Randomatones

Earlier this year I started buying bits to build two new floating Randomatones. Normally when I build new Randomatones I cannibalise the old ones for the expensive parts (Raspberry Pi, HifiBerry amp). The current set of three floating ones, the blue, pink and orange units, have done very well and I have taken them out many times, and I want to keep them.

They are also pretty large, and I want some smaller ones with which I can be more mobile. At one time I had two small spinning versions that could both fit into my rucksack, meaning I could get them to places in London on my bike. They were too small to be visually that interesting within a location, and I could not get them loud enough without distorting the speakers. The current floating ones are loud enough and big enough, but a bit too big to carry around easily. I want something in between. And because I'm favouring watery locations such as canal tunnels, there is the frequent risk of rain falling on them, so I want the new units to be water-resistant.

The picture shows some of the parts for one new Randomatone. I'm sticking with the same model Rasberry Pi for now. There are other varieties of small Single Board Computer I could try, but being able to stick on the HifiBerry amp hat to it makes me inclined to stick with the Raspberry Pi for now. New ones were impossible to find last year thanks to the global chip shortage, and when I finally managed to bag two more, the price had doubled.

Each new device will have two plastic horn speakers for one channel, and two waterproof plastic cone speakers on the other (or I might try one of each per channel). Doubling up the speakers means they will shift more air, and wired in parallel will get the most power out of the amp in terms of impedance matching. Between the speakers in the picture is a waterproof case. I've not bothered with one of these before, but I think it's time. The blue item below the case is a new battery. This is 14.8V 5.2Ah lithimn ion battery, more powerful than the 12V lead acid batteries I've been using, and a lot lighter. Below that is a different variety of propellor motor (with an H-bridge in its plastic wrapping). The previous ones worked OK initially but soon started to sieze up either with rust or other dirt. Possibly lack of maintenance on my part, but I'm going for a different brand here in case they're an improvement.

The Randomatones in their creepiest location yet. I'm thinking that for the next several outings I'll be sticking to canals that are still in use, with tunnels you can actually walk through on a path, before I venture into many more locations like this. But the Randomatones looked and sounded stunning in here.

Stupidly, my failure to ensure a certain battery was properly charged meant that I lost Wifi connection to the units fairly early on, which meant I could not direct them back towards my position in the shallow water of the entrance, meaning I had to stray into the tunnel to get them. I do not recommend you do this. The tunnel owners have not asked me to say this, I'm just relating my own experience that the tunnel floor is muddy, I nearly got stuck in it a few times, and had I fallen over and got my hands stuck too, that could have been the end of yours truly. So I repeat, if you fancy striding in yourself, I do not recommend you do.

The immediate consequence was that wading in up to my thighs created turbulence of the surface, disturbing the stillness of the water that I like so much, and if I could expect from any location, it would be here. Also I created mud clouds, spoiling the otherwise pristine clarity of the water. On the plus side, wading in meant I got some good video looking out into the daylight, wishing I was standing there. Apart from that, from the gothic entrance, into the undisturbed brick time-capsule of this abandoned water conduit, this could have been their finest setting.

The tunnel's Wikipedia page suggests the Cotswolds Canal Trust at one time conducted boat tours into this tunnel, presumably from the other end near Coates where the tunnel casing is considered safe (I entered though the northern Daneway portal, which the CRT consider not safe). They don't advertise them, and perhaps never did any, and have instead only carried out private surveys. But supposing they did, maybe a little sonic art installation like this would enhance the trip.

After a summer and autumn off (unusually spent playing actual music with real people, or perhaps real music with actual people), and with a winter-time trip to Wales to come back from, I stopped at this fabulous and faintly scary location in the Cotswolds, the Sapperton Tunnel. I had avoided this kind of location in the past partly out of fear, and partly because I was not yet satisfied I could make a video in complete darkness. That is still somewhat true, but with some additional lights on the connecting rod, powered by a nice new small but powerful 9V rechargable battery, I felt I was just about ready to try this location, given that I would be passing by.

From pictures online, I surmised the water in the tunnel would be several inches deep, and I might need a new pair of Wellington boots, so I went to buy some before setting out. The one size the shop had none of was mine. No matter, when I waded into the tunnel, the water came up to the top of my thighs.

