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Nature-Symphony 56 (The inner fire inspecting its active star-formation regions…) — Another of my 'pinnacle' works — at least from my own perspective! It started off as a dark and eerie-melancholy-sounding work (with a different title), based on just one field recording of two metal chimes and large + small bamboo chimes. However, it developed into an extraordinary astronomical-type vision, of fiery rather than any melancholic nature — and all that change without the use of any further recordings. The top of the five layers is pitch-raised so much that some of the notes would be out of earshot for most older people, though I myself can still hear quite a bit at that level; indeed a self-check on my hearing while writing this note showed that (at age 81 now) the highest sine tone I can hear reasonably tops 14KHz. On the other hand some young people, with stronger high-frequency hearing, may find this work's very high notes troublesome to listen to.
This work started off in my usual manner, by making a half-speed version of the original field recording (https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/703991/ ) and then making two copies of that, which were then slowed / pitch-reduced further. I thought it sounded great like that, and I was poised to export it as the finished composition — but then, a funny idea came to me. What if I added a higher-pitched layer above the original Layer 1?
I wanted any such additional higher-pitched layer still to be half-speed, so it would have to be pitch-shifted without speed change. I experimented and found that a minor sixth higher gave the best result, which was just a major third below the original recording's pitch. But then I got a hunch to do the same again and see what happened to the overall sound then. This time my experimentation landed on a further minor sixth higher, making that layer a major third higher than the original recording.
Chimes used (same for all five layers):
1. Music of the Spheres Gypsy Chimes, Soprano (Eastern European Gypsy scale, higher)
2. Music of the Spheres Gypsy Chimes, Mezzo (Ditto, lower)
3. Bamboo chimes, large and small set (rather indeterminate tuning, with a touch of whole-tone scale — bought cheaply at local store)
Actually in my inexperience then, I'd had an incorrect placement of the chimes, so the bamboo chimes aren't heard all that much in the recording, and pass hardly noticed in this Nature-Symphony, though they do still help vary the sound usefully, without drawing attention to themselves. The bamboo chimes had needed to be distinctly closer to the recorder than the Gypsy chimes.
I made this recording on 28 November 2012 in a spot on Piddledown where I wouldn't normally record, because the spots by the Hunter's Path, high up on the north side of the Teign Gorge that I'd previously used successfully were too sheltered from the northerly breeze. So I walked up to almost the top of the hill, where the breeze was coming across sufficiently.
Advisory
To get the best out of this, with its mass of detail, listen with high-grade headphones.
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:
Recorder for the chime was a Sony PCM-M10, with Rycote Mini Windjammer furry windshield, and it was placed on a Hama Mini tripod (not just 'mini' but tiny!) placed on the ground.
Post-recording processing was to apply EQ in Audacity to correct for the muffling effect of the windshields, and more recent processing with A1 Stereo Control to greatly improve the atrocious stereo imaging of the PCM-M10.
Layer 1: Half-speed, but with pitch raised to give final pitch a major third above original. Acoustic: back-of-cathedral
Layer 2: Half-speed, but with pitch raised to give final pitch a major third below original. Acoustic: back-of-cathedral
Layer 3: Half-speed, giving pitch reduction of an octave below original. Acoustic: back-of-cathedral
Layer 4: Speed for pitch reduction of an octave plus minor third, with further pitch reduction to give total of an octave plus major sixth below original. Acoustic: middling foreground in cathedral
Layer 5: Speed for pitch reduction of an octave plus minor third, with further pitch reduction to give total of 2 octaves plus major sixth below original. Acoustic: middling foreground in cathedral
Please remember to give this recording a rating — Thank you!
This recording can be used free of charge, provided that it's not part of a materially profit-making project, and it is properly and clearly attributed. The attribution must give my name (Philip Goddard) and link to https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/735858/
Type
Flac (.flac)
Duration
53:19.130
File size
175.3 MB
Sample rate
44100.0 Hz
Bit depth
16 bit
Channels
Stereo