Test: Blog Post 6

After we tested the different walks and eventually planned out our finished walk, we set off to the starting point of the walk and when we got there the starting point ended up being in the middle of the road which wasn’t ideal for this walk, so we got back changed the size of the starting point and went back out. When we got back to the start we got the sound to work and we started walking and by the time we got to the bottom of Wine Street the first composition stopped so we need to measure how far away it stopped from the next part of the composition, then we needed to go back to the drawing board and start the walk a little bit closer so that the walk doesn’t have a big silent gap between the compositions, and then finally when we went back out we eventually had the walk at the right length and the composition linked up really well.

The Final Composition description:

This a sound walk created by University of Wales Trinity music students, we’ve created a sound walk tackling a contemporary issue that we feel is important to understand, war. We will take you on a journey through time, starting in a pre-Blitz Swansea at the Blitz memorial besides the River Tawe, moving up to Swansea Castle where you will experience the current political state of the world, and then travel into the future at Saint Mary’s Church in the Heart of the city! What does the future have in store, are we heading towards a third world war, or have we learnt from our mistakes?

The walk itself will take just over 10 minutes. For the optimal listening experience, headphones are recommended.

Our first echo is from the perspective of someone living through the Blitz in Swansea. And our connection to the topic was to gain a deeper understand of the city history during this pivotal period in its history. We wanted to shed light on how it would’ve felt to be in Swansea from the 19th to the 21st of February 1941 by creating our own interpretation of the atmosphere during the bombings themselves and the recovery during the days.

Past description

This echo is about the Blitz

We used a sample from Winston Churchills Finest Hour speech for a few reasons, firstly, the speech was pre Blitz and so fits well chronologically. Secondly the tone of his speech fits well with the music that follows and it feels very motivational and inspirational. We used a military snare and soldiers marching as the percussion. We used a military snare because they’re instantly recognisable and sets the mood for the piece. Then we gradually started introducing new patterns and instruments to amplify the intensity before it all drops out when the Blitz start. We did this to show that the Blitz destroyed British morale.

The second part is from the perspective of someone living through the Blitz. The main piano melody slows down which, paired with the lack of other instruments, gives it a gloomy feel compared to the high energy part prior. It finishes with another Winston Churchill speech, in which he addresses the nation after the Nazis were defeated. We chose this speech for similar reasons, it fit chronologically, and it has an motivational quality to it whilst still coming across dark, paired with the piano it works well as an outro.

Samples used – Winston Churchills Finest hour Speech, Winston Churchills speech addressing the nation following the defeat of the Nazis