WORK

Visualising Nocturnal Soundscapes
R| Artist Residency
With The Refinery, SCCA & UniSC
More to come soon!
Nikki Sheth's Sound Worlds
Sound Installation
Curated by Jason Singh for the Eyrie Stage at Timber Festival
A series of soundscape works that have been created using field recordings taken around the world. Listen to the sounds of frogs, hippos, bats and more as you immerse yourself in these composed sound worlds created by sound artist Nikki Sheth.
With thanks to Jason Singh, Timber Festival, Sound UK, PRSF and John Lucy.
Chiroptera
Soundscape Composition
Presented at ISEA Everywhen 2024 and part of the Strange Weather exhibition at UniSC Art Gallery
Curated by Megan Williams and Leah Barclay
Supported by PRS Foundation's International Showcase Fund

This work looks to foster a deeper connection with the places we inhabit and the other species that occupy these spaces. It comments on the importance of bats as a species and the impact of this species on humans and the health of the planet. This work is part of long-term research that explores nocturnal wildlife and ecological change.
Bat Boxes, 'we went outside and it's the entire earth' exhibition, Open School East
Sound Installation & Expanded Sculpture
Curated by Beatriz Lobo Britto
This two-channel sound installation highlights the crucial role of bats in pollination and their inter-species dependencies. In this installation, bat boxes serve as speakers, surrounded by home-grown dried flowers and laser-cut floral panels, emphasising the importance of bats, pollination, and home. While birds and bees pollinate during the day, over 500 plant species rely on bats for night-time pollination. They are vital to our ecosystem's health. Without them, there is no us.
Re-UP! Body Session, Royal Academy of Art, 2024
Field Recordings & Movement
Commissioned by The Space to Come
An afternoon of guided movement exploration in relation to sound. Using the soundscapes of nature and the absence of, we will explore how sound affects us as empathic vibrational beings and how movement can serve us in this context to practise selective focus as a form of intentional listening. We will imagine what it means to play attention beyond paying attention.
Open School East, 2023-4
Associate Artist
In partnership with Turner Contemporary
Open School East is a free, independent art school and community space that focuses on collective learning through the arts. This year's programme included Circulating Energies with Hugh Nicholson, It's My Life, Don't You Forget with James Leadbitter and NHS mental health services, an Associate led public programme, mentoring from Benedict Drew and Shenece Oretha and a final exhibition.
Immersive Soundscapes for Well-Being, 2023
Field Recordings & Soundscapes
Commissioned by Sound Generator, Sound  UK
This project explores the psychological effect of environmental sound in well-being spaces and looks to foster a deeper connection to the natural world. The R&D phase uses field recordings from the Azores due to areas of pristine natural beauty, wildness and the unique species and biodiversity found on the island of Sao Miguel. A collaboration with yoga teacher David Kam brings the environmental sounds to yoga and movement practice to be delivered as public sessions.
Nature Sound Bath, Quench Gallery, 2023
Field Recordings & Soundscapes
Commissioned by Quench Gallery, curated by Andrea Spisto
An evening of experimental performances of the sticky, the slow, the sensual and the sensory by Nikki Sheth, James Jordan Johnson, An(dre)a Spisto and Joana Nastari.
Disruptive Frequencies, 2023
Soundscape Composition - Pemberton Gardens & Sandwell Valley
Commissioned by AHRC funded project Disruptive Frequencies, University of Greenwich
This project aims to challenge institutional whiteness in experimental sound practice by investigating the creative identities of contemporary black and South Asian composers working in the UK. I was commissioned to compose two works for the project which have been released on vinyl with the label Nonclassical with an album launch at Kings Place.
Amphibian Vocalisations, 2022
Soundscape Composition, Wave Field Synthesis System, 07:23
Commissioned by Sonic Cartography Conference, University of Kent
Frog calls are used as mating calls, to advertise location and to designate territory. This piece explores these vocalisations, territorial boundaries and the use of space with the Wave Field Synthesis system.

