Half-speed! Quartet of smaller wind chimes with bamboo chimes, in Teign Gorge

Half-speed version of part of Quartet of smaller wind chimes with bamboo chimes, in Teign Gorge, the chimes hung up on trees high up in the Teign Gorge on a very breezy day. At this lower speed it's like wandering through an idyllic labyrinth. Chimes used this time are:

1. Woodstock Chimes of Pluto (moderately high-pitched, pentatonic)

2. Woodstock Chimes of Polaris (higher-pitched, pentatonic)

3. Woodstock Chimes of Mercury (very high-pitched, pentatonic)

4. Woodstock Chimes of Mars (very high-pitched and penetrating; not sure what scale!)

5. Bamboo chimes, large + small (cheap unbranded, locally purchased; both sets always used together)

I recorded this on 2 January 2014 on the rough slope just below Hunting Gate, which latter marks the highest point of the Hunter's Path, high up on the north side of the Teign Gorge, Drewsteignton, Devon, UK.

For this session my four smaller chimes sets (Pluto, Polaris, Mercury, Mars) were put together with the bamboo chimes, and then again but without the Mars chimes, and finally I recorded just the bamboo chimes. This, the first of the three recordings, gives us the whole lot, and thus the pentatonic sound of the other three metal chimes is generally modified by the Mars chimes into a whole that is different again from any of its components.

To me personally, at full speed the sound of the metal section of the ensemble gives an impression of a quite impassioned folk story set to music — particularly Irish, though I've no idea why it suggests that to me! — Maybe something I once heard on an Irish harp…? At half-speed this still gives me that impression, but with a lot more depth, with time to ponder things as you wander through this beautiful labyrinth.

For more details about the different metal chimes used, please go to https://www.philipgoddard.com/shop/store-windchimes.htm.

This recording taking place. The recorder (light grey furry windshield) is perched on a small branch rather than on a tripod.

Cropped part of main image. The small bamboo chimes help confuse identification by having the tubes dyed blackish. The more distant (and small) chimes just right of centre are the Mars chimes, which had to be more distant because of their loud and penetrating tone. The Mercury chimes are hidden by tree trunk on right, but the red object there is its wind-catcher.

Techie stuff

The recorder was Sony PCM-M10, with Røde DeadKitten furry windshield. It was perched on a tree branch by means of a GorillaPod.

Post-recording processing was to apply EQ in Audacity to correct for the muffling effect of the windshield — and then more recently stereo widening / sharpening-up using the VST plugin A1 Stereo Control (160% widening). I used the 'Change speed' effect in Audacity to create this half-speed version.

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