HUMANS OF FROME Writer & photographer Ciara Nolan meets Patrick Dunn

“Starting at the age of eight, this week’s Human of Frome, Patrick Dunn, was singled out as a talented violinist, and the ensuing years saw a lot of time, money and energies invested into his development as a top professional player.  At least that was the plan,” says Ciara.

“He was very fortunate to study with some of the most inspirational (and now sadly, rather notorious) teachers of the period, both at Chethams music school and Oxford, and went on to be the head of music at a comprehensive school in Northants by the age of 24. He composed music for theatre and video, learned as many instruments as he could lay his hands on, and published a set of music education books. But the sense that he’d never really “made it” as a player led to him questioning whether he wanted to keep being involved in music, and at the age of 27 he gave up music completely and went to business school, not returning to the violin until he was inspired by his move to Frome at the age of 48.

“In the meantime, he dabbled a little with jazz saxophone and it was while studying with his rather baffled and frustrated teacher – progress was painfully slow – that he had a eureka experience that gave him some answers to long-held personal mysteries.  ‘Patrick, I realise what your problem is,’ his teacher said, ‘You don’t listen at all; you are not hearing the music, you are seeing it!’ In an instant he understood at least one reason why he didn’t fit into the sonic world that he had tried to conquer for so long. It also gave him the freedom to explore a whole new approach to music and to learn more about harnessing the unique beauty that the synaesthetic mind can deliver if given the freedom to express itself.

“As with everything else that Patrick has tackled in his life, huge leaps and bounds in the world of “visual music” were made. He did a masters degree at Bath Spa University (run by Frome’s own Prof Jo Hyde), which built on his years of working with animation, film and digital multimedia, and it’s the convergence of all his various career paths – learning technology consultant, web developer, writer, teacher, lecturer, ski bum – that has led him to where he is today and that is of course on international festival and concert stages with the likes of Banco De Gaia and Afro Celt Sound System.

“He describes himself as a “visual musician” and explains how he works to create bespoke visuals that work with, and build on, the music for these large scale shows.  The visuals are not mere backdrops, but an integral part of the whole experience. Sometimes, the visuals are pre-prepared to synch perfectly with the live performances of the bands, something only someone who understands the intricacies of music can edit together, other times he might just have to bravely give himself over to the music and create imagery on the fly, especially in the case of working with improvisational jazz musicians.

“As with his academic studies, he turns his creative hand to many musical genres, from opera to avant garde electronic music and back  again through the musical classifications from a-z. He talks of how he adapts software to suit his performances, drawing circles with his fingers on the wall as we speak, and pointing to invisible circuitry and knobs on the table before him and it’s so wonderful to see those hands painting pictures in the air as he speaks so passionately about his work, and it’s clear that he experiences the world in such a visual manner.

“He may not be a professional violinist today but he is certainly making his very own unique mark in an audio visual universe that he can thankfully share with us.”

Here are some examples of how he sees music http://pdav.co.uk/visuals-for-music