Jez riley French ....'in place'

2012-01-27T12:53:00.001Z

a quiet position: traced edition

an online exhibition

the act of field recording, for many, extends beyond the audible results. Notebooks are kept by some, photographs of locations are taken by others. I myself spend most of my time listening & the occasional physical results are in the form of sketches, photographs, diary entries & sometimes an object or two from the locations themselves.

There is a greater understanding for the act of listening - a closer relationship with the sound of an environment rather than a more passive, casual one. The process of ‘recording’ is not limited to analogue or digital sound relics, but reflects a much wider, richer interest in the exploration of both place & sensory experience.

for this online edition of ‘a quiet position’ I would like to ask you to send in one or two scans or photographs of any notebooks, diaries, sketches or other images you have made whilst field recording or listening. To clarify, these should not be finished works of art made at the same time, such as paintings etc. but rather the simple records we make for ourselves - to record our time & activities in the places.

please email your submissions to: tempjez@hotmail.com along with your name, location & any web link you might like to be also included alongside your submission.

thanks - JrF

2012-01-25T07:12:00.003Z

Forced rhubarb (extract) - headphones required ! by JezrileyFrench

a short extract from one of several long recordings made in the famous Rhubarb triangle of West Yorkshire. I spent several hours in the heated, unlit growing sheds, listening intently to the fascinating sounds of the rhubarb growing - yes, the small pops & crackles you can hear on here are the actual sound forced rhubarb makes as it grows at super speed.

you will need headphones to really hear the most on this recording....

2012-01-17T22:41:00.003Z

SOUNDS OF THE SEA

-LISTENING TO THE SEA ONLINE

(BBC ARTICLE - CLICK TO READ)

LISTEN TO THE DEEP

A WEBSITE RESOURCE & LIVE FEED OF OCEAN SOUNDS

(CLICK TO VISIT THE SITE)

2012-01-15T12:04:00.003Z

binaural soundblog based around the small Russian town of Sergiyev Posad, with a few other locations too, by Vladimir Kryutchev.

click here to visit the site.

2012-01-15T11:58:00.002Z

soundscapes from the RUE DES ROSIERS, a medieval street in the 4^th arrondissement of Paris dating from the early thirteenth century from Des Coulam's soundblog

click here to visit the site

2012-01-12T21:53:00.002Z

very pleased to have been asked to give a talk at this years agm of the

WILDLIFE SOUND RECORDING SOCIETY

for those who don't already know of the society it's well worth joining. Here's a couple of videos they've put together:

2012-01-10T12:26:00.001Z

new release by Lasse-Marc Riek on Semperflorens label

click here

1. Saison Concrète

Lasse-Marc Riek, musician and concept artist, combines and condenses sounds of the four seasons into a acoustic journey.

Sounds of the four seasons, condensed into one acoustic valuable – that describes the work of conceptual artist Lasse-Marc Riek. Birds migrating in late summer livestock returning from the alps in fall and April's showers are some of the more recognizable incidents. Above all, the artist forms a fascinating soundscape by working with a huge variety of sounds and noises, and with each acoustic part he creates a composition complete by itself. Saison Concrète – coltish and jaunty or unfathomable melancholic – cover the span of a whole year. Thus, Riek's journeys through nature's sounds subtly turn into reflections about the nature of sounds. (Stefan Militzer)

The work “Saison Concrète” was composed by the source of 12 parts run Kalenderstücke (Geräusch des Monats) during 2010 at Deutschlandradio Kultur.

Lasse-Marc Riek (1975, Germany) uses different forms of expression in his producing. His works are interdisciplinary and can be conceived as groups of works of both visual art (action and conceptual art) and sound art. His art of sound can be described in terms such as acoustic ecology, bio acoustics and soundscapes. Here, Riek uses acoustic field recordings, storing them with different recording media, editing, archiving and presenting them in different contexts.

Since 1997, he has operated internationally with exhibitions, releases, concerts, lectures, workhops, awards, projects and given guest performances in galleries, art museums, churches and museums. Contributions in public media as well as in podcasts. Scholarships and artist-in-residence programs realised in Europe and Africa.

