Music and soundscapes Alice Boyd
Film and photography Ellen Hancock
Words Holly Nicholas

“Every home has its own sound world,” says musician and sound artist Alice Boyd. As long-time admirers of Alice’s mesmerising soundscapes, we invited her to create a “sonic portrait” of Hunts Green Barn, an award-winning home in the Chiltern Hills of South Oxfordshire, recently on the market with us. The result is a spellbinding collection of soundscapes, available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, which capture the gentle rhythms of the house and the surrounding landscape, woven through with Alice’s original ambient compositions. An accompanying film follows her as she creates her field recordings, “listening to the natural world and the landscapes we call home.”

A former artist-in-residence at the Eden Project, Alice’s work has featured on BBC Radio, and she has performed and presented at the Barbican Conservatory, The National Gallery, Kew Wakehurst, and – most recently – at this year’s Latitude festival.

In the film, she gives us a glimpse into the fascinating world of field recording: in her words, “the practice of taking microphones out into the world and recording what’s already there: birdsong, weather, people passing by. In the case of a home, it can be the much more subtle, domestic sounds: footsteps, voices, the tone of a room … Those familiar, everyday sounds are part of what makes somewhere feel like home.”

At Hunts Green Barn, Alice is struck by the quiet, peaceful nature of the house, embraced by the distant hum of the outside world. In the garden, the sounds of insects, wood pigeons, green woodpeckers and red kites form a tranquil sonic palette that captures high summer at the Barn.

Her ethereal soundscapes incorporate sounds recorded at the house, layered with original compositions to create an almost hypnotic listening experience. Take a moment to listen to Alice’s compositions: Red Kites Fly Over the Meadow; While I Walk and Inside the Barn. We hope they leave you feeling soothed and serene …

Follow Alice on Instagram and Spotify