Can lived experience shape the way we design sound — and what happens when that process involves the body, memory, and place?

In this talk, experimental composer and sound designer James Welburn explores how immersion in environment, embodied listening, and experimentation can lead to authentic soundscapes — with ideas relevant to purely audio-based works as well as documentary film, fiction, gaming, and other audiovisual practices. Drawing on three artistic residencies in Longyearbyen, Svalbard — a landscape of industrial ruins, epic nature, fragile ecology, and immense natural forces — he demonstrates how environment and perception can be transformed into raw material for composition and sound design.

Alongside sharing sounds, music, and imagery from these projects, James reflects on how embodied impressions — the textures of place, the movement of the body, and the memory of lived encounters — can shape both creative choices and a unified sonic environment.

“I had to walk through the ghostly wasteland of old mining machines and be dwarfed by ancient mountains.
Feel the Arctic wind blow straight through my body. Listen to the sound of distant dogs barking through the fog.
Hear snow scooters echoing down the valley, while the repetitive crunch of ice underfoot formed a rhythm with my boots' spikes and chains.
Only then could I make music and sound that responded to the landscape.” 
– James Welburn

Welburn, an Assistant Professor of Sound for Documentary at the Inland Norway Television School, is passionate about soundscape creation and audiovisual expression. With 25 years of cross-disciplinary practice in sonic art, he continues to explore sound through teaching, research, and performance. He also produces and performs live experimental music with visuals, extending his embodied approach into the concert space.

Free to attend, no booking required