The Workforce Symphony

Working in collaboration with g8 artists to respond to the theme of Leicester’s industry, both past and present for a group exhibition, Leicester: Memories of Industry at Attenborough Arts Centre between 9 June – 20 August 2017.

G8 artists invited me to produce a soundtrack to reflect Leicester’s social and industrial legacy. To capture the sounds of working factories, including Cooke Optics Limited, a Leicester-based company who have been producing lenses for the film industry since 1894. The soundtrack also included memories of retired industrialists from community and volunteer groups at Abbey Pumping Station, Leicestershire Industrial History Society and Men in Sheds at Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland.

The exhibition examines the link between industry and parks to highlight ‘Leicester EXPO 72’, a major celebration of industry and science held at Abbey Park in 1972, to draw connections between the development of city parks and the industries that funded them. Therefore, the soundtrack includes field recordings from Abbey Park and Billy Bates fair to reflect the history of Leicester’s urban green spaces.

The new soundscape The Workforce Symphony has been produced using a mixture of field recordings, interviews and oral history archives to produce a narrative that explores the rhythmic sounds created by industrial machinery, the patterns of voices recounting stories and the natural environment. The composition is layered with sound recordings gathered from factories, workshops, vintage industrial machinery, parks, wildlife and interviews with retired industrialists and manipulated (stretched, repeated and reversed) to mimic the sounds of industry.

With thanks to Abbey Pumping Station, Leicestershire Industrial History Society, Men in Sheds at Age UK Leicestershire and Rutland, Cooke Optics Limited, Abbey Park and the East Midlands Oral History Archive, University of Leicester.