Susurrate

Sunday 23rd May: Hornbeam - Susurrate by Abi Wade 

The birds sang so beautifully that I was conscious to give space to that in the piece. I put a binaural processor on the field recording to give it width (I recommend listening on headphones).

The chords were improvised over the bird's song and then I added the cello. I wanted to keep the pace slow and let the sound of the woods chatting rhythmically away sit above the composed movements.

Hornbeam fact! Romans used hornbeam to make their chariots because of the strength of the wood

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Saturday 22nd May: Sweet Chestnut TW1 - Susurrate by Joel Wells 

“This sketch/patch was inspired by a Sweet Chestnut tree in Richmond park. The bark has a beautiful wavy pattern which is quite other-worldly and almost has a movement of its own. I imagined the trees at night with all the soothing and chaotic sounds of the woods and the city intertwining together.”

- Joel Wells

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Friday 21st May: London Plane NW3 - Susurrate by Abi Wade 

A pavement tree! Taking up most of the space on the path that leads to Hampstead Heath it is full of families walking past. I wanted to capture that movement alongside the gravitas of the London Plane towering up above the passers by. I spent some time at this location just staring up into the branches of this tree and watching the parakeets flying in and out of it’s canopy. I used a technique that spaces the sound around your head, by re-tracking the piano and placing one on the left and one to the right,  to create a sense of being up close. If you listen carefully on headphones the left hand side piano sound is very slightly different to the right.

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Thursday 20th May: Lime Tree - Susurrate by Anneka 

“Walking around the local area and finding new walks was about the only thing we could do during lockdown. I was drawn to this tree as it stands alone in the middle of a large field with lots of other trees in sight but far out of reach. Felt like a fitting tree to write a piano sketch about.”

- Anneka

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Wednesday 19th May: Sweet chestnut SW1 - Susurrate by Abi Wade 

This tree takes up the whole pavement making it impossible to pass without taking notice!

When I was recording at the site a lady who lived there came past. She explained to me that they called it the ‘elephant tree’ because her son as a child felt it looked like a giant elephant foot (which it does!).

This tree on the edge of Putney Heath was around before the houses that now surround it and it has a wonderfully irregular shape with big joint-like bulges!  

I used tape delay effects to explore that warped bark texture, I also double tracked the piano placing one recording over the other to give a sense of time passing. 

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Tuesday 18th May: Sakura In Penta - Susurrate by Dog In The Snow 

 “This lovely pink cherry blossom tree is in a park near where I live in Brighton. It stood out to me mainly because of its human height (it hasn't grown to a tall height yet) where we could meet eye-to-eye. Soon it'll likely grow taller and there's something really optimistic and charismatic about that liminal space; a glistening potential!”

- Dog In The Snow

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Monday 17th May: London Plane TW1 - Susurrate by Abi Wade 

I am particularly fond of this very common London Tree. On the edge of the river this huge London Plane towers above the many passers by, displaying it’s round catkins. Set slightly back from a popular walkway with families on their way to Richmond Park and the surrounding area. With the lockdown eased slightly everyone was enjoying some time out of the house but there was also a wariness. I wanted to capture the buzz but also the feeling of venturing out into a world with new social behaviours. I created the pluck sound by using beaters on the cello strings and layering this with finger plucks to create that textural sound.

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Sunday 16th May: Yoshino - Susurrate by Clementine Blue 

“Prunus x Yedoensis “Yoshino Cherry” 染井吉野 

I was struggling to find a tree that really inspired me near my seaside home when my friend mentioned a cherry tree in full bloom, one his favourites of all in a place called ‘The Valley Gardens’ in Berkshire.  He sent me pictures of the tree and sounds from the place, describing it as ‘a huge size, with blossom growing everywhere, even straight out of the trunk!’

Because I don’t have a piano to record, I thought some flowerful koto sounds and soft moog were good ingredients to celebrate a magnificent sakura tree and its pale pink adornments.”

- Clementine Blue

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Saturday 15th May: Dawn Redwoods by Abi Wade

Originally written on the piano however when I listened back I just felt it was calling out to be arranged for voice so I did just that! This Dawn Redwood is located just outside the Royal Courts of Justice, it was in the middle of lockdown and I had walked down to visit the tree. The street was dead and it was all so surreal like the world had pressed pause. I chose to hum this melody so the sound resonates through the head and is not projected, this seemed appropriate to both the introspective nature of the day and also the history of the place. It was also quite windy that day and the breathy vocals felt like the wind breathing through the trees. You can hear a siren in the distance at the end of the piece which seems apt. The Dawn Redwood is classified by the World Conservation Union as ‘critically endangered’ due to intensive rice cultivation and the poor prospect for regeneration in the wild.

Abi Wade is a cellist, pianist and vocalist dedicated to exploring sound; developing unique playing & performance techniques through the use of prepared instrumentation, and incorporating new production techniques, sound design and location recording within her work. Poised between traditional songwriting and the neo-classical, her work crosses genres and pushes the traditional boundaries of her instruments.

Abi has created work for the likes of Vivienne Westwood, London Design Festival, British Council, Channel 05 and her music has been used on shows such as Banshee and Shameless. She has supported artists including Michael Kiwanuka, Coco Rosie, Patrick Wolf and George Ezra.

In her series ‘Susurrate’ she has created musical sketches based around urban trees.

She says of the project:

“During lockdown I found a solace in the ability to play music and visit trees in my neighbourhood. Most of them were found using the ‘Great Trees Of London Map’ from Blue Crow Media.

My drive for this project is to highlight the importance of art and nature. I am based in the centre of London and this year I definitely felt a claustrophobia and a yearning for nature and art. The galleries are shut and the parks were so overcrowded, so I went in search of little pockets of inspiration; the tucked away churchyard or avenue of trees, even a solo tree surrounded by concrete. These formed the catalyst for the project and I wanted to share my explorations with a series of mainly piano based musical sketches, influenced by these trees and the sounds surrounding them.

It is an ongoing series that also explores process and creation. Every morning I set aside some time to play. I choose a tree and loop the sounds I have recorded at its location, I place the photo onto my music stand, press record and see what happens. Being overly concerned with the end point can make you constantly second guess yourself, so it was freeing to create these short piano sketches and focus my mind on something more open.

It really has helped me through a tough year and I am pleased that other artists have joined the project too. Hinako Omori, Joel Wells, Anneka, Clementine Blue & Dog In The Snow have contributed a track so far.”

These tracks are available exclusively to stream on youtube for the festival but will be released physically and on all digital platforms later in the year.

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Susurrate Website

Stream the series on You Tube

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Abi will be launching a new track for each day of the Festival.