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The 141 sound recordings in the archive can be explored by either one of two methods: via the match timelines or alternatively via the advanced search. The two methods offer contrasting types of interaction which are designed to frame listening differently.
To look at a match timeline, select one of the six matches available in the archive: Leicester City, Cardiff City, Brighton and Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers or Derby County. Each match displays two timelines, one for each half of the match, from which sound recordings can be browsed and listened to using the online player. This method of navigation helps to reveal the narrative of the matches. In other words, understanding what we are listening to within the context of the flow of the game.
The advanced search offers the opportunity to explore the recordings in the archive via a set of drop-down menus: select match, search for a song or chant, search for a melody on which a chant may be based, search for events on the pitch (e.g. penalty, goal, corner kick), or for other auditory events (e.g. public address announcement, or the referee’s whistle). This method of interacting with the archive is flexible, facilitating simple searches or more complex queries as desired. For example, try searching the archive for recordings featuring “Blue Moon” from one of the melody drop-down menus, and then filtering your search by either “home” or “away”. For more complex searches you can combine several search criteria, though note that you are most likely to find interesting results through thoughtful searches using only a few criteria at a time.
However you choose to explore the recordings in the archive, you might be interested in browsing the song menu, where you can read up on: what the Coventry fans sing, what the away fans sing, popular songs and chants, and the melodies on which chants are based. Then grab your headphones and explore the archive!
“This is Highfield Road has been supported by SARU at Oxford Brookes University, Arts Council England and PVA Medialab. The project is part of the Sound Diaries project “Get Some Chalk on Your Boots!”
2024 Duncan Whitley. All rights reserved