David finds the sound of family caregiving and home health care
- Music
David Reijer de Haan, aka David Hayne (artist name), finished his Bachelor Fine Art and Design in Education at ArtEZ Zwolle, during which he was also involved in musical pursuits. His final graduation project was a sound installation, which influenced his decision to further connect visual art and music in the master's course Sound of Innovation. The course Sound of Innovation aims to help students use sound as an innovative tool in other fields, thus shaping and expanding the musical field and its impact. David and his fellow students have been hard at work for the Trendbureau Overijssel, creating the commissioned album Behind Closed Doors, which depicts the pressures that caregivers face in informal care and home health care.
Album of the future
Initially, the students discussed what the topic meant to each of them and what sounds they were considering including. From there, an initial concept followed based on samples, online research, conversations with a medical professional, and home recordings. "We wanted to make a futuristic album, one with not only music but also soundscapes, poems and stories. We used Spotify Canvas for each track on the album, which shows a short, continuously repeating visual. This way, we could add the imagery from one of our classmates with a visual art background to create a richer story. By using Spotify, we also hope to reach a wider audience than just decision makers. The songs are all fairly short, so people can get through the whole album quickly, but together they form one story."
Through our work on the track, the question arose: “What if the government apologised to all non-professional caregivers who had to suddenly step up, fill the gap and provide informal care?"
Interviews and atmospheric recordings
After the Trendbureau Overijssel’s enthusiastic response to their first draft, the students held interviews with people in settings that provide informal care and recorded sounds of the caregiver atmosphere. It led to some extraordinary conversations. What stuck out to David? "I spoke to a man who had a very prominent position in facilitating informal care, and at the same time was the caregiver for his terminally ill wife. After conversations with both of them, it was clear that each one was communicating a different reality." The result can be heard in “Two Sides of the Same Coin,” where the husband’s and wife’s stories are intertwined with the other and can only be distinguished if the listener focuses on one voice.
With a wealth of recordings at their disposal, the students discussed which clips were interesting and who would collaborate with whom. From those discussions, they created the final version of the soundscapes. David co-led the album arranging with another student, who also did the mixing and mastering. “Step by step, our work became more and more layered. We realised we wanted to include not just artistic expressions of our conversations, but a larger societal or political picture as well, using materials such as news clips. For example, Ivory Tower contains extracts of Mark Rutte’s speeches given during the depths of the COVID pandemic. Through our work on the track, the question arose: “What if the government apologised to all non-professional caregivers who had to suddenly step up, fill the gap and provide informal care? What if they thanked them for that?”
The thirteen-song album was enthusiastically received by Trendbureau Overijssel. According to them, the students struck the right chord with the target group, managing to combine form and content very well. The interviewees themselves said they were also touched and impressed by the album. You can listen to Behind Closed Doors on Spotify and other streaming services.
Artistic Researcher
The Sound of Innovation programme strives to find a connection between sound and other lines of work, such as healthcare. The innovation aspect to this interdisciplinary association is particularly interesting to David. “I find the crossroads between concept and involvement especially interesting. It’s more down-to-earth, less airy or idealistic. I think the real value lies in how we approach a subject like healthcare as autonomous creators, because we are not caregivers ourselves. And we are also not sociologists; we are artistic researchers.”
Follow David
Want to know more about the Master Sound of Innovation?
The Master Sound of Innovation programme is all about discovery. You will develop your projects and ideas that are rooted in music, but extend as far as your imagination allows. You will broaden your artistic practice with music and other sound-based creative pursuits that transcend boundaries between artistic and non-artistic sectors and defy convention.
More information
