Category: Audio Trails
Lead Mining Museum Matlock – audio production
Step back in time and listen to Richard Trevithick explain how his new engine will transform a Peak District lead mine.
In the 1970’s there was great excitement when the Wills Founder Engine was discovered in a lead mineshaft in the field at the back of what is now Winster’s Cemetery.
The story behind Richard Trevithick’s engine, which now takes pride of place in the Peak District Lead Mining Museum at Matlock Bath, has been brought to life.
Audio Trails were commissioned to produce a short piece of audio, set deep down in the mine, featuring an interview between Trevithick and a reporter. As you listen to the audio in the museum, different parts of the water pumping engine are lit up, helping visitors to understand the machine and how it worked.
Testimonial
Working with Audio Trails – Our contact with you was by phone and email. On … Read More »
Don Valley Way audio trail app
The Don Valley Way audio guide app will guide you around nine heritage walks, taking you on circular walks linking with the main Don Valley Way route.
Your audio guide will give you directions around the walk and interesting historical information about the area.
Individuals and local history groups were recruited to devise walks. The volunteers researched and wrote scripts for the nine trails* before Audio Trails were brought in to test the routes and provide advice on walking directions to guide visitors from one stop to the next.
Audio Trails were also commissioned to record the volunteers reading using our mobile recording studio. Over two days the Servants Hall at St Catherine’s House in Balby Doncaster was our home.
Following the recording Audio Trails edited the audio, added sound effects and ambient background music. The nine audio trails are available from donvalleyway.org.uk and embedded within our ‘Listen’ GPS-enabled audio … Read More »
A review of the Alcatraz Island cellhouse audio tour
Did the Alcatraz Island cell house audio tour live up to expectations? Yes!
When it comes to audio guides of international significance the cellhouse tour at Alcatraz has to be one of the most talked about. For years it has been on my bucket list and last month I finally got to visit the island where Al Capone and many of the USA’s most hardened criminals were held between 1924 and 1963.
Alcatraz Island is a popular destination for tourists and I made sure I booked tickets well in advance; getting them on the day is nigh on impossible. We opted for the 09.10 trip on the 1.5 mile boat ride across the choppy waters, but still the crowds were big. However, with only the early bird seafarers ahead of us the island had not swelled significantly in population and we were … Read More »
Churnet Valley Living Landscape audio archive
An audio archive project to capture the views of local people
We were commissioned by TellTale to deliver an audio project on behalf of the Churnet Valley Living Landscape project – a partnership of twenty organisations, led by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. It works at a landscape scale, conserving and enhancing the wildlife and built heritage of the relatively unknown Churnet Valley.
Our remit was to interview staff and volunteers explaining how they had been involved in the 20+ programmes of work throughout the life of the project, and what the area meant to them and how they saw it changing in the future.
We undertook 15 one-to-one interviews and attended a number of events to capture the thoughts of many more people. The recordings form a valuable archive and legacy to the project that will prove invaluable for researchers in the coming years and decades.
We then edited … Read More »
Audio trails & Oral history
An audio trail builds a story, guiding visitors from one point of interest to the next. It may contain oral reminiscences, sound effects, music and/or characterisation; but every single one contains a bit of our soul.
Whilst working for the Peak District National Park Authority Dan became aware of a wonderful collection of oral history recordings. They had been saved on CD and left in the back of a cupboard. It seemed such a shame to deprive the wider world of so many wonderful stories and so he set to work pulling clips from the recordings to create the first downloadable audio guides in the UK. Shortly after Dan set up Audio Trails in 2006.
Oral history
We’ve interviewed hundreds of people since that time. Soundbites from those recordings (and other archives collecting dust!) have been sympathetically used to create immersive and engaging audio trails and podcasts for a wide variety of clients.
For … Read More »