The 5th Anniversary of this site...

Over 130,000 sound file downloads and nearly 130,000 visitors...I'm staggered and very honoured. Thank you all very much. The purpose of this site remains the same and I have no wish to change anything...I just hope that you find the sounds here in some way enjoyable and hopefully inspiring.

So today has been particularly busy, the start of rehearsals in London for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and the first night for Two in Manchester...for me it's been a 3 city day starting at home in Brighton and finishing in Manchester via London. I haven't really had much time to record anything much, but this is my offering for today...

Sat on the Southbank outside the National Theatre before rehearsals begin listening to the birds crowing and cawing, the hum and general noise of the city in the background, sirens and a few passers by on this, a slightly windy morning at about 9.30am. Strangely this is the first recording made in London I've put on this site.

(The first crow sound on this recording was obviously the bird in question warning me of imminent danger, as the splat shortly after testifies!)

Here's to the next 5 years...

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The strangely hypnotic sound of my (now more finely tuned) Perpetual Motion Power Marble Run .... which will I'm sure become the key sound for many mechanical and factory noises in the future!

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Whilst chatting online to @soundlandscapes, @rene_coronado and @willswills about the benefits of the Roland R-26 over the Zoom H4N a police helicopter was hovering overhead (on what was quite a windy night) ... this recording complete with window  rattles, bumps and other surplus to requirements noises was made from my desk during that conversation (using an R-26) ...and between hail storms!

Once again this was a simple point and shoot recording, I  just pressed the record button...

3/1/12 11.15pm

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Sitting quietly in my flat, on New Years Day, listening to the rain and Seagulls, as I try to quietly recover from last nights celebrations.

Happy New Year!

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This could be thought of as a quiet afternoon...then you listen, duelling Buskers competing with Pigeons and of course Seagulls. The drone of city centre traffic.

More and more buskers are opting for cheap battery powered amplification, why?  The beautiful acoustic sounds of the saxophone and unknown African instrument against the tinny sound of the electric guitar in this recording demonstrates this perfectly.

Brighton, Pavilion Gardens, 28/12/11. @ 2pm.

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Another Roland R-26 test recording.

Some (worryingly noisy) water pipes.

This is a six track recording using the on-board XY and Omni mics and some Jez Riley French custom made contact microphones.

Once again this recording was simply point and shoot, with no post production processing.

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Manchester’s German Christmas Market in St. Ann's Square, 19/12/11 at 4.31pm.

An mp3 copy of the first test recording I've made using my new Roland R-26,

using both the onboard XY and Omni Mics.

In this mix the Omni's are set approximately 12.5db lower than the  XY's.

This is a straight out of the box, point and shoot recording, made whilst 

walking around the market between showers of rain. 

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Constructed and de-constructed from field recordings and sounds from my library...I hope that (to some extent) it's self-explanatory.

No birds, or animals were harmed in the making over this piece and no musical instruments were used!

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Early evening Guy Fawkes night fireworks in suburbia...

Recorded around 6.30pm in North Manchester.

November 5th 2011

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After a warm start to the month it now feels like Autumn. Yesterday was another rainy day and I recorded this  from a third floor window last night. The hum of a night-time city centre, taxi's, cars, sirens, drizzle and footsteps.

17/10/11 - 21:10

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Here in the UK yesterday it was the hottest October day since records began, we probably can all figure out (and continue to ignore) what's happening.

But now it's raining lightly in suburban Manchester, I do enjoy warm weather but I hope Autumn is returning. I found myself sitting quietly, listening to the birdsong out of my open 3rd floor window and became interested in just  how it competes with the sounds of modern urban living, cars (driving on the wet roads), planes and trams.

I know which sounds I prefer...

02/10/11 - 18.55

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A warm Sunday lunchtime, city centre pub garden, voices, cutlery and crockery, children playing. Maybe the last Sunday this year where the weather will allow you to enjoy your Sunday roast sitting outside?

25.9.10 - 14.30

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A rare day off and a good nights sleep....just before I went out for a walk along the beach, on this very warm Autumns day, this started.

...the source for a future tone/drone...

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A fleeting visit home to Brighton after a really busy week in Manchester. An early start tomorrow as it the official launch of the Association of Sound Designers at the PLASA Show which is held at Earls Court.

So it's raining outside and being tired and not wanting to get wet I spent some time working on trying to recreate (in some way) a song the band I played in way back when performed called Jonny's Got A Stripy Jumper... being Saturday it was football results at teatime too!

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...a frequent journey, thoughts, daydreams. A little something I did on a rainy afternoon a couple of weeks ago.

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More madness, music, mayhem, whistles and sirens from yesterdays parade.

