"The Castle And The Monastery" Utopia Map D4

[ChamMusic]

https://soundcloud.com/chameleon-music/ ... pia-map-d4

Not so much a piece of music...this one's more of an atmospheric soundscape! :0)

The Icon for this image is in fact the inspiration for the track. It's one small square of a woodcut map from the second printed edition of Utopia - 1518.

Full map here: citiesandmemory.com/utopia/

The track is meant to represent the sounds that might be heard in this area of the island!

In the spirit of the Cities and Memory website, I used a lot of new and old field recordings as the basis of the piece; if you really want more details, then read on...

I’ve gone for a dreamy, mysterious atmosphere with this one. Bells ring out as the sun rises. You hear the burbling river that is still not far from its source*. Wind blows through the crow’s nest as waves swell around the ship. A gentle horn sounds from the castle battlements and is quickly joined by monks singing inside the monastery.
* Ignore the banner that says OSTRIUM ANDYRI (The mouth of the river Anydrus) – it’s generally regarded as a joke.
In the middle section the soundscape changes dramatically as a second horn rises outside the castle;
drums of war herald an approaching army and battle is joined.

The fighting fades away and we return to relative tranquillity; this time we also hear a lonely voice
from the battlements – first speaking and then singing a short lament.

Production-wise, everything is in this one, including my kitchen sink!
• Opening shimmering drone = Bells of St Anne’s Church, Moseley, Birmingham through 2 modules in Reaktor.
• Burbling brook – outlet pipe from my kitchen sink.
• Wind and waves – pure synthesis in Reaktor
• Horn – it’s a weird old alpine style horn I bought years ago – finally used it in a project!
• Amen – monks! :0)
• Deep brass chords – pure synthesis in Absynth.
• Horses – Earlswood Stables, Solihull.
• Swords – kitchen cutlery
• Elven language – gobbledegook based on the addendum to the book.!
• Female singing – synthesis.

[Frantz]

The sound design is quite amazing. It's a convincing castle siege with bonus monks added free of charge! The mix is excellent with so many disparate elements blended seamlessly together.

I thought the horn leading the charge was perhaps a bit wimpy but then I noticed you said it's a real alpine horn. I guess modern trumpets did not exist in medieval times.

I was a little worried about the sudden switch from wash basin to sink but this turned out great.

Excellent work!

[davidstiles]

Neat. It's really nicely mixed, and very enjoyable to listen to. Like Frantz said, you've put lots of disparate elements into this track,but you've blended them just right so that I never felt like too much was going on all at once. Thanks for sharing!

[seismic1]

This is a great mélange of sounds, with a definite Lord of the Rings vibe towards the end. Everything fits together very well and the mix is great. The track certainly tells its story well.

I wouldn't have room in my house for an Alphorn, and the neighbours would probably have something to say about that anyway.

Great track

[ChamMusic]

Thanks to all for the feedback - much appreciated.

Frantz:

Kitchen 'sink' - yes, I genuinely thought of our earlier conversation whilst setting up the microphone for that burbling brook sound! :0)

Tim:
The neighbours actually had quite a lot to say and it started with "What the f--- was that?..."

In hindsight, I should've definitely warned them or played it while they were out! :0)

The AlpHorn:
Bought it years ago in a junk shop and actually never really knew what it was until very recently...I've always called it an Alpine style horn! However, it's apparently a telescopic Tibetan horn known as a a Dung Chen.

Here's a video of one in action, (mine looks exactly like this, but is only about 2 metres...folds down to 50cm).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBQNuPwgN1c

NB:
In case you're wondering how come I can play such a thing...I was originally a classically trained trumpet player!