i am sound

I have been asked to do a sound design for the Tron Mayfesto production Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco.

Gary Owen‘s fabulous play is set in small town Wales and tells the story of one particularly eventful Saturday night, through the eyes of three different characters.  Despite being gritty and violent in places the play also drifts into the fantastical and ethereal and it is my intention to harness this heightened sense of reality in my sound design.

Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco is directed by Leann O’Kasi and opens at The Tron on Tue 24th May and runs until Sat 28th May.

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 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.

“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.

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.

Snow flakes falling down
Landing gently on the ground
Made crisp and cold by Jack Frost’s hand
A magic winter wonderland!