Name: Ellen Reid
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Composer, sound artist
Current event: Ellen Reid's new album Big Majestic, featuring Kronos Quartet, James McVinnie, Lisel, and Nadia Sirota, is out via New Amsterdam.

[Read our ex-Kronos Quartet's Jeffrey Zeigler interview]

If you enjoyed this Ellen Reid interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I listen to music in various ways. Sometimes it’s passive and sometimes it’s hyper focused, the body experience while listening in the different ways is quite divergent.

Over headphones, I can get obsessed with one song and play it on loop for weeks at a time. For example, the first time I heard Sigur Rós, I listened to “Svefn-g-englar” every night before I went to bed.



I was going through a challenging time and it made me feel like there was still beauty in the world.

While listening deeply, I often imagine colors and scenes. The body experience is in my head and takes place in my imagination. Sometimes songs take me to specific moments in my life, even if I didn’t listen to them during that time.

Over the stereo, it’s a much more full body experience. Once music is playing over the stereo, I can’t help but move and sing along. The experience is less centered in my thoughts and can be much more social.

Tell me about some of the albums or artists that you love specifically for their sound, please.

Honestly, I love so much music that it’s hard to even start to list artists and albums.

Recently, I went to Amoeba Records in San Francisco and picked up 3 records: Cymande, Alice Coltrane, and The Comet is Coming.  



[Read our The Comet is Coming's Danalogue interview]
[Read our  The Comet is Coming's Shabaka Hutching's concert report from the 2024 Xjazz Festival]

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Absolutely, I respond emotionally to various layers of music.

Rhythm makes me feel alive and motivated. It is infectious. I also respond to voices. Voices are so personal. It feels like I really get to know something about someone through their singing and I can’t help but be moved. Orchestrations can illuminate a moment by what they highlight and draw out.

Expression is a big one for me too. Violist Nadia Sirota tells a masterful story through her expressive tone.



Sometimes someone’s sound just reaches out and grabs me.

The first time I heard Shabaka Hutchings play, I was completely transfixed. The passion and soul in each note was immense. Collaborating with Shabaka on “Primrose Hill” and “Spiritual Sun” on my album, Big Majestic was so fulfilling.



There can be sounds which feel highly irritating to us and then there are others we could gladly listen to for hours. Do you have examples for either one or both of these?

I am really into trains and could listen to them for hours. Trains around the world sound so different from each other.

Trains in NYC are loud. They clack and squeal. The announcer’s voice is muffled and distorted and can never be understood. Trains in Germany sing in muted tones and are much smoother. The beeps and bings have a certain quality that seems gentle to me. The trains in Tokyo play a song for each station. The announcer’s voice is automated, polite, and always crystal clear.

The ambient sounds of trains are so different from place to place. And with a few seconds of listening to a recording or a train, I can be transported back to that location in mind.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

I love finding music in everyday things. Sometimes I take field recordings, and as soon as I turn on my recorder, absolutely everything becomes interesting and compelling.

Once the recorder is on and I am really tuned in, I begin to notice the nuances of the sounds around me: how two creaking dock pilings come in unison, how the announcer’s voice is muffled through the distorted speaker, how the katydids cycle rhythmically.

There is a certain quality to the sounds of the everyday, wherever I am, that is compelling whenever I’m listening deeply.

Have you ever been in spaces with extreme sonic characteristics, such as anechoic chambers or caves? What was the experience like?

I have never been in an anechoic chamber, but I’ve enjoyed the whispering gallery at Grand Central Station in NYC.



At the whispering gallery, you can stand in a specific corner and can hear somebody in the corner across from you whispering. Their whispering, even if it’s super soft, can be heard above the din of the crowd. It’s an uncanny thing to experience and a really fun thing to do with friends.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Before I start writing, I draw an abstract picture of the shape of the piece I’m aiming to create. There is a definite connection between the physical and the sonic for me. As I’m writing, I feel like I’m trying to tune the sounds to the color and shapes of the picture.

For the track “Big Majestic,” the picture I had drawn was reminiscent of the reflection of light off of water. I kept revising the melodies and timbres until I felt like the music was harmonious with the picture.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

I take precautions to protect my hearing, like wearing earplugs in loud environments, and I have tinnitus. It was challenging when it first happened. I had to learn how to compose through it. A doctor gave me some good (and frustrating) advice which was, ‘just don’t think about it.’ Easier said than done.

So, I do my best to not fixate on it, donate some money every year to tinnitus research, and stay hopeful that there will be some progress towards a cure in our lifetime.