Jane Pitt

Seasalter – Saturday 26th June 2010  meet at 2.45pm crnr Sandpiper Rd/Swallow Ave.

Whitstable Kent Cultural Baton – Friday 2 July 2010 – beach near Horsebridge Rd., all day

As part of Whitstable Biennale Satellite programme Jane Pitt will lead a performative sound walk  around the clutch of residential streets in Seasalter that are named after birds (incl: Nightingale Ave, Linnet Ave).

Jane invites participants to join her in creating an on the spot Fl’utter-ance (verb: to make playful vocal utterings), we will collect the sounds of the street names as we walk i.e Kingfisher = zii! Eeee! Swallow = vhit vhit vhit and use them to compose a unique Seasalter soundpoem. The resulting Seasalter ‘Fl’utter-ance’ will be digitally recorded in situ, posted online & played in the Kent Cultural Baton Caravan on Fri 2 July when you can also pop in and make an on the spot sound poem using phonetic sounds specific to the location unique to that day & that place.

Start & Finish on Sandpiper Road crnr Swallow Ave CT5 4 (near to Valkyrie Road)

Look for the orange flag

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=s&hl=en&q=swallow%20avenue%20seasalter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

Transport:

Bus: stagecoach no.5 Canterbury-Seasalter via Whitstable timetable: http://www.stagecoachbus.com/GetUpload.ashx?Id=751

Cars: on street parking available

Trains to Whitstable, walk to Harbour Street and take bus no 5

This event takes place outdoors on paved streets with some kerbs, mixture of hilly & flat

The recordings from the 11-08-09 have been added to the recordings page, sorry it took so long.

Thanks again to you all

Mike

We had a truely balmy Medway Riviera evening for our last Fl-ut-ter-ance of this summer, the light across the long grass of the Lines was golden, the sun throwing a long shadow of the memorial…magnificent…as of course were our Fl-ut-ter-erings.  A gentle rounding up of our shared experiences since May and an intention to resume in 2010 ( if not before for a winter Rookery experience)…We shared and Fl-ut-ter-red several thoughtful compositions that were all very different in pace & sound but all sharing a profound consideration of the place and how the phonetics could express something of it through pace, rhythm and voice…immersive and joyful .  Not a Mipit in sight now.  Looks like it’s harvest time for the long grass up there today.  Will post transcripts later

Steve’s – said as fast as you can
Chreeee Chrip-Chrew-chritchrewwwwchrip Chrip-chripi-chrip-chripi
Chrewww Chrewww
Chrip Chreee Chrip-chrip-chrip-chrip-chrip-chrip Chreee Chrew-chrew-chrew

Tssit’ssit’ssit Tssit’ssit’ssit Tssit’ssit’ssit

Tswit Tswit Tswit Tswit

Tssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit

Chrip-chrip-chrip Chrip-chrip-chrip Chrip-chrip-chrip Chrip-chrip-chrip
Chrewww
Chrew-chrew-chrew Chree-chrew Chree-chrew Chrip-chrip-chrip-chrip

Prrit-Prrit-Prrit-Prrit-Prrit-Prrit-Prrit

Chrip Chrip chrip-chrip-chrip Chrewww Chree-chrewww Chree-chrewww

Jane’s

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss t’ssit’ssit’ssit
T’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Sssstswit t’ssit’ssit’ssit ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Sssssssssss t’ssit’ssit’ssit
(alone then one at a time others join for max 4)
ssssssssssssssssss zzzzzzzzzzzzrree
ssssssssssssss(alone with Steven& Sue doing PRRIT prrit x 6)
tswit tswit click click
sssssssssstschtschtsch tssiii tssiiii tssiii sssssssssssssssssss
zree zzzree zzzzree zzzz sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
sssss(alone with Keith & Peter cooing)
sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst’ssit’ssit’ssit’ssit
t’ssiii’ssiii’sswiii’sswiii
(Steven & Sue doing PRRIT prrit x 6)
ssssssssssssssssssssssss t’ssit ssssss t’ssit
t’ssiii’ssiii’sswiii’ssssss tsch tsch tsch tsch sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss………..

sound notes:

sssss = constant sssshing with occasional surges

click = tongue hard up against palate quickly

zreee = tongue held up against palate, zsch or zzz rising from throat to high pitch almost whistling with a hint of screech

Wendy’s -

Churrripp churrripp churrripp
Churrr churrr churrr ch ch ch ch ch ch
Churrripp churrripp churrripp
Ipp ipppyyyy Ipp ipppyyy Ipp ipppyyy
Ipp churr ipp churr ipp churr ipp
Kaa’aarrr KRAAAAH kaa’ar KRAAAH
Kaa’aarrr KRAAAAH kaa’ar KRAAAH
Ipp ipppyyyy Ipp ipppyyy Ipp ipppyyy
Ipp churr ipp churr ipp churr ipp
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Churrripp churrripp churrripp
Churrripp churrripp churrripp
Prrrit prrrit prrrit tssit’ssit’ssit
Prrrit prrrit prrrit tssit’ssit’ssit
Prrrit prrrit prrrit tssit’ssit’ssit
Churrripp churrripp churrripp (repeat 3 times fading out)
Ipppppppp ippppppp ippppppppp

Peter’s (original accompanied by beautiful illustrations) -
prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT prritPRRIT

dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr dvehr

chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih chrih
klee klee KLEE – klee klee KLEE
klee klee KLEE – klee klee KLEE
wu-WHOOR-ooh, wor-hoo
wu-WHOOR-ooh, wor-hoo
wu-WHOOR-ooh, wor-hoo
t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit
KRAAAAAH KRAAAAAH kraaaaah kraaaaah kraaaaah KRAAAAAH KRAAAAAH kraaaaaah
t’ssit’ssit’ssit tssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit tssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit t’ssit’ssit’ssit

Visit this link http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/midken01.html to find info about the archaological survey done during the build of the new Mid-Kent College.  Unfortunately the napoleonic listening post has been covered up now but there are photos & info on the site, basically it was a domed space where a soldier would wait and listen for the sounds of the enemy digging towards them and possibly countermining them i.e. blowing them up – grruesome job.  It was also part of the trench warfare training grounds for Royal Engineers.

