The pieces on this disc each illustrate a single location or area of the village of Sutton-in-the-Isle, now in Cambridgeshire, although the recordings within each one were made at different times and in different ways. No effects were applied to the recordings, except where specifically indicated.
Although this piece is entitled ‘Station Road’, the recordings come from Station Road (for the cricket and horses); in (literally) and around local site of interest Stanker’s Pond; the site of the old railway station; and (for the larks) in the fields between Sutton and Haddenham.
Locations: The old station and surrounding fields, 4.5.16, 6.5.16; Stanker’s Pond, 4.5.16, 6.5.16 & 26.8.19; Station Road, 11.11.18 & 25.11.18; The Cricket Field, 5.8.17
Microphones: Electret microphones and preamp by Ian Brady; Self-built binaural dummy head microphone; Self-adapted Roland WPM-10 WearPro earbud microphones; Self-built piezo-element hydrophones; Self-built preamps.
Recorder: Marantz PMD660.
Editing applications: Audacity and Apple Logic Express on Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro.
This piece is based on recordings made in the High Street, and in and around St Andrew’s Church.
Locations: High Street 19.4.17, 11.11.18, 26.8.19, 28.11.19; St Andrew’s churchyard 19.4.17
Microphones: Electret microphones and preamp by Ian Brady.
Recorder: Marantz PMD660.
Microphone and recorder: Zoom IQ6 and iPhone SE.
Editing applications: Audacity and Apple Logic Express on Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro.
This piece was not really recorded on one day, but represents events that could have occurred on a single summer’s day, beginning with the dawn chorus; a morning spent shopping, walking in the High Street and visiting an event in the church; an afternoon at ‘Picnic in the Park’, and fireworks in the evening.
Locations: High Street & St. Andrew’s Church 8.5.16 & 26.819; The Brook & The Recreation Ground 31.8.19
Microphones: Electret microphones and preamp by Ian Brady; Self-adapted Roland earbud microphones; Self-built preamps.
Recorder: Marantz PMD660.
Editing applications: Audacity and Apple Logic Express on Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro.
This piece is so-called because the main part of it consists of simultaneous recordings made with an iPhone and an ultrasonic ‘bat detector’ recorder, which picks up ultrasonic sounds and lowers them to a frequency within our hearing range. These two recordings are played at the same time, with only the balance between the two adjusted during the piece. Either side of this are recordings of running water – the road was flooded on the two days I recorded there – a helicopter observing the floods or the recent works on the flood banks, and general ambience.
Locations: Sutton Gault, 19.11.19 & 28.11.19
Microphone: Ultrasonic recorder assembled from Franzis Bat Detector Kit with self-built preamp.
Recorder: Marantz PMD660.
Microphone and recorder: Zoom IQ6 and iPhone SE.
Editing applications: Audacity and Apple Logic Express on Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Although the recordings which go to make up this track weren’t recorded on the same day, one thing these days had in common was that they were all sunny, hence the title of the finished piece. Quite a few different recording methods are employed: the hydrophone records underwater; the contact microphones are attached to the metal railings of a footbridge and a road bridge; and the ultrasonic recorder is used with an aerial enabling the radio to be picked up when brought near wires running down a telegraph pole.
Locations: Sutton Gault, 2.7.18, 22.7.18, 26.7.18 & 28.11.19
Microphones: Electret microphones and preamp by Ian Brady; Self-built piezo-element contact microphones; Self-built piezo-element hydrophones; Ultrasonic recorder; Self-built electro-magnetic induction pickup device; all with self-built preamps.
Recorder: Marantz PMD660.
Editing applications: Audacity and Apple Logic Express on Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro. Low-pass filter (steep slope, c.2.5kHz) applied to the hydrophone clips to remove some high pitched noise.
All sounds recorded, edited, arranged and produced by Andy Murkin.
Soundscapes 