Analysis of 'Meat Factory Ear Worms'

As part of this module we were asked to examine a sound piece that created a sense of space and atmosphere. From the ones given i decided to analyse the 2008 piece 'Meat Factory Ear worms' by Richie Bernie which tells the story of a young man working in a slaughter house in Ireland. i chose this one because not only does it manage to encapsulate the atmosphere of a slaughter house with its use of sounds like; machinery, cows, steam and knives and tools scraping but it manages to add a flare of creativity and style which gives the piece a unique twist. 

The main focus of the sound piece is on how this young man coped with the gruelling tasks he had to carry out day to day at the slaughter house. This is mainly done via narration, however behind that narration their are atmospheric tracks like stated before that set the scene. Its here that the piece manages to add juxtaposition to great effect. In one particular sequence the man talks about the "sweet smell" of flesh in the factory, this is underlined not only by the scraping of knives but quite a beautiful score that would seem, in any other situation, to be quite calming but in this case by using it in juxtaposition it makes it creepy and uncomfertable.

Although the piece is quite experimental in terms of its creative style and how it tells the story it is fundamentally a documentary piece that does well to encapsulate the story of this young man. Bierne manages to paint a clear and vivid image with both background atmosphere and narration underlining key sound effects to help illustrate the narrative.