Innovation & Technology Sound for the Moving Image
Tomasz Grab
I’m Tomasz Grab, a sound practitioner and traveller from Poland, currently based in Glasgow. My background is in Music Production, which later evolved into a focus on film sound – both on set and in post-production through sound design work.
Before studying at the Glasgow School of Art, I pursued Music Technology at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. I then spent a year in Kraków at the AMA Film Academy studying Film Sound, and studied Music Production at the Outpost Academy. My curiosity and passion for sound also took me on a three-month journey across South America, where I gathered field recordings in places such as the Peruvian Amazon Jungle and the Bolivian Andes. I’ve also spent two months travelling through Southeast Asia and three months exploring the landscapes of Iceland.
During my time at GSA, I developed a wide range of technical skills including 5.1 mixing, music and sound for media production, post-production workflows, as well as spatial audio (including sound for games) and interactive sound. I’ve become proficient in tools such as Max/MSP, Pro Tools, and Premiere Pro. This showcase presents a selection of the work I created while studying at GSA.
My research and practice focus on areas like real-time sonification of weather, generative sound, and field recording – especially exploring how sound can manipulate emotions in relation to the moving image. My compositional approach is inspired by artists such as Chris Watson, the Icelandic band Múm, Sun Kil Moon, and James Blake. I often repurpose field recordings and interweave them into my work, creating immersive sonic textures.
I’ve also been credited at IMDb in films such as IGLA by Joseph Gross (2023), as sound mixer and Rage of Stars by Łukasz Rog, where I served as boom operator.
real-time weather data sonification
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For my dissertation project, I created a system using Max/MSP that generates real-time sonification of the weather in Glasgow. The patch receives live weather data and interprets it to create sound collages — a never-ending piece of music with no clear beginning or end. The data used in the video represents four different weeks from four different seasons across Scotland. Each week was chosen for its weather anomalies. I created this fixed-data version to fully demonstrate the potential of my main project and to explore how the system sounds across different seasons, days, and nights. Each second of the video represents one hour of real-world weather.
The mapping of my sonification project is as follows:
Temperature is mapped to the pitch of virtual instruments, allowing them to arpeggiate within either a major or minor scale, depending on the temperature. Wind speed directly affects the volume of the wind instrument, making it louder as the wind intensifies. Cloud cover influences the overall brightness of the sound by interpolating between ‘bright’ and ‘mellow’ timbres. Humidity controls the reverb, which activates when levels are between 75% and 100%. When it rains, a chorus effect is applied to reflect the wet conditions. Additionally, the system generates music during sunrises and sunsets — different compositions for each event. On the visual side, I’ve mapped strong wind to blur the screen. Cloudiness is connected to the grains. The screen colors change to reflect day and night cycles.
The purpose of my project is to create a compassionate mirror of reality — a sonic system that embraces the fear surrounding increasingly severe global warming-related weather anomalies. It transforms the ontological data of the weather into phenomenological sound. The sonification is meant to keep playing, no matter how extreme the weather becomes. The piece is designed for an art gallery setting and can be easily reprogrammed to reflect weather from any part of the world.
iktsuarpok
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This piece embodies Iktsuarpok—the anticipation of a guest’s arrival, felt like wind stirring in a state of constant readiness. Using Max/MSP, Ableton, and Premiere, I explored how abstract audiovisual elements can converge meaningfully. I made this piece using field recordings from Inti Raymi, which I captured in Cusco, Peru in 2022.
sound_film
I made this film by taking static videos instead of photographing things, when being on the road. I used footage from my trip to Isle of Skye, as well as recordings I took in South America in 2022. Since the film tries to convey the emotion and inner world of my traveling, self-doubt, and the search for meaning in external validation, I decided to juxtapose some of my footage to enhance the derealization of the material and make it more insightful. The biggest inspiration, though, I took was derived from films such as Sans Soleil by Chris Marker, where the poetic narration from the travels of fictional characters are being read over beautiful, analogue shots from the streets of Tokyo, as well as Tree of Life, where the narration pushes the narrative forward.
experimental_film.wav
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In my experimental short film, my goal was to explore the interplay between memory and creativity by transforming the old into something entirely new. To achieve this, I assembled a tapestry of archive footage, pairing it with music I composed and layered with audio recordings from my travels. This blending of visual and auditory elements created a work that feels deeply personal yet universally evocative. The process of crafting this film was a profound learning experience. It pushed me to experiment with unfamiliar techniques and explore unconventional ways of storytelling. By reimagining archival material through my own lens, I not only developed a deeper appreciation for the potential of found media but also expanded my understanding of experimental filmmaking as a medium for self-expression.
totoro – sound design rework
For my excerpt from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), I reimagined the scene’s sonic environment entirely from scratch, avoiding reference to the original score. Built in Ableton using layers of ambiences, extracted dialogue, natural and synthetic effects, the piece featured rhythmic synthesized motifs inspired by Mort Garson’s Plantasia and the stylized timing of Delicatessen (1991). I used Mickey Mousing techniques to align sound tightly with character movement and created effects like buzzing flies and plant growth using synthesis alone. Original foley—including vegetable crunches and breath-blown wind—added tactile depth. The goal was to create a whimsical, otherworldly atmosphere while respecting the scene’s gentle emotional tone.
I was responsible for sound, while my friend Lewis Davidson handled the music.
video art documentary
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In the documentary, our goal was to inform viewers about video art while also embodying its essence. To achieve this, we experimented with Multicam interview recording, employing vintage analog cameras to evoke the nostalgia often associated with archive footage. The process of making this documentary was a learning experience for me. Almost every task was unfamiliar, presenting numerous challenges and prompting me to learn new skills. This journey broadened my understanding of documentary filmmaking and enriched my knowledge of video art.
I made this work with Greg Breen, Jules Franey and Andy Dunn.
