It's the first track in the mix, and I really dig what he's done with it. Visit his Metroboy blog here to give it a listen. I also highly recommend the rest of the content on Ben's blog!
Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社 Yasaka-jinja), once called Gion Shrine (梅宮神社 Gion-sha), is a Shinto shrine in the Gion District of Kyoto, Japan. Situated at the east end of Shijō-dōri (Fourth Avenue), the shrine includes several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage.
We encountered Yasaka-jinja early on in our stay in Kyoto, mainly because the Gion District is a very popular part of the city to visit and we wanted to hit these places before going further afield.
The first recording captures the sound of visitors shaking long ropes that were connected to bell-like metal containers in which something would then make a loud metallic rattling noise. People were stood in line waiting their turn in front of one of the 'buildings' that made up the shrine complex. After they had rattled the 'bell', they would pause for a moment in prayer before leaving.
Recorded on 21 March 2009
Unfortunately I'm struggling to recall what exactly was taking place during the second recording! I confess to this being down to poor organisation, but I'm sure honesty is the best policy! There is a likelihood(!) that it was made while passing a strange event that was being held whereby members of the public got to have their photos taken with local geisha or geiko as they are known in Kyoto.
The same day we visited the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, we took a stroll around the nearby Inokashira Park. We had an amazing time at the Ghibli Museum, but with all the Japanese kids bashing into our knees and getting shoved around, we were eager to get a bit of space and fresh air.
Inokashira Park was really pleasant. There was a lot of Sakura in early blossom and the sun was blazing down. We passed an old lady sitting on a bench quietly playing a harmonica, which I caught in this recording. There was also a really cool public exercise area with advisory posters and outdoor gym apparatus!
I'm always interested in discovering other field recording sites, although they are few and far between.
Today I received a message from Ian Rawes, the admin of a site named London Sound Survey, letting me know that he had placed a link to my blog on his site.
From what I can gather, London Sound Survey came into existence around May 2009, and already it contains a significant number of recordings. It's refreshing to see a field recording site that breaks away from the oft encountered blog format and the aesthetics are engaging.
The site is described as a small and growing collection of stereo recordings of places, daily life and events in the capital, and appears to comprise of four main sections: Sound Action recordings, Sound Map recordings, a graphical representation of the types of sound encountered across the city of London, and a Historical Sounds section. As is alluded to in the website name, the recordings you'll here are centered around the UK's capital, which I think works well in tying the audio material into a cohesive body of work. That said, restricting the recordings to a geographical area does not mean that the recordings are restricted in scope - there is plenty of variety here.
I look forward to seeing and hearing more from Ian's site.
The Fushimi-Inari-Taisha shrine in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto is one of those places that always appears in the guidebooks, more often than not on their covers! It is famous for it long 'tunnels' of redtorii that wind their way uphill to the inner shrine.
Having had a good quiet wander around - it was later in the day, and the shrine was pretty much deserted, we strolled back down through the torii and encountered an elderly man sweeping away the leaves that had collected on the pathway. Unfortunately my microphones began buzzing on one channel, however I don't think it spoils the recording.
Further to my previous post regarding the BBC World Service's Save Our Sounds project, I was recently flattered to be contacted by a member of BBC staff asking if they could have permission to use one of my photographs on their Sound Diary page.
A couple of days later I visited the page in question and saw that not only had they used one of my photos, but they had included a link to this blog and included my Ueno Park Bells of Time recording on their Sound Scavengers page!
I guess it's not a big deal - but like I said, I'm quite flattered, and excited to be mentioned.
At the end of our holiday, back in Tokyo after a week in Kyoto, we investigated Akihabara (which was awsome) and then walked all the way to theTokyo Dome City in the Bunkyo ward. We had hoped to visit the nearby Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, but were too late and it had closed for the day.
As we walked past the Tokyo Dome Amusement Park we saw (and heard) a number of the rides. This is a recording of the Linear Gale roller coaster. We stood in the middle so that the screaming passenger sound moved to each side.
During our stay in Tokyo we used the underground train a lot to get around. Unfortunately I didn't take note of the route we were taking while I made this recording. I'm sure it could be deduced from the train intercom that notified passengers of the journey progress.