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It's been an awful week of rioting and violence in England. It's been wonderful to get home to Brighton and experience what this great city does best, put smiles on peoples faces...Manchester, where I work, has been grim over the past 6 days, as the violence spread around the city, mindless thugs looting, fighting, setting fire to buildings...but in Brighton today it's just party time as tens of thousands of people descend to celebrate Gay Pride...in essence it doesn't matter whether you're straight, gay, black, white, rich or poor...it's simply party time. As I sit here in my city centre flat I can hear music, laughter, people celebrating life and all thats good about being a human being. It's also wonderful being a straight male and being welcomed to take part, there is little or no prejudice around here today...it doesn't matter who you are, forget 'your' troubles, 'the' troubles and have fun.

Brighton you're magnificent today. Here's a recording of a small section of the hour long parade through the city.

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A sunny Friday afternoon, some Buskers play a little way down the street which, for a while, can be quite pleasant...but then they start repeating the same riffs, the same songs...over and over again...

Recorded from my office window....

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I've just been sitting on the beach, recording some sea and thinking about shipwrecks. When I got home I improvised this using the recordings I'd just made and whatever audio, recorded in the past, found on my laptop.

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Sunday 17th July 2011. 6pm, Prestwich, Manchester. Map Ref: 53.529748 -2.28653 Outside 'The Church Inn' pub. The church next door strikes 6pm (although how three sets of three rings followed by nine rings signifies 6pm I'm not sure!) Also a very rare, for these parts, an American accent from a passer by can be heard. Pub noise from inside the pub is also heard, it was pouring with rain.

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...calmness after a night of bad dreams...

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Prague tram number 17 from Vistye Vyste into the city towards Nova Scena. Internal ambiance

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A hectic two weeks in Prague, working on PQ . Not much time for recording, but here's something I recorded earlier today whilst sitting outside Cafe Ebel, Retezova, Prague 1... great coffee!

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...it's sunny and warm, quite simply I'd like to be at home on the beach...unfortunately...I've got a ton of things to do in Manchester and for PQ before I can then, hopefully, go for a stroll and enjoy the early summer (probably not to last) weather...but first...

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Another victory parade! This time English FA Cup winners Manchester City on a very windy evening outside the City Hall in Albert Square, Manchester

A deafening PA system blasting out music for an hour beforehand killed the atmosphere completely, the wonderful community singing usually enjoyed at events like these (like at matches) was totally drowned out and you couldn't help but feel this had a disheartening effect on people after a while. all so very needless as the fans would've made as much (and a more welcome) noise themselves.

Could do better, but anyway....

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Manager Gus Poyet leads the singing at the end of the Brighton and Hove Albion victory parade, earlier today, in celebration of winning League 1 ...more soon... Seagulls!

Warning - Contains language which some may find offensive.

More recordings here http://audioboo.fm/boos/351532-brighton-hove-albion-victory-parade-excerpt

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Brighton is a city which full of people, music and bad quality sound systems. This is some of the music I heard whilst walking through Pavilion Gardens, Bond Street and The Lanes this afternoon. Today is the first day of the 2011 Brighton Festival so everywhere was pretty crowded...and noisy...

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Living close to Brighton seafront you're never sure what you'll wake up and find happening on your doorstep...yesterday it was anarchists causing a little mayhem and ensuring the local riot police were given plenty of chance to practice what they've been trained for, today it was lovingly cared for and restored vintage fire engines, buses and lorries finishing the London to Brighton Run of the Historical Commercial Vehicle Society. Unfortunately I didn't have my recorder primed yesterday but today...I did.

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Here's a couple of recordings I made yesterday lunchtime in the streets around and outside the excellent KIASMA ( the Museum of Contemporary Art), in Helsinki. There was some interesting recorded street sounds of Lagos (I believe by the artist Baaba) playing outside KIASMA supporting the excellent ARS 11 exhibition which explores Africa in contemporary art, particularly poignant after the recent Finnish election result.

If you're in, or around Helsinki, any time soon I strongly recommend that you visit this excellent exhibition...Finland, despite being essentially a very quiet country, is full of people who (inspirationally for me) really understand the power of sound.

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A great day in Helsinki, a fascinating back stage tour the soon to be opened Helsinki Music Centre, what a superb concert hall, followed by a visit to check out some new software at the Swedish Theatre (what a great sound team there!) and finishing of at the Theatre Museum where I experienced a thought provoking exhibition by the students of the Sound Design course from the Theatre Academy of Finland.

Whilst enjoying a coffee in the sunshine, with my host this morning Christian, this wonderful old man walked past with lovely old Barrel Organ....so....

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