In this project, publicly available data was taken from a smart buoy (Waverider) that floats outside Porthleven Harbour. This buoy is part of a network around the United Kingdom that records environmental data. I used a subset of data from 2024 as part of a sound project for my MA using Ableton's Max 9. The sound-generating patch uses the data to vary the FX applied to loops of field recordings taken around the harbour.

For example, the change in sea temperature month to month affected how much the pitch of two voices changed. Or the fluctuations in wave period were used to determine the amount of delay applied to a loop of birdsong. 

The sound piece loops over the course of 1 minute, allowing the data from each month to influence the loops for 5 seconds. The 2 mixers allow manipulation of the piece, enabling different loops to stand out. The field recordings were also used to create a standalone piece called 'To the sea and back', which imagines a walk from the Harbourmaster’s office to the end of pier and back again.

It was inspired by Walter Ruttman’s 1930 composition, Weekend, which narrates a journey from Berlin to the countryside and features a montage of speech, street sounds, and industrial noises. As well as work by Luc Ferrari (1960s) and Brian Eno’s Ambient 4: On Land which used both local sounds with others to create imagined places.