Nature before rights: presentation for CENSE 2026

This article provides a landing page for participants attending the International Symposium of CENSE: Beyond Listening: Re-Sounding Rights of Nature, 15-17 October 2026, Gdansk, Poland (original call). This will also be of interest to readers who follow my academic and composition work.

This post contains the original abstract, a link to the poster (PDF), a link to an illustrative composition, and references. I might update this in advance of the conference.

Günther Berkus and I

It would be presumptuous for me to call Günther Berkus a friend, but he was sometimes a collaborator (in live improvisations) and our paths crossed regularly. On meeting we'd talked passionately about various music technologies. Indeed, for several years our techniques ran in parallel, for example our explorations of Max/MSP. 

When Berkus (as he preferred to be called) began work using the voice of W.S. Burroughs (released in 2014 as Pay Back Your Stolen Colours), I referred back to my own generative exercises using Burroughs texts, conducted in the nineties. And by coincidence I was simultaneously revisiting the voice as sonic material for The Absence of Baudrillard. In such ways our interests threaded.

Today's Music is Crap, Reports Old White Guy

Jon Henschen has just published the article "The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality)", an atrocious compendium of well-intentioned ignorance. You can read it here.

This article is full of errors and misconceptions, designed to promote a conservative musical agenda. The author associates the ability to read the Western European stave as indicative of quality music. This instantly ignores traditions from the rest of the world that generate music of extraordinary sophistication. (Coincidentally, the Irish gamelan orchestra is currently performing in Java. I wonder if Henschen is even aware of this music?)

The fourth wave of electronic music

This articles is part of my ongoing series on Desktop Electronic Music (DEM). The landing page provides easy access.

Electronic music was originally the exclusive activity of those who could gain access to elite computer systems. Now it's an egalitarian process, a collaboration between boutique hardware firms, cottage industries, and musicians of all stripes. A performer might use a MIDI controller connected to a compact synth module. Or homebuilt sensors feeding an Arduino. We're the operators with our pocket calculators... which are actually tiny drum machines. We are the dreamers of dreams... implemented in esoteric Max patches.

The state of the art is fluid and multivalent. It's hard to see a context when you are embedded in it. So perhaps it's useful to share my musings, which outline four paradigms that have shaped our relationship to electronic music.

New track on Silent Records

I am proud to say I am a part of the new Silent Records. Founded by Kim Cascone (AKA Heavenly Music Corporation) in 1986, this label went on to become the seminal American ambient label. Well, Kim has rebooted Silent and released two giant compilations.

Stolen Mirror release party

As 2016 dawns Stolen Mirror enters a new phase. In December my label released AC, the debut CD from Steve McCourt, featuring three compositions. And two weeks ago Fergus Kelly's latest album, Neural Atlas, saw the light of day. These two limited edition CDs contain electroacoustic music that plays with sound in intriguing ways.

Wednesday evening we had a release party at the very wonderful Guesthouse in Shandon, Cork. I have to thank Irene Murphy and the rest of the collective for being so generous with their time and energy. We had delightful vegetarian food and wine around an open fire before retiring upstairs for music.

Requiem David Bowie (Some Are)

Time exists within the song, held in suspension. Every moment accumulates within us, like ash from the end of a cigarette. How can we weigh smoke? How can we measure what has passed? What do we invest in listening? What does the song instantiate within us?

"Some are winter sun", Bowie sung.

This is an attempt to extract time from the song "Some Are", to make seconds more substantial, so that their passing can be ever more obvious. "Time takes a cigarette." Time leaves dust within us. Time leaves us, finally. You're not alone. You're only shadow, here under the burning light of the winter sun. Where we are all shadow and ash.

Light Moves festival this week

It's back for its second year, bringing all manner of inventive and energetic films to Limerick. The Light Moves festival of screendance is not simply focused on films that illustrate dance, but rather on the many ways in which movement can be creatively expressed in film.

Most of the events take place at Dance Limerick, 1-2 John's Square. The church is used for the screenings and seminars. The studio on the opposite side of the square houses the installations.

