As a shop-assistant in the mid-1940s, she was taught how to cheat on customers but she refused to do so quitting her then sought-after job in favour of a rather dull life as a factory worker. A short story told by a stranger on Epiphany night in Sergiyev Posad back in 2010 (in Russian)

Recorded January 18th, 2010 (MS-TFB-2)
Published January 21st, 2012.

There are two major skating rinks in Sergiyev Posad, both of them equipped with powerful and obtrusive sound systems.

This is not to say that the music played there is bad, if anything, I can bear with it most of the time pretty well, but the whole idea of having no choice makes me feel uncomfortable, and sorry for the people living nearby.

For some reason or another, yesterday’s night was a quiet one, only the sounds of blades scraping the ice, dry clickings of hockey sticks, odd voices, foul language and laughter, rude mothers and crying babies, happy couples and all the rest – a whole world packed into one single skating rink, cleared in a hurry and dimly lit.

Those night recordings come in two lengths. The first is somewhat long, lasting for about 16 minutes. You can skip it anytime (which I hope you won’t do), but it sounds pretty much the same during playback. What a wonderful toneless array of sounds!

The second recording is more emotional but way shorter, and I need to make a note on this for those who don’t speak Russian.

The baby can’t skate and she is begging her mother to come and take her by the hand. Subsequently, her mother walks away as the child bursts into tears once again. ‘Mama I don’t want you to leave me’, she says making a few awkward steps and falling down on ice. Her mother knows no better than telling off the poor child, and probably this is the way she’s been treated by her parents years ago.

Recorded January 5th, 2012 (CA-14 omni + STC-9000)
Published January 7th, 2012.

He is a floorball player, and he is quite emotional. You can hear his impassioned calls ranging from the joyful battle cries to the stinging rebukes aimed at his teammates. Despite being perceived as the softies hockey, floorball with its plastic light-weight perforated ball and plastic sticks can be really dramatic.

In Sergiyev Posad, Salyut sports ground offers its training facilities to the local floorballers as well as it does for the tennis, basketball or soccer players with the latter heard from the left at the second part of this recording made from the stands above. Please note the recording starts with a loud sound, so you may need to adjust the volume levels while listening.

Recorded September 9th, 2011 (CA-14 omni + STC-9000 / MS-TFB-2)
Published December 11th, 2011.

As you walk from the station to the monastery in Sergiyev Posad, you cannot escape this souvenir alley on your route. It is quite long and it stretches right to the Trinity Sergius monastery walls.

President-faced matryoshkas, fur hats, Khokhloma utensils, balalaikas, pseudo military outfit – all the props you need to make your own bad Russian guys movie. But don’t be fooled by this – there are plenty of great items hand made by the local artists as well.

This fair is not only place to get a pair of wool gloves knitted by a babooshka or some exquisite terracotta by the Abramtsevo folk – it’s a place to collect voices from all over the world, accents and dialects, toys and crafts, real bells and hand bells. Let’s hear the tourists as they stroll along the stalls at this global cross-road. This is the edited recording.

Recorded October 30th, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published November 5th, 2011.

One of the least populated area in Sergiyev Posad, Grazhdanka (officially known as Grazhdansiky) area stretches south from the remote cemetery at the western part of the town.

You can walk for miles completely alone passing by the traditional wooden houses ranging from the poor to the well-to-do, through the mind-boggling CCTV-saturated 1990′s “get rich fast” lanes, and ruined never-to-be finished pseudo-castles of the less lucky ones lost in the whirlpool of the get rich fast times.

But apart from that, it’s a perfect place to enjoy nature and maybe even talk to occasional strangers. This piece begins with the voice of Yury, self-styled as the cemetery veteran, and obviously a professional grave-digger. He speaks of his experience of spending a few nights at the cemetery some 20 years ago fruitlessly trying to spot anything paranormal. The graveyard sounds are just the same as anywhere else distinguished only by the raven squawks, says Yury.

Then, a shepherd named Hagani who drives his cows home – he says nothing of the local sounds but is making it by whistling really loud. Finally, Valery Tarasyuk, the lathe operator who spent over 50 years working at the same factory and living on the same street. He knows the local sounds.

Two sounds appear on a recurring basis – the murmur of the Kontchura river that borders the area and the sound of footsteps on the grainy soil of Grazhdanka. Let’s take a soundwalk through this scarce but beautiful landscape so distinguished from what we used to here in Sergiyev Posad.

All sounds were gathered in the area. Here are the key non-verbal sounds featured in this recording:

Recording locations: Grazhdanskiy area
Recording date: August 04, 20th, 2011
Sounds: stereo, binaural stereo

Download as wav
Part of Sergiyev Posad Sound Map.

Starting off with the wind rumbling in our ears – this is the belated July soundwalk. Traditionally regarded as a recording flaw these particular gusts are justified by representing the distinctive characteristic of the locality.

Our guide this month is Valeria Ratnikova who cannot decide whether she thinks of the Severny area as noisy and restless urban place or more peaceful environment. She also takes us on a sonic journey to the neghbouring PMK area deriving its name from an abbreviation for Mobile Mechanic Division (spelled in Russian) located nearby and Leskhoz (an acronym for Lesnoye Khozyaistvo, or Forestry Enterprise). Valeria is accompanied by her dog, totally silent all the way. Finally, the sounds of Sergiyev Posad are revealed by the comparison to the ambience of Valeria’s native rural town of Kovrov.

All sounds were recorded in the area. Here are the key non-verbal sounds featured in this recording:

Recording locations: Severny, PMK, Leskhoz
Recording date: July 30, 31 2011
Related period: 2000′s
Sounds: stereo, binaural stereo

Download as wav
Part of Sergiyev Posad Sound Map.

On the funeral day of Sergiyev Posad mayor Evgeny Dushko shot dead in his car, a group of old ladies is discussing the evening TV news they’ve just seen. They’ve met by one of the typical five-storey apartment blocks on Inzhenernaya street in Sergiyev Posad. Later on one of the ladies quits the group accompanied by the sound of a metal walking stick.

Recorded August 24th, 2011 (MS-TFB-2)
Published August 25th, 2011.