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Tom Lawrence’s Irish Forest Field Recordings
The latest podcast from the Touch label is a brilliantly detailed documentary recording by Tom
Lawrence, who’s in the Humanities and Social Sciences department at Dublin City University.
Titled “Donadea Forest,” after the Irish location where the sounds were recorded, it captures,
in a languorous half hour, bird calls, breezes, and the rain amid the trees.
One especially appealing segment introduces more traditional musical elements into what is
otherwise a collection of field recordings. This is accomplished by working in chimes at play in
the forest. Also complicating that portion of the overall piece is the presence of traffic noise —
it’s a smart moment, as humankind makes its presence heard simultaneously as tone and
noise, as organized musical sound and unintended aural presence.
To assist in the listening process, Lawrence has helpfully provided a time-code guide to the
work’s five constituent parts:
00:00-04:27 Castle Crow’s Cacophony (31st December 2007, 7.20am)
04:28-10:23 January Gales 9th January 2008 10.45pm (contains references to 9/11 forest
monument and the avenue of trees, captured with contact mics)
10:24-14:48 Forest Rain 12th January 2008 1.15am (extensive flooding)
14:49-20:36 Forest Harmonics 8th March 2008 6.20-11.50am (sampled forest chimes, forestry
felling, and the ‘carbon chorus’ [surrounding motorways]).
20:37-30:47 The Dawn Chorus (recorded on National Dawn Chorus Day 20th May 2008, 4.35am)
The set of recordings was made between December 2007 and May 2008, and was just released
on Touch’s Touch Radio series. The entire piece is available for download: M4A. More
information at touchradio.org.uk. And more on Lawrence at his website, tom-lawrence.net.
By Marc Weidenbaum (Disquiet 3 July 2008)
The Fund
'Tom's music for The Fund, was so integral to it.....we had a vague idea of the general tone of
what we wanted musically, but Tom gave us exactly what was needed. It was like he'd watched
the show before it had even been made!'
PAUL STEVENSON DIRECTOR RTE
Secret Sights
'Secret Sights covered over a thousand years of Irish history. Tom's music brought that epic
quality to the series. His music was invaluable for adding the drama to the dramatic
reconstructions.'
MARIE TOFT SERIES PRODUCER RTE
Carte de Visite
'I found Tom very obliging and accommodating. He built his composition with the narrative in
mind, greatly helping the storytelling in the film. Our film 'Carte de Visite' is so much richer
because of his involvement'.
PAUL O'FLANAGAN DIRECTOR BOULDER MEDIA
'Whether it's the effects for a title sequence, glossy fluff for a
glossy-fluff commercial, an emotive theme for a documentary or the score for a full series, Tom
will always come up with the goods - with a gem or two thrown in for good effect. His open
mind and musical versatility are without doubt his biggest assets - I'd be lost without him'.
MARTIN DANNEELS RED PEPPER PRODUCTIONS
'A confession: I've put Tom's music on a cd for car trips. This music is wide, deep and
wonderful. I haven't found a landscape or streetscape yet that it doesn't improve. Even the
'commercial' tracks. Dang, this guy is good. I'm recommending Tom to every
producer I know'.
JOHN COUTANCHE Sound Designer / Editor / Educator
Dignified Kings play chess on fine green silk
On Killed Striking: 'a compelling and haunting series of installations'
Rosita Bolland (The Irish Times)
Aifric
'Aifric is an absolute cracker' Emmanuel Kehoe (The Sunday Business Post)
'A clever soundtrack'... Arminta Wallace (The Irish Times)
Only Fools Buy Horses
'A decadent delight'… (Sunday Independent)
'The action moves along at a fairly zippy pace, ensuring that it keeps the attention of even the
type of viewer who can't tell a horse's arse from it's fetlock'.
(The Sunday Tribune)
'The odds are stacked in favour of this show being a winner' (TV Now)
'Traverse - the bargain basement buy - has really captured the public imagination' (The Star)
Mebollix
'An Irish film dealing with a man's fear of his impending vasectomy, is something to behold.
