Former Pulp front-man, Jarvis Cocker, has curated a free 'country sounds' album for the National Trust. Described as ‘a holiday for the ears’ the album features tranquil sounds from eleven National Trust buildings and their grounds. The Trust was inspired to capture the serene sounds of their buildings nationwide after research claimed that eight out of 10 people found it difficult to concentrate due to noise pollution. These tracks are now freely available on the National Trust website.
Jarvis Cocker © laurent.bardin, flickr.com
National Trust: The Album
The album features eerie sounds from Ham House, Surrey; the cracking of billiard balls in Upton House, Warwickshire; a creaking staircase in Chartwell House, Kent; and the thrill of birdsong in the grounds of Belton House, Lincolnshire.
Classroom activity
These tracks offer a wonderful way to explore historic buildings from the comfort of your own classroom. They can also provide the perfect starting-point for a lesson investigating the impact of our surroundings on our emotions and moods.
You could begin by asking your class to download the free tracks from the National Trust website. Listening to these atmospheric tracks with your class, discuss what types of buildings and landscapes the recordings evoke.
Encourage your students to close their eyes and listen to the sounds of the classroom and its surroundings. How do these differ from the sounds on the album? Are they very busy urban sounds, like the roar of traffic, or more peaceful sounds like twittering birds and rustling trees?We feel very different emotions in different environments. In a bustling city like London people always seem to be in a rush. In comparison, rural towns and villages are often portrayed as having a slower, more relaxed pace of life. Students can discuss how accurate they feel these stereotypes really are and if they reflect their experience of their own environment.
