Audio

Dawn Rechorused

Sound Art Composition

A sound art composition, Dawn Rechorused takes a recording of the dawn chorus running initially at normal speed. Then, as the piece progresses, the birdsong gets slower. First to 1/2 then 1/4 then 1/8 of the original speed using imperceptible crossfades. I think it’s amazing how the birdsong changes. When it gets really slow it sounds almost tropical.

It serves to show the fascinating melodic variations of garden birds. The more the original is slowed down, the more varied and unusual the bird’s melodies become. Things that can’t be distinguished at normal speed become clear. Although it’s old-fashioned, slowing down analogue reel to reel tape in this way presents a much more organic and natural quality than trying to slow down modern digital recordings.

Ripples

Ambient Music Composition

A gentle ambient music piece that combines a forest stream with a soft Fender Rhodes electric piano composition. This was recorded on a pair of linked, vintage valve Brenell and Ferrograph, early 1960’s tape recorders connected together by a loop of tape to form a time lag accumulation tape delay (a technique from the world of 1960’s experimental tape music). The intention here was to try to create music to capture the way that ripples in the forest stream sparkle and dance in the morning sunlight.

Springtime

Soundscape Recording

This soundscape recording captures Springtime in The New Forest, with a bubbling stream, and the sound of a cuckoo and woodpecker adding to the woodland ambience.

Ponysales

Sound Art / Soundscape Composition.

A Sound Art composition created from raw material recorded at the Autumn Beaulieu Road Pony Sales. The idea was to create an organic piece that features the commoners, the sound of the ponies and the auctioneer, but compose it so that it has some unusual “listen again” elements, such as the modification of the auctioneer’s patter into a rhythmic pattern.

The Beaulieu Road pony sales yard is located on the Lyndhurst to Beaulieu road about three miles from Lyndhurst. The main pony sales occur late in the year there. All the New Forest ponies are rounded up by Agisters and commoners, taken off the Open Forest, counted and then health checks and necessary treatments given. The pony sales that occur soon afterwards provide the animals owners, (known as New Forest Commoners) the chance to sell their livestock, or to purchase more. 

Brock Hill in Rhythm


Sound Art Composition

A rhythmic sound art piece produced from natural sounds recorded at Brock Hill, Rhinefield Ornamental Drive, Brockenhurst in The New Forest.

The Lymington Train

Sound Art Composition.

This Sound Art composition has been created from recordings of the automated voice heard inside the Lymington to Brockenhurst train, together with the sound of the train interior. The interior has been transferred to analogue tape as a loop, which forms the basis of the piece.

The Lymington Railway, running between Brockenhurst and Lymington was established in 1856 and a temporary station opened at Lymington on 12 July 1858. A permanent station was opened at Lymington Town in 1860. Three years later the company acquired a ferry to the Isle of Wight. The company was absorbed by the London and South Western Railway in 1879. Services were extended to Lymington Pier in 1884.

Market Day

Sound Art / Soundscape Composition.

A Sound Art composition that’s produced from recordings taken at Lymington’s Saturday market. Each element was created as a separate sound object and then spliced and manipulated on sixty-year old Ferrograph reel to reel tape machines using tape loops and backwards sound. The distant music that forms part of this piece comes from sound drifting down the street from a record seller’s speaker system.

Keyhaven Afternoon

A Sound Art Composition.

A sound collage produced from a collection of audio materials captured on a quiet afternoon in Keyhaven.

Point to Point

Soundscape.

On Boxing Day each year, the annual point to point races are run across the forest. This piece is built from various individual recordings that I collected near the finishing line one chilly morning. This is a significant social gathering in the New Forest calendar, and it’s exciting!

The event is organised by responsible local officials of the New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society who have wide experience and understanding of the race; usually having raced in it themselves in the past. They have good understanding of the New Forest habitats and special ecological status areas.

The location of the end point is not disclosed until after the closing date for entries about 1st. December. The participants are then told via the New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society website. The location of the start point is not disclosed until the day before the race, and then only to participants.

The children’s races are approximately 1.5 miles escorted by mounted riders. The adult races are approximately 3 miles with mounted stewards along the course.

Tractor Music

Sound Art Composition.

This piece was developed from a single recording of a vintage Titan tractor, which I captured at The New Forest Show. Eight different pitches of the original sound have been used, each an octave apart. Mechanical melodies have been produced by triggering elements of the original sound in semitone steps.