PlaceMakingMusic – Bicrophonic Research Institute

PlaceMakingMusic (2024)

PlaceMakingMusic was a workshop in Taipei city which made a new sonic bike opera with ten participants that transformed the neighbourhood into an extraordinary and cinematic experience.

Directed by Kaffe Matthews (BRI) and Po-Hao Chi (Zone Sound Creative) it exploded and expanded the concept of a soundwalk, creating artificial soundscapes and new poetry from the local architecture, enjoyed by festival audiences riding sonic bikes, 14-15.09.24 .

In the workshop, Matthews introduced the participants to active listening and life without headphones. To listening in a chosen spot or within a moving context. To the concept of sonic biking – using a bicycle to not go anywhere but to float through space listening.

To slowly explore the neighbourhood on bikes and to research, gather and make sounds, text and music in response to chosen areas. To consider how these fragments could be played or processed from the bike and to make a map that would locate these sounds within specific spaces or zones.

It couldn’t have worked out better. Julia and Ray, Guanlin and Lena, Oskar and Hilary, Emily and Weylin, Allen and Altina all nominated themselves into working pairs, each taking control of a different area, north, south east or west of our lab at c-lab where the bikes stood to be collected by the public for riding.

By the time the show opened at 15.00h on Saturday 14th September, neither PoHao nor Kaffe had made any of the music that played from the bikes, or drawn any of the zones in the vast collective map that only the participants had made together. This was the first time bicrophonics had attempted to guide this kind of a workshop, and not only did it work, but the audio outcome and wide ranging learning that each individual experienced included pure joy and enthusiasm for future learning from everyone .

we do the ride thing launched.

PlaceMakingMusic was made through a collaboration with ten citizens of Taipei, the Bicrophonic Research Institute (BRI), Zone Sound Creative (Taiwan), SoundLab, c-lab (Taipei), the Research Center for Music, Technology & Health at the National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu City) and was directed by composer sound artist Kaffe Matthews (DE /UK) in collaboration with Po-Hau Chi (TW). The outcome was presented at the Wandering Music Festival, Taipei City, September 14th-15th, 2024.

With many thanks to Cécile Huang (Director Taiwan Sound Lab), Sally (Manager Taiwan Sound Lab) and the team of Sound Lab technicians.

Also to Fifi Hu and all Zone Sound Creative helpers for fixing and arranging the tech, the publicity, the delicious lunches and dinners beyond. Sukandar Kartadinata (BRI Berlin) for remote Box fixing support, Alé for stepping in when we realised we were too far east for the GPS to read, and Natashia and Momo for hosting.

Finally to Po-Hao Chi for reaching out to the BRI after first coming across the sonic bikes at NIME, Goldsmith College, London June 2013. Onwards with this process.