Paris – A Personal View

I AM DELIGHTED TO present a new piece in my Paris – A Personal View series.

For each piece in the series I invite a guest who lives in Paris to visit one of their favourite places or a place in the city that has a special meaning for them. With access to a microphone and sound recorder the guest talks about the place and tells us why it’s special to them.

Today, my guest is Adam Roberts.

Photo courtesy of Adam Roberts

Adam is an Englishman who has lived in Paris for a little over fifteen years. As well as doing his demanding day job Adam finds time to write the very informative and popular Invisible Paris blog – a celebration of the parts of Paris that would be refused entry to the ville musée if they tried to get in today.

And Adam’s chosen place? The Hôpital Salpêtrière …

Adam Roberts at the Hôpital Salpêtrière:

Hôpital Salpêtrière

Mur des Fermiers Généraux - The Farmers-General Wall

Former Women’s Prison Cells

Charcot’s Library – Photo courtesy of Adam Roberts

Bâtiment de la Force

Chapelle Saint-Louis

I am very grateful to Adam for giving up his time to visit and talk about the Hôpital Salpêtrière.

Thanks Adam.

Courtesy Note:

Unlike other sounds on this blog, the sound piece ‘Adam Roberts at the Hôpital Salpêtrière’ is not covered by a Creative Commons license. The copyright for this piece rests jointly and exclusively with Adam Roberts and Des Coulam.  It follows therefore that the downloading of this piece for any purpose is not permitted without the express permission of both Adam and Des. We have no wish to spoil your enjoyment of this piece but simply ask you to respect that the work is ours. Thanks for understanding.

Paris – A Personal View

I AM DELIGHTED TO present a new series of pieces for this blog entitled, Paris – A Personal View.

For each piece in the series I will invite a guest who lives in Paris to visit one of their favourite places or a place in this city that has a special meaning for them. With access to a microphone and sound recorder, the guest will talk about the place and tell us why it’s special to them. I’m certain that throughout the series the mixture of people, places and styles of delivery will make for interesting and fascinating listening.

To begin the series I am delighted to present a personal view of Paris from Susie Kahlich.

Photo courtesy of Susie Kahlich

Susie is an American screenwriter living in Paris.  In addition to her screenwriting work, she is editor of the cinema section at Vingt Paris Magazine, and a published author and poet.

And Susie’s chosen place? The Parc Monceau …

©Susie Kahlich in Parc Monceau:

 

 

I am very grateful to Susie Kahlich for making time in her busy schedule to record this piece and for giving us her very personal view of the delightful Parc Monceau.

Thanks Susie.

Courtesy Note:

Unlike other sounds on this blog, the sound piece ‘Susie Kahlich in Parc Monceau’ is not covered by a Creative Commons license. The copyright for this piece rests jointly and exclusively with Susie Kahlich and Des Coulam.  It follows therefore that the downloading of this piece for any purpose is not permitted without the express permission of both Susie and Des. We have no wish to spoil your enjoyment of this piece but simply ask you to respect that the work is ours. Thanks for understanding.

A “Sound Ride” in the Bois de Boulogne

A “SOUND RIDE” IS a term I invented this afternoon. Sound Walks are familiar; lots of people do them including me. But this afternoon I thought I would do something a little different. Taking advantage of the delicious late autumnal weather, I made the ten-minute walk from my apartment across to the Bois de Boulogne and recorded a cycle ride on a Velib.

The Velib system we have in Paris is a wonderful invention. I think it’s been copied in other cities but it appeared here first. I’ll let the sounds tell the story of my Sunday afternoon in the Bois de Boulogne.

My Sound Ride in the Bois de Boulogne:

My Velib together with my black bag which contains my street recording studio

The Bois de Boulogne in summer

The Bois de Boulogne in springtime

The Bois de Boulogne in winter

A Silent Swaying Breath: A Public Record

FROM PARIS I WATCHED the TV pictures with disbelief and dismay as the recent riots in London unfolded. Scenes of chaos, looting and mindless violence are never easy to digest. Depressing as the scenes in London were, my heart lifted to see the way the local people subsequently rallied to begin rebuilding their communities.

