Swallow Wheel

1 sound

Used for cutlery and razor grinding, Swallow Wheel was in use from the 1690s to the early 1900s.

This track features all three instruments: the hydraulus, water-powered harpsichord, and water-powered hurdy gurdy.

Part of this walk

A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time

A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time

A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time is an album by the composer Benjamin Tassie. Recorded in Sheffield's historic Rivelin Valley, the album features three new water-powered instruments: a harpsichord, hurdy-gurdy, and hydraulis (or water organ). Powered by the river, the instruments produce sound mechanically. Water-wheels turn to ‘play’ the harpsichord and hurdy-gurdy, while the water organ is sounded as water displaces air within the instrument (a system based on an Ancient Greek design). Combining mechanically-produced historical-music, film, field-recoding, and live performance, A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time explores ideas of heritage, place, and our changing relationship with the landscape. Each track was recorded at the site of a former water mill in the valley. This sound walk returns the music to the locations it was recorded in. A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time is released on the Birmingham Record Company label.

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