I'd been through here on a canal boat trip a couple of summers ago. As the family in front of us went through on their boat, the younger ones started whooping and singing, making the most of the massive reverb in the tunnel. Perfect Randomatones territory.

When I returned one Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, the tunnel was every bit as special as I remembered it. There was almost no wind, and the most of the time no boats, so the water was like a mirror. One technical issue got in the way. The forward/reverse propellor motor on the blue unit had seized. I was prepared for this, with pliers and oil, and I managed to make it go, but only with it emitting a loud screech as it turned. I thought the din might not be so bad underwater, but the muffled squegging was still audible. I left it in most of the video soundtrack, for honesty.

After a while I got fed up with the noise and turned all the motors off, whereupon I was treated to a sublime and mesmerising sound and light show as they drifted very slowly downstream in the slight current. I left mostly elated, except for the small part of me that wished I had shot the whole thing that way.

Having a journey to the West Midlands to make, I set off a couple of hours early on this Sunday morning and stopped on the way at Newbold-on-Avon, to spend as long as I could videoing in the Newbold Tunnel between passing boat and swan traffic. This is me approaching the eastern portal through the mud, through Spring has definitely arrived at this point, and the peace and quiet of the canal is decorated with an abundance of birdsong.

It struck me as I was videoing in the tunnel that I had possibly never heard birdsong with a huge reverb applied to it. We almost always here it in the open air with no reverberation, likewise when used as a sound effect, or featuring in a field (literally) recording. However, stand a little way into a 189m brick-lined tunnel sunk into a wooded hill, and you witness plenty of this semi-natural phenomenon.

A couple of hundred metres west of the previous Park Rd location is this beautiful tunnel under Lisson Grove. Leaving the bustle of the main road, down a winding path, you descend to a different world. This tunnel is one of a kind in London. London has two other longer tunnels, on this same canal, but you cannot walk through them, while this one is relatively short (48m) and has a towpath with railings. It can only be accessed during the day, as its section of the towpath lies within a private mooring that is closed off to the public overnight.

By day, the Regents Canal path is a well-trodden walking route, so there were a few spectators on this shoot. I did a not very good job of keeping out of their way, and stayed as long as I could, until the tether got caught up in one of the propellors (that’s happened twice now). By chance that was all the time I had anyway, between the to-and-fro of a sightseeing narrowboat. You can see it passing downstream as I blow up one of the floats, and just as I got the devices out of the water, it returned.

An early winter evening outing on the Regents Canal just west of Regents Park, under the Bakerloo Line and Marylebone railway bridges. This was the first time I used a tether, having wished I had one for the Bow Flyover shoot, and had not got the hang of it, spoiling many shots by flapping the string up and down. One day I will trust the piloting abilities of the blue unit, which has two propellors for forward/reverse and rotational movement (the pink unit has one propellor, for rotation only). However, on the evening, the blue unit motors where playing up, or possibly not running fast enough.

Also on this one I had problems with floats, and had to blow up three before I had a couple that I thought I could trust. I was mistaken, as the air nozzle cover of the blue unit float popped out early on, causing it to slowly deflate through the video.

The Regents Canal doesn't have many good bridges in the Hackney area, when your definition of good is wide with a noticeably long natural reverb. This one is on the Hertford Union Canal, which runs along the south of Victoria Park and connects the Regents Canal with the navigable River Lea. This isn't great either, being short, but the acoustic is noticeably good, possibly a result of its square-ish concrete construction, with a kind of enclosure provided by the upstream lock gate. An evening shoot might work here.

Where the Mimmshall brook crosses under the M25 in Hertfordshire, alongside a footpath connecting Wash Lane on the north side with Dancers Lane on the south, is this tunnel, a basic concrete building block construction that has little going for it even by way of graffiti, except that it is brightly lit, seemingly for the benefit of almost nobody. It also seems to be routinely flooded, which is my main interest comes in.

For this episode, I waded into the freezing water and swished the orange and pink units around in quite a current, hence the use of the tether (something I wish had used in the last video). Depending on the camera, there are some spectacular scenes in this video, especially the long geometry of the concrete segments and their joins.

The Regents Canal to the east of Camden Lock has several promising bridges with nice acoustics. This one under Camden St is probably the best, but there are at least six decent candidates before you get to the Islington Tunnel, leading to the tempting possibility of taking out an inflatable boat one afternoon and covering as many as the batteries will manage.

