Transformed wind chimes: Nature-Symphony 9

Nature-Symphony 9 (The ever-falling leaves of autumn) — Exquisitely beautiful and really quite jaw-dropping transformation of https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/705359/ , which latter presents the joyful airy rustic rattling and scuttling of bamboo wind chimes together with two bright and upbeat-sounding metal chimes, high up in the Teign Gorge, Drewsteignton, Devon, UK. Here not only the sonorities are transformed, but the emotional impact too. Now we have what I personally experience as an intense and weirdly enigmatic impassioned melancholy.

Perhaps even weirder is the fact that, with absolutely no intent or contrivance on my part, this transformation has a slow tune (of all things!) running through it, repeating frequently, though never fully coming out into the open in its completeness; it comes out most noticeably at the beginning, and gives this work a ballad-like aspect. It seems that pretty-well every new Nature-Symphony I create has surprises to spring on me! That tune is even more apparent in the following Nature-Symphony 9a, which is No. 9 verbatim, but with two slower versions of the same (thus lower and yet lower pitches) added as layers, giving a much more complex and rugged experience.

Chimes used:

1. Woodstock Chimes of Pluto (tuned to a sunny-sounding pentatonic scale)

2. Woodstock Gregorian Chimes (tenor) (tuned to a bright-sounding Gregorian chant scale)

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

I made the original of this recording on 21 November 2012 in a secluded position at Sharp Tor, by the Hunter's Path, high up on north side of the Teign Gorge, Drewsteignton, Devon, UK.

A previous recording in this session taking place, using the bamboo and Pluto (metal) chimes; the small bamboo chimes are difficult to see, just behind and lower than the Pluto (metal) chimes, and its tubes are black to confuse us all. Now try to spot the recorder, on its tiny tripod (with black furry windshield)…!

Techie stuff:

The recorder was Sony PCM-M10, with Rycote Mini Windjammer. 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.

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).

Transformation of the original was (a) 50% speed reduction (an octave lower), and (b) using a custom preset in the OrilRiver VST plugin to apply a back-of-cathedral acoustic.

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