During the process of ‘doing press’ for Volta I’ve been looking far and wide for souls who like experimental or interesting contemporary music to share the album with. Amazingly, last week I had a chat with someone all the way over in Chile!
Loop.cl started in March 2000 and is a web zine based in Santiago de Chile dedicated to spreading the word about cutting-edge artists from across the globe. The blog is run by Editor, Guillermo Escudero. Over the years Guillermo has caught up with artists such as Valance Drakes, David Toop, and The Necks. The pieces appear translated side-by-side in both Spanish and English.
I’ve started YorkeTalk – a concise, weekly-ish email that I imagine as more of a journal entry than a newsletter. Little shards of inspiration or insight. Sharing my flow moments. I hope you find something in what I write over the coming weeks and months that speaks to you and your creativity.
A gentle walk through 3 acres of wild and tame winter gardens with 12 original sound pieces by UK and International Composers and Musicians curated by Laura Cannell.
Artists include Lori Goldston (Earth/Nirvana), Jem Finer (The Pogues/Longplayer), Catrin Vincent (Another Sky), The Neutrinos, Laura Cannell, The Feathered Thorns, Loula Yorke, Sonic Moth, Nina Bosnic (Paper Dollhouse), Jon Mueller, Rhodri Davies.
The Soundwalk has been released as a CD/Download on Bandcamp and will be available in the gallery at Raveningham.
“Sound travels differently outside” says Laura, “and the combination of recordings which will be embedded in the landscape are incredible. They include field recordings, instrumentals and voices: from Lori Goldston duetting on a cello with the sounds of Brooklyn, NY, through an open window, to piano songs inspired by trees, conversations recorded in Bosnia brought back and combined with a gong recorded in Walpole Chapel in Suffolk. The sound of a hurdy gurdy mimicking birdsong are just a few of the sounds that lie in store for any adventurous listeners.”
“The idea behind the sound walk is to bring together our inner and outer worlds. Musicians are always listening and translating their feelings through their instruments, conjuring sounds of the outside world to play inside, these intimate recordings are set free and planted into the landscape for 5 weeks and instead of a concert hall or venue where we are stationary as an audience, here we can listen to the inner musical worlds at our own speed while we walk and roam. We can get closer to the sounds or we can let the sound of the wind in the trees become part of the music to create our own personal sonic worlds.”
The walk is about an hour long and each piece of music is embedded in the garden with an information post. When you begin walking you are drawn in by sound along the footpath ahead and upon entry you are given a Sound Walk map.
Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 10-3pm between 3rd Nov – 3rd Dec 2023
Adults £6, under 18s free
Raveningham Centre, Beccles Road, Raveningham, NR14 6NU, 10 miles south of Norwich. Well behaved dogs on leads welcome. Free parking. Accessible toilets. Please be aware that the ground is uneven in places, the paths have been maintained but you should wear suitable sturdy footwear. There is a mobility scooter available to make the Sound Walk accessible, please email Liz at cinnamongallery@gmail.com to book it in advance for free.
The first single of my new album will be premiering on YouTube on Tues 17th October at 09.00 GMT+01
“‘It’s been decided that if you lay down no-one will die’ is saturated with bittersweet tension, created through skilful repetition, mutation & extension of a single tumbling arpeggio, Yorke’s chosen voicings alternating between hard and soft, light and dark, under and over.”
It’s about overwhelm, the times when I’m consciously slowing down, trying to hold space, yet everything is still rushing in. I’m experimenting with what you can do to ameliorate that. The title is a twist on some lines that really help me, from a piece written by the mythopoet Robert Bly, which is quoted here in part:
“When someone knocks on the door, think that he’s about / To give you something large: tell you you’re forgiven / Or that it’s not necessary to work all the time, or that it’s / Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.”
I am really excited to be finally sharing this new work with you!
Be part of a group that will be creating a digital sound piece for the S for Southend exhibition at Focal Point Gallery in January 2024, led by Oram Award Winner, Loula Yorke.
Across two 2 hour sessions, we will be using the prompt ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ to make, find and sample sounds using our everyday environment and what is surrounding us. Using iPads and sound recorders, we are going to be turning them into something new and exciting.
Come with your imaginations wide open for all the possibilities!
In our October Tech Dissect, composer and sound artist Loula Yorke will walk you through the basics of this approach to audio creation using the free version of the tool VCV Rack 2.0, which you can download ahead of the session here: https://vcvrack.com/Rack
We’ll get VCV Rack up and running, get comfortable with the user interface, and build some basic modular patches together from scratch.
This workshop is free to attend for members of our online community Saffron Members Club. More info and sign-up here: https://saffronmusic.co.uk/members/
Saffron also offers donation-based tickets for those in financial hardship.
I’m in Electronic Sound magazine Issue 104 under the umbrella theme of the Secret World of Modular Synthesis. There’s a full-page profile on my work written by Oli Warwick where I delve into my journey with eurorack synths, and how my process and set-up has evolved over time.
I’m also on the list of 50 Key Modular Artists, and my track ‘SKIM’, (first released as part of YOUL in December 2022) is included on this month’s ES CD alongside some incredible modular names such as Suzanne Ciani and Morton Subotnick.
I’ll be bringing the modular out on the road for some dates in September 2023, where I’ll be reworking the patterns and sequences from my forthcoming album Volta with beats, noise and processed vocals, to create a series of one-off, chaotic and joyous livesets. I very much look forward to seeing you there!
Loula Yorke 