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SWS24 2024

paths.made.walking

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It is free to listen to, however listeners can download the album for £15 if they wish.

Landscape

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Soundwalk

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Nature

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Sound walk

A sound journey through Scotland

In summer 2023 I set off on a 864km walk through Scotland, from Kirk Yetholm near the border with England, to Cape Wrath Lighthouse, at the far north west of Scotland’s mainland. Running the length of Scotland mainland, The Scottish National Trail combines sections of many of Scotland’s official walking routes including Southern Upland Way, West Highland Way, Rob Roy Way and Cape Wrath Trail. This route, devised by outdoors writer Cameron McNeish, is an unofficial walking route that charts the lowlands and highlands of Scotland, weaving along old drove roads, coffin roads, farm tracks and canal ways, as well as sections without paths or marked trails.

Recording a sound diary everyday en route, I captured snippets of my journey through Scotland. From the sound of Osprey chicks begging for food and the afternoon call of Short Eared Owls, to mountain bikers speeding downhill along the Southern Upland Way, and heavy downpours on the tent canvas. This collection of located sound recordings captures Scotland as a snapshot of unique 2-3 minute pieces, with the time of each recording corresponding to the number of kilometres I walked that day (6 seconds of recording for every km walked). There are 2 exceptions; an 8 minute recording, butter.midfield.gurgled, of a Song Thrush and Blackbird singing at dusk near the Loch of the Lowes (note the Song Thrush mimicry of a Tawny Owl call), and a 5 minute recording, minder.booms.open, of a resonant tunnel under the M8 motorway along the Union Canal, both of which offer a longer pause for listeners’ consideration.

Not expecting to capture such interesting and varied sounds on the walk, my intention was never to share these recordings, but simply to capture a daily sound on the journey, as an audio diary for the future. However, on closer listening upon returning home, I reasoned that these recordings mark an interesting and diverse collection of the sounds of Scotland at a snapshot of time.

Each track is named for the what3words location where it was recorded. What3words have divided the world into 3 metre squares, which are identified by a unique combination of three words, making it easy to share and find exact locations.

Alongside the paths.made.walking album, listeners can also read a daily postcard that I wrote and sent as a memory of the trip.

For the best listening experience use headphones and listen at a volume which mirrors ambient sounds outside (around 1/3 of the full volume). We hope you enjoy the journey.

Credits

I created this work. Nature features in the located sound recordings.

APA style reference

Sturgeon, J. (2024). paths.made.walking. walk · listen · create. https://walklistencreate.org/walkingpiece/paths-made-walking/

Related

Paths Made Walking
walkingevent

paths. made. walking.

What might be your reasons for taking a long walk? Might it be a celebration of a step-change in your life, to challenge yourself both mentally and physically, are you walking for love or loss, for better health, or to escape the hum-drum of everyday life, or merely to re-connect with nature? In 2023, Musician


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pedestrian acts

By de Certeau: In “Walking in the City”, de Certeau conceives pedestrianism as a practice that is performed in the public space, whose architecture and behavioural habits substantially determine the way we walk. For de Certeau, the spatial order “organises an ensemble of possibilities (e.g. by a place in which one can move) and interdictions (e.g. by a wall that prevents one from going further)” and the walker “actualises some of these possibilities” by performing within its rules and limitations. “In that way,” says de Certeau, “he makes them exist as well as emerge.” Thus, pedestrians, as they walk conforming to the possibilities that are brought about by the spatial order of the city, constantly repeat and re-produce that spatial order, in a way ensuring its continuity. But, a pedestrian could also invent other possibilities. According to de Certeau, “the crossing, drifting away, or improvisation of walking privilege, transform or abandon spatial elements.” Hence, the pedestrians could, to a certain extent, elude the discipline of the spatial order of the city. Instead of repeating and re-producing the possibilities that are allowed, they can deviate, digress, drift away, depart, contravene, disrupt, subvert, or resist them. These acts, as he calls them, are pedestrian acts.

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