We assume the instruments we know and love today will be around forever. What if they're not? What new forms and ideas could take their place? Hannah Catherine Jones takes you into the world of the prototype, meeting instrument inventors challenging traditions and shifting boundaries. Sarah Kenchington is an artist and inventor living on a derelict farm in the Campsies, Scotland. Her curiosity for how instruments would sound if they were freed from humans led to a life-long endeavour. Twenty years later and she's still tinkering with her semi-mechanical orchestra, complete with hurdy-gurdy, 100-year old gramophone and ping pong machine. Savinder Bual is an artist, animator and now instrument-inventor. She's fascinated with the pineapple - a fruit that symbolises Britain's dark colonial history whilst being a fun, popular motif. By spinning the pineapple head, she realised its leaves could pluck strings and make music. That discovery led to her making a complete orchestra of pineapple instruments. The Mi.Mu gloves were invented by a team of scientists, technologists and e-textile designers. Using your movements to trigger sounds from a computer, they allow the performers the flexibility to move on stage without being connected to a computer. But if the sound isn't coming from the gloves themselves, does this still make them an instrument? Hannah enlists the expertise of Adam Harper (musicologist, music critic, former church organ player), important grime figurehead Elijah (who runs the record label Butterz), multi-instrumentalist and producer Swindle, and the luthier Bill Bunce. Hannah Catherine Jones is an artist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, conductor and founder of the Peckham Chamber Orchestra. Produced by Eliza Lomas.
Kultur & GesellschaftTalk
Seriously... Folgen
Seriously is home to the world’s best audio documentaries and podcast recommendations. Introduced by Vanessa Kisuule. This feed is no longer being updated. Thanks for listening.
Folgen von Seriously...
484 Folgen
-
Folge vom 17.05.2019The Prototype
-
Folge vom 30.04.2019The Fast and the CuriousTom Heap sets off on a guilt trip road trip to find out why people like him won't give up the things they know are destroying the planet.Tom loves his powerful car. Despite a pretty thorough knowledge of the science of climate change and the contribution that his petrol-powered Subaru makes to a warming world he doesn't want to give it up. He's not alone. Most of us have dirty pleasures we have no intention of foregoing, whether that's eating meat, buying fast fashion or flying to our favourite holiday destinations.So what will make Tom and people like him change their behaviour for the sake of the planet? Tom hits the road to find out, dropping in on people who have influenced his thinking on the environment. There's food writer and cook, Jack Monroe who has helped make veganism a pleasure rather than a pain. There's John Browne, the oil company CEO who tried to push BP, Beyond Petroleum, Christiana Figueres, the diplomat who persuaded Presidents and PMs to sign up to carbon reductions. And there's the Bishop of Salford who thinks we should heed the Gospels and accept that personal sacrifice is essential to save the world.Producer: Alasdair Cross
-
Folge vom 26.04.2019The BubbleSocial media, especially Twitter has changed the way we consume the news. Articles, commentaries and opinions are put into our news feeds by the people we choose to follow. We tend to only follow the people we agree with and like, and block and unfollow the people we disagree with. We're creating our own echo chambers and social media bubbles.These bubbles are making us more polarised than ever, and we’re less likely to listen to views that are different from ours. Are we missing out on hearing the other side, because we're not hearing why they think the way they do?In this programme, for two weeks, two people with opposite views swap Twitter news feeds. One Labour voting Remainer, and one Conservative Leaver. They’ll keep audio diaries using their smartphones documenting what they’re consuming. Are they angry at what their opposite is consuming? Will it change their viewpoint on politics and world events?At the end of the experiment they’ll meet each other for the first time to discuss what they learned. Will they confront each other, or will they be ashamed of themselves? Will they be disappointed by how the opposite side thinks or will they learn from each other?Presenters: Joanna Fuertes and Cameron Bradbury Producer: Lydia Thomas
-
Folge vom 23.04.2019Peach FuzzMona Chalabi asks why female facial hair still seems to be a source of such shame.Last year, when she sent a lighthearted tweet about hairy women, she was deluged with replies. Hundreds of women wrote to her to describe the physical and emotional pain they experienced about their body hair. But there was one area they really wanted to talk about - their facial hair.And in this programme Mona will do just that – talk about female facial hair – including to some of the women who contacted her after her initial tweet. What can be dismissed as trivial is a source of deep anxiety for many women, but that’s what female facial hair is, argues Mona, a series of contradictions. It’s something that’s common yet considered abnormal, natural for one gender and apparently freakish for another. Removing it is recognized by many women - including Mona - as a stupid social norm and yet they strictly follow it. And as well as gender demarcations, this discussion touches on the intersections of race and age, too.As she tries to unravel this question, Mona will examine her own complicated feelings about this subject - as she takes us to her laser hair removal appointment.Producer: Giles Edwards