AS THE Pontio Arts and Innovation Centre prepares to host Bangor Music Festival, a whole new experience will be on offer for festivalgoers.

Taking place between February 11-12, the festival will see a range of creative musical talents, yet one unique concept by Rhodri Davies will make for intriguing viewing.

For Mr Davies will be showcasing what he refers to as Clywed Arogl (or Smound), an innovative experience that attempts to harmonise the link between aromas and melodies, and one heavily influenced by the musician’s own personal experiences.

An Aberystwyth-born harpist and composer known worldwide for experimental music, Mr Davies said: “In 1999 I significantly lost my sense of smell and taste.

“Although there has been a partial recovery over the years both senses remain diminished.

"Smell training has been shown to help recovery in some studies, and involves repeated stimulation of the smell nerves.

"Traditionally musical scores privilege the eye but I am keen to investigate how might sound be inspired by different types of smell.

"Listening to a concert the audience never see the score, what the musicians are playing, in the same way they may not smell what the performers are smelling either.

"This will be the first time I will have done this and it’s a complete experiment.”

Alongside Mr Davies on the Saturday will be his violinist sister, Angharad Davies, and their friend, Patricia Morgan, on keyboard and bass guitar.

The first part of their performance will be a ‘sonic installation’ that presents the audience with different aromas and sound.

The trio will then perform at various locations around the Pontio building from midday until around 4pm, interacting with the sound and smell installations.

The aromas to be used include ground coffee beans, baked bread, lilies, garlic, jasmine plants, essential oils, incense, lavender, earth, hay, leaves and musty books.

Learners from local secondary schools will take part in their own sonic performances to the smells within the installation, under the guidance of the performing group.

From 5pm, the second part will be a performance that will include an “immersive and interactive experience” for both the audience and performers.

Festival Director, Guto Pryderi Puw, said: "The senses are the themes of the festival and there is something about the senses in every concert.

"Hearing is clearly one of the senses and the trick is to bring the other senses into the festival.”

The festival will also feature Darragh Morgan and Electroacoustic Wales, who will explore the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) phenomenon, a tingling sensation that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine.

It will include the music of Arshia Samsaminia, a recent work by Jonty Harrison alongside world premieres of pieces by Bangor composer Andrew Lewis and Irish composer Irene Buckley.

After Rhodri Davies' presentation, a concert in the main Bryn Terfel Theatre will feature new works by Guto Pryderi Puw, Dutch-born composer Carlijn Metselaar and Welsh composer Joseph Davies, with the works being commissioned and performed by UPROAR.

Pupils from an educational project established by the festival will also be performing, along with a piece by Du Yun from China and a work inspired by the visual elements of a street theatre by South Korean composer Unsuk Chin.

On Saturday morning Marie-Claire Howorth will present Camau Cerdd (First Steps in Music) to children aged from six months to seven years of age on the themes of touch, sound, and space, in collaboration with Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias.

Young talented performers from Canolfan Gerdd William Mathias will also have a stage, performing an eclectic mix of music for soloists and ensembles during the early afternoon.

This will be followed by the Bangor New Music Ensemble performing new compositions inspired by the senses by students at the Department of Music, Drama and Performance at Bangor University.

Furthermore, highlights from this year's festival will be broadcast at a later date on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show programme.

More information about the festival can be found online at www.bangormusicfestival.org.uk and tickets can be purchased from the Pontio Box Office on 01248 382828.