Presented by the Museum Of Sound in partnership with The Radiophonic Institute, The Sound Of The Year Awards is an annual, worldwide competition which invites people to submit recordings that help us understand more about the world we live in. We caught up with Tom Fisher, a runner up in this year’s event, about his piece ‘Treehopper Songs Inside A Plant Stem’
Hi Tom. Tell us about what’s happening in your recording…
“This recording was made by pinning a contact microphone to a plant stem in the Colombian Rainforest. I’ve not edited or pitched the sound in any way. The amazing variety of sounds are made by treehopper insects sending vibrational calls to each other through the plant. Amazingly these sounds are not audible at all in the air. It’s not even necessary to travel to the rainforest to hear these types of vibrations and they are made by insects all over the world, and present in very common plants, even in your local park or garden!”
What were you thinking and feeling while you recorded it?
“Mainly a sense of wonderment, as well as the initial surprise and excitement of listening in on these types of hidden vibrations.”
What’s your background in recording sound?
“I started like a lot of people, as a musician making sample-based electronic music. The ready availability of more affordable field recorders definitely helped me get out into the world with microphones. From there on it’s been an expansive journey of listening, attentiveness, and sonic exploration! A lot of my practice and recording methodologies seem to gravitate towards tuning into inaudible elements of our environments. I’m fascinated by the way we can in effect tune into the multiplicity of existences and sound worlds of other beings through listening in this way.”
Who/what/where inspires you to record?
“There’s so many artists that inspire me, but I’d wholly recommend the work of Annea Lockwood, Elaine Radigue, Jana Winderen, Pauline Oliveros to name just a few. I love listening to ponds, rivers, and plants and all of the hidden secrets they might continue to share with us!”
The best advice you’ve ever been given or would give to a fellow music maker?
“I think when I started I would make these super short sound recordings with the intention of generating sample material for music making, and gradually through this act of recording and listening I’ve realised the importance of giving enough time to a chosen place and position. I feel this is something quite integral to my practice. So a focus on longer durational listening is something I would encourage for people who are beginning to make recordings.”
If you could only ever record one more thing, what would it be?
“This is a very tricky question. Perhaps the sound of something I’ve not even heard yet! There’s so much still to discover and delight in.”
Tom Fisher’s bio:
Working under the name Action Pyramid, Tom Fisher’s projects vary from site-specific sound installations for galleries and museums, to experimental sound works, radio, documentary film and music. Utilising a multitude of recording techniques, often aimed at exploring and re-interpreting the seemingly unnoticed and unheard elements of our surroundings, he looks to present compositional and spatial expressions of these phenomena in a way that attempts to offer up alternative perspectives regarding perceptions of scale, hierarchical bias and the interconnectedness of living things. He has performed and exhibited his work internationally and attended residencies in Colombia, Iceland and the Finnish arctic.
