Huw Morgan’s Sound Mirrors

Huw Morgan is a composer, organist and conductor is “drawn to the power of ancient, haunted landscapes and their lost inhabitants; fascinated by impermanence, space, and time.” This is the first perfomance of his new piece Sound Mirrors for organ and fixed media electronics, inspired by the Denge listening ears: “alien structures haunting the coastal landscape, still listening to the skies…”.

It was given by the composer as part of an Automatronic concert in the JAM-on-the-Marsh 2015 festival. Field recordings were made at St-Mary-on-the-Marsh and elsewhere on Romney Marsh.

Sound mirror art at the Royal Academy

Two pictures of the 30 foot sound mirror at Denge by Ian Chamberlain are included in the Royal Academy summer exhibition.

Chamberlain says “The idea of recording this defunct out of date technology relates with my current interests and proved to be a tough technical exercise capturing the form and surface quality of the dishes.”

2015 Denge sound mirror open day date

The 2015 open day at the Denge sound mirrors near Dungeness in Kent is on Sunday 19 July 2015. The opening times are 10.00-17.00, with last entry at 16.30.

There are full details at the Romney Marsh Countryside Project website:

The RMCP will be present all day to talk you through them and help with any questions and we ask for a donation per person to cover our costs for the day. You will need to park at Lade car park and follow the signs to make your own way to the Mirrors, where staff will be positioned at the bridge and on the island. Last entry 4.30pm. Suggested donation of £2 appreciated.

The RMCP events are the only way to visit the Denge sound mirrors. The events are always popular, and well worth going to.

Please note that I have absolutely no connection with the RMCP. Make you sure that you confirm the details of the open day with them before going – do not rely on my Sound Mirrors website!

2014 Denge sound mirrors open day date

The Romney Marsh Countryside Project’s 2014 “Echoes From The Sky Open Day” at the Denge listening mirrors near Dungeness in Kent is from 10.00 to 17.00 on Sunday 20 July 2014.

The RMCP events are the only way to visit the Denge mirrors. The events are always popular, and well worth going to.

An opportunity for residents and visitors to visit the site under your own steam. The RMCP will be present all day to talk you through them and help with any inquires … Suggested donation of £2 appreciated.

Full details are at the Romney Marsh Countryside Project website. Anyone planning to attend should confirm details with the RMCP before travelling.

Nicki Minaj at the Denge sound mirrors

I seem to have missed this when it first came out in November 2012. Nick Minaj shoots music video in Kent!, says Kent Film Office.

According to Wikipedia, “”Freedom” is a downtempo hip hop and R&B song that features a “sonically breezy” soundscape, complied with ambient riffs, pop-inspired synths, and soft pop choruses.”1

According to Director Colin Tilley:

Fun fact#2… the wall we are standing next too thats super curved was an old sound satellite they built back in the day that was supposed to receive messages from England to Paris…. kinda awesome. If you stand on one end and whisper the person on the other end can hear as if you are next to each other…2

I think there is a little bit of confusion there!

  1. Freedom (Nicki Minaj song), Wikipedia, accessed 24 February 2014
  2. Director Colin Tilley on Nicki Minaj “Freedom”, Steven Gottlieb, Video Static, 27 November 2012

Denge sound mirrors video

‘Sound Mirrors’ -Denge, Dungeness, Kent.
by Morgan O’Donovan
Sound Mirrors explores the monumental remnants of a dead-end technology and the people who visit them. The three concrete ‘listening ears’ at Denge near Dungeness in Kent are the best known of the various early warning acoustic mirrors built along Britains coast. This is the first film produced by director/ photographer Morgan O’Donovan with architect Stephen Beasley. Filmed August 2009.

2012 guided walks to the Denge sound mirrors

Following from an open day on 8 July 2012, there is a free non-booking guided walk out to the Denge sound mirrors on the afternoon of Sunday 12 August.

The RMCP events are the only way to visit the Denge mirrors. The walks are very popular, and well worth doing.

Full details from the Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership website. Anyone planning to attend should confirm details with the RMCP before travelling.

Model sound mirror for aerial wargaming

Kent-based science fiction and fantasy gaming supplier Brigade Models is producing some 1/1200 models inspired by the Denge sound mirrors.

They are designed for Aeronef, a form of wargaming based on “an alternate history in the late 19th Century when the aircraft has been invented several decades earlier than the Wright Brothers actually managed. The nations and empires of the world battle for supremacy of the skies in giant aerial ships known as Aeronefs, lighter-than-air dirigibles (‘Digs’) and small fighter and bomber aircraft.”

Brigade Models sound mirrors

Tony Francis of Brigade Models tells me that while the models are based on the Denge sound mirrors they are are not exact replicas; he worked from photos and satellite images to produce something that looked roughly right. “Although they are really First World War technology rather than late 19th century, we’ve appropriated them as being ideal for our Victorian science-fiction alternate history games”, he explains.

The 200 ft mirror comes out at about 50 mm long, while the two small ‘ears’ are about 10 mm. They are produced in pewter from masters which were created using a 3D modelling package and 3D printing.

For more details of availability and how to order, see the Brigade Models website.