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

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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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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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...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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I'm sat at my desk writing, my window is wide open and warm sunshine is flooding into my room, it feels as if Spring has arrived and thinks it's Summer. The world is waking up after hibernation, the birds are singing and people are out and about....so I just put my Zoom by the window and...

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So I was woken up at 3am this morning by...maintenance work on the nearby Metro track.

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...after a little more than 7 interupted hours of sleep and after several phone calls...

07.05

11/2/2011

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For as long as I can remember, when I'm at home on a Saturday, at around 4.40 I sit in front of the television, or radio, to listen to the football results, often with a cup of tea, how very English...

Yesterday was was one of those [Satur]days, I'd spent an unsuccessful afternoon recording...mainly due to the fact I'm hating the results I'm getting from my current equipment. The reality of this situation is though, that for now, it's the best I can afford.

So the afternoons matches are coming to an end, it's dark and rainy outside so I took a break for a few minutes and sit down and watch the BBC with a cuppa. My mic was still connected to my soundcard and just laying on my desk, and I'd been exploring the benefits (or not) of using Reaper...so here's 8 minutes of my Saturday...just in time to catch the news of Tottenham’s winner!

You can also hear the sound of my neighbour who lives below me playing his classical music CD's...luckily it wasn't shaking my floor that much on this occasion...I always tend to mix on headphones at home and then remix later through loudspeakers in the studio...I just wish he'd spend some money on some really decent headphones, I'd even recommend some if he was a little more approachable. Oh well, the joys of sharing a building with inconsiderate neighbours, each to their own, but I've got some great sound level meter readings should I ever need them and a nice little video of pictures on my wall shaking too

Saturday 5th February 2011

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The start of year five...A Not So Quiet Night...as I'm sat in my flat the world outside seems very quiet, it is after all half past midnight. Even as I open my window, it seems pretty quiet outside, except for the occasional passing car. However, as I start recording it seems that the world comes alive and becomes extremely noisy, the hum of the city, the M62 motorway, which passes by a mile away, someone emptying their rubbish, some lonely footsteps...a whole world of sound which once again disappears [fades to] to silence as I stop recording and start writing this...whilst watching Brighton and Hove Albion losing on The Football League Show ...

This marks the end of my fourth year uploading parts of my life to this little corner of the web. I'd really like to know who listens to theses recordings, so do feel free to email me...you're all on this map somewhere...

With nearly 100,000 downloads I'd really like to know where these sounds end up and why they're of interest. Strangely for me, it won't be so long before these often raw and rough recordings will have been heard and downloaded more often than the carefully crafted effects and soundscapes I produce.

Whatever your reasons for visiting this site I hope you continue to enjoy my small offerings.

Start of first year - http://listenhear.podbean.com/2007/01/23/rain-manchester/

Start of second year - http://listenhear.podbean.com/2008/01/23/1st-birthday/

Start of third year - http://listenhear.podbean.com/2009/01/23/2nd-birthday-and-100th-post/

Start of fourth year - http://listenhear.podbean.com/2010/01/23/dont-those-years-just-fly-by/

Start of fifth year...

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Various bells found about my home at Christmas, festive decorations and instruments, mixed with the fantastic Micro-Bot I received! Cool

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It's now the final few sentences of the last chapter, of what will be known as 2010 and I've spent this cold winters evening, a week before Christmas, listening back to some of the recordings I've made this year and thinking about what will, to me, soon become little more than a few distant memories.

My biggest realisation of this year is that it seems..too many people are now living their lives as if they're appearing on some reality TV show...too many intelligent people are apparently blind to what is and has been happening right under their noses...also puzzling is their lack of awareness at just how they're being cleverly manipulated...puppeteers being controlled by puppets...sad, funny and a cause for some concern.

We all need to continue to grow, creators of art...entertainment...those of us who want to push boundaries, share and learn, need to fight against those who seek to obstruct our futures and our growth and I sense that in many ways 2011 will be even more important to all of us.

So here's to our continued personal growth and greater wisdom in 2011!

I hope this recording reflects some of what I've learnt this year.

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Student protest, Cross Street, Manchester 30/11/10 2pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-11877544

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...a celebration, of sorts...

200 posts just how did that happen?

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My flat creaking and groaning...windy night ambience...

11/11/10

11.35pm

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Bang...sizzle...bang...bang outside as I try to finish a mix in time for tomorrow...reminded of the time a colleague asked for fireworks which sounded less like gunpowder exploding...still working on that one...

Guy Fawkes Night in North Manchester.

5th November 2010 - 7.45pm

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