An important part of my Arts Council funded DYCP has been to meet with and learn from inspiring practitioners through mentoring and guidance. I travelled to the picturesque town of Leigh-on-sea on 21st August to talk about soundscapes, career paths and community workshops with composer, producer, podcaster and sound artist Kelly Ann Buckley.
Kelly kindly spent two hours listening to my gripes, misgivings and future plans, before suggesting some new ways to approach my practice and some motivational ideas to crack on with my community project. We spoke about the working sounds that have disappeared from both of our local soundscapes over the last century, and visited the Leigh Heritage Centre & Museum to walk around Plumbs Cottage and hear examples of the (disappearing) local dialect.
Kelly also set a micro-project; exploring the sounds of the local seascape.
We found an interesting spot where the tide was slapping against the sea wall and some heavy machinery sat upon a jetty. I decided to explore how different sounds can be when heard above and below the water line by using my LOM Geofon and Jez Riley French hydrophones.
The short video below is a snapshot of what was recorded. It begins with the slapping sound of the sea and some faint shell crackles before this fades and the clanking of an old chain moving with the tide (picked up by the Geofon) and some underwater pops and boat noises (picked up by the hydrophones) combine to reveal sounds that we wouldn’t normally be able to hear. The sound of the sea then fades back in, and our short journey beyond the surface of the water concludes.
One surprising sound was the high whine of a passing boat motor picked up by the hydrophones. I heard the high drone long before I saw the boat, and found the sound quite unpleasant at the time (not helped by having my headphone volume up a little high).
I would like to thank Kelly for hosting me, and for being so open and supportive during the mentoring session. I encourage you to check out her informative and ear-opening podcast (the K-A-B ART + SOUND: LISTENING POD) that includes an immersive, binaural recording of Leigh-on-sea.
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