The decision to stage the piece - exploring the poetic, religious and musical culture of ancient York's Viking settlers and Anglo-Saxons - in the city's Dean's Park received great critical and popular acclaim. It was experienced by over 50,000 visitors across four evenings.
This year's Festival theme of Voices from the Past - the first time it has had a content signature - enabled the Festival event to broaden into some new platforms and parameters whereby the public could explore, interpret and understand the city as a place with a living breathing past. Contours was one of these toe-dipping installations.
York is also the home to a number of famous ghosts, and has a thriving night time tourist and local economy based on its ghostology, which gave the historical value of the piece additional resonance and meaning.
Monid has created soundscapes for two previous Illuminating York Festival projects, both of them accompanying visual works by large format projection specialist Ross Ashton. The dual site Accendo in 2008 and last year's Rose son et lumière at York Minster were both exceptionally well received, and whilst researching and creating these, Monid built up an intuitive feel and affinity with the City and the importance to it of this specific historical era.
"I was extremely proud to be asked to present Contours in York," says Monid, "I felt it was a real compliment to and an extension of my previous work there, and I was even more delighted with the turnout."
Contours was physically set up as a circular soundfield that could accommodate up to 400 people in the centre for each 10 minute looped session. It was mixed as a quadrophonic soundtrack with no synthesised sounds applied - all source material being originated from raw recordings.
"The presentation blended past tradition and modern technology," she explains, adding that this basic approach creates a very rich, real and enveloping atmosphere in which the guest becomes immersed.
Monid recorded poetic recitations in seven different languages - Old Norse and Old English - as per the originals - and then translations into modern Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and English. These were fragmented yet all worked continuously as one rhythmic communication.
"The idea is that people experience the power and emotion at the very essence of the sounds and spoken words, and reproduce their own autonomous ranges of accompanying images in their heads," explains Monid.
All the instruments involved in the Contours soundscape are genuine reproduction articles from the period played by Monid herself. This includes a seventh century lyre modelled on one found at Sutton Hoo and reproduction wooden pan-pipes, based on an original set unearthed at the Jorvik excavations in York. She also plays a sheep's bone flute custom made for the project in Norway.
Monid decided to add a circle of light to the installation to denote the soundfield and encourage people to walk in and listen, for which she worked with lighting designer Neville Milsom. It was a simple set up with lighting fixtures changing colours along with the flow of the piece. Lighting equipment was supplied by Stage Electrics.
The d&b loudspeaker system of four C7 speakers and four Q-SUBS were supplied by The Stage Management Company. The speakers were positioned 20m apart, and Monid designed special weatherised hides for these which were built by Raise The Roof. In the dark, the speakers were invisible, blending into the trees, foliage and other surroundings. The soundtrack was played back via