In our world dominated by the twenty-four hour news cycle events like this seem to fade all to quickly. It’s easy to forget the victims of these riots, those who lost their livelihoods and those who lost their homes not to mention those scarred by these unfathomable events.

Thankfully, there are those who did not forget. As well as the various charitable organisations offering help and support to the communities affected by the riots, many other people are making a contribution in whatever way they can. People like the amazingly creative team at SoundFjord, the United Kingdom’s only gallery dedicated to sound art.

SoundFjord, together with Audio Gourmet’s Harry Towell and Bartosz Dziadosz, came together to curate an album created “by the people, for the people”, to raise funds for those affected by the riots. SoundFjord’s creative director, Helen Frosi, invited people from around the world to submit short, unedited sounds that would be used as the basic ingredients and Audio Gourmet then transformed these sounds into a twelve-track album of sound art.

The finished album, A Silent Swaying Breath: A Public Record, was released on 17^th October. All profits raised by sales of this album go towards assisting those that have lost their homes and livelihoods and to provide opportunities for philanthropy, creative expression and collaboration within local community projects.

A Silent Swaying Breath: A Public Record – Introduction:

Here is a link to the album, A Silent Swaying Breath: A Public Record. Do take a look and share the link with your friends. It’s all in a good cause.

When I first heard about this project I was anxious to support it. I was therefore thrilled when I was told that some of my sounds had been included in the finished album. The sounds chosen have appeared elsewhere on this blog. I wonder if you can spot them.

“Mind the Gap” – An Update

IN JANUARY THIS YEAR I produced a blog piece entitled, “Mind the Gap”, a piece in which I gave an account of how the French Metro announcers communicate the warning, “Mind the Gap”, to an unsuspecting travelling public.

Here’s how the French do it:

Since then, I’ve made several trips on the London Underground and they too of course have their “Mind the Gap” announcements. Having recorded these announcements in both English and French I thought you might like to hear a direct comparison.

“Mind the Gap” in English and in French:

It occurred to me that to have a collection of “Mind the Gap” announcements from different countries in different accents and different languages might make for an interesting sound art piece.

Do you have a “Mind the Gap” recording from your country and in your language that you would like to share? If so, just send me a comment and I’ll get in touch.

The Bornus Consort

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I was invited by some friends to a party at their home. Nothing unusual about that – except that I live in Paris and my friends live in Warsaw! The invitation intrigued me so I raided my cache of air miles and arrived in Warsaw on a very chilly Friday afternoon.

This turned out to be no ordinary party. It took place in a beautiful apartment in Warsaw with very friendly and interesting guests all of whom, except me, were Polish. But the real stars of the evening were the Polish early music ensemble, The Bornus Consort, who gave a wonderful singing performance which I was privileged to record. This really was a party with a difference!

Established in 1981 by Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski, The Bornus Consort specialise in singing early music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. Their original aim was to try to reconstruct and record the music preserved in the manuscripts of the Rorantists of Wawel Cathedral in Crakow keeping as close as possible to the original way of performing these early works.

As well as singing early Polish music, the ensemble also sing Dutch polyphony, French chansons, Italian and English madrigals together with contemporary pieces. In recent years the ensemble has focused on various forms of Gregorian chant, including the Dominican liturgical tradition.

When I spoke to him after their performance, Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski’s passion for early music shone through. He told me that his special interest is in thirteenth-century music about which he speaks with great authority and enthusiasm.

The Bornus Consort recorded in a Warsaw apartment:

This was the final piece the Bornus Consort sang during the evening. It is the motet Nunc Scio Vere by Waclaw from Szamotuly (1524-1560). It is particularly interesting because the music comes from the Cracow organ score of 1590 which had the music and the title but no words. The words have been reconstructed by Professor Miroslaw Perz.

Sometimes in life we are privileged to enjoy “cameo” experiences. For me, this was certainly one of those experiences and the memories of this evening in Warsaw will live with me for ever.

