In our final piece around Innovation in Sound 2025, we’re joined by two students who are both moving out of their comfort zones to create some seriously impressive projects.
We’re so close to Innovation in Sound 2025 that we’re beside ourselves with excitement to see our final year students exhibiting their cutting-edge projects.
So far, we’ve covered projects that explore the sense of belonging to generative and interactive installations that explore human interaction.
In this final edition of our coverage, we’re chatting with Johnny Mooney and Hannah Flannigan to find out how the ‘Innovation in Sound’ module pushed them into new creative territory.
BA (Hons) Music Production & Sound Engineering
“I've been captivated by high-frequency and metallic sounds for some time, especially after discovering how they can be used as an enhancement layer over drums as in music. The moment this project was initiated, I could immediately envision a soundscape consisting of sharp, high-pitched clinks and clanks. Sounds evoking a sense of ruggedness—rustic, metallic, and industrial—emerged in my mind. I also found myself imagining vivid scenes of fires, sparks, and aged machinery, creating a dynamic and intense atmosphere.
“It wasn’t long before the image of the blacksmith came to mind. Once a flourishing craft, the blacksmith's trade has now become a dying art. I wanted to capture the story of the blacksmith sonically—tracing its origins from ancient times, its peak during the Industrial Revolution, and its gradual decline in the modern era.”
“I brought a variety of microphones to a local blacksmith in Bristol to capture the essence of the craft. I set up a stereo mic to capture the room ambiance, while using a shotgun mic to focus on the intricate, close-up details.
“I recorded the blacksmith in action—the powerful roar of the fire, the crackling sparks from the embers, the rhythmic hammering on the anvil, and the sounds of other blacksmith machinery. My goal was to authentically capture the true sonic experience of a blacksmith at work.”
“After ensuring the highest quality recordings through meticulous techniques and precise mic positioning, I imported the sounds into my DAW. The next several hours were spent crafting a composition with a cohesive and linear flow.
“The most thrilling part of the process was the sound manipulation. Having explored innovative techniques earlier in the year, I was eager to experiment with granular synthesis for this project.
“I took some of my original recordings and processed them using granular synthesis, generating fresh, dynamic sounds that enhanced the original material. This added depth, texture, and an unexpected layer, enriching the overall composition.”
“After completing an immersive audio module at dBs, which included Dolby Atmos mixing, I was eager to mix the composition in 8.1. There’s something truly unique and captivating about being fully surrounded by sound, immersed in a three-dimensional sonic environment. When executed effectively, an 8.1 mix can transport the listener to another time, place, or situation.
“In this case, I aimed to take the listener into the heart of a blacksmith’s workshop, offering an authentic auditory experience of what it would be like to spend time in such a dynamic environment.”
“Soundscapes, granular synthesis, and 8.1 mixing were completely new concepts to me. My background is in pop music, which is highly structured, predictable, repetitive, and typically only a few minutes long.
“Initially, I felt quite uncomfortable and nervous about venturing into such innovative projects—these techniques couldn’t be more different from pop music! However, the more I explored and experimented, the more I began to trust both myself and my creative vision. I’ve come to love the freedom this kind of creativity offers—there are no limits, only the boundaries of your imagination.
“Exploring these new techniques and approaches to sound has opened up exciting possibilities, allowing me to incorporate fresh composition and production techniques into my music.”
“I’m eager to share my project with an audience at The Loco Klub. Having worked on this project for some time, it still fills me with excitement, but I’m particularly looking forward to seeing it experienced by fresh ears. I hope the listeners enjoy the immersive journey as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it. I’m genuinely excited to hear their thoughts and reactions!”
BA (Hons) Music and Sound for Film & TV
Photo credit: Alex Hall
“I’ve got a Max patch on the computer and I’m controlling it in three ways: the DIY electronics box I made - The Lorg Mór - which is the main controller, I have an audio interface going in for a contact mic and a regular dynamic mic, and lastly I have a webcam that controls a synth through movement and the movement is created using the light from a torch and the animation in a zoetrope that is spinning on a record deck.”
