M11 contact mic study

So it's the summer and I'm here at my parents house for a few weeks, unfortunately the house is located beside the M11. However today instead of cursing it's evil noise pollution I decided to attach a microphone onto it.

This was also a good excuse to use my hydrophone, bought from Jez Riley French (http://hydrophones.blogspot.com/) as a contact microphone. What I got are some dark, industrial sounds, reminiscent of the cold concrete onto which the mic was attached. Interestingly enough though, whilst I was right underneath the motorway the sounds heard were predominately from vehicles passing beside me, the tunnel acting as a reverberating force whilst traffic thundered above.  Here is that very recording...

  Below the M11 by miles out in the field

Whispering In The Leaves and Chris Watson workshop

Chris Watson currently has an installation at Kew Gardens which is well worth checking out. There was also a series of workshops, one of which I was lucky enough to attend this week. The early start and long commute into London was well worth it, I gained a lot of knowledge and inspiration from Chris and the other participants. 

The installation itself, 'Whispering In The Leaves' is fantastic. Housed within a huge greenhouse are eighty speakers which play two sections of sound, recorded at dawn and dusk in the tropical rainforest. A truly immersive experience.

More information here: http://www.whisperingintheleaves.org/

Some pictures I took...

Sonic Stills

A project for my second year sound module.

Follow link for video and more details:

http://vimeo.com/11869391

Wind Turbine Recording

Ah yes, one of my favourite man made constructions - the wind turbine.

I thought I had lost the recordings I took over a year ago of the wind turbines not far from my university campus, but they recently turned up again.

A brilliant sound can be heard when you get up close, as this recording testifies. Indeed I recommend paying a visit to your local wind farm!

  Tremough Turbine by miles out in the field

Between Us And Out There

I have finally got round to piecing together some of my favourite recordings into a small release. The recordings heard within 'Between Us And Out There' are gathered principally over the past two summers and have lain deep in the tracts of my hard drive for some time. I became interested in trying to recreate an 'aural journey' by layering the recordings, however for the sakes of accessibility I have split the final result into seven individual tracks.

There are are many contributing factors going on within this work, the first two tracks for example convey a place of sunshine and an almost hallucinatory environment. I tried to gather those recordings where I just sat and listened in wonder at the world around me. Things such as the people, places and weather all play strongly throughout for me, hopefully some of that can be heard back as you listen.

Download the mp3s + album covers here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?d899s95i6d3dlkn

My recordings can be found on soundcloud at this address : http://soundcloud.com/miles-out-in-the-field

With this blog I hope to express greater depth, not just random file uploads.