In 2001 I was involved in the sound design for a large multimedia visitor attraction in Rotherham, UK called Magna. This permanent exhibition, set in a disused steel manufacturing plant, is a celebration of the steel industry which was at one time prominent in that area of the UK. During the project I collected a number of recordings of machines used in the steel making process and was fascinated by the richness and depth of these sounds, recorded in their different environments. I wanted to create a piece which used these sounds in a more musical manner than I was able to for the sound design and to bring these sounds out of the huge spaces which were their original context - the mills in which they were recorded and the Magna exhibition centre - and to secure them for listening to in much more intimate performance spaces.

Thanks to Peter Key for original recordings.

Vox Magna was premiered at the Musée d'Art Contemporaine, Montréal, in March 2003, as part of Rien à Voir and was awarded an Honorary Mention in the Musica Nova 2003 Electroacoustic Music Festival, Prague. It features on the solo DVD-A Un Son Peut En Cacher Un Autre from empreintes DIGITALes.