Surface Soundings - Smithsons Fuel Yard

After a water sampling workshop with Tom Wilding, I was walking past to the train station and noticed the big genny was running in the coalyard by the bridge. The sound was enjoyable to listen to for a while so I decided to record it and also see what it sounded like using contact mics on the galvanized steel fence of Smithson’s Fuel.

It produced an amazing drone sound and distortion that I didn't expect, due to its distance from the fence. The coalyard boss and another colleague came out of the gate, and our distorted conversation is captured at the beginning and end of the recording. I listened until I had to run and catch my train.

As we hadn't explored the contact mics as much, I decided that the King's session the following week would have an activity involving exploring the canal area via the different natural and manmade surfaces using the contact mics.

Listening to a sample of the recording below. The recordings aren’t other than slight equalisation and cropping for purposes of playback here.