Joanne Thomas
Crystal is designed both for concentrated listening and also for installation. One can walk in at any time and capture phrases, or simply sit and listen to the whole work. It captures an experience of listening in on the inner workings of the synchrotron. The space itself captures a sense of timelessness and the aim was to reflect this in the form of the music.
The work was commissioned and published by Diamond Light Source, composed in the electro- acoustic studios of University of Wales Bangor, with support from a research grant from the University of East London. It is a sound work composed directly from frequencies generated by the electron storage ring, a particle accelerator. It also uses binaural recording from locations inside Diamond’s experimental hall, storage ring and beamlines. The aim was to write a work reflecting both the actual content of the spectrum of the space and also the metaphorical content of the sounds.
The Diamond Synchrotron is a rich, multi-spectral sonic environment, with a cacophony of sounds generated by machines which hiss pure nitrogen, pump air from vacuum chambers and cool high-powered magnets. Most of the sounds heard in this work are those of electron injections pumped into the particle accelerator throughout the day. As an artist I listen to the micro tonalities in the streams of injections, and develop detailed micro melodies which appear and disappear not unlike the atom injections.
Biography
Jo Thomas is a London based composer who produces live and studio-based work all over Europe. Current work includes San Rocco Sound Installation, Bergamo (2014, commissioned by Contemporary Locus), and the album Sunshine over Nimbus (2014, commissioned by Scumbag Relations). She received a Qwartz nomination for her album Alpha (2011), and won the Golden Nica for Digital Music and Sound Art at Ars Electronica (2012) for Crystal: Diamond Light Source. Her work has been commissioned by Diamond Light Source, Be Open, ACE, Sound and Music, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, GRM Paris, Milton Keynes Gallery, and Sonic Arts Network, and she has presented music in venues such as Café Oto, the ICA, and Sound fjord. Jo teaches sound design, composition and music technology at the University of East London.