Since 2003 founder member of the audio publishing company Gruenrekorder, focusing on soundscapes, field recordings and electro-acoustic compositions, and in this connection, acting internationally with artists and scientists.

Member of the Forum Klanglandschaft (World Forum for Acoustic Ecology ), Verein zur Förderung von Phonographie und Experimenteller Musik (Society for the Advancement of Phonography and Experimental Music) and the Wildlife Sound Recording Society.

format: CD in DVDBOX ltd. 500

2012-01-10T11:14:00.002Z

BBC radio documentary featuring Tom Lawrence's recordings of waterboatmen - captured with various hydrophones.

you can also hear similar sounds among the audio samples on the soundcloud player at the top of this page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0194mvq

2012-01-05T22:56:00.002Z

a couple of links following Chris Watson across antarctica:

BBC radio - 'soundings from antarctica'

What strikes most people when they first arrive in Antarctica is the quiet . "It's so quiet; its the only place in the world that you can actually hear Geology happening; all these processes that you're schooled to think take thousands and thousands of years, the movement of glaciers and the shifting of rocks ... And that's an amazing experience that process of the landscape changing" says Jeff Wilson, a Director on the BBC series Frozen Planet. And the sounds of 'geology happening' are captured in the first of a new series of NATURE by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson. The sounds of the ice are astonishing; from the huge, powerful grinding and creaking sounds as glaciers calve or ice sheets buckle under pressure, to the delicate sounds of water lapping under thin sheets of sea ice or the tinkling sounds produced when fine needle-like ice crystals move in a breeze of volcanic gases inside an ice cave at the base of Erebus, Antarctica's most active volcano.

With contributions from some the team who worked on the BBC series, Frozen Planet, NATURE presents a journey in sound across this frozen landscape. Whilst above the ice, the landscape is quiet, below the ice the underwater world is full of sound; for example, Orcas (killer whales) use pulses of sound to navigate rather like bats and produce and squeaks and whistles to communicate with one another over vast distances, whilst Weddell seals produce the most hauntingly beautiful ascending and descending tones. Antarctica - frozen landscape, and surprising, mesmerizing, powerful and haunting soundscape.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

click here to listen

touch radio # 49

Chris Watson journeys to the South Pole for the forthcoming David Attenborough series “The Frozen Planet” (BBC, 2011). Here he reports back with his experiences…

click here to listen

2012-01-03T12:15:00.002Z

your favourite sounds heard in 2011

it's that time of the year again - do send in your list of 5 favourite sounds you've heard during 2011.

email your lists to: tempjez@hotmail.com

here are my choices to get things started:

1. Pheobe, my daughter singing to herself - heard from the kitchen.

2. the daily sound of stillness at home - just one simple, comforting aspect of 'home'.

3. metal light support along the Hozugawa river, Kyoto, Japan - heard via JrF c-series contact mics.

4. ants eating an apricot, Topolo, Italy - heard via JrF strung contact mics.

5. the sound of stillness at arashiyama temple, Kyoto, Japan.

--------------------

from Sophia Dawson

1. spring rain dripping off the large beech tree outside our kitchen onto the corrugated iron roof – best heard while standing at the sink with eyes closed (not washing up)

2. the raucous clatter of magpies - a pair nest near our home – heard upon waking - most mornings this summer

3. the spiralling echo of Simon and my voices - sound becoming space, one dissolving into the other – sitting in James Turrell’s Deer Shelter at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

4. the sound of air banging in the central heating pipes – heard frequently this winter

5. the wind roaring in my ears on Christmas Day - Holkham Beach, Norfolk

------------------------------------

from Yiorgis Sakellariou:

1. Lousios river, Peloponnese - Greece

http://blog.noise-below.org/2011/09/16/lousios-river-peloponnese-field-recording-mini-series/

2. Dresden train station - Germany

http://blog.noise-below.org/2011/05/08/dresden/

3. Factory sounds echoing all over Klaipeda city - Lithuania

4. Wind and waves at Nida - Lithuania

5. An intense storm in Athens - Greece

www.mecha-orga.com

---------------------

from Des Coulam (Soundlandscapes)

1. The Aligre Market - Exterior: http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/marche-daligre/

I recorded these sounds at the outdoor part of the Aligre market close to Bastille. It's always a lively place!

