In 2014, Watford Colosseum underwent a whimsical transformation into an interactive musical playground with LISTEN! The venue was filled with the sounds of hand-cranked Music Machines, Sonic Tubes, and Sonic Hairdryers. Attendees encountered hidden performers in lifts, stairwells, and the ticket box, while table-side performances, ordered from a menu, added a unique flavour to the experience, turning the entire front-of-house into a delightful sonic adventure.

Key works include:

    • Dripolator: Converts traffic and environmental sounds into a musical drone.
    • Drum Machine: A hand-cranked junk’n’found player.
    • Leslie: A spinning horn voice thrower.
    • Soundwalk: An amplified foley-floor with varying surfaces.
    • Reel to Reel: Vintage tape machines with an open mic for tape delay.
    • Sonic Hair Dryers: Eavesdrop microphones mixed into modified dome hair-dryers.

All elements, machines, installations, and performances are carefully designed to create an integrated soundscape.

LISTEN! is available for your venue or event. I’m excited to explore bringing the project to new spaces and experiences. Please contact me for more information and technical specifications.

“Listen! is a terrific piece of work. I’m delighted with the quality and atmosphere it brought to the Colosseum. Graeme delivered a high-quality, accessible, engaging, and deeply thought-out creative work. Many thanks.”

Tim Brinkman, Director

DRIPOLATOR

Sonic Tubes listen to noisy traffic, transforming it into a meditative soundscape, heard in the stairwell inside.

SONIC HAIRDRYERS

‘Eavesdrop’ microphones placed throughout the venue are listening to what’s happening at the various installations. The audio is randomly mixed to speakers in the domes of these hairdryers

DRUM MACHINE

A hand-cranked funk-O-matic drum machine that adults seemed to like more than kids…

REEL to REEL

Constantly recording, visitors speak or sing into the old mic and hear themselves on a delayed looping echo. Some great performances!

some Reel to Reel audio highlights

 

 

HIDDEN PERFORMERS

Encounter people playing in the lift, the stairwell and the ticketbox as you explore

PERFORMANCE à la CARTE

Order table-side performance from the menu

LESLIE the SPINNING HORN

sing into the tube and crank your voice around the room

SOUNDWALK

hear your footsteps amplified as you walk over gravel, wood and tiles

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