I’ve spent the past few weeks in France visiting with Patrick McGinley who has generously offered his temporary residence as a gathering place for friends, many of whom are avid sound recordists. Naturally those who came started to explore the local area for interesting locations. Patrick and myself went out early to work on some collaborative material, while in the second week additional people came (Jonathan Coleclough, Thomas Tilly, Maksims Shentelevs, Paulo Raposo). Our primary location was a metal bridge that crossed the nearby Andelle river. A number of different recordings were made by each person using metal and nylon wires, hydrophones and open air mics. The recording below was made using a metal wire that hung over the side of the bridge.

wires from bridge on the Andelle, France (2:50): mp3 file

The other location we explored was in a tributary of the Andelle. This place was a shallow water crossing that allowed us to wade in the water. Patrick and I set up waterharps while others worked with hydrophones. Thomas Tilly made some on the most impressive hydrophone recordings I’ve hear, picking up sound from underwater instects and possible fish. Below is a sample from one of my waterharp recordings.

a waterharp in the Andelle, France (3:14): a waterharp in the Andelle