forthcoming release from the archives;

These pieces were recorded in the 1990’s. There isn’t a date on the disc and the minidisc they were probably recorded direct to has yet to be found in those archives. That said the guitar featured was one that I purchased in the early nineties and always had a bit of a high neck. As I remember the pick-up and bridge later developed faults, rattles and quirks. I would guess mid-nineties. 

These pieces, naive as they are, have in them the materiality of my attempts to draw something from the faults, and of my own hand, slightly tired at the time.

35 short pieces - one

Jez riley French - internal sounds of a laptop (recorded with JrF coil pick ups

Jez riley French - thermostat at guesthouse, austria (recorded with JrF coil pick ups)

an unedited extract of a durational recording of vibrations within soil horizons - east yorkshire 


ink botanic is an on-going series of installations and multi-channel sound works...research into transpiration, root systems, cavitation, vibrations in soil horizons and situated connections between species

recorded with JrF c-series contact microphones, d-series hydrophones and adapted geophones


https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/ink-botanic.php

ink botanic - soil horizons (unedited extract)

teleferica wires, Topolo, Italy

recorded by Jez riley French - using JrF c-series contact mics.

Teleferica wires, Topolo

recorded with 2 x JrF d-series hydrophones into a Sound Devices 7-series recorder.

Cod, Shrimp, Krill & other marine species recorded from Husavik Harbour, Iceland, June 2014

Cod grunts and other species husavik harbour, iceland (extract)

recorded with 2 x JrF d-series hydrophones placed directly in the 100 degree centigrade + mud pools at Krafla, Iceland, June 2014

Krafla mud pools with hydrophones (extract)

1) JrF d-series hydrophones (pair) 

2) cetacean research hydrophone £ (considerably more expensive than JrF - they don't display prices on their website !)

3) aquarian hydrophone £ again considerably more expensive the JrF hydrophones.

recorded on a recent field trip / workshop in Iceland that I was leading along with Chris Watson. All examples were recorded into Sound Devices 7-series recorders & are unprocessed.

lets just say i'm proud of the hydrophones I produce & the fact that I keep the costs within reach of most folks. 


Husavik hydrophone comparisions

aquatic life in a stream, topolo, italy, recorded with JrF d-series hydrophones

razor clams in north wales - recorded with JrF d-series hydrophones

thornwick bay (the bright work) - recorded with jrf hydrophones

water beetles - recorded with 2 JrF d-series hydrophones

Water beetles - recorded with JrF d-series hydrophones

under the sand at tides reach (recorded with JrF c-series hydrophone)

4 extracts from longer form recordings with JrF coil pick up's 

. plug board
. light bulb
. sensor panels
. thermostat

adapted coils are available from jezrileyfrench.co.uk  

JrF Coils - Examples

an extract from track 5 of the photo book / cd release:

'dissolves'

available here:

https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/merch/jez-riley-french-dissolves-photo-book-ty-cd

topolo snail shells (extract)

for BBC1's 'bang goes the theory' series 2012, Chris Watson used various microphones to record some of the smallest sounds - capturing snails, centipedes & maggots walking, slithering & eating. On this recording Chris uses a c-series contact mic to listen to a centipede walking !  thanks to Chris for allowing me to use the recording on this site.

Centipede (recorded by Chris Watson, using a JrF c-series contact mic)

testing my new 'd-series' hydrophone design (available from June 2012 from hydrophones.blogspot.com) against the DPA8011's. 

first section are the DPA's then the d-series !

The DPA's are no longer in production but did used to cost over £1000 each & if you want one now you'd be lucky to find them below £2000 each second hand. 

So, my d-series will be priced around £60 each & though I say it myself i'm very pleased with the way they stacked up in comparison with the DPA's. 

The DPA's have a stronger signal as they have a built in additional pre-amp, however the most interesting difference is the way the two hydrophone designs pick up some of the same sounds but at different levels. Indeed the DPA's seem not to pick up at all lots of the subtle sounds the d-series do. The DPA's seem to focus on the higher end sounds & the d-series cover a wider range of sounds more equally. I know i'm biased but I much prefer the sound of the d-series, which to my ears capture a more diverse, richer & more complex sound world.

Another interesting fact is that the DPA's had hardly any low frequency response. I tried applying various low pass filters on the Sound Devices recorder to them & none made any difference to the sound. This was a surprise indeed & i'm somewhat puzzled by that.

Both recordings were made directly into the SD7 series recorder, with gain levels equal & in the same location: 2 hydrophones of each model either side of a small wooden pier on an inlet on the east coast of sweden in May 2012.

Of course, the d-series are my design so as I said earlier I am biased, but lets just say that i'm very pleased by the way they perform next to the high-end DPA's.

