Poet Ralph Hoyte, composer Marc Yeats and coder Phill Phelps have been awarded an Arts Council GftA (Grants for the Arts) to develop a GPS-triggered poetic contemporary symphony, THE FROME MAIDENS.

THE FROME MAIDENS, one of the first of a whole new generation of user-mediated mobile experiences, is a located soundscape set out in virtual space along the 18-mile long course of the River Frome from her source near Old Sodbury to her confluence with the Avon in the centre of Bristol. The Frome is the reason Bristol is where she is, the Saxon settlement having been built at the easily defendable confluence of Frome and Avon. When Bristol Castle was built, the Backditch, conencting the two where the Cabot Circus shopping complex now stands, completed the protective watery triangle.

Our aim in this scoping study is to create a unique word-music fusion and then place it in located virtual space, initially on sites alongside or connected to the River Frome. Users will then be able to download the content off the net onto their GPS-enabled device and literally 'walk-thru' the symphony in real-time on sites alongside the Frome. What is heard on the headphones is defined by the users' own completely unique pathway through the virtual soundscape ('the scape'). Our content is thus in effect source material which enables users to 'mix' their own symphony by walking it. We are also experimenting with a 'sharing mode' in which users' individual experiences are recoreded by their device for subsequent sharing.

THE FROME MAIDENS is based on the conceit that if the Rhine can have Rhinemaidens, as created by Wagner for his Ring Cycle, then why shouldn't the Frome have Frome Maidens? Ralph has written a script based on this conceit and Marc has composed the music. We are currently building a GPS-triggered 'scratch model'.

 The project's timeline is calculated to tie in with platform developers' Calvium's adaptation of current mediascape technology for potential iPhone apps (rollout possibly Summer 2010). We are also hoping to involve Interactive Media students from The University of the West of England (UWE). A variation on the project will be developed for the Bridport Literary Festival this coming November.

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Posted by ralph