i am sound

I have just completed a sound design for Project Branded at Tron Theatre.

The show, performed by Tron Skillshops, examined what society would be like if there was no individuality and all young people were identical.

Barcodes became more and more significant as imagery in the piece,  which was reflected in the superb set design by Peter Screen.

It seemed only fitting that the sound design should incorporate the beep of a barcode scanner.

This soundscape was made by sampling a barcode scanner sound and playing it back at different pitches.

These sounds were then re-sampled and processed in various ways including delay and pitch shifting.   The processed sounds were then layered up to create texture and movement within the soundscape.

The pad and drone textures were created in Logic softsynth Sculpture.

I will be giving a workshop on sound design at the Glasgow Apple store on Thursday 17th March at 6pm.

The workshop will explain what goes into a creating a soundtrack for theatre or film and how you can use Logic to create or manipulate sounds to create soundscapes or original music.

I am currently creating music and soundscapes for the Tron Skillshops production Project Branded which explores the differences between individuality and conformity.

I am working on a theme based upon musical rounds that uses a series of identical parts, echoing the subject matter in the performance.

The three performances of Formel by Tim Nunn at Platform have proven to be a great success with some excellent feedback from those who attended.

Directed by Julie Ellen, Formel is a somewhat sensory experience, utilising sparse lighting – often complete darkness – and a constant soundscape to create a sense of space, depth and location .  These were based on some excellent field recordings made by Tim during his stay on Islay using a Fostex FR2 LE and a Rode NT4 microphone.  I then created additional elements and layered them to create a dense and rich soundscape for the show.

By assigning component parts of the soundscape to individual speakers and positioning them spatially I was able to establish a sense of location and proximity in each scene.

In contrast to this realistic sound there was also a stylised element to the sound in the performance.

Using individual sampled notes performed by flautist Katie Punter I created this minimal piece to punctuate certain dramatic moments.  The drone-like quality of the long flute notes was a fitting texture with the constant ambience of the distant sea and wind heard in the soundscape.

More information about Formel can be found on the Reeling & Writhing website.

“McConnell’s music sets the seal on a very captivating Christmas show.”

Mary Brennan gave The Tron production “A Very Cosy Christmas” a 4 star review in The Herald on Friday.

The magic and charm of the winter world we created obviously struck a chord or two and it is a pleasure to see such positive feedback in the press.

Read the review.

Here is a clip from one of the pieces of music from the show:

Photograph by John Johnston used with permission.

Lighting & Sound International magazine have published a superb 3 page article about The Enchanted Forest in their December issue

The article looks at both the creative and technical processes employed in creating the show and explains how Northern Light and DM Audio realised the lighting and sound design technically.

The magazine can be purchased in print form or can be downloaded digitally in PDF form from the Lighting & Sound International website.

I would like to thank Sarah Rushton-Read who wrote the article on behalf of Northern Light.

I have just completed a sound design with original music for The Tron’s winter Tall Tales show A Very Cosy Christmas.

The show stars Angela Darcy and Carmen Pieraccini who perform one of the pieces of music on handbells which I specified for the show.

There is a great video from our rehearsals of the girls playing the bells on the Tron Facebook page which I think captures the fun of the piece.

The soundtrack incorporated various chiming sounds including bells, triangles and glockenspiels which created a really magical feel.

A Very Cosy Christmas runs from 4th Dec-24th Dec.

Well all good things must come to an end so it’s time to wave goodbye to The Enchanted Forest for another year.

This year’s show “Force Of Nature” has proved to be a huge success with overwhelming positive feedback from patrons and press alike.

Numerous people have inquired about the soundtrack -  thankyou for your interest!

For those who would like to hear the soundtrack again there is a 15 minute medley that encompasses the most memorable moments of the original sound and music that I created for the show, and after several requests I have also uploaded the popular Firefly Chorus piece in it’s entirety.

You can listen to the 15 minute medley and Firefly Chorus on my Recent Work page.

I hope Force Of Nature has been as enjoyable to attend as it was to create!

For more information on The Enchanted Forest check the official website.

I have just done a sound design for Sandy Nelson’s superb comedy Baltamire which opened yesterday at Oran Mor, Glasgow for A Play, A Pie & A Pint.

The play was directed by Julie Ellen and was a pleasure to work on. Sandy’s imaginative writing called for the creation of some interesting effects, including elaborate helicopter and aeroplane soundscapes,  air traffic control radio communications and even the sound of bird eggs hatching!

The show features Sandy Nelson, Rebecca Elise and Ewan Donald and is a great show that is packed full of laughs.

“Baltamire” runs from 8th November until 12th November.   You can get tickets here.

“Baltamire” by Sandy Nelson.

Directed by Julie Ellen.

Assistant director – Stasi Schaeffer

Featuring Sandy Nelson, Rebecca Elise and Ewan Donald.

Sound design by RJ McConnell.

Photographs courtesy of Leslie Black.

After months of hard work, preparation and design The Enchanted Forest has finally arrived and it is already proving to be a resounding success.

Earlier this year I was approached by Derek Allen, the chairman of the Highland Perthshire Community Interest Company to compose music and soundscapes for this year’s Enchanted Forest show.

After walking the delightful site at Faskally Woods near Pitlochry with the lighting designer Simon Wilkinson we agreed that the natural beauty of the forest itself should be our theme for this year’s show.

After discussing how my musical ideas correlated with Simon’s vision for the lighting we noticed a strong elemental theme developing, with fire, earth, wind and water all becoming strong features in the design. The Force Of Nature was born.

In keeping with the naturalistic feel of the piece I deemed it only right that the music should employ earthly sounds in its creation. Organic sounds such as wind, birdsong, human voice and the sounds of stone slate were played musically as part of an ethereal score that was true to the naturalistic tone of the show.

In one piece entitled “Firefly Chorus” I sampled a variety of bird tweets so they could be played musically and in polyphonic structure. In this piece the evening chorus of birdsong eventually becomes a human choir, as the woodland before them is gradually illuminated in beautiful splashes of light. A moment which I hope sparks the imagination of everybody who sees and hears it.

“Firefly Chorus” was just one of several sound installations requiring very specific placement and type of loud speaker. Marcin Buczek of DM Audio was in charge of installing the various sound systems and his expertise was hugely appreciated by everyone. I would like to thank DM Audio for their superb quality of service on this production.

There will be audio from the show on my recent work page in the next week, so please check back if you would like to have a listen!

“Force Of Nature” opened last Friday and was warmly received by patrons and press alike. It was a pleasure hearing such positive feedback from many of the audience members as they promenaded around the site. It would certainly seem that the decision to create a more naturalistic show has proven to be a huge success!

There are photographs by Graham Smith on the BBC website which I recommend you have a look at.

Force Of Nature runs until the 7th November. Buy tickets here.