Windmills of Lapua, 2022
Soundscape Composition, 20 channels with ambisonics, 06:56
The IKO Speaker and Environmental Sound, DYCP Project, Arts Council England
“Direct impacts of wind farms can include collision and barotrauma (damage to tissues from air pressure changes around turbines); indirect impacts can include habitat loss (roosts, commuting routes and foraging areas) and fragmentation.” – bats.org.uk
The piece explores the use of field recordings with the 3D IKO speaker and investigates how a sense of place can be created using a speaker that projects sound from the inside outwards using the sound reflections of the performance space. This work was made possible thanks to the Develop you Creative grant from Arts Council England.
No Fixed Media, 2022
Sound Design Masterclass series with String and Tins
"The inaugural No Fixed Mix programme held in 2019, welcomed five aspiring sound engineers into String and Tins’ studios. It included three workshops that focused on the audio industry - production, sound design and music - and was aimed at any woman and non binary applicants seeking a career in sound design.

Since then, we have expanded the programme to reflect the growing variety of projects that the studio is working on, incorporating foley, field recording and longform into the updated course curriculum. In addition to this, we have been lucky enough to welcome guest speakers and Kath Pollard and Kate Davies who have shared their experiences and offered valuable insights into the industry." String and Tins Sound Design Studio
Birmingham Soundwalk, 2022
Soundwalk for The Air We Breathe Exhibition
Commissioned by The University of Birmingham
Join Nikki Sheth for a guided walk around Birmingham City Centre to explore interesting and sometimes hidden listening points in the city. The walk encourages a deeper connection with the natural environment and a new awareness of the hidden sounds around us – both natural and man-made.
This event is presented as part of The Air We Breathe, a brand-new public programme with an exhibition, activities and events that explore the close relationships between us, our environment and our air quality. From a hydrogen train to a sci-fi forest, visit The Exchange to discover the work being done by the University of Birmingham to deliver clean air both here in Birmingham and around the world – and how you can get involved.
Binaural Soundscapes, 2022
Listening Sessions at Re-UP, The Wellcome Collection
Commissioned by The Space to Come
A one hour binaural soundscape listening session of soundscapes from South Africa. The one hour session can be repeated throughout the evening for the audience to drop in and out of. It will consist of 10 - 15 minute recordings showcasing different soundscapes for well being, relaxation and a sense of escapism.


Invisible Real, 2022
Multichannel Sound Design for Faye McCalman
Commissioned by Jerwood Arts for Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Invisible, Real is an installation created by Faye MacCalman that shines a light on our hidden mental worlds and illness through a subconscious dreamlike journey of otherworldly music and improvisations, projection art, spatialised sound and anonymous personal stories.  ‘Invisible, Real’ challenges the idea of mental illness being ‘taboo’ by presenting emotional worlds and sensitivity as fluid, magical landscapes that are an essential part of the conversation about being human.
Sound Explorers, 2021
Listening Workshop in collaboration with Emma Margetson
Commissioned by Barber Concerts
Explore, listen and record sounds of nature in your local area with sound artists Emma Margetson and Nikki Sheth. What might you discover if you use your ears instead of your eyes to find out about the natural world? Follow the three activities and become Sound Explorers.
Binaural Soundscapes, 2021
Durational Field Recordings, Binaural
Commissioned by We're All Bats for The Listening Arts Channel
A series of durational field recordings focused on environmental listening taken in the Limpopo province of South Africa in 2017. All sessions have been presented in binaural, creating an immersive, 360° listening space.
This series of listening sessions provides immersive spatial listening and a sense of escapism at a time where travel is limited. Listen to the unique sounds of the South African soundscapes that we would normally have very little access to and may never be able to experience in the same way again.
Headphones needed to experience these episodes for the intended effect. Listen here: https://www.wereallbats.co.uk/binauralsoundscapes
Nocturnal Insights, 2020
Soundscape Composition, 2 channels, 05:37
Highly Commended for Sound of the Year Awards 2020
Nominated for an Ivor Novello Composer Award 2021
Commissioned by Land Lines
Nocturnal Insights uses recordings of crepuscular and nocturnal wildlife across locations in Hertfordshire, Birmingham and Dorset in order to document habits and patterns in the behaviour of nocturnal wildlife in the UK and to capture sounds that are usually unheard throughout the night. Through an artistic representation of the recorded sounds, the piece takes the listener on a journey through soundscapes of the night organised according to the time at which they were recorded. It evokes a sense of darkness, loneliness and at times, a melancholic state, reflecting the effects of extinction, light pollution and the man-made world on the natural environment and ecosystem. Be transported to a sonic world of Daubenton, Pipistrelle and rare Greater Horseshoe bats using echolocation to hunt at dusk and into the night, sika deer calling out into a vast landscape in complete darkness and the rhythmic behaviour of crickets and tawny owls.
