Details

Go beyond a traditional listening experience into an expanded universe of octaphonic sound.

Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) presents the ninth edition of Sonorous – a series of octaphonic, commissioned concerts. Founded by Robin Fox and Byron J Scullin, MESS is dedicated to the creation of electronic sound and music. Representing one of the most unique, eclectic, and historically significant collections of electronic instruments worldwide, the ever-growing MESS collection is made available to creatives and the broader public to learn, play, and record with hundreds of electronic instruments at their fingertips.

About the concert

A liberation of sonics from the shackles of stereo, Sonorous welcomes listeners to go beyond a traditional listening experience into an expanded universe of sound. For its ninth instalment, MESS invites acclaimed artists Joel Ma and Jannah Quill to engage with the limitless possibilities of the MESS collection.

Commissioned to create an immersive multichannel electroacoustic performance, these two extraordinary artists push their work in new directions through the experimentation and manipulation of spatial sound. Join us as they demonstrate the unrealised potential of sound and diffuse their brand-new works in glorious, octaphonic surrounds in the acoustically rich Primrose Potter Salon.

Caring for Our Community

Melbourne Recital Centre is committed to the safety of our artists, staff and patrons. A range of public health, hygiene and physical distancing measures are currently in place. Click here to learn more.

About the Artists

Joel Ma sound artist
Producer, rapper, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Joel Ma is recognised as a unique voice in the Australian music scene with a reputation for innovation and sonic experimentation. The past two decades have seen Ma work with a vast number of artists, writing, collaborating, and producing with Birdz, Hermitude, Emma Donovan, Ecca Vandal, Tim Rogers, Parcyn Singh and Mindy Meng Wang. Awarded Music Victoria’s Producer of the Year Award in 2020 and named a Sydney Myer Fellow the following year, Joel Ma was invited to become the inaugural Artist in Residence for Gamelan DanAnda which resulted in the intercultural Balinese Melbourne project, Saundra Sound System.

Jannah Quill sound artist
Jannah Quill is a Naarm (Melbourne) based cross-disciplinary artist exploring the boundaries of electronic music production and performance through technological research and experimentation. She is interested in the interplay between light and sound, with major presentations of audio-visual works that use innovative A/V systems to invert conventional signal flows and sonify light. Her music production reflects her varied experience across experimental music, sound design and contemporary club contexts, as well as her ongoing practice in modular and analogue synthesis; the latter of which has spurred research into relationships between generative synthesis, intuitive composition, and feminine technological histories.

Series

This production is part of the following series: