This is my final soundscape. I’ve uploaded it to my main CMC page here (Edit 7th Jan – as this is now simply a draft, I have re-uploaded this version of the soundscape and it can be heard here):
It is mostly similar to the soundscape I created in draft 2. I got rid of some sounds I didn’t like, including a couple of points where the wind noise was very loud and a few points where my handling of the mic was a little too obvious. A few ‘human’ sounds (people walking etc) have also been added.
I am quite pleased with how it’s turned out, despite the fact that it is quite different from my own vision. Actually going to Paradise Lane and starting to record there made me aware of just how noisy the traffic is, but this was further proved to me when I listened back to my recordings and found the traffic sound had penetrated everywhere I tried to record. This has led to a reasonably significant direction change, with the traffic noise playing a much more prominent role that I had originally planned for it. I think it’s difficult to hear a lot of what is going on and you really have to concentrate when listening to the soundscape to find the hi-fi sounds in it.
I have kept in mind the ‘listening body’ and have made sure a range of frequencies are accentuated at various points (like the bass while trains and cars go past). Mainly, I just made small changes to the mix in the edit room as I had done all previous mixes on headphones.
As I pointed out before, the ironic title ‘Paradise Lane’ is supposed to be thought-provoking: this place, is given the name ‘Paradise’, but is it really sonically paradise?
This piece is constructed as a sound walk down Paradise Lane. These are some things to listen out for:
00.00 – The A27, very close, some birds can be heard further away
00.24 – A train goes past in the distance
00.57 – Birds can be heard in the tree on the track
01.08 – Someone walks past
01.48 – A train goes past, this time closer, there are lots of trees and birds and a squirrel can be heard in them
03.04 – On the bridge as a train goes under it
04.12 – Heading towards the green, can hear birds
04.32 – A lady’s walking stick hitts the ground as she walks past
04.51 – A car passes the green
06.11 – The A27 can be heard in the distance, but also closer, at the bottom of Paradise Lane
06.28 – A train goes past, further away now
06.50 – Someone walks past
08.08 – Sirens in the distance
08.26 – A car drives up Paradise Lane