Threads in the Ground, Redhills CIO, and Brass Bands England (BBE) are collaborating to create a sound piece, Ancestral Reverb. The piece will weave together different strands of audio including:
- Some of the earliest known audio recordings of colliery bands (1903)
- New recordings of the Durham Miners Association band playing the same archival pieces
- Digitally sampled reverb from down the drift mine at Beamish (the living museum)
- And, crucially, samples of BBE members playing their favourite excerpts from classic colliery pieces.
The collaboration includes electronic musician and Producer, Bert Verso, to create the final sound piece. Threads in the Ground are interviewing retired coal miners and their families in the North East about their reflections on climate change and carbon heritage. Their interviews will be used to create a spoken word piece which will accompany the sounds.
The final piece will be printed on limited edition vinyl incorporating coal dust samples from across North East collieries.
Our Chief Operating Officer Sarah Baumann commented: “This collaboration with Threads in the Ground is a fantastic opportunity to bring focus to climate change and carbon heritage, whilst giving our members opportunity to participate in a brand new collaborative project. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to use The Brass Bands Archive to share and celebrate brass band and mining heritage with new audiences.’
Threads in the Ground Director Adam Cooper commented: ‘Our carbon heritage is incredibly deep - hundreds of years of graft, innovation, and social solidarity. And that heritage shapes how we think and act about climate change. We’re so excited to be exploring these stories and ideas through sounds, and can’t wait to hear the contributions of BBE members.
Send your contribution
BBE members are invited to submit suitable recordings, writing and images before the deadline of Monday 26 August at 9am. More information about technical requirements and suggested content can be found on the Ancestral Reverb page on the BBE website.