Forgot to add there is a Listening Post with a selection of early field recorded Flut-ter-ances in the foyer of the Rochester Visitor Information Centre on the High Street.  Daily 10am-5pm til 30 August 2009.

It’s just inside the door on the left, just pick up the headphones and listen.  There is also a display of some of the Paper Birds made by the public at the Great Lines Flut-ter-ances launch day in May and our impromptu Paper Bird session at Riverside Country Park in June where  Sara Norling www.saranorling.com, Marissa Mardon www.marissamardon.com & Mike Snarr www.mikesnarr.com and me all thoroughly bake din the sun and learnt a really good way of making a flapping bird by a fabulous anonymous woman who has made them as a party piece since her dad taught her as a kid.

.. alot of progress has been made and enjoyment had by the Flut-ter-ers towards the project aim of creating site responsive ‘sound poems’ for the Great Lines since I last wrote (hang in there it’s a long one & make some comments).  We’ve continued to meet and communicate..the group shrinking and swelling between 6 to 11 participants.

The Flut-ter-ance on the 19th June sparked a conversation about moving away from reading the phonetic sounds off the page that had been put together fairly randomly and playing more with the sounds in relation to the place and our experience of the place.  So I invited the core group to ‘write’ individual Flut-ter-ances using the phonetic descriptions of the birds we’ve been using.

The following week & another glorious evening, 11 of us gathered amongst the Mipits & long grass full of clicks and Flut-ter-ed the 6 resulting compositions, it was great to have additional voices and I was overwhelmed by the thought & input from everybody, each one unique.  It’s beautiful being immersed in these sessions with everyone so focused on making the sounds, gathered around the microphone, enjoying being in the wide open space where the Lines plateaus out, a mixture of amazement and pleasure in the whole experience together.  You could really hear the different responses emerging from each piece (you can listen on the recordings page where Mike’s put all the field recordings)…Sue has been searching for the exact phonetic description with which to utter her response and I’m looking forward to her further exploration of these beautiful sounds at our next Flut-ter-ance…Steve based his on the song of the sky lark (we’ve been lucky enough to see and hear them several times now) which we took at an exhilirating pace.  I wonder what effect our Flut-ter-ances have on the wildlife population??!  Peter illustrated his Flut-ter-ance with a musical intro lovely drawings of the actual birds – great rhythms there.  Keith developed a narrative and characterisation that has stuck with me – I now view pigeons in a very different light!  I’ve been introducing new phonetic sounds that I hope evoke a sense of the landscape & other elements like the wind, insects etc..  It was excellent to have so many voices this time.

The environment of the Lines obviously changes depending on the time of  day also the changes of the season seem to rapidly affect the landscape along with the changes made by man management each time I visit, not sure if it’s possible to make a definitive response when the place is in constant flux ..meanwhile am enjoying the continuous challenge this offers and  the individual responses that are emerging from our exploration.  What does anyone else think about this?

There was a picnic Flut-ter-ance planned for the 7 July but the mere mention of the P word brought torrents of rain upon us.  We rescheduled for this week and met on the Lines with our p*c*i*c* hidden in bags – but the sniff of a snack was enough to bring a tempest..luckily Sue & Keith offered us shelter and an indoor feast and a gorgeous garden to Flut-ter in once the rain had blown over…wonderful..Keith also played Jeremy Taylor’s Parliament of Fouls from his amazing vinyl collection – check it out if you can us Flut-ter-rers will definitely identify with some of those sounds plus it’s hysterical.

I’ve been wondering how to round off this period of research & development (comments & suggestions welcome), perhaps we should invite someone to lead a final summer walk?.  Before taking time over autumn and winter to develop a wider project for 2010, that I hope the first flut-ter-ers will consider being involved with.

It seems likely that we’ll do 2 more Flut-ter-ances (??), for the next one (29th or 31st July TBC) we’ve discussed developing our Fluts further and including directions of the group to achieve the sounds and rhythms we’re looking for whilst maintaining the enjoyment and amazement..

I would also like to invite somebody that interprets music/sound for the deaf to join us at some point to see if they would be able to interpret our sounds…more later

Am waiting to hear back about the Listening Device that has been unearthed at the Lower Lines..

Hi all, I have finally got the recordings from the last fluttering edited and uploaded on the recordings page, apologies for the delay.

Thank you all for your input they’re really good. Have a listen and let us know what you think.

Look forward to seeing you all next week.

Mike

All recordings will now be posted on the recordings page, link to the right. I have yet to edit the most recent and get them on line but will get them done asap.

Mike

Almost forgot to add that Jenna Pudelek wrote an article about Flut-ter-ances in Kent on Sunday 14th June 2009 – they have an online archive if you’re interested.