“I don’t have a name for the performance yet…
“But the box I’ve built does have a name - The Lorg Mór. The name is taken from Irish mythology. Within this mythology there is a god called the Dagda who carries a Lorg Mór (or ‘great staff’ in English) whereby if he strikes with one end it has the power to kill nine men but if he chooses to strike with the other it can bring one man back from the dead.
“I feel like I can draw parallels to the enjoyment of experimental music - it can put-off nine people but for the one person that connects with it, it can be a strong source of catharsis for them. Therefore if I am the controller of this performance then the box I have created is my Lorg Mór.”
“All throughout popular music there have been artists that have built their own gear, whether it’s Kraftwerk with their early take on the drum machine or Imogen Heap with her Mi.Mu gloves, that have proved that there’s an interplay between creating a musical idea and communicating that idea to an audience in an interesting way.
“I think that Robert Gluck has articulated it better than I can - ‘It is a positive feature in that the only limitation on instrument design becomes the human imagination.’ So sure I could probably connect a MIDI controller to the computer and perform that way but the great thing about DIY electronics is that it allows me to create something that is bespoke to what I want and allows me to gesture how I want to.
From left to right: The framework of The Lorg Mór constructed by Hannah's dad; Hannah marking out where the buttons will be; the lid ready to be put into place.
“This then really does become an extension of myself and the piece of music because I don’t have to fit it around something that someone else had already made. I also get to be creative with the overall visuals and design of it too which has been very fun. It’s a very beginner's take because I am a beginner but I’m excited to see what else I can create as I learn more and more.”
“This is pretty much new territory for me. When I was a kid I loved electronics and my parents would buy electronic sets and snap circuit kits for me - I always wanted to be like Doc from ‘Back to the Future’, so I’d be drawing ‘blueprints’ for inventions - I would make tiny radios, sensor activated lights and model engines.
“When I got seriously into music as a teen, I fell into a group that would see a laptop or a synth on stage and be like, ‘that’s not real music’ or ‘they’re not a real musician’, so my electronics hobby fell by the wayside as I focused more on gigging as a drummer. As I’ve gotten older that has absolutely changed.
“I found Emmanuel’s Innovation [in Sound] lessons really inspiring. He’d present a topic and then show a bunch of examples of artists who have taken the concept and ran with it in a really creative way. I would sit there and think, ‘I really want to do something like that!’
“One great thing about dBs is that throughout my course, for every module I’ve been pushed to achieve more than I thought I was capable of. So when I was creating the initial ideas for the Lorg Mór, I felt the confidence to say, ‘this is all new to me but I reckon I can do it.’”
“In my head, I divided the technical aspects of this project into four sections:
“And lastly I’ll add that there’s a surprising amount of technical work in the crafting of a zoetrope so that it works - I had to work out the sizing and spacing to work on a record player at a specific speed.
“It was one of those things that I looked at and thought it was easy to make but it took way more time and thought than I had anticipated. Seeing it work definitely made it worth the effort though.”
“Being on the Sound and Music for Film and TV course, presenting work is constant - whilst we’re not playing live during the showcases, I still treat it as a performance because you sit facing the class and watch the reaction to your work in real time.
“I’ve loved that throughout my time at dBs because it created a real sense of community in my class and I also think it’s made me strive to always do my best work. So when it came to the Innovation Showcase it wasn’t even a second thought to me that I was going to present my work as a live performance.”
“Definitely the atmosphere. There’s something about when you’re at a gig and the lights go down, then the music starts fading in and you’re sharing that experience with a group of people that are there for the same reason - that is a feeling that can't be replicated for me, so I’m really looking forward to that.”
To check out Johnny and Hannah's projects in-person and many others, visit Headfirst to secure your free tickets.