During the latter half of 2025 I spent several months travelling, visiting seven different countries in total. On my journey I made audio recordings of people, sounds and music I came across, using my mobile phone. I also occasionally used my woolly hat as a wind shield.
I ended up with many hours and hundreds of clips, without being entirely sure what I was going to do with it all. Using the minimum of audio processing I have spliced some of them together, grouped by country into what I would best describe as audio snaps. In much the same way people take photographs of places they have been and people they have met and show them to friends, I have done the same with sound. The different clips have a special meaning to me as they remind me of places, situations and people I met along the way and paint a picture in my mind. As with any representation we all interpret them according to our own unique experiences and references, I am sure some of the sounds will conjure up completely different meanings and pictures for you.
I don’t know that the recordings strictly fit into the genres of found sound or field recordings but I hope you enjoy the audio journey. It can be listened either in the background whilst doing something like the washing up or else through headphones. The latter revealing the technical challenges of using a mobile phone to record audio.
U.S.A. 00:00 – 05:11
Includes clips from Greyhound and Flix buses and also the New York subway. It’s interesting to me that the sound of train from Baltimore to Washington at the start of the recording is reminiscent of an old pioneer train. You wouldn’t expect to hear a clanging bell on a European train.
Canada 05:11 – 12:20
I travelled overland from the USA and across Canada by train, stopping off along the way. Clips include Niagara Falls, ferry along the St Lawrence River and Varennes near Montreal. I later met up with my brother Terry in Canada (he emigrated there and is now a Canadian citizen) and chanced upon a country music festival in Kelowna. It’s his voice on the answerphone message.
Japan 12:20 – 23:33
Travelling on the weekly ferry from Tokyo I visited the Ogasawara Islands. The arrival and departure of the ferry is greeted with a festival like atmosphere. The deer that roam freely around Naara are in Shinto tradition messengers from the gods, the sound they make is intriguing. Hiroshima is a very special place and by chance my visit coincided with the Peace Jazz festival. I don’t think I will ever forget hearing Imagine by John Lennon, sung in Japanese a few hundred metres from the epicentre of the Hiroshima bomb.
South Korea 23:33 – 29:27
Again purely by chance, I arrived in Gyeongju just as Kim Bada was taking to the stage at the Golden Carnival. A heavy metal musician performing in contrast to the dominant South Korean K-Pop. A land that has the feel it is always on the eve of an apocalypse, with daily government text warnings of impending danger. Outside Seoul main train station preachers from various religious compete along with karaoke buskers for your ear. A trip to the DMZ doesn’t exactly steady the nerve.
Taiwan 29:27 – 34:15
Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese folk religions seem to blend seamlessly in Taiwan and whilst I was there Christmas seemed to be taken seriously as well, at least going by the busy Christmas decoration shops. A ferry ride to the offshore island of Liuqiu and dodging mopeds.
Singapore 34:15 – 39:15
A place where everything is very ordered, planned and contrived. Various ethnic and religious groups have their own spaces along with leisure areas such the famous Singapore Zoo. The Tasmanian Devils don’t seem very happy with the arrangement.
Sri Lanka 39:15 – 46:07
Whilst in Sri lanka Cyclone Storm Ditwah hit the country killing an estimated 644 people and destroying thousands of homes through flooding and landslides. I was in Galle at the time which was not badly affected. I returned back home shortly afterwards.
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Coll & Colonsay
During the Summer of 2024 I visited the Hebridean islands of Coll and Colonsay. This was my first attempt at an audio snap. It includes audio collected on the journey from London and the streets of Glasgow. By chance I happened to be on Colonsay for a concert with traditional Scottish music legends Barbara Dickson, Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham, clips of which are also featured.
