GPS Music Trail - Athenry
The Baroque Session GPS Music Trail in Athenry, Co. Galway is a unique way to experience this wonderful music. The Trail will be available until the end of September 2021.
As you walk around the historic heart of Athenry you will hear music from Raymond Deane’s A Baroque Session (with Carolan and friends) performed by the young musicians of Athenry Music School Sinfonietta, with soloists from the West Ocean String Quartet, guest cellist Adrian Mantu and conductor Sinead Hayes (who is your guide on the audio journey!)
The GPS Music Trail is powered by the SonicMaps platform, a seamless web based application that uses your smart phone’s GPS location to trigger audio automatically.
All you need to do is click on the trail link, enable GPS services on your phone, plug in your headphones, walk, listen and explore!
The GPS Music Trail launches with a live trail at 5:30pm on Culture Night, 17th September 2021 as part of the fantastic Athenry MAD Festival! Your guide is Failte Ireland tour guide Gerry Burke. Book your place using the link below.
What is a GPS Music Trail?
We have anchored music in various locations around Athenry using the SonicMaps Locative Audio platform. SonicMaps is a progressive web app that works seamlessly with your browser- no need to download from an App store.
When you click/scan the SonicMaps trail link on your smartphone, and enable GPS services, you will open the trail. To install the SonicMaps app, add a shortcut/icon to your homescreen for a full screen native-like experience.
When you click “Start” you will see your position on the Music Trail. As you walk from one location to another, new music triggers automatically. You can stream the trail as you walk, or you can download it at home or at the start of your walk, to save on data.
You can walk at a normal constant pace, or linger to hear the full tracks. It’s completely up to you. The trail has been designed so that you are walking while on the street, but you can linger longer in the park areas, where there are sculptures & interesting things to see!
To have the best audio experience, and to avoid annoying other pedestrians, we recommend that you wear headphones while on the trail.
At the start of each piece of music we have clear guidance on which direction to go for the next piece of music, so you can relax, explore and listen with confidence.
We ask that you are conscious of your own and others’ safety when on the Music Trail. Please take special care when crossing busy roads, and watch your footing on uneven surfaces.
If you have issues enabling the GPS on your phone, please check our frequently asked questions below. If you can’t solve the issue, it is possible to activate ‘listener mode’ on the trail, where you manually trigger the audio as you walk.
We would love to hear your feedback on your experience. And if you enjoyed the trail, please spread the word by telling your friends!
Frequently Asked Questions...
- When you first open the Sonic Maps player app, you should see a pop-up window asking for permission to use your precise location.
- Once you accept and a GPS fix is obtained, your location should be displayed on the map as a small blue circle.
- If this is not the case, please make sure GPS and location services are enabled and your browser has permission to use this service. On some operating systems, permissions are now granted on a per app basis instead of being a global setting.
- Please check this troubleshooting guide for further information.
- An Internet connection is required to fetch a project data from the Sonic Maps server before it can be experienced by a user. However, once a project is loaded in the Sonic Maps player, it is possible to download all the projects data, including audio files and relevant map tiles to the browser’s cache storage so it can be later experienced without the Internet connection.
- Even if cellular Internet connection is available, you might want to pre download your project while on Wi-Fi to avoid data charges and reduce loading times.
- As a Progressive Web App, the SonicMaps Player runs in any modern browser.
- The first time you visit the Player, some browsers will prompt you to install the app as an icon on your device’s home screen so it can be used like any other native app, including full-screen visualisation and off-line capabilities.
- Currently, recommended browsers are Chrome on Android and Safari on iOS, both providing a nearly identical experience. Firefox or Edge should also operate without issues.
- Audio tracks are assigned to sound areas along a prescribed route.
- Once you have loaded the walk onto your phone, plug in your headphones.
- Start walking!
- When you enter a sound area, the locational GPS information from your phone triggers the sound to start automatically.
- You can continue to walk at a normal pace.
- In some areas you will be encouraged to linger – e.g. at the start of the trail.
- If you re-enter the same sound area, the same track restarts.
- To avoid this, change your screen time out settings in Settings<Display
- We recommend that you install the Sonicmaps player app as an icon on your device’s home screen so it can be used like any other native app. This will avoid the screen timeout issue.
- During each track in the Sonicmaps app, an information screen with the track description appears.
- At the bottom of your screen is a picture Icon.
- Click the icon to see your position on the trail map, and click it again to return to the description.
- There may be some repetition if you vary from the suggested trail route.
- If you would like to hear the tracks again go ahead, but if you would rather not hear them again, feel free to either press pause, or exit the trail – we won’t mind!
- The soundwalk has been designed to be experienced at an average walking pace.
- If you walk slower that average, there will be slightly longer gaps between audio tracks.
- If you walk faster than average, there is a very slight chance that some tracks may overlap, as certain tracks are programmed to play to the end, even if you exit the sound zone!
- If this happens, enjoy the cacophany, it shouldn’t last more than a minute or so!
- We love to hear your feedback on all aspects of the walk.
- Tell us what you liked, what we could improve, and feel free to share ideas on other soundwalk ideas you may have. You can e-mail us directly at iverniamusicberlin@gmail.com or use the feedback form below.
Feedback Form
We really appreciate you taking the time to give us your anonymous feedback on your experience of the walk.
Answer as few or as many questions as you like. The form will take maximum 10 minutes to complete.