hello!

if you are reading this you have probably scanned a qr code in our facility in stan’s cafe. i’m james, the composer-in-residence for next couple of years as part of joint phd research project between stan’s cafe and the royal birmingham conservatoire. my little office is just by the side entrance next to the current main office. feel free to pop in and say hello (if i’m around). if we haven’t met, i have a gift for you! i should or could be in sometime on mondays/wednesdays/thursdays

you can also send me anonymous messages via the message box below. you could ask me to write a piece of music for a purpose, or for me to do some research for you, or for some feedback on some ideas, or some advice on practical issues, or prompts for me to make work about. my ears are open!

the rest of this page has the work i’ve made as part of my time here. feel free to browse.

a sped up version of the weekly meeting with processing

i joined the meeting on zoom from my home office. and live processed the sound of the meeting through several electronic devices. all sounds were generated by the meeting, and changed by my electronics. no ‘new’ sounds enter until the meeting ends and i play a keyboard and sing a little.

everytime something positive was said or affirmed a major chord was played in the wrong.
everytime something negative was said a minor chord was played.

the pitches of people's voices were then turned into midi to accompany these chords.

each member of stan's cafe was assigned a note on a en-sq synth (donated to me by a member of stan's cafe)
every time a new subject is discussed in the meeting a changed to a new sustaining chord.

the meeting was 59 minutes long, so this recording has been condensed. every 9.8 seconds is about a minute in real time

i was absent for this meeting so i made a jingle in advance for every subject in the minutes

we had a weekly meeting on monday. everytime someone spoke, i played a motif correlating to that person. there are 8 motives as there were 8 members present at the meeting. the motif would loop until someone new spoke.

the recording of these motives was then condensed into a 6 minute track as the meeting was 60 minutes long.

there’s a leak in the hall, which i’m sure you’ve noticed! on monday i sat and had a little duet with it. the speed of the leak gradually changes, and the sound of the cup as it fills up with water also changes.

made some music in my office last week

music made with the commentary that teachers made in a victorian arcade in walsall as part of the creative away day

the printer died. commemorative tune for the printer.

2012-22

the electricity meter is constantly in cupboard on the other side of the wall of my office. i made some music to accompany it.

i surveilled an orientation day and took film photos all day. i analysed these photos and added diagrams and an analytic commentary. i then accompanied my presentation with some chords that changed every time a new slide appeared. i changed my voice into midi and took the commentary out and here is the audio result from that presentation

for some reasons i wasn’t allowed to be in the building for the first couple months of my residency. so i pitched a tent and did some composition work from my new near residency.

lovely photos by alexander kaniewski

quick song about how to correctly say stan’s cafe after james (director) mentioned he got annoyed when people call the company cafè not cafe (caff).