2. Metro Line 5 - Quai de la Rapee:

http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/paris-metro-sounds-quai-de-la-rapee/

This is the sound of Metro trains entering and leaving Quai de la Rapee station. The sounds are significant because they are shortly to disappear as Metro Line 5 becomes equipped with swanky new trains.

3. Laughter in the Beaubourg:

http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/street-entertainment-in-the-beaubourg/

These sounds were recorded in the Beaubourg just behind the Pompidou Centre. They are the sounds of the crowd responding to a performance by a mime artist.

4. A Chinese Violin:

http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/street-entertainment-in-the-beaubourg/

Another sound from the Beaubourg, this time a chinese violin or an Urhu.

5. Cite Veron:

http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/through-an-open-window/

This is my personal sound of the year. I came across it completely by chance in Cite Veron in the 18th arrondissement. It 's the sound of a full blown ballet class through an open window.

-----------------------

from Maile Colbert:

- ice breaking and flowing down the Susquehanna River in upstate New York, US

- ship horns in the distance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, US

- my dog snoring by the fireplace in Lisbon, Portugal

- shrill wind whipping through gravestones in a village on a hilltop in Cornwall, UK

- flocks of sea birds startled from the old salt flats in Aveiro, Portugal

Maile Colbert, New York and Lisbon, www.mailecolbert.com

---------------------------

from Cheryl Tipp (British Library Sound Archive)

1. Raindrops falling against my bedroom window during the night.

2. The absolute silence of a snow-covered mountain in Norway.

3. Hearing my friend's little boy, Ethan, laugh for the first time.

4. The beautiful Hymns featured on Mark Peter Wright's 'Where Once We Walked.'http://mpwright.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/where-once-we-walked-performance-cd/

5. Patrick Franke's 'Cave Under Ice' recording.http://soundcloud.com/singwarte-media/10-12-27-hoehle-unter-eis

------------------------------------

from Chris Whitehead:

The quiet crackle of drying seaweed on the banks of Loch Greshornish, Skye.

A hawthorn hedge creaking in the winter winds at Ravenscar, North Yorkshire.

A moth flapping it's wings against the canvas of our tent, attracted by the light inside, Glencoe, Scotland.

The sound of an Alka Seltzer tablet dissolving in a glass of water.

Beverley Minster.

------------------------------------

from Greg Hooper (

http://wp.me/p25ONH-17)

1. Wedgie snoring – as our dog gets older he gets more and more
grandpa like, from nodding off in front of the TV to snoring when he
sleepshttp://tinyurl.com/82h3w5l

2. creaking floors at Kangarilla – recorded in a beautiful cottage in
Kangarilla South Australia – there were a lot of great sounds from the
floors and doors, as well as an old pedal organ that I recorded in
detailhttp://tinyurl.com/6vdvq76

3. Angus bath noises – an old recording that I recovered to make my
son a present of sounds from his childhood. Here Angus plays a tube
into the bath, when he was probably about 9 years old or maybe youngerhttp://tinyurl.com/7d64vut

4. flood mud – we had some spectacular floods in Brisbane at the
beginning of the year – we are close the river, but were about 3
houses away from getting flooded. Here is the sound of walkiing in
some flood mudhttp://tinyurl.com/8xzq8m6

5. turkey – goreme balloon flight – Had a wonderful holiday with my
son to Turkey. This is some sounds from up in a hot air balloon over
Goreme in Cappadociahttp://tinyurl.com/6msmlsp

greg hooper

----------------

from Joe Stevens:

1. still my top fav sound -  the sound of families on the beach; people talking, kids screaming and laughing, waves lapping, seagulls screeching. Heard on Weymouth & other beaches over summer

2.  the tink tink tink of sailing boat masts blowing in the wind against the mast, while the boats bob up & down in Weymouth & in Portland harbour.

3. early Sunday morning in my back garden, sound of town waking up. Mixture of wildlife and human interventions. 

4.  Sat on beach with old bi-plane flying overhead on carnival day, while surrounded by sounds of announcer on tannoy, sea, children, and the crunching of people walking by on the stony beach.

