Weaving Sounds and Stories
Blending Genres, Textures, and creating a narrative in Ambient Composition
With Samantha Simmons and guest Slowfoam (aug 2)

Sundays

1-3pm EDT

July 12, 19, 26, aug 2

Virtual
4 week course

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“When I encountered electronic sounds for the first time, I immediately felt they were their own story.....My whole life I’ve not been able to do anything without an initial idea. I always needed to know where I was going, what I wanted, to have some sort of theme.” — Éliane Radigue

Led by sound artists Samantha Simmons and guest Slowfoam, this 4-week course explores ambient composition as a practice of listening, storytelling, and sonic worldbuilding.

Composition is approached as a surrealist, dada-inflected, multi-layered practice to create a sound world. Working with field recordings, found sounds, samples, and synthesis, participants will build immersive sonic stories that unfold gradually, like memory, weather systems, or film. 

This course is designed as a workshop for developing track ideas. I often find it easier to compose when I begin with a story, image, memory, film reference, or sensation. Throughout the course, we will work on shaping sonic narratives by asking questions such as: What does heat sound like? How might humidity be expressed through texture? What moods emerge in a recording, and how can they be translated into sound?

Through listening sessions, discussion, and demonstrations in Ableton Live, participants will explore techniques including looping, sampling, resampling, microsound, granular synthesis, spatial processing, and creative effects. Alongside technical skills, we will focus on developing a personal approach to composition and attentive listening.

Weekly assignments encourage experimentation and play, ending in a final listening session where participants share completed work and reflect on their process.

Open to participants with a basic beginner knowledge of Ableton. Sessions will be recorded and made available to participants.