xvelastín [sound artist]

music, and other sounds

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

A selection of recorded compositions, sound designs, atmospheres, soundtracks and utterances for voice, electronics and instruments.

You can find my more polished music on bandcamp, or head to my soundcloud if you're in the mood for weird, stupid or unnerving rubbish.

Above: Me fishing for water sounds in Jesmond Dene, Newcastle with a hydrophone.

Above: a spectral analysis of the recordings using Sonic Visualiser.

Binaural Works for Remote Listening (2020-2021)

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

Xavier Velastin (Sound Design) · The Magic Forest Floor (Extract)

blubberbaleensound · Pangea - Opening Texture

Although 3D sounds have always been found in my work, the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020-21 were the perfect time to create and share binaural sounds for headphones, since they are far more accessible in terms of home listening equipment.

Xavier Velastin (Sound Design) · Bubbleswirlchant [Binaural]

(sound)poems

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

Utterance, yelling, nonsensical babbling and a sarcastic imbetterthanyou sort of attitude. Generally created for live performance, mostly where it's/I'm not welcome.

xvelastín · hi, yeah

Soundtracks for Imagined Worlds, Vol. 1 (2020)

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

A compilation of soundtracks created for theatre productions, installations and music projects. From the stripped-back isolation of The Scavenger to the eerie alienness of Crystalline, to the ultra-low textures of Subscape (The Void), the first 'Soundtracks for Imagined Worlds' compilation was put together and re-mastered during the coronavirus lockdown of 2020, when I began my move to creating sound for virtual environments.

This collection is intended to be used by game developers, VR directors, digital performance makers and budding sound designers to be integrated into the imagined worlds that we make our reality. This collection is intended to be used by developers, VR directors, digital performance makers and budding sound designers to be integrated into the imagined worlds that we make our reality.

piano pieces

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

I've played piano for a long time, although I barely ever play in public. Piano is a really personal thing, and the closest to a hobby that music gets for me. Playing and writing for piano is my form of meditation, escapism and self-analysis. Sometimes, I don't really know how I'm feeling until I sit at the piano for a few hours.

I occasionally incorporate piano writing in my compositions for others' projects, such as 'trails' and 'looking back', below, made for Limbik Theatre's sound piece, Pangea.

trails, 2021

looking back, 2021

xvelastín · D'Un Jardin Clair (Lili Boulanger)

blubberbaleensound · Plantropy Music

xvelastín · Improvisation (Piano)

xvelastín · Debussy/ Satie/ Liszt (Piano)

Not Quite Light (2018-2019)

binaural listening || (sound)poetry || soundtracks for imagined worlds || piano pieces || not quite light || debris 2014-present

Recreating The Irwell (2018)

Using materials foraged from the banks of the River Irwell at dawn, and sound walks undertaken in residency in Salford, I recreate my experience and relationship with the river.

The Irwell is the historic dividing line between Salford and Manchester, one that also represents the distinction between those at the top of the agenda and those who aren't. The very spirit of the northern powerhouse. The newly gentrified area around the Quays being one site of a socioeconomic battleground which is found along all the sites on my walk. There's a temptation to frame all of the interactions around this conflict, but really there are so many other little stories and moments happening that you quickly lose sight of the human side of things. Every bend in the river seems to have its own history and narrative.

Commissioned by Not Quite Light to perform at 'Nightlights' at St. Phillips' Church, Salford.

Ghosts (2019)

Inspired by the inner life of metal, being cyborgs, and an ongoing distrust of cables. metal projector stand with a C-Ducer contact mic underneath, four audio jacks taped to the edge and mega-amplified. I used my hands, nails and a pair of violin bows to make sounds from them. The audio jacks buzz on contact with skin. Processing involves a series of pitch-shifters that depend on amplitude, pitch-shifters that don't, and several layers of reverb. It's in six parts, with each part changing the parameters of the processing and therefore how I interact with it. At about four minute intervals, the programming chooses a different section at random. In effect, I'm constantly fighting to make something out of the chaos of the internal programming.

Commissioned by HAUNT Manchester & Not Quite Light to perform at 'Hauntology' at Ace Hotel, Salford.