At first glance it is just an old octagonal wooden kiosk, the remains of what once used to be a proud pier.

But, in fact, the structure off King’s Road is acting as one of 24 “neurons” around the country, mirroring the actions of the human brain to form a brand new piece of contemporary music.

Like 23 other locations across the country, the kiosk is being fitted with a microphone and a cutting-edge Feonic speaker, which turns any resonant surface, such as glass or wood, into a loudspeaker.

The national “neuron” network is spread across a wide range of locations, including a cattle market in Aberdeen, London’s National Portrait Gallery, Gloucester Cathedral, the Bronte Parsonage Museum in West Yorkshire, a Devon primary school and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

At the centre is the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool, which will have 24 speakers collecting all the fragments of sounds from the 24 different locations.

“Each of the 24 sites around the UK will be fitted with a device that captures sounds from that particular location,” says composer and sound designer Nick Ryan.

“When the sound reaches a certain volume threshold, these sound boxes capture tiny fragments of sound – between 10 milliseconds and half a second long – just like a neuron in the brain.

“So if a big cheer goes up at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the neuron there will capture fragments of the sound, and transmit them over the internet to the gallery in Liverpool.

“The composition is then transmitted back to the different sites so people will be able to hear what is being heard in the gallery through the speakers.

“When people go and hear the composition at each site they will be able to change it by the sound they make. It models the behaviour of the cortex of the brain in a biologically accurate way. The activity and behaviour of the neurons is very musical – they stimulate each other like members of an orchestra.”

The piece will also be streamed online at www.thefragmentedorchestra.com, although it is only by physically going to one of the 24 sites that people will be able to affect the sound.

The idea for the piece, which is being funded by sponsorship and a £50,000 award from the Performing Rights Society Foundation, comes from a collaboration between Nick and composer, musician and physicist John Matthias, called Cortical Songs, which was released this summer.

In the performance piece, a 24-piece orchestra followed the directions of a computer model of a brain, which flashed one of 24 lights every time a neuron fired.

John and Nick teamed up with artist Jane Grant to do something on a larger scale, and The Fragmented Orchestra is the result. As yet the team have not been able to simulate the sound they are expecting to hear from the giant cortex they have created across the country.

“The sound is getting more and more complex as we install the sound boxes,” says Nick. “It is difficult to say what it’s going to sound like from all 24 speakers. It will be overwhelming in the gallery space.

“What we have discovered is that the sound is very familiar. It’s not a random sound or an unpleasant one.

“It is an almost primordial, rhythmic sound. All the component parts are almost recognisible, but all the fragments come together to make something completely new.”

  • Visitors to the West Pier kiosk can take part in the Fragmented Orchestra 24 hours a day for free.

Visit www.thefragmentedorchestra.com for more information.