The Sound of The Michael Faraday Memorial

I visited the Michael Faraday Memorial (which is also a London Underground electrical substation for the Northern Line) to see whether I could record any electromagnetic currents that might be emanating from it.

A shot of the memorial features in Broken Bottles so I was keen to find out whether the Pioneer of electromagnetism's memorial, in fitting tribute, resonates in his memory.

Success! I used a cheap telephone pick-up coil; (available at Maplin.co.uk) which I had been shown the wonders of back in my first year of my BA Sound Art course. This coil, whilst primarily designed to record telephone conversations, is also sensitive to electromagnetic currents, these currents are inaudible to the human ear, however, this little gadget allows you hear them. The sounds are very abrasive and pure electronic, which are fitting sounds for a Brutalist memorial to Faraday.

Below is a very quick composition of the sounds I recorded at the memorial, just to give an idea of the sounds this beast pumps out. None of the sounds have been modified, except for a bit of pitch shifting.