Back to this location for a shoot after coming across it a year ago (19 Feb 2022). When I went there last February it was flooded. When I went there last week it was flooded, as I had the feeling it would be. Not for nothing is this path called Wash Lane. The first thing I discovered was that the Randomatones can float in only a few inches of water, something I could have known or at least measured, but was not that bothered about given the target location has been canals. The second revelation was that people use this passageway, and I saw two people where I expected to encounter none. Certain aspects did not surprise me, such as how cold the water was.

Normally I like graffiti in a concrete tunnel like this, but on the riverside section of wall there was nothing, and little on the path side either, leaving the starkly lit bare concrete, which was appealing in its own way.

At the end of an evening getting the pink and blue devices ready for a trip out tomorrow, to two locations if I have time, and the ailing car manages it.

Fifth floating Randomatones video, this one on the River Lea under Stratford High St and the Bow Flyover. First appearance of the pink unit with its white horn speaker, to replace the grey one which was distorting. The motors were not behaving themselves on this trip, so the units tended to stick to the edge of the path where the wind blew them. I am thinking a tether might be useful next time.

Even so this video captures some of the beauty of this huge covered area. I'm thinking of a return trip in a boat in a month or so, keen to capture the silky water again before it gets completely covered in duckweed, as it tends to in the summer.

And under a Bakerloo Line bridge, next to Park Rd on the Regents Canal just west of Regents Park in London. Those trains are faster in this spot and more frequent, so there was a lot of noise here. And I had problems with floats. Otherwise I was videoing for almost 25 mins, a record.

After a couple of troublesome trips to the waterside this year, time for some quality time with the soldering iron and some amateur woodworking, to build the little device on the right in the picture, with which I can test the floating Randomatone motors. I checked them the other way two of the three would not turn (the blue unit has two motors, the pink has one). They had seized, probably with dried river muck, and needing freeing with pliers. Good to discover that on location before they get into the water.

The bundle of cable to the left off the same production line is for use at home and lets me power two units together from the same 12V supply.

Unlikely I will make a video here, though I quite like this bridge. The main reason not to is the wildlife on either side, that will probably not appreciate my mechanical swans. Also the reed stems, which have been cut back for the winter, would risk tearing the floats if they drifted too close. Also this seems quite an exposed spot, and had quite a breeze when I visited. The again, maybe one day I should embrace the breeze and use it somehow, rather than it be an obstacle.

The 16th Randomatones video and the fourth to feature floating units, I made this one the day after the Cookley Tunnel video in June 2022. I got the camera on the connecting rod working, and even though it's a cheap camera, the view down the tunnel from it is superb.

This is on the Regents Canal just west of Park Road, where the Marylebone railway tracks cross over the canal. The acoustic is not that special, as the bridge comprises several sections with many gaps between, so it's not really an enclosure with a nice echo, and when trains pass they are noisy. However, there is good shelter from wind, and there is practically zero current, so the water has a glassy stillness. On top of all that, the fluorescent lighting is stunning, making this a perfect spot for an early evening installation.

A summer shoot in Cookley, Warwickshire. The canal tunnel there is short and narrow, with a close acoustic. It's also unlit, giving me an excuse to put some underwater lights on the units. These create an eerie glow in the murky water. I tried an underwater camera, but visibility was zero.

Back out for a Randomatones shoot after more than six months away (working on semi-related electronic drum-triggered randomness), to a concrete-lined waterway under Stratford High St and the Bow Flyover in East London. The acoustic is cavernous, and the curved walkway is lit at water level, and although not to everyone's taste, there is some colourful graffiti along the wall. The downside is that there tends to be a significant draft down-river, in the same direction as the current, meaning controlling two flimsy floats was bound to be precarious. In the end I didn't have the courage to let then units drift away, despite having spent some development time on the propellor controls, as I wasn't confident they had enough power against the wind and the current. But it was a good test of my two-camera setup on the connecting rods.

This tunnel carries the navigable river Lea under Statford High St and the Bow Flyover. Coming here in winter is ideal because the water is clear of duckweed. In the summer the surface can be caked in the stuff. Anything other than a light breeze down river could be a problem. But with its flat concrete ceiling and walls, the acoustic here is nice.