Transformed wind chimes: Nature-Symphony 6

Nature-Symphony 6 (Perambulation of the Ring of Fire). Transformation of https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/703991/, to produce a potentially intense visionary experience — at least, for the small minority who could get their heads around such outlandishly strange, nature-generated music.

Chimes used:

1. Music of the Spheres Gypsy Chimes, Soprano (Eastern European Gypsy scale, higher range)

2. Music of the Spheres Gypsy Chimes, Mezzo (Ditto, lower range)

3. Bamboo chimes, large and small set (rather indeterminate tuning, with a touch of whole-tone scale — bought cheaply at local store)

See further below for how this complex edifice of sound was made.

A later recording in the same session, using the bamboo and Gypsy Mezzo chimes. The wind was coming over the top of the hill, i.e., from straight ahead in this view.

Techie stuff:

The recorder was Sony PCM-M10, with Rycote Mini Windjammer furry windshield. It was set up on a Hama Mini tripod, which I regard as not just 'mini' but tiny. Although I fairly quickly learned subsequently to avoid having recorders so close to the ground (distorts the frequency spectrum and tends to overemphasize lower parts of the frequency range), actually in this situation it was necessary to have the recorder really low down, where the wind was much lighter.

Basic 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).

To create this Nature-Symphony, I used three copies of the original field recording, which were used as 'layers' at different speeds, I think the top two were half-speed, i.e., one octave lower than the original, and staggered, and the bottom was half that speed, and so two octaves lower than the original. Inevitably, as that bottom layer was much longer than the others, I used only as much of it as fitted the length of the two upper layers appropriately staggered. I organised the layers (three separate stereo tracks) in Audacity, then, using the VST plugin OrilRiver, I applied a 'back-of-cathedral' type of acoustic (custom preset) to all three tracks, which nicely transformed the sounds, ensured the tracks were all balanced for level, then mixed down to this final stereo track.

For more info about my Nature-Symphonies, please see the introductory notes for my respective pack, https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/packs/39136/ .

The 'Ring of Fire' in the work's title is not intended to refer to any sort of Paganistic or 'dark' practices, but to the planetary distribution of tectonic and volcanic activity.

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