I'm very proud that my film "Methods of Hypnosis" is one of them. It's being presented with a first-class projection and sound system, so I cannot wait to see it! You can drop by the studio between 10am and 8pm Thursday and Friday only, to check it out.

A woman is wrapped in a blanket by four strangers. Couples with broken arms partner on a dance floor. An unconscious young man is disengaged from a steering wheel. "Methods of Hypnosis" reveals strange choreographies hidden in public domain footage. Repeated patterns of behaviour. A path traced out over time. Social relationships exercised. Place in the process of formation.

I will also be giving a talk and screening on "The music video experiments of Angela Conway", as part of the Friday Symposium. I'll be talking about her work as musician, choreographer, and videographer, which arose out of associations with the group Wire and the Michael Clarke Company.

Sonic Vigil and the search for accidents

Sonic Vigil is a group durational improvisation, held annually in Cork. See my last post for a list of the organisers and this year's participants (some of whom I will picture here). In this article I will describe my approach to improvisation in general, and this event in particular. This will lead into technical discussions to be posted later.

Sonic Vigil 9 Thanks and Photos

Saturday last saw an incredible crew of musicians and sound artists gather in Cork, for the ninth annual Sonic Vigil. This six hour event is scheduled by a computer programme, so that every musician plays for a total of one hour, but doesn't know in advance who will be playing with them. Attentive listening and great sensitivity in sound production is required for this to work in any way, shape, or form.

radioCona from Ljubljana

Earlier this year I was invited to be part of radioCona, the "temporary project radio for contemporary arts" that is based in Ljubljana. Starting this Sunday, for five days, radioCona will broadcast on the FM bands, starting exactly at nightfall. "This is the time when the atmosphere is no longer filled with the fine sunlight, when the sun reaches 18 degrees or more below the horizon."

My composition "Caged Birds (Augmentation)" will be heard Monday. This is based on a dawn chorus, but there is something nice about it being transposed to the night-time. I believe that this is now the fifth country in which this composition has been presented.

My presentations at Invisible Places | Sounding Cities

I recently returned from an exhilarating few days in Portugal, where I ate grilled squid, walked up and down urban cliffscapes, explored the local beer culture, recorded some amazing environments, and presented no less than three times at the Invisible Places | Sounding Cities symposium in Viseu.

This conference ran for three days, but had activities embedded in the larger festival Jardins Efémeros (Ephemeral Gardens) which enlivened the entire city with song, dance, installations, food... everything really. I don't think I have ever seen a more joyous congruence of cultural activities. It seemed at times that the entire population of the city was on the streets enjoying themselves.

Sonic Vigil 8 - Out In The Field

Announcing my next performance!

Sonic Vigil is a festival of improvised music, sound art, and video that takes place every year in the wonderful city of Cork. For Sonic Vigil 8, the festival is extending its reach into 3 days of activities, from 2-4 May 2014. The main event is Saturday from 2 to 8pm in St. Anne's Church, Shandon. It's easy to find, since the steeple is the famous tower with a clock on each face, visible from all over the city.

The format is amazing... musicians will be selected at random with a Max patch, and will then create an ad hoc performance with whoever else pops up on the computer screen.

Reaktor reaches end of life?

I have been a big fan of Reaktor for some time, and use it exclusively in my live work. Recently I have encountered some absolute stupidity on the part of its developer Native Instruments. And this is forcing me to rethink my commitment.

I started with Reaktor back in version 3 and have been hacking away steadily for 15 years. It's a fantastic system for developing your own instruments, effects, and audio utilities. One does this either by hacking together pieces from existing tools or simply building virtual circuits from scratch in a graphical interface. It's a lot like Max/MSP except easier to get started, and with thousands of ready-to-go ensembles, many of excellent quality. Back when I started all this, Max had a poor interface and provided no way to customise the look and feel for performance. Also I didn't like the sound. Both of these factors are no longer the case, but still Reaktor has the edge in some departments. (For one, it works as a VST so it is easy to integrate with any DAW.)