5.  a test i underwent called EMG (electromyography), where they used fine needles around my eye to test muscle function. in a way it sounds abit similar to contact mics. & i could control the sounds by moving my eyelid and scrunching my eye up. 
-----------------
from Steven Brown:
http://www.listenhear.co.uk
The sound of torrential rain hitting the cobbled streets of Prague Old Town, an early summer storm filling the air with mystery and untold secrets.
The noise as a plane powerfully brakes after landing. Safely home again after another long journey.
Sounds of Line 5 at Quai de la Rapée (from the wonderful Soundlandscapes Blog, thanks Des) - http://soundlandscapes.wordpress.com/2011/11/
The sound of the Barrel Organ I recorded in Helsinki - http://listenhear.podbean.com/2011/04/27/helsinki-barrel-organ/
Melting snow, early spring in New England.
------------------

from John Grzinich:



Some sonic highlights from 2011 in chronological order. I hope 2012
brings more gems like this.

1. Empty Quelle building of the Muggenhof in Nuremburg, April
2. Lone Tangmalm's Owl eastern Estonian forest, during the MoKS nature
sound recording workshop last May
3. Charlemagne Palestine performance in Niguliste church during Tuned
City Tallinn, July
4. Slap echos under the Krieau U-Bahn station in Vienna, August
5. Moose call, Nida Lithuania in December


John

---
site: http://maaheli.ee
org: http://moks.ee

------------------
from Gianni Pavan:
. Airport, waiting for my plane: the noise of an automatic food distributor moving bottles up and down according to user choices.

Valnontey, Italy: a very quiet day, listening to the noise of running water after a strong rain.

Cansiglio Forest, Alps, Italy: cold foggy night, moonlight, tens of red deers around, fighting, roaring and rutting in the breeding season....    Listen on SoundCloud (cibra).
Monastery de la Verne, close to Toulon, France: chants and prayers (recorded with iPhone, enough to "fix" the emotion).

Pennington Station, London: the rumble of several diesel engines, moving around to listen to their interferences and beating.




CIBRA
Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Via Taramelli 24, 27100 Pavia
http://www.unipv.it/cibra
http://mammiferimarini.unipv.it
-------------------

from Mykel Boyd:

In no particular order............

My cat making cat sounds while she dreams.

My daughters harmonizing on christmas songs.

My girlfriend saying "I made you coffee".

The wind in the trees on a hot summer day while recording at Edgar
Cayce's grave in Hopkinsville, Ky.

The electric hum from the street lights about a half block from my
house, usually the starting point for our evening walks.


www.somnimage.com---------------
from Flavien Gillié

http://www.soundisall.net
 
3 are mine
Pont de Jons, under the bridge
Swirl, a duck taking off at 3 minutes
http://aporee.org/maps/?loc=12643

Brussels, Bozar, Air Conditionning system in a museum room, drone in art..
http://aporee.org/maps/?loc=12434

Trapani, Via Cristoforo Colombo, Fish market
http://aporee.org/maps/?loc=11847

1 from Peter Cusack
Symphony of Groans, Spreepark abandonned fun fair
Ghosts in the former East Berlin fun fair now derelict and overgrown. The magnificent and colourful big wheel is turning. How I don  know - maybe wind, maybe a test of old machinery. The whole ground is private and enclosed but there are inviting holes in the fencing
http://aporee.org/maps/?loc=12576

1 from Martin Hogg :
Sirens test. Emergency horns testing takes place every three months in the city on the first Monday of the month at 3pm.
http://aporee.org/maps/?loc=12532

-------------------

from Daniel Crokaert
(Mystery Sea & Unfathomless label curator)

the vibes and tones emitted by a spiraling metal staircase in an old watchtower in Bad Wildungen (Germany)
the sniffing of wild boars on the soil in a national park in Kellerwald (Germany)
wind in the leaves on a treetopwalk in Kellerwald-Edersee (Germany)
a malfunctioning neon light near the changing room at my workplace
the varied crackles of the charcoal on my barbecue 
------------------