£2000 + for a DPA8011 (if you can find one)
or
£60 for a JrF d-series 

hmmm....

Hydrophone tests d-series vs dpa8011

2 JrF c-series contact microphones attached to a staircase during a workshop in Wendover - august 2018

* decent headphones or speakers advised to hear the full frequency range as these recordings are uncompressed

the staircase was then played using a bow and my fingers to demonstrate to workshop participants the potential of sound available from resonant surfaces in locales. This track begins with the straight recording and then adds in a time stretched version of the same recording.

JrF C - Series Contact Mics - Staircase At Wendover (headphones advised)

an extract from a set of recordings of  sulphurous 120 degree mud pools in Iceland, recorded with 2 JrF d-series hydrophones

from the forthcoming  'ísland   |  archives (skjalasafn)' publication

2018

Solfataras (extract)

two extracts from my minidisc archives - uploaded here without any processing, therefore there is some of the md-style hiss of the pre-amps.

1) an extract from a 24 minute recording - the location is unknown. This is the earliest hydrophone recording I have on minidisc & whilst the exact date isn't recorded it is a disc dated 1998.
2) from a short recording at Paull ponds, East Yorkshire from a disc dated 2002

two hydrophone recordings

headphones or conventional speakers needed

each structure resonates, sounded by its position and the locale
kettles yard in cambridge sits next to a busy road, yet, as anyone who has visited knows, has its own sense of slow time
a few years ago I had access to the cottage spaces for several days, resulting in one of the pieces for the ‘audible silence’ project (https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/audible-silence)
I attached some of my c-series contact microphones to the table next to one of the windows that also displays the well known pebble circle. I listened for an hour or so, the sound of traffic through the table and the floor, and some of the curatorial staff coming and going
(a fade in and out is the only processing or editing involved)

https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/one-hour-spent-listening-to-the-pebble-table

One Hour Spent Listening To The Pebble Table

a short test (made by Tim Bartlett) showing the rather dramatic difference in quality between my JrF d-series hydrophone & a Dolphin Ear pro. The DE pro is several hundred dollars but seems to struggle to provide a decent strength signal.

first section: JrF d-series hydrophone is on the left channel  /  dolphin ear pro is on the right channel

second section: just the dolphin ear pro signal

third section: just the JrF d-series hydrophone signal

comparison test - Jrf hydrophone (left channel) / Dolphin Ear pro (right channel) - then separated

recorded during the 2019 murmuration trip using 2 x JrF d-series hydrophones.

a short edit from a long form recording

Glenshee Loch (edit)

a short extract of a long form recording of a pond in southern Sweden, recorded with 2 x JrF d-series hydrophones

the sound of pond weed during photosynthesis

pond weed photosynthesis (sweden)

from 'ink botanic'

https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/ink-botanic.php

the inner sounds of a cherry birch tree - recorded with adapted JrF microphones

photo by Pheobe riley Law, from her 'desire lines' project / book

ink botanic - cherry birch

from 'ink botanic' 

https://jezrileyfrench.co.uk/ink-botanic.php

a recording of the root system of a group of plants - mainly japonica peach blossom but with other smaller species also.

recorded using prototype JrF microphones based on the c-series contact mics. 

listen with headphones for the more subtle sounds alongside those of regular transpiration.

ink botanic - (japonica peach blossom)

(listen with good headphones or conventional speakers to get a sense of the full frequency range)

3 extracts from recordings made with JrF c-series contact microphones;

rain bowl - sweden
railings - sussex
railings - stockholm

I'm posting these particular recordings to highlight the low frequency response capable with the c-series contact mics. Frequencies down to 10hz can be detected. All digital recorders have a 10hz limited installed that can't be turned off without hacking the recorder.

resonances recorded with c-series contact mics

extract from the album (open) strings | vristulven / västra

recordings of monitoring cables, forest, sweden

https://engravedglass.bandcamp.com/album/open-strings-vristulven-v-stra


recorded with JrF c-series contact mics

(open) strings (extract) - line through monitored forest  - headphones / speakers required

from a forthcoming release of work created using JrF adapted geophones to record the sound of the world turning on its axis and structural resonances in urban and non-urban locales.

resonant constant (extract) - headphones required

taken from the project 'mineral veins' (dissolves)  natural substances breaking down under environmental pressures, interactions and distortions. 

(recorded using JrF d-series hydrophones & adapted geophones)

mineral veins | Lugnas Dissolve (extract) - headphones / speakers needed

tadpoles and water beetles, recorded with 2 JrF d-series hydrophones into a Sound Devices 7-series recorder.

tadpoles and water beetles

exploring the overlooked and underheard through located sound, film and photography

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