilderness is that despite being understood as a region untouched by human activity, we seek to experience this wilderness at close range. Our quests for wilderness always begin with a human idea about what wilderness is – in cultural signifiers of wilderness. One of the most prominent of these … Continue reading Episode #64 – Howling with the Wolves: The Culture of Nature →

Many of us have attempted to maintain relationships with loved ones across distance using technologies such as the telephone or video chat; we are able to experience a sense of their presence even though they may be thousands of kilometres away. Jason Robinson and others, such as Doug Van Nort and Sara Weaver, make use of this way of being together while apart to make a special kind of music, variously named telematics, distributed performance, networked performance, multi-site performance etc. One particular feature of this mode of connection (and, it turns out, of all of the ways we connect, even 'in person') is latency, the experience of delay created by the distance a signal must travel before it is returned to us. Finding out how latency is explored in telematic music gives us fresh and surprising insights into the nature of human perception and what it really means to be present.

This episode originally aired on CFRU 93.3FM in Guelph on July 18th, 2017 at 5pm. Sound It Out generally airs new episodes on a fortnightly basis, all of which can be listened to extemporaneously by subscribing to our podcast or visiting our website or Soundcloud page. It is produced by Rachel Elliott in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

Many of us have attempted to maintain relationships with loved ones across distance using technologies such as the telephone or video chat; we are able to experience a sense of their presence even though they may be thousands of kilometres away. Jason Robinson and others, such as Doug Van Nort and Sara Weaver, make use … Continue reading Episode #63: Telematics →