sonic arts, interactive exhibits,
live performance and research
from Sarah Angliss, Spacedog UK
Portfolio: archive of work
Selection of work | Text-only archive
- Clara 2.0 robot thereminist
- Reverb Jam
- Infrasonic - haunted music?
- South Bank automaton show
- Protest and Survive
- Revolution (clogs and loops)
- To Surrey Street with Love
- Laughlab soundtrack
- The Haunt
- Instant Sound Show
- Play the saw in six weeks
Clara 2.0 - the 'polite' robot thereminist
Named after original theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, Clara 2.0 is a robot doll that can play the theremin live. She's known as the 'polite' robot thereminist as she listens to what I'm playing on the theremin and moves her dolly arm to bring her own theremin into perfect tune.
Read more and see a video of Clara 2.0 in action
Clara 2.0 duetting on the theremin with Sarah Angliss
The Reverb Jam
In December 2006, Spacedog assembled a group of musicians in the reverb chamber of the UK National Physical Laboratory. This room has one of the longest reverberation times in Europe.
Reflective panels in the reverb chamber of the National Physical Laboratory
Infrasonic - haunted music?
This highly unusual, public experiment explored the strange psychological effects of infrasound - sensations that may explain why people feel a sense of awe during cathedral organ recitals or a sense of unease in seemingly haunted sites. Venue: Purcell Room, London, May 2002.
Hear some original music composed for the experiment
An acoustic test in the National Physical Laboratory (photo: Crown Copyright).
South Bank automaton show:
Swinging London
A mini, automatic puppet show in a shed, created on a shoestring budget for the South Bank Centre, summer 2007. The brief was to come up with something novel inside a garden shed that would celebrate the area and appeal to families.
The show features London luminaries, past and present, dancing in go-go style. It also features a mini carillon (automatic bell-playing machine).
Read more and see a video of the show
Watching the puppets in the Swinging London shed, South Bank Overture Weekend, 2007.
Protect and Survive (Fred Astaire Mix)
A video cut-up, showing how it's easier to prepare for Armageddon when you're stepping to that ragtime beat.
According to Kofi Annan, 'the more that [nuclear weapon states]...insist that nuclear weapons are essential for their national security, the more other states feel that they too must have them for their security'. Despite this, the British goverment is pushing through plans for a new £25 billion trident missile. What would Gary Cooper say?
Still from from UK public information film Protect and Survive.
Revolution - for clogs and video loops
I co-created this piece with performer Caroline Radcliffe, after we talked about ways to bring Lancashire clog dancing to a contemporary audience. The video mixes steps from a dance called The Machinery (originally created by Pat Tracey) with live audio and video loops, recorded at a working cotton mill.
To Surrey Street with Love
An arrangement of sounds from Croydon's wonderful fruit and veg market. There has been a market in Surrey Street since the 13th century.
Surrey Street market, Croydon
Laughlab Soundtrack
A soundtrack to annouce the results of Laughlab, Richard Wiseman's scientific search for the world's funniest joke.
Read more and hear the soundtrack
The Haunt
This innovative ghost tour, created on a miniscule budget, combined a free, downloadable soundtrack with live drama and a classic stage magic illusion recreated by Victoria Emes. A ghostly voice leads participants to a little-known room, deep under the streets of Brighton, where something is waiting for them.
For the Brighton Festival Fringe and Halloween, 2006.
The Haunt, Brighton 2006
Instant Sound Show
A set of free, classic sound demos that anyone can download and use. I made them in response to various science centre staff who asked me to help them build their own shows about acoustics. I hope they'll be useful to teachers, school students and anyone else who is curious about the science of sound and music.
Read more and download the demos
Play the saw in six weeks
A free tutorial on the musical saw, a European skiffle instrument with an unexpectedly ethereal sound.
