23) Hindhead Golf Club.

Playing Golf at Hindhead.

On Sunday 7th November, I played a golf match at Hindhead Golf Club.  I arrived an hour an a half early (I misjudged the traffic, slightly!!) so thought I would make the most of this spare time and roughly plan the direction of my composition.  Unfortunately, the only material I could find to write on, was a disposable bath mat.  However, that was better than nothing!


I sat in the Clubhouse and wrote down all of the sounds which I heard.  These included people talking, Tea  Cups and plates, dishwashers, laughter, whistling, Bells, the television, footsteps, the till opening and closing and the rattling of Golf Clubs.


When I moved outside, I heard people hitting golf balls on the range, tractors, the range ball machine cleaning balls, a person shouting "fore", people talking, more footsteps, people putting on the green, the pro-shop door opening and closing, birds, trees and someone sneezing.


Moving back inside, I tried to work out which of these sounds I could use.  I ended up ruling out the indoors sounds, because nothing stood out which would make it sound specifically like a golf club.  Hearing plates and laughter, could have been in a coffee shop, a restaurant, a nursing home or a house.


I tried to imagine a story, which I could try and compose.  I thought about starting with birds singing, to create the general ambience of a golf club.  Then I could hear footsteps, crunching leaves followed by the rattling of clubs, as the golfer was carrying his clubs.
There would then be a  pause (other than the birds), a deep breath and then a sigh. This would be to represent what I love most about the golf course - fresh air!


I was thinking of then fading the driving range sounds in, which I recorded before, then gradually cutting this up, so there was only one club (which was the driver) to create a beat.


I recorded the sound of a "whipping" club (the sound of someone taking a practice swing, without hitting the ball). I thought this could also be put into the sampler and could be used as a snare drum with a "reverse gate" on it.


For any extra tuned sounds, I thought about using "sculpture" in Logic and setting it to a wooden sound, to reflect the trees and also the "wood" clubs.


Between each section, I considered playing the clip of the tractor, which would drive from one speaker to the other.