Step one for composing something site-specific: know the site.
I'd visited the Streetlife Museum once before, but wasn't able to remember it in much detail, and hadn't exactly been thinking about it in terms of musical potential, so a second visit was a good chance to do some thinking.
My initial thought when given this site, was that perhaps the building had been something of interest before being used as a museum, but unfortunately it seems it was built specifically for this purpose, so there goes that idea...
The first area you find inside the museum, is a 1940's street facade.
Not only is it great to look at, but in this area you can hear ambient noise - voice-acting, information voiceovers, soundscapes - from all over the museum. In general, the way sound bleeds over from other locations within the museum is a real point of interest. Perhaps a piece almost theatrical in nature could be performed here? With people filling the street with the sights and sounds of the 40s. The piece could evolve as audience progressed down the street, or the musicians themselves could lead them through it.
Despite the lure of the street, it was the train station area, which most caught my interest. Containing a signal box, a platform and a steam train, there is a lot to look at and take in, and potentially several areas for audience to explore.
Although a small and narrow area, I particuarly like the idea of holding a performance on the platform of the train station itself.
Having heard of a performance piece called Post-Apocolypsis which made use of bone-conduction speakers inside tree trunks to encourage audience to place their heads on trees in order to hear spoken text, I had the idea to create a similar kind of intimacy. In the past, I have explored the use of physical touch between singers and audience, similar to HUG, and it seems that these two concepts could be blended in a potentially interesting way. The idea would be to recreate the parting of loved ones before they board their trains, and the have a small number of performers with conduction headphones concealed on themselves. When their heads touch an audience member's head mid-hug, the audience member would be able to hear the ambience of a train station, or perhaps the sound of a train speeding past.
The signal box and cab of the train also present intruiging opportunities. Both would have been operated by one individual at the time, which draws an interesting parallel with electronic music - which can often be performed by one person rather than requiring an ensemble. Perhaps it could be interesting to have audience members able to go to the signal box and the train cab to take control of the music, preferably in an instinctive and simple way, such as using gestural control.
Other interesting areas included a trolleybus, which it is possible for audience to sit inside. There is a speaker system inside the trolleybus, which could allow for a mixture of music played inside, and outside (and therefore muffled).
There was also a cinema room, which could potentially allow for some projection - one of my interests within theatre. However, the room itself was not particuarly interesting, so despite the potential of having both a visual and musical element, it didn't seem worth pursuing.
Weirdly, the other area that really appealed to me, was a display of old coaches, that were in an artificial courtyard.
Everything here was fake - the tree; the stone walls and the ivy growing up them; the people; the horses. It was a little surreal. I kind of liked the idea of composing a piece for this area which would be just as fake - perhaps using samples of instruments while players mimed along, creating an 'uncanny valley' effect.
To sum up: I had a lot of ideas. I haven't even mentioned the haunted sleigh ride idea or the epiphany I had in the stairwell, because really this is turning into a bit of an essay. Basically, lots of possibilities. The two I'm most interested in pursuing are the train area, and the fake courtyard. So watch this space!
I'd visited the Streetlife Museum once before, but wasn't able to remember it in much detail, and hadn't exactly been thinking about it in terms of musical potential, so a second visit was a good chance to do some thinking.
My initial thought when given this site, was that perhaps the building had been something of interest before being used as a museum, but unfortunately it seems it was built specifically for this purpose, so there goes that idea...
The first area you find inside the museum, is a 1940's street facade.
Despite the lure of the street, it was the train station area, which most caught my interest. Containing a signal box, a platform and a steam train, there is a lot to look at and take in, and potentially several areas for audience to explore.
Having heard of a performance piece called Post-Apocolypsis which made use of bone-conduction speakers inside tree trunks to encourage audience to place their heads on trees in order to hear spoken text, I had the idea to create a similar kind of intimacy. In the past, I have explored the use of physical touch between singers and audience, similar to HUG, and it seems that these two concepts could be blended in a potentially interesting way. The idea would be to recreate the parting of loved ones before they board their trains, and the have a small number of performers with conduction headphones concealed on themselves. When their heads touch an audience member's head mid-hug, the audience member would be able to hear the ambience of a train station, or perhaps the sound of a train speeding past.
Other interesting areas included a trolleybus, which it is possible for audience to sit inside. There is a speaker system inside the trolleybus, which could allow for a mixture of music played inside, and outside (and therefore muffled).
There was also a cinema room, which could potentially allow for some projection - one of my interests within theatre. However, the room itself was not particuarly interesting, so despite the potential of having both a visual and musical element, it didn't seem worth pursuing.
Weirdly, the other area that really appealed to me, was a display of old coaches, that were in an artificial courtyard.
Everything here was fake - the tree; the stone walls and the ivy growing up them; the people; the horses. It was a little surreal. I kind of liked the idea of composing a piece for this area which would be just as fake - perhaps using samples of instruments while players mimed along, creating an 'uncanny valley' effect.
To sum up: I had a lot of ideas. I haven't even mentioned the haunted sleigh ride idea or the epiphany I had in the stairwell, because really this is turning into a bit of an essay. Basically, lots of possibilities. The two I'm most interested in pursuing are the train area, and the fake courtyard. So watch this space!
A really good synoposis of the museum with some interesting ideas for engaging with the space. A theatrical presentation would certainly be fitting amongst the street scenes and voiceovers. Intriguing idea for the bone conduction, and nice reference.
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