You want comedy? Put three guys in a pub and have them talk about the old snip, snip. GOLD
Jerry GOLD'. (Ken Hunt, Worldwide Film Festival, Toronto)
The latest podcast from the Touch label is a brilliantly detailed documentary recording by Tom
Lawrence, who’s in the Humanities and Social Sciences department at Dublin City University.
Titled “Donadea Forest,” after the Irish location where the sounds were recorded, it captures,
in a languorous half hour, bird calls, breezes, and the rain amid the trees.
One especially appealing segment introduces more traditional musical elements into what is
otherwise a collection of field recordings. This is accomplished by working in chimes at play in
the forest. Also complicating that portion of the overall piece is the presence of traffic noise —
it’s a smart moment, as humankind makes its presence heard simultaneously as tone and
noise, as organized musical sound and unintended aural presence.
To assist in the listening process, Lawrence has helpfully provided a time-code guide to the
work’s five constituent parts:
00:00-04:27 Castle Crow’s Cacophony (31st December 2007, 7.20am)
04:28-10:23 January Gales 9th January 2008 10.45pm (contains references to 9/11 forest
monument and the avenue of trees, captured with contact mics)
10:24-14:48 Forest Rain 12th January 2008 1.15am (extensive flooding)
14:49-20:36 Forest Harmonics 8th March 2008 6.20-11.50am (sampled forest chimes, forestry
felling, and the ‘carbon chorus’ [surrounding motorways]).
20:37-30:47 The Dawn Chorus (recorded on National Dawn Chorus Day 20th May 2008, 4.35am)
The set of recordings was made between December 2007 and May 2008, and was just released
on Touch’s Touch Radio series. The entire piece is available for download: M4A. More
information at touchradio.org.uk. And more on Lawrence at his website, tom-lawrence.net.
By Marc Weidenbaum (Disquiet 3 July 2008)
The Fund
'Tom's music for The Fund, was so integral to it.....we had a vague idea of the general tone of
what we wanted musically, but Tom gave us exactly what was needed. It was like he'd watched
the show before it had even been made!'
PAUL STEVENSON DIRECTOR RTE
Secret Sights
'Secret Sights covered over a thousand years of Irish history. Tom's music brought that epic
quality to the series. His music was invaluable for adding the drama to the dramatic
reconstructions.'
MARIE TOFT SERIES PRODUCER RTE
Carte de Visite
'I found Tom very obliging and accommodating. He built his composition with the narrative in
mind, greatly helping the storytelling in the film. Our film 'Carte de Visite' is so much richer
because of his involvement'.
PAUL O'FLANAGAN DIRECTOR BOULDER MEDIA
'Whether it's the effects for a title sequence, glossy fluff for a
glossy-fluff commercial, an emotive theme for a documentary or the score for a full series, Tom
will always come up with the goods - with a gem or two thrown in for good effect. His open
mind and musical versatility are without doubt his biggest assets - I'd be lost without him'.
MARTIN DANNEELS RED PEPPER PRODUCTIONS
'A confession: I've put Tom's music on a cd for car trips. This music is wide, deep and
wonderful. I haven't found a landscape or streetscape yet that it doesn't improve. Even the
'commercial' tracks. Dang, this guy is good. I'm recommending Tom to every
producer I know'.
JOHN COUTANCHE Sound Designer / Editor / Educator
Dignified Kings play chess on fine green silk
On Killed Striking: 'a compelling and haunting series of installations'
Rosita Bolland (The Irish Times)
Aifric
'Aifric is an absolute cracker' Emmanuel Kehoe (The Sunday Business Post)
'A clever soundtrack'... Arminta Wallace (The Irish Times)
Only Fools Buy Horses
'A decadent delight'… (Sunday Independent)
'The action moves along at a fairly zippy pace, ensuring that it keeps the attention of even the
type of viewer who can't tell a horse's arse from it's fetlock'.
(The Sunday Tribune)
'The odds are stacked in favour of this show being a winner' (TV Now)
'Traverse - the bargain basement buy - has really captured the public imagination' (The Star)
Mebollix
'An Irish film dealing with a man's fear of his impending vasectomy, is something to behold.
You want comedy? Put three guys in a pub and have them talk about the old snip, snip. GOLD
Jerry GOLD'. (Ken Hunt, Worldwide Film Festival, Toronto)