“Echo’s From An A(band)oned ROOM”

 Sound Installation Danny McCarthy

Mallow Arts Collective

Mallow Town Hall 

This work is not meant to be a portrait of the Thomas Davis Pipe Band Mallow but a snapshot/ a polaroid evoking a sonic memory. Referencing the acoustic ecology that surrounds the building the sound of the pipe band is embedded in the very fabric of Mallow Town Hall and is a ghostlike presence that haunts the place. This is not about the wonderful music of the band but a memory of that music, a fleeting glimpse and is thus by its very nature fragmented.

It is composed of Field Recordings made of the band at a practice session and not of a performance. The band kindly facilitated the recordings by allowing the artist to record them practising in the West End Arts Studios.

Generations will remember the sound of the pipe band practising echoing from the upper room in the Town Hall. It was part of growing up the sound was just there and not necessarily being listened to by anyone except the participants. Drum rolls being repeated and repeated, intro’s to tunes being got right etc. Chanters, pipes and drums. The current installation attempts the same thing in that it is hoped people will stumble upon it and it will evoke memories of the band and the acoustic ecology of the town.

It will recall all the great musicians that have passed through the band. Many no longer with us except in spirit but their sound lingers on.

The idea for the installation is to have the sound of the Pipe Band practising coming from the open upper window of the Town Hall from the room they practiced in for generations. It will sound for twenty minutes each evening of the Arts Festival commencing 23rd  July and  then for one hour once a week at a low volume in evening time almost ghostlike to evoke those sonic memories that are part of the acoustic ecology of the town centre. This will continue until he Arts Centre opens however long that takes.

Marking the centenary of the Thomas Davis Pipe Band the work will sound until it is replaced by the real thing and the band return to its former home in the Town Hall which is being redeveloped as an Arts Centre. The work has been commissioned by Mallow Arts Collective with assistance from Cork County Council Arts Department.

McCarthy a native of the town and an award winning artist specialising in sound art. He currently lectures in Sound Art and Experimental Sound Practice in the Music Dept.UCC. He has created sound works all over Ireland and the world and has work in the collections of the Arts Council Of Ireland, The Crawford Gallery and numerous other public and private collections. His work “Found Sound (Lost At Sea) 11.1.11” was recently purchased and has become part of the National Collection. His new CD/Download “ Haunted By Silence” is available from Farpoint Recordings ( https://www.farpointrecordings.com/ ) as are his other CDs, Books, Tapes and Vinyl’s.