Soul of Place Videos
SOUL OF PLACE
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DEOPE
“The healing and inspiring side of the River Deben is captured so beautifully by Clare Hedin, who walked its banks daily on her recent stay in Woodbridge. As a music healer she tunes into the mystical and magical side of a river that weaves through the ancient town of Woodbridge on its way to the North Sea and out into the world. Two tides a day bring in new ideas and wash out the old.
No wonder King Raedwald built his burial ship at Sutton Hoo, overlooking the river through the picturesque Suffolk light, so beloved by painters and poets. Some say the immortal words of Beowulf “They stretched their beloved lord in his boat, laid out by the mast, amidships, the great ring-giver” is based on the story of that ship found centuries later.
Clare’s film “Deope” imparts a sense of wonder that people from the poet Edward Fitzgerald to the painter Thomas Churchyard must have felt walking by its side, along with Brian Eno who mused during his river walks to Kyson Point how to create ambient music.” Jan Pulsford, Woodbridge Ambient Music Festival. Sept 2023
Motions of water, wind, light, and sounds of Venice – a city living in a lagoon… water life, floating islands of natural history with many tempos – uniquely interweaving life patterns. As I saw the reflections of buildings and heard the working boats, Venice’s Winter took my senses ‘out of time’. I noticed that which can often remain unseen; reflections of daily ritual, within which much of life is revealed. I did not add spoken word or music, as I feel the conversation of Venice life is itself an evocative and meaningful sonic tapestry.
Created with Alex Hopwood for the More Than Music mentorship program, our collaboration muses on the soothing effect of nature, both on our senses and our sense of being and belonging. Alex created the montage of visuals and I created the original score. It showcased at Curzon Cinema in London, May 2024.
Filmed at Ocean Beach, San Francisco – I was caught by the silvers, greys and whites of the ocean. So often thought of as blue, this water had a way of moving that was monochromatically iridescent and I fell in love with it. The sounds of the ocean also hold the magic of its sonic signature. I end with this excerpt ‘We are the ocean, sun, sky, wind, the moon, and the tides….’
After spending 2 months walking the riverbanks of Deben, I was touched by the soul of the river. Once known as Deope – ‘deep one’ – it is a water body that supports many lives in Woodbridge, Suffolk. With a rich historical narrative, its healing qualities flow under the daily lives of so many locals. Dive into water sounds, human sounds, spoken word, magic, and music.
This piece is a combination of images taken on Scottish Argyle lands; walking inside tidal lochs, inside the skirts of mountains, along tidal paths, and in the lush forests. The sounds of the wind and the sea and birds, belong to Orkney, the islands north of Scotland’s mainland. It is a vital place of elemental fortitude – as a human, I am nothing against the power of the wind. 3/2020
Kyle Chandler, filmmaker, combined his footage of central plains of USA with my improvised voice and shruti. 9/2021
I went with producer, Gentry Stanley, to be filmed singing at the feet of the Giant Sequoia as the sun rose. This being had been given a militaristic name that didn’t ring true for me, so I asked it what it’s true name was. What I heard was ‘Adame’. When I went home I looked up the root of Adame, and found that it means ‘red earth’. 18 June, 2018
Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. Originally recorded in Grace Cathedral Feb 14, 2022. Played over the marina’s sleeping boats by Gentry Stanley.
Burning Man’s playa @ Black Rock, Nevada. Filmed by Gentry Stanley. 2022
