This Must Be The Place – Grassington

This Must Be The Place – Why?

Do you have that one place in your hometown that when you’re there, you’re the most [insert your home town here] that you can be? The place that most speaks to you, that draws you home when you’re not home… a place and a time you shared with the most important people in your life… the place you go to gather your thoughts. The place that centres you.

Hope and Social’s first installation, This Must Be The Place, draws on the notion that people’s memories, the events and experiences that people have are embedded in the very walls and streets of a place, rooted in it’s very soil.

Over the past year or so, we at H&S Towers have been exploring the making of location specific musical experiences. We’re interested to make something musically that can only be experienced in a specific place, something that’s the opposite of the ubiquitous worldwide digital album release. But what?

This Must Be The Place – What Is It?

Time waits for no-one, or so the saying goes. Well, we wanted to change that. So for Grassington Festival 2018 (15>30th June), Hope and Social’s This Must Be The Place will take you to six hallowed places around the fine village of Grassington. These are people’s favourite places… places where defining things occurred, where people met… and parted, the places that mean something, that mean home. Places that matter.

In these place you will find the above “This Must Be The Place” blue plaque and beneath you’ll find your time travel device attached… a pair of baked bean cans, and a twine anchored in the soil. Through the wonder of binaural recording (By Nora what now?!), via a length of string and a pair of tin cans (and in conjunction with your very own willingness to suspend your disbelief), and if you listen well in these places… if the memory there is strong enough, you’ll be pushed (or is it pulled?) through time to experience a moment that happened in that very space, in sonic 3D.

(Wanna hear our binaural recording tests? Pop on a pair of headphones and click this!)

We Need You

Through the first week of June, H&S will be returning to Grassington to record six audio pieces. These will become our six events, six moments in time, in six places. There’s some stuff that we’re making entirely ourselves (it’s only fair, we’re the ones getting paid after all! [winks]), however, it would be very out of character if Hope and Social to missed out on the opportunity to get some people involved in the making art, and the having fun sooooo… here’s who and what we’re looking for, and when we want you! If you’re up for it, then you’re very welcome.

Wed 6th June – 6.30pm – Linton Falls

(Map)
This is an open call for all singers. We’re going to be coming across Linton Falls bridge and surrounding our binaurally microphones. We’ll be done for around 8… which is important because we’d love to you also join us for the pub quiz at The Black Horse, Grassington after for a pint. If you can sing, come and help us record magic and capture lightning in a bottle.
Sign Up HERE!

Thurs 7th June – 7pm – St. Micheal & All Angels Church, Linton

(Map)
Again, we’re looking for singers, but this time with a loose focus on choirs. Starts 7pm, done for 9ish. If time allows, we’ll be playing a few tunes in Linton Church to say thanks for singing with us, so feel free to stick around for that (NB can’t promise that bit though, as it depends on what time we finish). Soooo, if you sing in a group (or even if you don’t, you’ll still be welcome if you can hold a tune!), and fancy mustering some of your fellow chorus, then please …
Sign Up HERE!.
(We will likely also be decamping to a pub, time dependent… but have no firm plans as yet.)

Any questions, please ping ’em in the comments below (or if they’re of a personal nature, email us).

We’re very much looking forward to seeing y’all.

Credits

This Must Be The Place – Grassington exists at the happy juncture of Hope and Social’s interest in making location specific music, Grassington Festival‘s goal of expanding the geography of the festival, and project funders’ Great Place‘s action research into the migration of youth from the Craven area of North Yorkshire.

This blog is brought to you by the number six, the letters Q and Z, and in conjunction with all the urgency of trying to find a banjo at very short notice to take to Kazakhstan for next weeks Bring The Happy shows.