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(Improved version — explanation further below…)
Nature-Symphony 53 ("Yon bright mountain calls from afar, its distance vast!") — A real surprising one this, because it takes a somewhat longer version of my Nature-Symphony 1 (The inner fire wistfully seeks to define itself), using that as Layer 1, then adds two layers of the same recording with further reduced speed / pitch. It's thus much denser in its overall sound — except that the many quieter periods in each layer make for various views through gaps in the forest, to keep getting good views of what's happening in the other two layers. In particular, also I somewhat quietened Layers 2 and 3 to ensure that Layer 1 frequently shone out — like the resplendent distant higher mountain that ever beckons.
As for this work's title, I came out with a succinct quite prosaic version of what we have now, which didn't fully satisfy me, and I felt that in this case a more archaic rendering might well come out more poetically — so, being quite an ignoramus with regard to using archaic English, for a laugh I tried my new friendly assistant ChatGPT, and it was most helpful. With just a little dialogue to get it just right, it was ChatGPT that enabled me to finalize it, and the poetic rhythm and sound of that end-result was a pleasing surprise.
Why an improved version?
It's a weird thing, that the day before my posting this new version, the latest WavePad version flashed a warning about this Nature-Symphony and its extracted Layers 2 and 3, to the effect that it appeared that the channels were 'inverted', which I found meant 'out of phase', and offering to fix it. I tested the files both 'fixed' and unfixed, and it was clear that the files that triggered that warning were showing the same effect as using speakers wired with opposite polarity. Actually they sounded wonderfully spacious that way, but the overall soundstage was false, with too much activity on far left and far right, and deficient detail in the middle, and overall less clarity than in the 'fixed' files.
So, I worked on this in the original Audacity project file, establishing that the issue appeared to be related to my use of the OrilRiver VST plugin to get the various cathedral-like acoustics. There was no way I could avoid using that, but I could check each layer in the Audacity project and, as a final stage before mixing the whole show, I'd do listening tests to check each layer for 'inversion', and where that was found, use Audacity's 'invert' effect to correct it.
In the course of doing that, I came also to recognise that I'd been over-zealous in quietening Layers 2+3 in order for Layer 1 to be sufficiently heard, so I upped their level by 3dB.
The overall effect now is of a greater cohesiveness and clarity of the soundstage, with the foreground (the very low-pitched layer 3) now really sounding like foreground, which also makes Layer 1 sound more distant in comparison, while actually being clearer and thus more, not less, audible where the foreground activity is going bananas. The joyfulness of this work is now much more overt and clearly defined, and its effect is more healthily grounding.
I chose to leave the original version here as an educational comparison.
Chimes used:
(layers 1–3)
1+2. Music of the Spheres Gypsy Mezzo and Soprano (6 tubes each, tuned to an Eastern European Gypsy scale)
3. Woodstock Chimes of Pluto (5 tubes, moderately high-pitched, tuned to a radiant sunny-sounding pentatonic scale. Not to be confused with the larger and very different-sounding Davis Blanchard Pluto chimes that also figure in some of my Nature-Symphonies)
4+5. Indonesian bamboo chimes, large and small (6 tubes each, rather indeterminate tuning but often with hints of whole-tone scale)
I made the original recording on 18 February 2013 (https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/700528/ ), at Hunter's Tor, near the Hunter's Path and Castle Drogo, Teign Gorge, Drewsteignton, Devon, UK.
Advisory
To get the best out of this, with its mass of detail, listen with high-grade headphones.
This recording taking place. The two nearest and apparently higher chimes are the bamboo ones, the rightmost one is the Pluto chime, and the other two (further back, with black tubes) are the Gypsy chimes.
Techie stuff:
Recorder was a Sony PCM-M10, with Rode DeadKitten furry windshield (original, more effective version), and it was placed on a Velbon Mini tripod.
Post-recording processing was to apply EQ in Audacity to correct for the muffling effect of the windshields.
Layer 1: half-speed, giving an octave pitch reduction. Acoustic: back-of-cathedral
Layer 2: Speed to give pitch reduction of an octave plus fifth below original. Acoustic: moderate back-of-cathedral
Layer 3: Ditto, with further octave pitch reduction, totalling two octaves plus a fifth below original. Acoustic: middling foreground in cathedral
Please remember to give this recording a rating — Thank you!
This recording can be used free of charge, provided that it's not part of a materially profit-making project, and it is properly and clearly attributed. The attribution must give my name (Philip Goddard) and link to https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/734257/
Type
Flac (.flac)
Duration
61:24.690
File size
164.1 MB
Sample rate
44100.0 Hz
Bit depth
16 bit
Channels
Stereo