from Eric Leonardson:
heard while walking outdoors in Chicago, metallic ping of the ice cracking at the edge of the park's lagoon when my dog stepped on it
flute tones from wind blowing over the holes on a metal stop sign post in Chicago
wonderful, rolling click sounds as the pebbles on the beach are lifted up in the waves and drop down as the waves recede, in Palaiokastritsa, Corfu, Greece
year-round in Chicago, the many different of the freight trains, particularly the polyphony of squealing tones from brakes of boxcars and the distant horns that reverberate across the neighborhood
flock of honking Canada Geese flying overhead, heard in Chicago and vicinity
http://ericleonardson.org/whatsnew/
 http://www.worldlisteningproject.org/ 
 http://mwsae.org/ 
 http://www.chicagophonography.org/  
-------------------
from Luis Antero (green field recordings):
1. the sound of ants in Piódão village (Portugal) (recorded with Jez-Riley contact mic)
2. the sound of ants in Chão Sobral village (Portugal) (recorded with Jez-Riley contact mic)
3. the sounds from sudwest Portugal in summer

4. the sound of cicadas and cane toads from Australia (recorded by Jay-Dea Lopez - http://soundslikenoise.wordpress.com/)

5. the sound of my twin kids in bath mixed with "braguesa" guitar
http://greenfieldrecordings.yolasite.com/
-----------------
from Chad Clark (Chicago)

dawn chorus over Lake Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
summer night drones emanating from the last vestiges of Chicago’s A. Finkl & Sons steel mill industry
public debate being brought back into the streets
Pittsburgh, PA - Mattress Factory's urban garden
Pokagon State Park, IN - twin-track toboggan run

2011-12-27T14:57:00.000Z

Joda Clément

"The Narrows"

U09
CD ltd to 200 hand numbered copies
cover design+treatments by Daniel Crokaert/2011
based exclusively on photos by Carl Heindl &Joda Clément

release year

2011

length

35:13

Also on Unfathomless

U01 mathieu ruhlmann
U02 Luigi Turra & Christopher McFall
U03 nicholas szczepanik & juan josé calarco
U04 Kassel Jaeger
U05 revenant
U06 Juan José Calarco
U07 simon whetham
U08 James McDougall & Hiroki Sasajima

Next

U10 Five Elements Music

Out on December 27, 2011

"When I was born, my family moved to a remote farm in north Ontario, known as 'Setle'. Situated in the woods, 'Setle' was without electrical power during much of our stay, so much of my father's work involved using power from a generator positioned 400 feet away, connected by a series of extension cords. By integrating sounds recorded from these and other remote locations, he created a form of 'environmental music' that expressed the beauty and solitude of the Canadian wildnerness. When we later moved the city, he would take me with him on recording missions, so as I got older field recording became like second nature. I record mostly in urban environments, but my appreciation for sound is deeply rooted in my formative years.

Following the release of The Cherry Beach Project (on Mystery Sea) I set out record a 'site-specific' piece as a follow-up, although I didn't have a particular location in mind. Without specific theme or purpose, time gradually eroded my initial intention for site specificity, as I gathered a tremendous archive of sound materials. Merging various threads into one mass, the construction of the piece seemed to take on a life of its own. As hundreds of sources blurred together to the point where I forget where many originate, I slowly came to look at the piece as a continuation of my father's idea of 'environmental music' - coloured by memories and impressions of those early years in north Ontario, yet re-imagined through the dense and shifting sound pallete of Toronto, where I live and work. (Joda Clément)

Audio-sample

Further info > get in touch

2011-12-20T12:12:00.002Z

interesting new project by Martin Hogg - guide books to sounds of certain places:

http://www.acousticbaffle.co.uk/hortohort.html

This project came about during my residency in Umeå, Sweden, from late 2010 to early 2012. The initial idea developed from extensive field recordings taken during this period. This is the first in a set of publications designed to encourage exploration and develop deeper awareness of the soundscape around us, our acoustic environment, and our place within it.

‘Ecology is the study of the relationship between living organisms and their environment. Acoustic ecology is therefore the study of sounds in relationship to life and society. This cannot be accomplished by remaining in the laboratory. It can only be accomplished by considering on location the effects of the acoustic environment on the creatures living in it.’

(R. Murray Schafer - 'The Soundscape. Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of The World')

As a visitor to Umeå, I was able to approach this project with ‘new ears’. It is widely known that your ears are more aware and alert when you find yourself in an unfamiliar environment. With this in mind, the sonic sites selected for this first issue may not be the sites you may first have expected to encounter. This particular collection of Umeå's 'sonic sites' is by no means exhaustive, but merely the smallest tip of an enormous iceberg.

