Hebdomadal sound project: March 2016
Hebdomadal sound project: March 2016
Week 13
A48, Cardiff
March 30th, 4.25pm
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c10d2c736acf9802e857f41cbadda286cc85213681e89b033e391fe93052ac09/A48.jpg)
I know that John Cage had some good things to say about the sound of road traffic, but I struggle to find the musicality in it while out walking. Indeed, when hearing it live it can be stressful, but there is something about a sound recording of it – yanked from its context – that is quite pleasing and settling. The following is a recording of traffic on the A48 in northern Cardiff, from a footbridge that leads to the University Hospital of Wales.
(5:54)
Setup: 2 DPA 4060 lavalier mics in stereo position to Sound Devices 702
Week 12
St Fagans National History Museum, Cardiff
March 23rd, 3.20pm
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b372bba4026ac50a35b067defc7947c598584d7542961349ed463e23189e8582/St-Fagans-garden.jpg)
St Fagans National History Museum, part of the National Museum Wales, is an open-air museum consisting of historic Welsh buildings. The buildings originate from across Wales, and have been painstakingly re-built on land adjacent to St Fagans Castle to the west of Cardiff. The following is an edited compilation of a few recordings made in the restored Italian Garden surrounding the Castle.
(4:11)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1cf6ab0a9a225f094b8e0417764032a92d0a1ec40cc5d25dcc8a5565c8a19540/St-Fagans-garden-water.jpg)
Setup: 2 DPA 4060 lavalier mics in stereo position to Sound Devices 702
Week 11
Bristol And Bath Railway path
March 16th, 2.30pm
Groups of rowers pass under a footbridge along the Bristol And Bath Railway path near Kelston Lock.
(3:09)
Setup: 2 DPA 4060 lavalier mics in stereo position to Sound Devices 702
Week 10
Avon Valley Railway, Bitton
March 6th, 12.15-1.40pm
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d0b47003ff8bbdd9962025598e921ab5d1078b0ec4b48306dfd7c780c4ea1e94/bitton-onboard.jpg)
On Mothering Sunday, I decided to take a trip to Bitton not far outside of Bristol, to record the sound of heritage trains at Avon Valley Railway. A small group of railway enthusiasts were commemorating 50 years since the last passenger trains ran along the line. 1960s rock ‘n’ roll was piped out onto the platform, and a 1940s diesel and 1920s steam train carried passengers the 3 miles of track that the Railway owns.
I managed to get some recordings onboard both trains by hanging my microphones out of a sliding window. The first is onboard a BR Class 31/1 No. 31101 diesel train built in 1945:
(4:45)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/33fa1735151feb11d51bc4f48e5fdf60df568eedab8c44e3101f4c944763654d/bitton.jpg)
Second, is from onboard a GWR 4575 Class No.5521/L.150 steam train (built 1927), which apparently pulled the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for a time in 2007.
(4:51)
Setup: 2 DPA 4060 lavalier mics in stereo position to Sound Devices 702