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Tom Parkinson
In my work, the volume, location, timing and method of production of a sound is often equally as important as what the sound is. This, and the fact that it is inseparable from live performance, make what I do very tricky to represent on the internet. With that caveat, here are a scattering of videos, recordings, photographs and descriptions that collectively give some sense of my compositional practice. There is also a nice interview with the software company FXpansion here. Social Skin 2012
Choreographed by Ivgi&Greben, performed by The National Dance Company of Korea. 70 Minutes. Trailer At the end of this opening section, one of the dancers begins to run in a square around the stage and is gradually joined by 12 other dancers. He was wearing in-ear binaural microphones that picked up the sound of the running which was then broadcast through the house speakers. The effect was simultaneously to remove and amplify the sound from the stage. There was an enormous wall of clothes at the back of the stage that slowly shifted until it was suspended about 1m above the stage. The bass in this track is made from recordings of heartbeats and the way that the system was configured allowed me to present this part as two perceptually distinct pieces of music. .................................................... CoupleLike 2005/2010
Choreographed by Keren Levi and Ugo Dehaes. 45 Minutes. The first 15 seconds of this are inaudible on small speakers. .................................................... Forgot To Love 2013
Choreographed by Ivgi&Greben, performed by Provincial Dance Theatre Yekaterinburg, Russia. 60 Minutes. Short Trailer Long Trailer .................................................... The Dry Piece 2012
Choreographed by Keren Levi. 70 minutes. There is a video camera above the stage which is projected live onto a screen in front of the dancers who are limited to a small square behind it. For the first 25 minutes, it is unclear whether the image is live or prerecorded. The unmistakably live sound of the dancers footsteps threatened this conceit. I hung two microphones by the sides of the dancefloor and placed an array of speakers above the audience's heads. I also placed a pair of speakers at the back of the stage so that both the music and the dancing would be captured by the same microphones and be broadcast through the same overhead speakers, thereby creating a similar mediation to that performed by the camera. .................................................... Duet For Four Chambers 2014
A short one-on-one performance piece by Tom Parkinson. 6 minutes. 
.................................................... We Might As Well Live 2011
A play about the effects of sound on the human body by Sharon Smith and Tom Parkinson. 60 minutes. .................................................... Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model 2013
A play by Bryony Kimmings, co-directed by Tom Parkinson. 60 Minutes. .................................................... Catherine Bennett 2013/2014 Part of the process of making Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model involved attempting to create a famous popstar for nine-year-olds. On the instructions of a nine-year-old girl, and after extensive research into the musical cognition in pre-adolescent children, Bryony Kimmings and I wrote several songs which have gone on to have extensive TV, Radio and print coverage. .................................................... 'T Is Mijn Smaak Niet 2013
A dance-theatre performance for children by Hendrik Lebon. 50 minutes.
.................................................... In Thrall (upwardly) 2011
In 2011, I spent two days walking around the German city of Potsdam searching for pianos. On every piano I found, I recorded an A major scale from the bottom of the keyboard to the top repeatedly for several minutes and then layered the recordings on top of each other. The nine pianos heard on the recording are from cafes, a music school, someone's house and an aquarium. You can also hear environmental sounds such as diners talking. At the end, you can faintly hear someone playing Life is a Cabaret from the neighbouring practice room. In Thrall refers to both childhood piano practice and to James Tenney's influence on my musical imagination, in particular his piece For Ann (rising). .................................................... Accident 2005-2011
A durational performance. Variable length. In this piece, my identical twin brother and I play chaotic, seemingly improvised linear drum solos on identical drum kits in complete unison. The longest performance of this was in Shunt vaults and lasted eight hours. We are dressed in military combat fatigues. It was my first attempt to present musical performance as choreography. For occasional performances, we were joined by twin sisters who danced - also in unison. The last ever performance in Shunt was a condensed ten-minute, extremely technical percussive version of this - out of costume. 
.................................................... The Third Punic War 2010
Video Sharon Smith and I made a series of poetic renderings of historic wars set to jazz ballads. .................................................... Nothing Ever Said 2010
A performance/ installation by Tom Parkinson. Variable length. Matt Lewis and I make music that omits all frequencies that are producable by the human voice. By playing only bass and treble, the unique evolutionary sophisication of the human ear is negated, leaving a framed silence, a perceptual absence of the sonic materiality of speech. In performance, this is preceded by a performance-lecture that theatrically guides the audience into the work and suggests ways of being within it (after a certain amount of time, the audience are given license to talk). It is possible to play this piece very loud yet still have a conversation at normal volume. 
.................................................... Occupation 2009
A durational performance by Tom Parkinson. Variable length. Two performers hold microphones in a cruciform position above domestic hi-fi speakers that are lying on the ground. By limiting the signal, the proximity of the microphones to the speakers changes the pitch rather than the amplitude of the feedback. Because of the impossibility of the performers holding their arms still, the result is an unstable and shifting four-note drone. 
.................................................... Sub-Bass Meringue 2010
An installation by Tom Parkinson. Variable length. By playing sub-bass though a sugared egg white for several hours, I create an edible meringue. 
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