“Floral Derrangement” by Scanner
As a documentary videographer, I’m always on the lookout for projects that push creative boundaries and reshape how we experience the world around us.
One of the most captivating commissions I’ve worked on this year has been filming Scanner’s “Floral Derrangement,” an innovative sound installation created for the Durham Brass Festival 2011.
Floral Derrangement is Scanner’s reinterpretation of a piece of British musical history—the 1970s hit The Floral Dance, famously performed by The Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. But rather than producing a simple cover, Scanner, whose real name is Robin Rimbaud, expanded the familiar melody into something entirely new. As he explained during our shoot:
“I’ve made a piece called Floral Derrangement, which takes inspiration from a 1970s hit single called The Floral Dance. What I’ve done is take the original themes and expand upon them. So I’ve stretched it so it becomes a huge, epic piece of music.”
The resulting piece is a 20-minute soundscape where brass passages surface and fade amid sweeping, cinematic layers. At times, subtle echoes of The Floral Dance rise to the surface before melting back into ambient textures, giving listeners fleeting moments of recognition amidst an entirely new sonic environment.
“There are passages which are very clearly brass, and every now and then there’s a little riff that comes through from the original The Floral Dance you hear. I replayed the entire piece on the keyboards. So there’s the sensibility of brass, but presented through this more cinematic, wide-scope, ambient feel.”
What makes Floral Derrangement so remarkable is its relationship to place. Scanner envisioned the piece as an environmental soundscape, drifting over the River Wear and surprising people as they pass by—whether they’re boating under Durham’s bridges, strolling along the riverbanks, or wandering through the city streets. The music becomes part of the urban landscape, caught on the breeze and subtly changing the atmosphere of the city.
“I like the idea of people being on boats. I like the idea of people being in town, walking across another bridge or through a street and hearing the sounds that drift through in the evening or the afternoon just through the wind.”
From my perspective as a documentary videographer, filming a sound installation like Floral Derrangement brings unique creative and technical challenges. It’s not just about documenting a performance—it’s about capturing how sound transforms a space and how people interact with it. For this film, I worked primarily handheld so I could respond quickly to shifts in light, moving reflections on the water, and the constant flow of people along the riverside. I aimed for long, sweeping shots and gentle pans to reflect the expansive, ambient character of Scanner’s music, trying to visually mirror the piece’s “cinematic, wide-scope” feel.
Floral Derrangement is a perfect example of how art and music can change the way we experience a place, turning familiar surroundings into something new and unexpected. By using carefully crafted sounds and reimagined musical themes, Scanner transforms everyday spaces into a richer, more immersive environment. Even hearing the piece for a short time can shift how we feel about a location, showing how sound installations can deeply influence our sense of place.
Projects like this remind me why I’m passionate about working as a documentary videographer. It’s not only about recording events—it’s about preserving the moments when art intersects with public spaces and offers fresh ways to see, hear, and feel the world. I’m excited to share this film soon and hope it captures even a fraction of the atmosphere and vision behind Scanner’s extraordinary work for the Durham Brass Festival.
I’m excited to share this
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