Seven Sisters

A chamber orchestra work in four main movements, composed by Ed Hughes, written for a film by Cesca Eaton, creating a musical portrait of the River Cuckmere and Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex, across a year of seasons, through silent film and an opulent and constantly changing orchestral score. Played by the Orchestra of Sound and Light conducted by the composer Brighton Festival 5 May 2018. Aerial photography by Fergus Kennedy. Sound recording by Simon Weir, Classical Media. Brighton Festival commission 2018. Download all the music or buy the CD at https://divineartrecords.com/?p=14504 Watch the film at https://edhughescomposer.com/cuckmere-a-portrait Directions and suggested Walks: Take the 12A or 12X Coaster bus from Brighton, Seaford or Eastbourne to Seven Sisters Park Centre or park at Seven Sisters Country Park. There are lots of lovely footpaths to explore. Here are some suggestions starting from the bus stop: Walk North (7km, 4.5miles): follow the South Downs Way north east to Westdean, north to to Litlington, turn right onto the road and take the narrow footpath going east just north of the pub. Turn left at the river and follow the river path south to Exceat bridge. Turn left over the bridge by the Cuckmere Inn and follow the road back to the bus stop. Walk South (4.5km, 3 miles): follow the South Downs Way south to reach the river at a path junction. Take the middle path along the base of the cliffs to the sea. Walk west along the beach to the river mouth and follow the river path back to the bus stop.

found sounds above your head and beneath your feet

Solo exercise, inspired by hash running and walking, so called sash ! The sash idea came about with the corona pandemic, to allow for local exercise, solo or with your bubble, etc. Though with UK rule relaxation, undertake according the present guidelines. Ground rules, accordingly relaxed: 1) No set date or time. 2) Undertake in groups up to the maximum allowed by guidelines. 3) Keep 2 metres apart from those outside your bubble. 4) Keep 2 metres apart from others if you encounter. 5) Ideally pick sashes that are local to you. 6) Walk bits where you can't clearly see the way ahead, so that 2 metre separation from others can be maintained. 7) In the pub, wear mask according the venue guidelines, or if none, your preference. 8) Mask not recommended while drinking or eating. 9) Do the sash at your own risk. How it works: Visible on your Apple/Android smartphone or GPS-equipped tablet, referred to here as device, are the following: A start/end square, and four circles showing the initial direction. Your device audibly 'echoes' blobs, checks, etc, when in the vicinity. You can just keep your device in your pocket or backpack, and follow the blob echoes. Or for a check echo, discover which way the blob trail continues. Three blobs in succession, or another check, and you've found the onward trail. A false echo means it's not that way. An echo saying 'on left', or 'on right', means go that way. Echoes can announce a fair few paces prior to the spot. And echoes repeat every 15 seconds if you linger. For longer stretches, echoes repeat every 15 seconds regardless of where you are within the stretch. The runners true trail is 6.3 miles (permission to walk bits), the walkers 3.5 miles. Part-way along the trail, find the 'walkers this way' echo or 'runners this way' echo. The trails rejoin enroute. Along the shared sections, the walkers will encounter the checks, so they'll have a bit more work to do than on a regular hash. The runners-only part has one 'fish hook' echo, at which participants should return to the last check, then rerun that section. For runners and walkers, about half-way around, your device echoes 'beer near', then 'beer stop'. For the latter you may like to take some refreshment in your backpack. Nearer the end, your device echoes 'circle up near', then 'circle up', so save some refreshment. After, your device echoes 'inn no', and leads you back to the start/end point. If you get stuck, a help map is available: Zoom in on the start/end square, then tap the triangle beside, then tap SEE MORE. The blue square is the start/end, the arrows show the trail direction, and the walkers-only part is dotted. On your device, open the Apple App Store or Android Play Store, and type ‘echoes’ in the store search box. The ECHOES app icon looks a bit like a fingerprint. Install, then open, and sign up. The trail should list under 'near you'. Tap MORE NEAR YOU if not. Possible too, is a tap on the magnifying glass, then type the trail postcode with space, or 'sash' for all. Tap a trail, then tap STREAM WALK to use online copy. Or tap DOWNLOAD or down-arrow symbol for offline copy, then tap START. Swipe down screen to refresh downloaded copy, in case changed online. Sometimes app exit then app restart are needed to fully refresh downloaded copy. Download might get stuck before reaching 100%. In which case, exit app then restart, and tap STREAM WALK instead. Tips: Like most location apps, ECHOES uses the battery a fair bit. A fully-charged device should be enough for the trail. But you might like to take a powerbank, or spare battery. Plus a paper map as backup. This info is viewable in a browser at https://explore.echoes.xyz/collections/rFHeO1qVK3XnJ3Mz Trail last updated 30 July 2021 21:39

WALKING THROUGH THE SUBMERGED FOREST This piece is composed from my field recordings and readings of letters from Bexhill Museum archives, layered to bring to life a part of our eroding coastline and an archive which lies quietly unearthed. The field recordings were made whilst walking at low tide through pre-historic submerged forest remains, at Bulverhythe in EastSussex. This is layered with field recordings made in nearby woods. Julian Porter, Rother Museums' curator found photographs and letters in the Bexhill Museum archives relating to the forest, which Actor and Theatre Producer Leigh Shine, read for me in a recording session. I hope the piece creates a spirit of place, a sense of timelessness and ever evolving change. The magical experience of walking through thousands of years of human and environmental ebb and flow. Mary Hooper April 2023

Welcome to The Archive of Favourite Places on the Echoes App! To see the walking tour, click “Stream Walk”. If you leave “Auto-Play” on, your device will automatically play audio of people talking about their favourite place as you get close to that location on the map. If you’d like to explore all 12 locations, turn off “Auto-Play” and click on the menu button in the top right hand corner. We hope you have fun exploring the stories. Why not send us a story about your favourite place to add to the online archive? You can find out how to contribute, and read over 50 stories at www.thearchiveoffavouriteplaces.com What’s the place that makes you happy? That brings you excitement, peace, a chance to reflect? A place you can be alone, be yourself or become someone else? People from communities across Brighton were asked these questions and local studio Stephenson& has woven twelve tales into a city-wide immersive photography and sound exhibition, exploring the ways we live together. The Archive of Favourite Places is a chance to explore the city through different eyes, and rediscover and rebuild what our hometown means to us.

sound work to make you get there faster

The piece is experienced through a journey down the Brighton Pier. The concept behind the piece centres itself around the idea of a movement into the unknown, where the sounds and the listeners surroundings do not necessarily align in a tangible way. I chose the Brighton Pier as the location for the sound walk as its structure forms a discursion from the land, which, together with the audio, symbolises a departure from our familiar surroundings. I structured the audio walk to explore this concept through the order in which my compositions are played during the walk. The further away from land the listener walks, the less familiar the compositions sound. The pieces also accumulate a sinister undertone during the walk, inducing a sense of unease which puts emphasis on the theme of unfamiliarity.