Sound Collage

I was recently inspired by 'The Dreams', a series of atmospheric sound collages by Delia Derbyshire. Listening to it made me want to do something similar, just with the emphasise more on fun than on bleak. But to pull it off I'm going to need some help, so...

Below are three pretty run-of-the-mill questions that I'd love you to record yourself answering. Be as uncreative or creative with it as you wish. I'm not asking for honest answers per-say, just a recording that I can chop up and turn into something new. Anything goes. 

It really doesn't matter how you record it either, as long as you're in a quiet spot, your phone will do. 

Lastly, please don't pre-write what you're going to say. I'm after warts and all, so just go for it, you can't go wrong. 

When you're ready:

1. Describe your perfect day

2. Describe your favourite meal

3. Tell me a joke

When you're done, please send your recorded reply off to: wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com

I'll do my darnedest to use at least a segment of everything that I'm sent. If you want to join in but don't want to be credited, please let me know and I'll keep your name off the list. And there's no deadline as of yet, but that will change once I start playing around with the audio I'm sent... but I'll keep you in the loop. 

Thanks for your time, 

- The Wormling

The Audio Bin

Everyone deserves a second chance, so why should be any different for audio? So much so that I'm setting up a collaborative project with a difference, 'The Audio Bin'. Inspired by Michael Landy's 'Art Bin', I'm wanting to give a second life to the sound recordings that you deemed not quite good enough. Those alternative takes that got thrown on the cutting room floor. The riff that never blossomed into a fully fledged song. The demo that got left behind after the studio recording was mastered.

I know, I'm going out on a limb here. It's a big ask asking for something that you're proud of, but asking for the things you're not... But wait, there's something I find very romantic about making something out of broken parts. It's the imperfections that we all react to, especially when it comes to music, so why not make music this way?

I also find the idea of recordings by different people, from different backgrounds, on different equipment, in different time-zones, all meeting together on a massive musical collage exciting. 

So this is my pledge. Dig your undesirable audio snippets and stems out of the trash and we'll make something new and provoking out of it, together.

Singers and vocalists: I want your off-cuts, your overdubs, vocal warm-ups, unfinished refrains, whaling, scatting, beat-boxing, humming... Christ even just you reading out your shopping list! I want it all, no matter how off-key, no matter how horse. Egos at the door, we're all friends here, so gimme, gimme, gimme!

Drummers and percussionists: I want your bruised and battered beats, no matter how out-of-time or rhythmically offensive, fill me up!

Instrumentalists: I want your dodgy chord progressions, riffs, solos, noodles... even just you practising scales on an out tune nylon string guitar... anything at all. 

Why stop at musical instruments? Why not throw some ambient sounds in there. Everything is, and can be an instrument these days. Your buzzing fridge, the traffic from your office window, the sound of your neighbours doing the nasty... well, maybe not the last one.

This is, and always will be a fun, none profit venture. And everyone who offers up their off-cuts will be  name-checked and in the loop of the creative process. It is a collaborative project after all. 

If you're in you can send your audio, no matter what quality, to either the new 'The Audio Bin' SoundCloud page, via email wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com, or through my Dropbox if you've  plenty to send. 

So what do you say, lets make music together.

Happy thoughts, 

- The Wormling

The Wou-Wou & The Wormling Wednesday Giveaway - Ground Rules

The premise is simple enough. Every Wednesday I'll give you the chance to win one of my original  doodles from my bloated back catalogue. No hidden agendas or costs, just my way of showing my appreciation.

How it works:

At approximately 9:00am GMT I will post a photo via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter advertising which doodle will be up-for-grabs. Gathering you want it, you then have a 12 hour window in which to leave the comment "the early bird catches the wormling". I will allow spelling mistakes, but it has to be that sentence or your name won't go into the hat, and you won't be in with the chance of winning. The hat pull will happen that same night once the results have been gathered, and if your name gets picked I will hastily contact you for your delivery address of choice. 

No postage and packaging cost will be necessary, but a donation to my paypal 'donate button' to the right would be kind. Better still, I will attach my address so you can send me one of your doodles, poems, stories, favourite recipes... if you so wish.

In the event that no-one bids for the doodle I will still place it into a sealed envelope, but instead of sending it off to someone, I'll leave it around and about for a stranger to "hopefully" find and enjoy.

Happy thoughts,

- The Wormling

Q&A

I'm guessing you're here for the experimental Q&A? Well, take a seat and make yourself comfortable.

All I need you to do is answer the twenty questions below with as much panache as you can possibly muster. Once you've done that, you're done! Your answers will be kept safe until Wednesday 9th July, when the actual experiment will take place (the full details of which I'm keeping under my hat for now).

The more creative your answers are, the better the experiment will work. So don’t hold anything back; let your inner poet out. This is your excuse (like you need one) to be as vulgar, exuberant or as silly as you like. Even telling the truth doesn’t matter. There are no right or wrong answers, only your own interpretation of what they should be. And no one will be directly linked to their answers, so you really can say whatever you like.

Right then, ready? Lets begin.

Question Set A.) - (Using no more than a sentence for each) 

What do each one of these words represent to you?

Love:

Money:

Nature:

Sex:

Meat:

Home:

Friends:

Technology:

Nostalgia:

Question Set B.) - (Using no more than a sentence for each) 

Now for memories. You don’t have to be detailed, a vague description’ll do just fine...

Your First:

Your Happiest:

Your Saddest:

Your Proudest:

Your Most Vivid:

Your Dimmest:

Your Darkest:

Your Most Rose-Tinted:

Your Most Recent (that isn’t answering this question):

Question Set C.) - (In any order) 

List

Which three words do you find the most putrid?: 

Which three words make you giddy?:

So if you wish to take part, please send your answers to: ‘wouwouandthewormling@gmail.com’ or private message me via the ‘Wou-Wou..’ facebook page, before Monday 7th July.

Happy thoughts and many thanks,

- The Wormling