BRITISH ISLES - Badbury Rings, Dorset
What with work, both the old broadcast freelance and management and planning at If Not Us Then Who and all the other sorts of things we do in our lives, its been a bit of a struggle to be able to get out into the wide world with my lovely mixer in order to do some basic field-recordings. And field recordings is a thing which I greatly enjoy doing when I can find the time. Audio is such an immersive world, the world of noise and sound, these trillions of vibrations passing through the air which we hear. Even if I don't have my gear with me, I’ll deliberately tune into a few of my own inner head channels; sometimes on walks be it in the heart of the city, past lunchtime Soho cafes or the shouting of traders along Whitechapel or be it down some deep-hedged country path with the stubbly oaks swaying in the beginnings of a gale, I will deliberately switch all my other senses into a sort of automatic mode, so I can concentrate my mind on the sounds all around. It requires a little bit of concentration and then after a few minutes you enter into a gorgeous ambient world. Your hearing can identify many layers and levels and frequencies, all of which lend an identity to a place. On the occasion I've had my mixer with me, I will always try and steal a bit of time to do some recording. One of the recent opportunities was in Dorset towards the end of last summer. I dragged my dad for a morning walk along the top of the rolling downs nearby Badbury Rings, the site of an ancient burial ground of low cropped Bronze Age tumulus, an impressive Iron Age hill-fort, as well as the confluence of several Roman roads. History, especially ancient, literally seeps up through the rough chalky ground here. With the taste of bacon sarnies and coffee still fresh we walked a fair distance from the other walkers and nestled ourselves amongst some weathered Hawthorn bushes, overlooking the fields and woods which stretch across to the Quantock hills. There was a fair wind blowing across the canopy of trees, sending the tops of the little woods dancing, in the wind you feel the passing of summer, the beginning of Autumn. For a few minutes immerse yourself in this glorious sound.
Ghana - Busy midday market town
Africa is such an extraordinary continent and it has, equal to the enormous range of diversity and habitats, a very special unique sound all of its own, deeply rich and resplendent, full of personality and variation. I’ve been super fortunate and work has taken me to some pretty special and vivid places across Africa, one of the places I most enjoy visiting is the gorgeous funny and brilliant country of Ghana. I’ve been several times and seen over a period of a decade (and a bit) an enormous amount of change in this country, as its expands and grows. The last time I was there we were filming in a small town called Juaboso in the remote Western Province. We had been filming through the morning at a small hospital where a group of local surgeons were performing the most astonishing eye surgery on locals who suffering from cataract, effectively giving people back their sight. We took a break in the midday heat, I wandered the short distance to the main road and recorded the sounds of the market stall holders, the people running the varied kiosks, the sound of people walking past me in conversation and joking and laughing, the mother berating the child, the sound of motor cars and motor bikes, the blaring radios, cooing pidgeons. Wonderful.
BRAZIL - Oropendola Weaver Birds, Amazonas
Over the years I've recorded many sounds in different locations around the world. This collection of recordings aims to highlight the unique 'voices of a place'.
It’s such a charismatic sound and it’s pretty loud, the call of the weaver bird. One time filming in the Amazon we were staying with a community on the Trombetos river, deep in the jungle, a lovely little place, super friendly locals, who were a mix of indigenous and black Quilombola. Up the track from the river, in a little guest house, we slung our hammocks and made ourselves at home. A tree near by was positively crowded by these charismatic jet black birds, their complicatedly woven nests slung nearly dangling trepidatiously under the branches. One morning, in a fuzz of heat and drizzle, I had an opportunity to roll some audio of their rather chaotic and slightly balmy goings on. It seems that in an Oropendola colony there's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing as regards to who's the boss.
Indonesia - thunderstorm Northern Kalimantan, Borneo
Over the years I've recorded many sounds in different locations around the world. This collection of recordings aims to highlight the unique 'voices of a place'.
An amazing storm occurred one night in a small community in Northern Kalimantan, Borneo. It had been threatening rain throughout the late afternoon, the humidity pressed heavily down across the hills and forest, leaving the elders propped drowsily on their wooden verandahs and the young seeking the playful coolness of the river. An enormous electrical storm ensued throughout the evening, great blazing flashes of light among the high clouds and stars and a ribbon of thunder, dark and foreboding booming across the fragile thatched roofs. Photograph above by the wonderful Nanang Sujana.
Iceland - atmos mountain plateau, farmland, birds, distant livestock and fields
Over the years I've recorded many sounds in different locations around the world. This collection of recordings aims to highlight the unique 'voices of a place'.
This audio - covering a period of several hours - was recorded high up in the mountain pastures below the famous Eyjafjallajokull Volcano on the south of the island. You can hear a hugely diverse range of birdsong, the distant hum and workings of a nearby farm, livestock out in the fields and the small delicate sounds of streams flowing down from the glacier.