listening
a sound diary exploring contemplative field recording through documentation, transcription and reflection.
Gloucester Cathedral
9th March 2026
Wandering past the Remembrance Chapel, I was drawn to the line on the altar cloth: "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39, Matthew 27:54). After years of push-back against this proclamation/conundrum, I decided, instead, to hold it more lightly, to challenge myself to employ it as a koan*. I donned headphones and listened. The cathedral smeared and rounded the sounds of visitors, their guides, and the clamour of works around the organ at the eastern end of the nave. Here, sounds built and faded slowly as they got distant. Two hours passed, no revelations came. Nevertheless, the phrase, like the secular sounds in sacred space, became smudged, more mysterious, and perhaps moved a little closer to the heart than the mind.
Brightwell cum Sotwell Wassail
3rd January 2026 (15:00 - 17:00)
“Whacking sticks…anyone need a whacking stick?” Pipers prepare the crowd for the Wassail as whacking sticks (needed later on in the proceedings) are handed out. The crotal-bell-clad Wallingford Morris perform a hanky dance entitled ‘Banbury Bill’ getting everyone in the mood for making noise and keeping moving/warm.
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The call and response of “Wassail!” begins to wake the fruit trees and the revellers. Rev. Janice offers a wassail prayer, weaving Christian theology into this pagan tradition, while a group of crows ‘murder’ the end of the prayer. The Master and Assistant Master of the Wassail introduce the various roles; The Lord of Mischief; Master Shotgun and Muzzleloaders; the Keeper and Assistant Keeper of the Pipes; and the Master of the Flags of Wessex, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, the “repossessed flag of Saint George” (“waved for all the right reasons!”), and the local flags of Mackney, Sotwell and Brightwell. Border Morris side ‘Armaleggan’ dance the Wrekin from Shropshire (‘wrekin’ meaning: round the hill), before the crowd processes on to the community orchard.
As wassailers enter the orchard, children are encouraged to feed the robins with cider drenched toast. This is followed by the ceremonial whacking of apple trees - meant to wake the trees from their winter slumber and encourage the sap to start flowing again. The noise of the whacking sticks, chants of “Jack Frost be Gone” and the occasional boom of muskets are heard, driving away evil spirits that might lurk in the branches and ruin the crop.
After mulled cider and apple and a Strictly Come Dancing-inspired Mummer’s Play comedy, we move to our second orchard, the Master of Mischief and his entourage select the King and Queen of the Wassail, from the ‘shortlist’ of boys and girls who come forward. Then, with more whacking of trees, firing of muskets and bursts of piping, the crowd assemble in a circle to dance the Shepherd’s Hey.
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To the Red Lion, where the beer and folk tunes keep the punters in good spirits. Leaving the pub to the jangle of leg-crotals, Armaleggan (www.armaleggan.org) entertain the crowd outside with two dances, the second a fire-dance. A burst of musket fire heralds the fireworks, bringing the Wassail to a close, the full moon lighting the way home.
Images courtesy of Sarah Bentley
Swanage Pier
October 11th 2025
A day spent listening to Swanage Pier (Dorset, UK), the crackle of aquatic life, the bubbles of diver's breathing apparatus, the modulating drone of diving and pleasure boats and the creaks, knocks and rumbles of the pier structure itself.
Notcing the huge difference in sound intensity firstly above and then below the surface
St Jean de Luz, Basque Region, France
14th August 2025
image credit: Sarah Bentley
Stereo hydrophone recordings made from a jetty along the beach at St-Jean-De-Luz.
Grand Vitesse
9th August 2025
an ominous geophone drone from the fold-down table at my seat
Heading south from Gare Montparnasse in Paris and with a few hours to spare (and a few funny looks), I took the opportunity to experiment with coil microphone and geophone recording.
Fort Victoria
July 2025
A series of hydrophone recordings along the shoreline at Fort Victoria, near Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.
