For my 2-3 Minute track required for the Audio Fundamentals assessment, I am starting by deciding how I will explore a sense of place as this is the primary focus of the track. Having recently moved from Bournemouth to London for Uni, I think it is fitting for me to try and encapsulate the emotion of moving to a new place in my recordings.
One interest I’ve had for a long time- probably due to growing up with my brother- is public transport. Trains, Buses and travel networks. When I think of London as a place, TFL always comes to mind for me, due to its distinctive and effective graphic / audio design. During my final year of sixth form, I explored the visual design elements of travel networks across the world, including TFL, RATP (Paris) and JR (Japan). Studying the graphical design of these networks led me to create my own travel network for Brighton ‘Brightline’!
Completing this project led me to explore the sound design for the Tokyo Metro, and I was interested in the work of Minoru Mukaiya, who composed the arrival melodies linked below.
Being inspired by field recordings that capture the atmosphere of public transport like this, I decided I would incorporate them into my assignment.
One of my first ideas for field recording after learning to use the Zoom H5 in Rory’s workshop was to capture the melodies and ambience of London’s transport. Over this week, using the Zoom H5, I captured the sounds of the bus, the Tube, and Waterloo station. The raw recordings are in WAV, but mp3s linked below:
At first, I was most focused on capturing the melodies and ‘jingles’ eg. the train arrivals, but after a few recordings and listening back to them all at home, I think the ambience of the train station and bus are really effective recordings that could definitely be used as a drone noise with some EQ and reverb effects. Also, the recordings of the train announcements will definitely be used in the ‘voice speaking a text’ part of the assignment.
At this stage, I am starting to use the recordings to make an ambient track with layers of ambience from recordings and instruments. I will include drum breaks that if possible, are recorded by me in the studio as well. I miss recording my drums!