Stirchley Soundwalk, 2020
Augmented Reality Soundwalk
Commissioned by Ten Acres of Sound
The Stirchley soundwalk creates a 60-minute self-guided journey of immersive audio experiences which can be experienced using a smartphone. The free SOUNDwalker app uses GPS to guide the walker to different locations and, on arrival, triggers audio tracks which provide site specific responses to the immediate environment. The listening points have been recorded and the field recordings produced draw upon a range of sources – the hidden sounds of underwater currents, recordings of bats hunting above the River Rea, the secret world of Birmingham Brew before opening hours. As the walk progresses, the field recordings develop into smaller musical compositions that have been inspired by the mechanical and electromagnetic recorded sounds, progressing from a natural to an abstracted and imaginative sound world.
Sounding Surfaces Stirchley, 2019
Multi-media installation in collaboration with John Lucy
A site responsive sound installation created for the Artefact Winter Open Call 2019. The custom made aluminium sounding panels use surface transducers to vibrate the surface and create a unique set of speakers. The sound used for this iteration of the Sounding Surfaces installation is a set of two stereo compositions (one by each of the artists, 5 mins total) based on sounds recorded during the Hipkiss and Graney Electromagnetic Field Recording Workshop led by Michael Lightborne held at and around Artefact in June 2019, where we used coil microphones to hear normally inaudible electromagnetic sounds. Both the recordings and scans of flora used for the decorative panels were taken in local areas of Birmingham and are recontextualised in a gallery setting, bringing in visual and auditory aspects that normally go unnoticed and unheard in the local community.

Sounding Surfaces Holders Wood, 2019
Multi-media installation in collaboration with John Lucy
Commissioned by Forward Arts! for the Return to Nature Festival
A site responsive sound installation that highlights the natural sonic frequencies found in the woods during dusk chorus on a summer’s eve. The installation uses surface transducers that are vibrating a thin sheet of aluminum, creating a subtle, unobtrusive “instrument” that allows listeners to tune in to the frequencies of the natural world. Decorative panels have been produced using scans of flora found in the local area. The panels are intended to become weather worn over time and blend in with the natural world.
Vanha Paukka Artist Residency, 2019
Residency in Finland
The Vanha Paukka Artist Residency aims to provide artists with an opportunity to concentrate on their work and develop themselves as an artist. The residency takes place at the Vanha Paukku Cultural Centre, which provides an opportunity to collaborate with local artists, professionals and buildings on within the premises. During the residency, I spent two weeks recording in various locations including Lapua, Kyrkosjarvi, Seinajoki, Koli, Helsinki and Tampere. 
Sound Sculptures, 2018/19
Augmented Reality Soundwalk and Sound Installation in collaboration with Emma Margeston and the SOUNDwalker app
Commissioned by the Cultural Collections Team at The University of Birmingham or the Arts & Science Festival and Green Heart Festival
Sound Sculptures (2018) is a project exploring the relationship between sound and sculpture along the University of Birmingham’s Sculpture Trail. Distinctive soundscapes respond to the physical properties and characteristics of each sculpture, transporting the listener between natural and abstract sound-worlds. For 2019, the project expanded with a larger-scale composition being commissioned for the creation of a new work inspired by Ancestor I by Barbara Hepworth. The four movements of the composition respond to the physical form of the sculpture: head, torso, hips and legs.
