Working with the instrument-maker Sam Underwood, I designed and built three new, water-powered instruments: a harpsichord, a hurdy-gurdy, and a hydraulis, or water organ. Powered by the river, the instruments produce sound mechanically — water-wheels turn to ‘play’ the harpsichord and hurdy-gurdy, while the water organ is sounded as water displaces air within the instrument, a system based on an Ancient Greek design.

The instruments were recorded and filmed in the historic Rivelin Valley in Sheffield. Once a thriving hub of water-powered industry, the river is now home to the archaeological remains of watermills and mill dams dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries; each of the album’s ten tracks was recorded at the site of a former mill. I performed alongside the mechanical instruments, playing the rebec and lap steel guitar, as did Rebecca Lee (bass viol) and Rob Bentall (nyckelharpa).

Combining mechanically-produced historically-informed music, film, field-recording, and live performance, A Ladder is Not the Only Kind of Time explores ideas of heritage, place, and our changing relationship with the landscape.