A Binaural Head
August 2022
What’s a Binaural Head?
That’s what I asked when Two Temple Place asked me to do some Film and Photography for their new Sound commission.
“A Binaural head is a special type of microphone, that’s shaped like a head and it records Binaural sound which is a kind of ‘advanced stereo’, enabling visitors to hear the room ‘in three dimensions’”, they said!
The artwork Called Reflections, by Ben and Max Ringham, is a sound installation inspired by, and created site-specifically for, the Great Hall. Visitors wearing headphones can experience music and and people moving through the space.
This was all very exciting, but we had several issues -
It’s a sound artwork and has no visual, other than the empty room.
We couldn’t use the music as, it hadn’t been completed yet.
We wanted to capture the making of the piece, which involved a lot of rehearsals and experimentations, so not much time for me to set anything up.
We didn’t want people to actually see what was happening during the recording so that, they could try and work it out aurally.
So all I really had was the power of suggestion.
I love a challenge and it was great trying to make some short videos and gifs that would intrigue and spark peoples curiosity to come and experience the piece, without actually showing any of it.
This final behind the scenes video, is something of a SPOILER, and is only shown after people visit - So don’t click on it if you are visiting the show!
Reflection
A Two Temple Place Audio Commission 2022 Composers & Sound Designers: Ben & Max Ringham
Music Direction: Candida Caldicot
Associate Sound Designer: Ellie Isherwood
Actor: Nigel Barrett
Clarinet 2: Nadia Barbosa
Tenor Saxophone: Adam Cross
Clarinet 1: Rachel Elliott
Bass Clarinet: Jessamy Holder