Urban Soundscapes and Critical Citizenship

This week the Urban Soundscapes and Critical Citizenship conference rolls into the University of Limerick. Guests from around the world will be visiting our fair City of Culture this Thursday and Friday, 27-28 March.

In this interdisciplinary conference, we explore the intersection of soundscapes and acoustic ecology studies with urban, applied ethnomusicology’s focus on human subjects and with sociological understandings of the cultural restructuring of urban space, through an evocation of "critical citizenship".

Given my ongoing attempt to interrogate this field, it should surprise no-one that I will contribute in no fewer than three ways. An excerpt from one of my pieces is being included in the soundscape collage Echo-Locations, which will be played at various locations in the city.

My new album "...between..." now available!

I am proud to announce that you can now purchase the album "...between..." from the lovely people at German label Gruenrekorder. It comes in high quality FLAC files with an assortment of photographs.

Places are made real as we encounter them, through our physical presence, memories, and imagination. This album was created using location recordings and the timbres of musical instruments. These have been transformed into landscapes that are perhaps as fictive as they are real. Birds eat bread from a frost-covered wall. Trains rattle over bridges in the centre of London. A mysterious drone sounds out in rural Ireland. Someone throws stones into a stream. A police siren plays a duet with a piano.

Convocation of sound and technology in Dún Laoghaire

Every year the members of the Irish, Sound, Science and Technology Association (ISSTA) meet somewhere in Ireland to discuss their latest research, listen to lots of intriguing new music, attend workshops on anything from circuit bending to DJ tactics, and generally have a good time. It's not a conference, it's a convocation, a word that better expresses the plurality of activities on offer.

This year the ISSTA Convocation is 28-29 August at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design, just down the tracks from Dublin. Wednesday afternoon I will be delivering the paper "Radio Before and After Radio Waves", which draws on my experience in radiophonics in Canada. I want to define what practical qualities make radio special, but also which topological and network aspects allow us to speak of radio as a concept, a powerful spark to imaginative artistic practice.

Thousands of Field Recordings

The last number of years have seen an enormous profusion of field recording artists, whose practice is variously labelled as "nature recording", "acoustic ecology", "phonography", and so on. Each term articulates a particular ideology, something I will address in detail in future writings. For now, I'd simply define these artists by the fact that they release untouched or slightly modified in situ recordings as aesthetic artefacts.

Three significant developments have contributed to this burst of activity. First, increasingly portable and inexpensive audio recorders have lowered the practical and financial barriers to recording in the field. Second, the steady broadening of what is acceptable "music" has allowed listeners the latitude to appreciation what might previously have been considered "unwanted sound" (or noise). Third, an increased awareness of ecological concerns has thrown into sharp relief the usefulness of field recordings, both as evidence of environmental impact and as a lasting record of vanishing soundscapes.

No matter what the cause, there are literally thousands of field recordings available to hear from the comfort of your own easy chair. Read on for my recommended resources.

Raggle Taggle exhibition and music extravaganza

Five bands are to play at Raggle Taggle in downtown Limerick, tomorrow, Saturday 18 May 2013. This is the final event before this arts and culture space closes. Entry is a mere five Euro at the door. We open early and will start the music soon after 8pm.

Innercity from Belgium and Modulator ESP from the UK are on tour, supported by three brand new acts, each of which includes some of your favourite local Irish performers. Projections and video work plus visual art complete this evening of deep listening and fun experimental vibes.

Sonic Vigil 6 album launch and concert

If you are at all interested in experimental and improvised music, you want to be in Cork this Sunday 19 May at 3pm. Specifically, get to University College Cork at the beautiful Glucksman Gallery for a concert involving many of the participants in the sixth Sonic Vigil. These include The Quiet Club, Katie O'Looney, John Godfrey, Harry Moore, Mersk, Karen Power, Anthony Kelly and David Stalling, Kevin Tuohy, Jeff Weeter,... and myself.