the atlantic cable

Being and The Humble Bee

3 x 3″ cdr

edition of 110

disc 1 : being - west to east

disc 2 : the humble bee - east west

disc 3 : eastwestwesteast - mix by andrew hargreaves

“The Atlantic Cable” by Being & the Humble Bee (Russell Burden & Craig Tattersall). Another elegant addition to our jackdaw-style series, this 3 disc set once again returns us to the open water with an examination on the first signals sent on the transatlantic cable system from Valentia, Ireland to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland.

Each artist interprets the directional signal on a different disc with an addition a bonus disc of deep sounding salination mixes by Andrew Hargreaves (Boats, Tape Loop Orchestra)".

graphic score & associated sound pieces based on the atlantic cable of 1858.

a collaboration between ‘being’ (russell burden) & ‘the humble bee’ (craig tattersall) interpreting a graphic score in two directions using two different tonal registers.

completing the project is a third piece that combines the two directions into one mixed by ‘tape loop orchestra’ (andrew hargreaves).

publisher: wist records, ireland, 28 Nov 2016, edition of 110 – wist rec 022

key: a♭

tempo: 120bpm

length: 1914 miles = 19 mins 14 secs = 578 bars

sounding chart: 1857 h.m.s. cyclops. soundings made by lieut. dayman for the laying of the atlantic cable

Paper stock used (quantities differ per jackdaw):

Cyclus 160g: At least 50% recycled, FSC certified

Martello 250g: At least 50% recycled, FSC certified

disc one

title: west to east

artist: being (russell burden)

west to east score direction

(transcript: morse encoding of the president’s speech)

west to east score register

g 4 • f 4 • e♭4 • d♭4 • c 4 • b♭3 • a♭3 • g 3 • f 3 • e♭3

west to east score intervals

designated (in bars) and nearest respective notes per depth sounding from trinity bay, newfoundland to valencia, ireland.

0 • 55 • 66 – 74 • 81 • 89 • 98 • 190 • 122 • 139 • 151 • 165 • 180 • 196 • 208 • 224 • 239 • 256 • 270 • 284 • 259 • 305 • 320 • 340 • 362 • 384 • 398 • 413 • 428 • 442 • 457 • 476 • 488 • 502 • 511 • 514 • 578

west to east morse encoding

e♭5 – 622.25hz – 5wpm

b♭4 – 466.16hz – 6wpm

g 4 – 392hz – 7wpm

e♭4 – 311.13hz – 8wpm

c 4 – 261.63hz – 9wpm

sound sources

audio morse generator

field recordings

bowed bass

synth

melodica

kalimba

piano

five frequency speech to morse graphic (rb)

period cable section & re-claimed cable micro-slide (rb)

disc two

title: east to west

artist: the humble bee (craig tattersall)

east to west score direction

(transcript: morse encoding of the queen’s speech)

east to west score register

g # • b♭ • c • c # • e♭ • f • g • g # • b♭• c

east to west score intervals

designated (in bars) and nearest respective notes per depth sounding from valencia, Ireland to trinity bay, newfoundland:

0 • 65 • 78 • 85 • 102 • 113 • 131 • 138 • 152 • 162 • 173 • 190 • 203 • 228 • 245 • 266 • 278 • 282 • 296 • 308 • 327 • 336 • 357 • 370 • 390 • 405 • 422 • 432 • 447 • 462 • 482 • 492 • 495 • 510 • 512 • 523 • 578

east to west morse encoding

c – 130.81hz – 5.1 wpm

c# – 138.59 and 277.18hz – 5.1 wpm

e♭ – 155.56hz – 5.1 wpm

f – 174.61hz – 5.1 wpm

g – 196.00hz – 5.1 wpm

g# – 103.83 and 207.65hz – 5.1 wpm

b♭ – 116.54 and 233.08hz – 5.1 wpm

sound sources

audio morse generator

field recordings

harmonium