I am most grateful to Marcin Bornus-Szczycinski and the Bornus Consort for their permission to publish this piece and to my friends for their very kind invitation and gracious hospitality.

Fine Tuning

I AM FASCINATED BY SOUND – listening to it, recording it and archiving it. My special interest is recording everyday sounds – the sounds that most people either ignore or take only a fleeting interest in – the sounds that create a lasting sense of atmosphere or a sense of place.  Paris is full of such sounds but so too are other places.

Sometimes I seem to stumble across sounds that are not only interesting but also unusual and to find these sounds is always a pleasure.

On a recent visit to Poland I visited St John’s Cathedral in Warsaw. Built in the first half of the 14th century, the original church was almost completely demolished during the Second World War. In 1939 the church was bombed and partly burned and then, after the Warsaw uprising in 1944, in a particularly callous act, German tanks entered the church and completely destroyed what remained.

After the war, with typical fortitude, the Polish people decided that the church should be re-built. By 1956 the reconstruction of the building was complete but it was not until the 1970’s that the restoration of the interior was finally finished.

It was against this background that I found myself, on a very cold Saturday morning, in St John’s Cathedral.

When I visit a church or a cathedral the first thing I look for is the organ. Church and cathedral organs are another passion of mine – sound recording and church organs seem to go hand in glove.

The organ in St John’s Cathedral was built by the Eule company of Bautzen in Germany and it was installed in 1987. This King of Instruments stands proudly in the organ loft above the west door.

The Organ of St John’s Cathedral

On this particular Saturday morning the organ was receiving some special attention. It was being tuned. What I know about organ tuning could be written on the back of a postage stamp but, after listening to the process for over an hour, I came away having learned a lot.

I learned that it takes at least two people to tune a cathedral organ. In this case, a young lady sitting at the organ console pressing keys on cue from the organ tuner who was buried deep inside the bowels of the instrument.

I also learned that organ tuning is in part a long and delicate process demanding an acute sense of pitch from the organ tuner and in part a quite brutal process in which a hammer seems to be an essential part of the organ tuner’s armoury.

Tuning the upper register:

As well a hammer, a selection of pitch pipes are used so that the organ pipes can be tuned to a reference pitch. The combination of the sound of these pitch pipes and the sound of the organ pipes makes for an interesting effect.

Tuning the lower register:

After much hammering and blowing of pitch pipes, it was time for the obligatory ‘road test’. The organ tuner emerged from the bowels of the instrument to take centre stage at the console where he showed that he could do more with his hands than wield a hammer.

The road test:

Job done!

Many famous Polish people are entombed in St John’s Cathedral including Ignacy Jan Paderewski, concert pianist and one time Prime Minister of Poland – a man who I’m sure would appreciate the fine art of organ tuning.

The Sounds of Warsaw Airport

ON SATURDAY MORNING, I found myself at Warsaw airport waiting for a flight to Paris. It was a very cold, grey, day and it was snowing.

Warsaw Airport – Terminal 2

Warsaw airport – or to give it it’s proper name these days, Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport or, in Polish, Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie - is Poland’s largest airport with around one hundred scheduled flights a day. It accounts for around 50% of Polish air traffic and is used by about nine million passengers each year.

Warsaw airport has two terminals. Terminal 2 is the newer of the two. It opened in 2008. Terminal 1 was opened in 1992 replacing the former communist building. I experienced the communist terminal on my first trip to Poland in 1989 – not an experience I would recommend!

Warsaw Airport – Terminal 1

On Saturday I had a couple of hours to spare before boarding my flight and, since Air France flights depart from Terminal 1, I decided to record some of the sounds there.

The Sound Outside Warsaw Airport Terminal 1:

Outside Terminal 1 the sounds comprised mainly traffic passing by in the slush but I was struck by how this was a soft, gentle, almost soothing sound compared to the harsh and often hostile traffic sounds in Paris. A loudspeaker outside the terminal building relays the announcements from inside which I think is a good idea.

Warsaw Airport – Terminal 1

Not surprisingly, inside, Terminal 1 has a much older feel to it than the new Terminal 2. It wasn’t very busy on Saturday but I have been there in the summer when it’s been very crowded and then it’s not a pleasant place to be.