Aulus Les Bains, 2018
Residency with Eli Keszler - Experimental Composition and Performance
Sound Installation, 3 channels, 2 videos,1 surface transducer and 1 live hydrophone
My creative output for this residency was a site-specific multichannel installation, using multi-media and a live hydrophone feed. Sounds were recorded in one location along the river and once in the studio I a) created a stereo composition using underwater recordings to be played in the installation space, b) played the over water recordings through a surface transducer into the water vessel. The hydrophone was picking up these vibrations and sending this to a mono speaker. This created an inverse sonic reality where the recordings were played upside-down to that of the original site. I created two videos of the recording location as an attempt to bring the external elements into the installation space and to contextualise it further I used water from the river that was transported over to the installation space.
Bird Calls of Sub-Saharan Africa, 2019
Sound Installation, 2 channels, 10:01
Commissioned by Barber Lates
My initial inspiration for this soundscape came from seeing the image of the African Civet from the Cassiano dal Pozzo’s paper museum exhibition. Having recently been on a recording trip to the native home of the animal, sub-Saharan Africa, I thought it would be fitting to use these site-specific environmental recordings. Having looked at the images in the exhibition, further inspiration came from the various bird images, including the Bird Mosaic. Almost all of the recordings from my trip predominantly feature the sound of various bird calls, especially those recording taken during the dawn and dusk choruses. This soundscape is almost a mosaic of natural bird calls recorded at various locations and different types of terrains in Limpopo, South Africa. The soundscape intends to immerse the listener in a slowly evolving wave of bird calls that have been shaped and sculpted together, creating a hyper-reality of the natural environment.
Photo Courtesy of The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Mmabolela, 2019
Soundscape Composition, 16 channels with ambisonics,12:35
Nominated for the Phonurgia Nova Awards 2020
From the palm-strewn banks of the Limpopo River to the dark depths of the Hippo Pool, Mmabolela transports the listener through the soundscapes of this remote location in South Africa. A series of interweaving ‘snap-shots’ and constructed realities based upon the many recording locations visited during the 2017 Sonic Mmabolela residency transport the listener to this hyperreal time and place. This work has been composed using ambisonic recordings and is the final piece in a series of three works resulting from the residency.
Released on Sounds of Mmabolela with Flaming Pines, 2021.
Limpopo, 2018
Soundscape Composition, 8 channels with ambisonics, 04:53
Commissioned by Craig Cox and funded by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Arts Council, managed by Music Network.
Limpopo is the second piece composed using recordings from the Sonic Mmabolela Residency. The field recordings used for this piece all contain natural rhythms that have been filtered, layered and sculpted into a five-minute immersive soundscape composition. Heavily influenced by the work of Francisco López, the piece attempts to create a hyper-reality of the natural soundscapes heard during the time at Mmabolela Estates.
Released on Sounds of Mmabolela with Flaming Pines, 2021.
Paddabolela, 2018
Soundscape Composition, 8 channels with ambisonics, 06:45
Paddabolela was composed using field recordings from a sound artist residency at Mmabolela Reserve, South Africa in 2017. Using advance technologies to capture sound, the piece looks to preserve sounds of the natural environment and engage the audience with an immersive listening experience through the use of multi-channel and ambisonic techniques. The piece takes the listener on a journey through different sound worlds of the South African terrain using a combination of natural sounds and sounds that have been abstracted to bring out an alternative sonic reality, creating an all-encompassing listening experience of the soundscape.
Released on Sounds of Mmabolela with Flaming Pines, 2021.
Sonic Mmabolela, 2017
Field Recording Residency, South Africa
Sonic Mmabolela is a 2-week residency for sound artists and composers with previous experience in the area of sound experimentation and sound recordings at Mmabolela Reserve, in the Limpopo province of South Africa, right at the border with Botswana. The residency is led by sound artists Francisco Lopez and Barbara Ellison.
Orford Ness, 2017
Soundscape Composition, 8 channels, 06:39
Orford Ness has been composed using recordings from a three day field recording trip to Orford Ness Nature Reserve in July 2016 with Chris Watson and Jez Riley French. The site is of Special Scientific Interest with limited public access due to its history as an atomic weaponry testing site. The piece has been created using four recordings taken during my time exploring the hidden sounds on the Ness. Sounds have been minimally transformed in the studio to create a multichannel immersive sound experience that sculpts sound through space whilst capturing the sonic identity of the place.
Released on Frameworks no.609, 2017
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