Steve Peters – A skeleton now, and then forever-CD – Dragon’s Eye

Sound installation is enjoying a boom period currently, as many sound workers explore all of its elements and ramifications, the depth of ingenuity at times is quite astounding. Peters’ work here is formed from distillations of sound gleaned from room atmospherics, with no additional instrumentation or manipulation, it becomes an eerie document of the minutiae of sounds and reverberations spilling from empty spaces, with additional input coming from sounds that breach the space from outside. Peters slices fragments of these reverberations into layers of frequency, and uses this material as the fabric of his work.

Each piece isolates and dissects sounds which are then gated and equalised, with little or no additional processing. What emerges is a spare, yet highly charged soundscape, with subtle tonal shifts and incursions. Filtered Light is part of a series called Chamber Music that explores empty spaces, and indeed Peters work engages with issues of place, presence, perception, attention and duration. I would also add memory to that list, as many places actively “record” the events contained within them, and in Filtered Light, Peters has released these sounds , placing them under a microscope for further analysis. Given the economy of means at his disposal, Peters has bootstrapped a fine work into existence, using the sonic DNA of a building to form a cerebral and intensely engaging piece. Highly recommended. BGN