The glider suspended from the roof is an interesting diversion.

The Sound Inside Warsaw Airport Terminal 1:

I have a collection of sounds that I have recorded in airport terminals around the world. In older terminal buildings it is sometimes possible to find distinctive sounds but in today’s new terminals the sounds, in whichever country they are recorded, seem to morph into just one overall airport terminal sound – only the languages are different.

So, having collected sounds from Warsaw airport for my sound archive, it was time to head off for the Mother Ship, Paris … and home.

A Late Summer Evening in Paris … And Dreaming

Regular readers of this blog will know that I specialise in street recordings, particularly street recordings of Paris. Regular readers may also like to know that I do, from time to time, turn my hand to other forms of recording as well. In fact, given the right opportunity, I will record practically anything. I  mention this because today has been a gorgeous late summer’s day here in Paris and late this evening, sitting on a terrace sipping a glass of white, a recording I made some time ago came to mind.

I had a short holiday in one of my favourite places, the Amalfi coast in Italy. A flight to Naples, a tussle with the car hire at the airport, a hair-raising drive along the coast road to Amalfi and then … what a reward!

The Amalfi Coast with its rugged terrain and sheer beauty is in the Campania region of Italy south of Naples. The main town on the Amalfi coast is Salerno but other places come to mind including Amalfi itself, Positano and, of course, Ravello which is very special to me. Everyone needs their own little piece of heaven on earth and Ravello is mine.

So, to get back to the point. Sitting on the terrace in Paris on this late summer evening with my glass of white and dreaming of my little piece of heaven on earth, I was drawn to the sounds that I recorded on the Amalfi coast and this one in particular, a recording I made early one evening on the beach close to Amalfi – the sound of a calm sea with the waves gently rolling over the pebbles on the seashore.

This recording goes very well with a late summer evening in Paris, or anywhere else for that matter,  together with a glass of white – Enjoy!

The ‘Manifestation’ – It’s a French Thing

Demonstrations, or “manifestations” as the French call them, are a way of life in France and particularly in Paris so if you live here you just have to get used to them. When I first came here eleven years ago I found this ‘leap to the streets’ at every opportunity quite mystifying. As time has moved on I have not only got used to it but I have come to respect the right of the demonstrators to protest and to enjoy the enthusiasm with which the do it.

Here in Paris manifestations seem to happen all the time except of course in the summer when even the most ardent demonstrators, along with everyone else, go on holiday. But come September and ‘La Rentrée’, that peculiar time of the year when everyone returns from holiday and life slowly gets back to normal, they will be back on the streets advancing whatever cause it is they support or are opposed to. And the causes are many and varied. I have seen demonstrations varying from opposition to pension reform to anti-globalisation to gay rights, to the regularisation of the ‘sans-papiers’ to more parking spaces for motorcycles and all points in between. It seems that nothing is too great or too small to take to the streets about.

At this point I should admit that I am not a natural demonstrator. I enjoy watching the demonstrations and I enjoy recording them but I am not a natural participant. I did though take part in one demonstration. It wasn’t planned, it happened by accident. I happened to be in the Place de la République one Saturday afternoon when I spied a demonstration approaching. It was a protest against ‘la peine de mort’ the death penalty, something I feel particularly strongly about and before I knew it I was joining in. It was the first and only time I’ve done it but I’m pleased I did.

Most of the demonstrations in Paris are peaceful if often enthusiastic. It is only on very rare occasions that any violence occurs and then only by a tiny minority. On the whole things are mostly good-natured. And just for once, a word in support of the police. At any demonstration in Paris the CRS (the French riot police) are present in force but, in my experience, they always seem to keep a discreet distance and never become visible unless things get hopelessly out of control which happens only very rarely. In all the time I have been watching demonstrations here I have never once seen the police be provocative in any way.

Love them or loathe them, manifestations happen here. People take to the streets to express their support for, or opposition against, a wide variety of causes. For the most part they do it peacefully, enthusiastically and with good humour. Long may it continue.