Today I was woken by the sound of the Sussex Police helicopter, hovering over my flat as it monitored a march by some rather suspect right wing fascist bigots. It's wonderful to live in a city where such behavior and views isn't tolerated by the majority of those who chose to live here.

It's been 'lively' around my flat for most of the day...

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....so the end of the 6th year of this blog...

As I'm currently undergoing some medical treatment I'm housebound right now....quietly listening to the world going on outside my window...

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The pure joy of Kits Popcorn Making Machine.....everyone should have one!

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An offering for the New Year...

After pretty much a month in hospital, which of course meant no field recordings, I offer this as my first post of 2013! Various outtakes and noises created over the past few months before I fell ill.....

Here's wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2013!

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shaking a cage in the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall earlier this month...

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The strangest sounding extractor fan in my hotel room....Helsinki, Finland

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...playing around with some recordings I've made of sounds which I hear pretty much everyday whilst in my home...an attempt at finding the 'soul' of the recording, the mood it sets and the subconscious tones which underscore our lives...

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This weekend, in Brighton, is Pride … which is difficult to avoid, especially if you have a flat in the centre of the city.

I thought I'd take the opportunity, as always, to record the parade as it passes the end of my street. This time though I thought I'd try recording it binaurally.

So here's an 11 minute edit of various parts of the parade (which in all lasts around 45 minutes), completely unprocessed in any way, no EQ, limiting, compression, just my fantastic and ever trusty Roland R-26 recorder and a set of Roland CS-10EM binaural microphones.

This is an .mp3 of the original (and noticeably superior) 48khz 24bit .wav recording.

As with all binaural recordings this is best listened to through good headphones.

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I've been messing around with contact mics, clocks, fridges and some other things in my kitchen, with the view of releasing something very soon on my Bandcamp page.

Here's a little demo.

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Train (interior perspective) 1989

Approaching East Croydon from Victoria, wait, depart, cross fade into running.

Slam doors, Zippo lighter lighting cigarettes (?), Gatwick Express pass, squeaks, rattles, track and points. Windows open.

From the days when the passenger was deemed responsible enough open doors themselves, despite the handles being on the outside of the train, and carriages had windows that could be opened and closed.

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One from the archive...an excerpt of Brighton Palace Pier recorded on 31.8.1989, probably using my old Sony Pro Walkman.

Still as noisy today, but the sounds all the machines make are a little different...

I've found some fascinating old recordings this evening,  sadly on some very deteriorated tape, I'll try to share more another time.

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A walk along Brighton sea-front, east from the pier. Fragments of conversations. The end of a warmish, sunny day.

For me this is the worst part of the whole beach area... but the most convenient for an evening stroll.

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This year I haven't been home by the sea nearly enough, a hectic schedule. I also haven't recorded enough for this blog for partly the same reason …

Today was a windy south coast day, the sun broke through for a while and the temperature did rise, but this summer, all in all, has been pretty awful.

So I went wandering 'round Brighton, listening, looking and enjoying. I recorded an awful lot but most of it wasn't new to my ears, or those ears which follow me here.

Here's some excerpts from my day, sea, children playing, some amusement arcade and a flock of seagulls trying hard to spoil my enjoyment of the Olympic cycling on TV.

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The Stone Roses have been performing some much publicised and well attended come-back gigs at Heaton Park in Manchester. Here's a recording of the end of show fireworks echoing around the quiet streets of north Manchester. Recorded about 1.5 miles from the gig.

July 1st 2012

approx 10.30pm

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...a little Sunday morning music doodle...just scribbling in the margin.

the ATC is JFK Final Approach on 12.06.12 about 9pm BST.

Please make sure all electronic devices are switched off, your seat is in an upright position and the table in front of you is folded away...

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9th June 2012

02.15am

Carrer dels Carders 08003, Barcelona

Late night voices echoing around the narrow streets in Barcelona, this morning. Various languages being spoken.

The start of the day at the same location can be found here.

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At this time of day, at this time of year, I just want to be able to listen to the birdsong which surrounds me without the underscore of the city.

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Manchester City football supporters walking along Cross Street heading towards the start of the clubs victory parade in Albert Square to celebrate them winning the Premier League.

Recorded from my 3rd floor office window.

14/5/12  @17.40

Apologies for the lack of recordings recently, a heavy workload and a nasty virus to contend with!

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Manchester Victoria Railway Station ... atmosphere, announcements, trams and trains arriving and departing.

Binaural recording.

18.00

27/3/12

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Just recently I've been recording pretty much  non-stop but, unfortunately, nothing which I've been able to share on this site. Apologies! But today I received my Roland CS-10EM Binaural mics and just had to test them out immediately! So here's a very short excerpt of my tram journey home. I have to say I'm very pleased of the results and I'm sure there will be more binaural recordings to come in the following days and weeks...years!

Coughs, sniffs, newspapers.....the joys of public transport.

Roland CS10EM, Roland R-26, no processing.

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Snow. The first real  snow of this relatively mild winter, only about a centimetre has fallen but that's enough to  really dampen the whole acoustic of my neighbourhood.

Cars and a little birdsong.

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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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