Online
Tech Dissect: The Musicality of the Seemingly Mundane – Composing with the Sounds Around Us w/ Natalia Beylis
21st August 2025
7.30-9.00 pm BST
£8.30 or free for Saffron members
Saffron’s monthly workshops are part of the Saffron Members Club, but non-members who are women, non-binary people, trans or gender non-conforming folks may also purchase a ticket.
THE MUSICALITY OF THE SEEMINGLY MUNDANE – COMPOSING WITH THE SOUNDS AROUND US
Join Natalia Beylis for a listening workshop geared towards both novice and seasoned sound collectors, field recordists and those interested in finding new ways to incorporate everyday soundscapes into their compositions.
Step into a realm where the unseen and unheard come alive. Where every rustle, whisper, and song tells a story waiting to be discovered.
What do we seek as we capture the melodies of life, the voices of nature, and the echoes of human experience? Why do we feel compelled to preserve these fleeting moments? From kitchen clatter to birdsong, from the hum of appliances to the rhythm of footsteps — we’ll explore how to uncover the musical potential in the textures and tones that surround us.
Using guided listening activities as our starting point, we will share ideas about the art of recording, producing, and analysing the whispers of the world that we capture.
The session will include:
- An introduction to Natalia’s practice and approach to deep listening
- Explorations of ethical and intuitive approaches to field recording
- A participatory activity: drawing a sound map from the comfort of your own chair
Whether you’re just getting started with sound or looking for new inspiration, this workshop offers an open space for curiosity, creativity, and reattuning to the world around you.
ABOUT NATALIA BEYLIS
Natalia Beylis’ music revolves somewhere between sonic story-teller and multi-instrumental explorer. She has released over 40 albums between solo works and collaborations and has appeared on numerous compilations. Based in rural Ireland, her work parallels the lines of her surroundings: creaking trees, farm animals, vocal samples taken from conversations with her neighbours, the northwesterly breeze, creatures rusting in the hedgerows, strange noises from the bog at dusk and rainfall. Lots and lots of rainfall.
Her solo compositions and improvisations are a mix of garbled tape collage recordings, manipulated sounds of seemingly mundane objects, eerie mandola mantras and dreamscape piano voyages. While she regularly records on a variety of traditional instruments, she is just as likely to use non-musical sound sources within her compositions. For example, she recently released an album using just the sounds created by a domestic Singer sewing machine.
Natalia regularly collaborates with cellist Eimear Reidy, percussionist Willie Stewart in the duo ‘Hedgling’ and is a member of the group BB84. She also creates pieces for ensembles. Her latest composition, ‘Around Here, The Birds Plant The Trees’ uses conkers both as a sonic source and as a visual conducting aid to direct the players.
ACCESSIBILITY
Workshops are open to people worldwide, but will be running at 7.30 pm GMT so please bear differences in time zone in mind.
We are committed to making our online events as accessible as possible. We have created a guidance document about this – Click here to view the accessibility document. Alternatively, please email us with any access requirements you may have: hello@saffronmusic.co.uk
GENDER POLICY
The gender imbalance in the music technology industry is well-recognised. While we are absolutely not ‘anti-men’, we see that a shorter-term solution is to provide fellowship and learning environments that are not dominated by the cisgender male perspective. Therefore, these workshops are intended for women, non-binary, trans and gender non-conforming people to attend. While we do not ban cisgender men from attending, we hope that they will respect that this event is not intended for them.
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