Dark Energy

Part of our Sound Photography project - this sound is based entirely on the accompanying photograph, pictured here.

By Stephanie Merchak. Photograph by Alan Silvester. 

"The photo of the Drax coal power station, one of the most polluting power stations in the U.K., automatically made me think of something harsh and dark. That's what I tried to render with sound.

I also wanted to use sounds that would remind the listener of electric arcs and sparks.

In order to achieve that, I decided to use data bending.

I imported the photo into Audacity as RAW data and exported it multiple times as audio files using various algorithms. I then imported those audio files into Ableton Live and used them as the basis of my track, processing them, cutting them into small pieces and arranging them into a structured track."