[Vallée d’Arsoué, Azet, France - 2 August 2022]

In August 2022, whilst I was making recordings in the Vallée d’Arsoué near Azet in the French Pyrenées, I came across a metal gate leading to a shepherd's shelter. I was struck by its silence, aware its latent sonic characteristics, waiting to be sounded. I recorded an improvisation, using the gate as a musical instrument. In my studio, I listened to these recordings, processing them to create new sounds, whilst trying to preserve the musical phrasing from the improvisation. The piece begins with the recognisable sound of the gate opening but then takes a journey into the abstract, whilst always trying to maintain the integrity of the sound.

The title evokes not only the sound I recorded, but is also a nod to the pejorative description of contemporary music, "It sounds like a squeaky gate!" In this case, it’s meant to…

Azet Gate (Squeaky) forms part of a larger projected album release with Jonty Harrison, consisting of short forms (4 – 6’) made from single field recordings.