Sound artist Mark Vernon has been busy adding new sounds from Sri Lanka to his Audio Diary of his residency at Sura Medura. Among the sounds Mark has gathered are the sounds of the Southlands College Marching Band rehearsing, the sounds of a Kandy dance lesson and Mark’s fellow Artists in Residence, Sita Pieraccini, harmonising with a boat engine!
You can enjoy each individual recording below, or you can listen to the whole audio diary on Mark’s Soundcloud page. The sounds Mark collects will be used as the basis for an sound work that captures Mark’s experiences in and impressions of Sri Lanka.
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The guide describes some of the 18 sicknesses represented by the museum’s collection of medicine masks. Ambalangoda Mask Museum.
Pictured: temporary madness
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In the workshop of the Ambalangoda Mask Museum the craftsmen use hammers and chisels to carve traditional masks from balsa wood.
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Whizzing past in a tuktuk this children’s theatre production in a packed community centre caught my ear. The proceedings, with both Sinhala and English announcements were broadcast into the street over an outdoor P.A. system. Child actors dressed in a variety of animal costumes enacted dance moves that were characteristic of each creature. We were invited in to see the production but I preferred the sound coming over the P.A.
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Komani, a survivor of the devastating 2004 Tsunami that hit the Sri Lankan coast describes the sound of the impact.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120729383″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
An unidentified creature, a frog or possibly a bird, stands out from the nightly chorus of frogs. Distant club music from the regular Friday ‘Vibration’ night drifts through the night air. Wewalgoda Road, Hikkaduwa.
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A man laboriously turns the handle of a wooden buffing machine to polish moonstones. Galle Fort.
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The girls of Southlands College in Fort Galle repeatedly rehearse the same song marching back and forth through the open courtyard of the school. There are regular breaks to sort out tuning and timing issues.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120733564″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Sitting at her stool Seerani uses traditional techniques to hand make lace. The wooden bobbins clatter together as she weaves the threads at lightning speed. Galle Fort.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120734274″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
In one of the daily monsoons torrential rain bounces off the pavements, overflows gutters and pours down the streets. Fort Galle, Sri Lanka.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120735674″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
After the rain has stopped drips from the guttering patter on a corrugated tin roof. The regular splashes form a puddle beneath. The percussive rhythm of the drips has a musical quality.
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The thrumming engine of an idling train is interspersed with crackling electricity. Recorded on the platform of Galle rail station.
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Fruit and vegetable sellers shout out their prices to passing customers at the weekly market in Hikkaduwa. As you approach the noise sounds almost like a football crowd.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/122083144″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
At Eagle house local children are given lessons in the art of Kandy dancing. The teacher counts and beats out the rhythm on the drum. In this clip the children sing and use finger cymbols to accompany the main rhythm.
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On a cruise of the Koggala Lagoon Sita accompanies the sound of the boat engine as we arrive at the Cinammon island.