WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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[whispering] I'm inside one of the
Inchindown oil tanks,

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an old oil storage facility
in Inverness, in Scotland.

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This tank is 237 metres long
and it's not meant for humans.

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When it was in use by the Royal Navy

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all this colossal space
would have been filled with fuel oil.

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With these oil tanks, the Royal Navy
accidentally created

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the greatest reverberation chamber
in the world.

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Flat surfaces
enclosed by solid rock,

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and a chamber big enough that
sound takes a whole second or more

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to go off the far wall
and bounce back.

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But still narrow enough
that you get lots of reverberation

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from all the close surfaces as well.

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- The construction started in 1938

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and it carried on right through
the beginning of the war

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up to around about 1943.

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The Admiralty had decided that they
required bomb-proof storage for their oil.

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So they set about building a number
of oil tanks across Britain.

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And this, Inchindown, is one of them.

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The construction required
six tanks to be built.

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The entire complex could easily contain
100,000 tonnes of fuel

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but one single Royal Navy battleship
can drink 5,000 tonnes.

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So it could go very, very quickly.

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It is a truly amazing chamber of sound,

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a cathedral of oil and
a cathedral of sound.

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- So now I'm going to shut up for a bit.

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Preston here is going to
fire a starting pistol,

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a very, very loud bang.

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On the screen is a visual
display of that sound.

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Different frequencies will reverberate
for different amounts of time

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so you will see that and hear that.

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And as it gets quieter
we will turn up the level

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on the microphone so it's
easier for you to hear.

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Right, everyone ready?

34
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Thank you to the Bannerman Group
for letting us into the tunnels,

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to Allan, Alan and Preston
for helping with everything here,

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to Matt Gray who is behind the camera

37
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and who's had some musical
experiences over on his channel.

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Go for it.

39
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Aagh!

40
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That is terrifying.