Occasional posts on subjects including field recording, London history and literature, other websites worth looking at, articles in the press, and news of sound-related events.
A FEW WEEKS ago a message arrived via Soundcloud from Iain Chambers with a link to a track he’d made from recordings along the Regents Canal in north London.
The canal also appears on this site’s Waterways sound map but I had mixed feelings about recording there. During the day it’s overrun with panting, sweaty-faced joggers who’ve taken to heart Nike’s command to ‘Just do it’. For some people that’s not good advice.
There are also cyclists to avoid. Often they have the good manners to sound their bells before blindspots but at times it can add to the re-invention of the canal towpath as a fast-paced fitness conveyor belt. I don’t know if Iain’s track is in part a reaction against this – maybe it’s his bike you can hear – but he’s slowed down the sounds of bike bells to wonderful effect:
Hopefully Iain’ll be adding more tracks to his Soundcloud account soon. On a side note, Soundcloud now have a smart new HTML5 player, which you can see embedded above. Here’s a post from last year on why HTML5 is the way forward for website audio players.
The balloonist in the desert is dreaming
The Binaural Diaries of Ollie Hall
The Ragged Society of Antiquarian Ramblers
Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology