THE LONDON SOUND SURVEY BLOG | COMMENTS
Occasional posts on subjects like field recording, London sounds past and present, other websites worth looking at, articles in the press, and news of sound-related events.
Occasional posts on subjects like field recording, London sounds past and present, other websites worth looking at, articles in the press, and news of sound-related events.
Posted by IMR on 27 June 2010
NEW PAGES FOR the sound maps section are being put together and they start with a few recordings made along the Thames Estuary. The towns, villages and marshland along the Estuary have been among my favourite places to visit for the last fifteen years.
Canvey Island is a three-mile-wide patch of Thames floodplain separated by creeks from the Essex side of the river. The western half of the island is consumed by post-industrial scrub and vast liquified gas containers. The eastern half is mainly housing, and between the two is a caravan park and a small seafront resort.
Walking along the seafront this afternoon, I came across a small group of Caribbean men and women holding an outdoor Sunday service on a bandstand. A Communion table had been set up, laden with flowers and fruit, and around this the worshippers sang and danced:
Earlier I’d tramped across the western side of Canvey Island and scrambled over a fence to get as close as possible to the oil refinery at Coryton, thinking the sound of the gas flares might be worth pointing a mic at. Grasshoppers fizzed unseen in the long grass and hot sun, ahead the refinery growled and roared.
Straight after finishing and packing up a siren sounded briefly, an eerie whale-like noise that echoed across the landscape. About half-a-minute later it sounded again, and the time after that the recorder was switched back on:
An hour later it could still be heard from the middle of the island; someone said it was a test. The new Estuary pages should be up this coming week.
The presence is gripping. Might be the bandstand acoustics, micing distance and array,.. what ever it is, you nailed it and the performance is as exceptional. What is that choral-like swell that happens deeper in space on right channel about 22 seconds in?
Posted by Rob D. on 27 June 2010
Hello Rob, I was very lucky to come across those people who sang together so well and it was completely unexpected. The swelling noise in the right channel is a car going past, but there may also be a very brief gust of wind noise there - it was quite blowy at the seafront.
Posted by IMR on 27 June 2010
I’m looking forward to hearing more from the estuary. These two recordings contrast each other so much yet they’re equally evocative and intriguing. Great work!
Posted by Nick Hamilton on 28 June 2010