I spent a lot of last week recording sound effects. Armed with a mic from Rural Media, and a pair of headphones which would look most at home on a Cyberman, I took a midnight stroll around Hereford, recording drunken revellers and a variety of air conditioning systems. This trip’s only noteworthy incident was a brief interrogation by a disembodied voice at Maylord Orchard, which wanted to know what I was up to. “WHY ARE YOU MONITORING?” boomed the voice, and then, “THIS IS SECURITY. COME TO THE SPEAKER. WHY ARE YOU MONITORING?”

On Wednesday I visited some family members in Malvern to record more effects, such as welding noises and various machines. On two successive evenings I made attempts to record that noise that rails make when a train’s coming – you know, the weird ssssshing kind of noise. Both attempts severely tried my patience, got me rained on and bore no fruit whatsoever.