SAW Spotlight: The Doom Orchestra
In conversation for SAW25
In the lead-up to this year’s Sonic Arts Week, we chat with some of SAWs returning highlights. Roaming once more through the streets of Middlesbrough is The Doom Orchestra, a mobile, improv sound ensemble first commissioned for SAW24 where the project was brought to life by artist Rupert Philbrick.
The Doom Orchestra is equal parts sculpture, performance, and sonic experiment; blending handmade instruments, live improvisation, and movement into a surreal, outdoor soundscape.
To dig a little deeper into the makings of these sonic contraptions, we caught up with Rupert to talk tension engines, salvaged sound, the magic of improvisation and to find out who’ll be joining the lineup for SAW25 - as ensemble takes on a new form.
Can you tell us a bit about how the music boxes were made?
I'm a bit of a magpie for junk. The sound boxes or "tension engines" were an idea that had sat in the back of my brain for the best part of 10 years... and so I'd quietly stashed away doo-das, springs, bolts, broken electronics, the legs from an old-fashioned record player etc, all added to the "maybe one day..." pile, and dutifully moved between studio spaces & home offices in the hope that I'd have a chance to see what came of it all.
When Nell & Liam from SAW approached me in early 2024 about the project, it seemed like the stars had finally aligned! We had a couple of chats about what and how the boxes could work, digging into some shared inspiration and other examples of this kind of work - and then set to building.
The building of the boxes took place between my home studio in Gateshead and the Auxiliary in Middlesbrough. I put together a couple of prototype boxes, experimenting with the kinds of objects you could use, the noises they would make, and the different ways the sounds could be amplified. There was always a hope the devices could be portable, so this was factored into the scale & size of the final devices. But as much as anything, I was working to the available dimensions of the raw materials I had - the lid of each box comes from the back of an antique Welsh Dresser I'd salvaged these lovely pine boards from - and so I worked intuitively from there. I wanted for each of the final boxes to have their own vibe or sonic focus, but to also work as part of a larger ecosystem, so used some of the same elements in different ways across the instruments.
From roaming through the town & spilling into unexpected public spaces, Rupert reflects on how each motion shapes the sound and vice versa.
How does sound and movement intersect with this work?
Both elements are heavily entwined. From those micro-gestures of each performer interacting with their tension engine, and the ways in which these movements are then amplified; to the slow swaying of the orchestra as a whole when we move together through the streets and spaces of Middlesbrough - each part of that physical journey impacts the qualities of sound the boxes create.
Similarly, the noises we make can influence and inspire the quality and way in which we move. Each instrument is a self contained entity, with the performer carrying their own speaker etc, which allows a real freedom to explore spaces in a way that a traditional performer might not have the means to when on a "stage".
So…no two performances are the same. With new collaborators joining the lineup for SAW25, including saxophonist Izzy Neish, the evolving structure of the Doom Orchestra takes on a new form.
The Orchestra works through improvisation, how does this flow and change throughout the performance?
Coming once upon a time from a background in theatre, one of the foundational rules for improv is "Yes, and..." - I guess that is what we've tried to embed with our performances. It requires a lot of intuition, both with your own instrument and how it is reacting to your playing, but also to the others involved - whether performers or members of the public.
It's very easy to get lost in the sounds you're making, but for things to work effectively, it requires all of us to have a constant eye / ear open to the rest of the orchestra, tuning in / zoning out to each other as a performance progresses; and to be really aware of what's going on around you in the public spaces you enter in to. For SAW 2025, we're working with an additional instrumentalist Izzy Neish on saxophone - who in some ways, is becoming our band leader - and a means to coordinate and communicate with each other within the context of the performance, bringing a more structured / journeyed approach to things.
and of course for the final question…
Do you have a favourite sound?
For me, my favourite sound from the boxes has to be when I'm using the cello bow. Perhaps there's something about the visual in it too - people see the bow and assume they know what to expect - but dragged across the different elements, the brass rods in particular, where you can pinch and bend them at different points to make different notes... combined with a healthy dose of reverb, they become these ethereal chiming drones and groans that fill the space.
With lots more to come about this year’s programme get ready for the tension engines and ethereal drones that is The Doom Orchestra with Izzy Neish.
SAW25 Artists Here
