During the walk on 18th May, Nikki and Nog captured their thoughts and observations on a dictaphone. These files were intended just for note-taking, rather than to be shared as part of the project. Without really planning to, they began to try capturing ambient sounds along the route too, though at the time they couldn’t listen back to our audio to see how successful this was.
When Nikki later reviewed the audio, she found the sound files to be incredibly evocative. Each background noise seemed as intentional as those added to a radio drama to set the scene, and they immersed the listener in the journey far more than looking at images or maps.
A final sound recording is a telephone call between Nikki and Nog, capturing a discussion they had after they realised they had not recorded anything at the conclusion of their journey on the 18th. They consider the walk as a pilot for a larger, ongoing project that they hope to share with the wider family.
As the project develops, Nikki and Nog also plan to record more ambient sounds on the route of their walks, to create sound maps.
Audio Story
- The Mermaid Theatre
- Queen’s Hithe Mosaic
- Vintner’s Place
- Walking in Henry’s Footsteps
- Whittington Garden
- A Shortcut
- The Royal Exchange
- The String Quartet
- Broad Street Station
- A (Remembered) Disaster in Old Broad Street
- Liverpool Street Station
- A Conclusion