This publication strives to cover a number of different objectives. This book is designed firstly, as an alternative, sonic tourist guide. Focusing the ears with an aim to promote the delights of deeper listening, this publication is a 'sonic treasure hunt' of sorts, whilst simultaneously serving as an introduction to the art of 'sound hunting'. By default, it then becomes an opportunity to address some key concepts based within the field of acoustic ecology. It brings to light certain issues, and highlights responsibilities of ours, regarding our direct influence on the sonic environment.

The common denominator throughout this planned series of publications is, simply put, the act of listening.

This project is intended as an open project and so all future submissions are welcomed and will be considered for future issues.

An online database of ‘sonic sites’ will be made available on the website.

For further information on this, and other works by Martin Hogg:

www.acousticbaffle.co.uk

email: info@infinitebaffle.co.uk

2011-12-07T15:22:00.000Z

Wildlife Sound Recording in Sweden
with Chris Watson & Jez riley French

A unique opportunity to spend several days recording the sounds of spring in Sweden in May with Chris Watson, a leading figure in the world of wildlife sound recording. Our base will be Ängskärsgården, a group of cabins in a remote location away from unwanted noises! Ängskärsgården is a couple of hours drive north of Stockholm. There is a wide range of different habitats and recording locations in the vicinity with lakes, forests and the ocean all near at hand. There is also a nature reserve nearby - Hållnäs.

We will have the entire Ängskärsgården base at our diposal for the four nights, with a chef and minibuses to allow us the greatest flexibility for recording trips. The range of habitats will enable us to experiment with surround sound techniques, hydrophones, contacts mics and the range of stereo and mono recordings. We will also have a surround sound system at our base for reviewing recordings and group discussions. It is expected that you will have some recording experience and your own equipment to bring (although we will have some extra gear with us that everyone is welcome to try).

Some of the many species we may encounter: Sea Eagle, Herring Gull, Black Tern, Turnstone, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Three-toed Woodpecker, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Red-backed Shrike, Montagu’s Harriers, Cormorants, Grey Herons, various Owls, Pool Frogs...

Itinerary

Day 1 (Thurs 10th May): Travel to Ängskärsgården, Sweden (for those travelling from the UK: British Airways London Heathrow plane BA778 departs 1130 and arrives Arlanda, Stockholm at 1500). Aim to arrive in Ängskärsgården by 6pm. Settle in, upack, meet the team and discuss the recording activities for the next few days.

Day 2: Recording activities

Day 3: Recording activities

Day 4: Recording activities

Day 5 (Mon 14th May): Depart. Early brunch and pack to depart base approx 1130 (for those travelling to the UK: British Airways London Heathrow plane BA779 departs Arlanda at 1540 and arrives Heathrow at 1715)

Personnel

Chris Watson - experienced sound recordist specialising in wildlife - Chris also runs courses in wildlife sound recording and post production at the BBC Natural History Unit, and lectures internationally on location sound and sound design. He has worked closely with two of the most high-profile natural history presenters in the business, David Attenborough and Bill Oddie. He is Oddie's favourite sound man and the TV veteran says of Watson: "I don't know anyone who is so intense yet so splendidly frivolous." Chris became a sound recordist in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television and is now widely regarded as one of the most creative sound artists in the business. His recent credits include the hugely popular Springwatch and Autumnwatch, and he received the Wildlife Film Asia Award for the BBC's Galapagos: Born of Fire. Watson also creates for the radio, with credits includingSoundscape: The Sea Swallow, Watersong and The Estuary all for BBC Radio 4. See www.chriswatson.net

A selection of superb natural sound CDs by Chris Watson are now available from our Wildeye Shop atwww.wildeye.co.uk/chriswatson.html.

Jez riley French is a composer, artist & audio specialist whose output involves elements of intuitive composition, field recording (using conventional & extended methods) photographic images (including their use in photographic scores) and improvisation. He has performed, exhibited and had his work published widely across the world and also lectures in both field recording and intuitive composition as a guest lecturer. Recently he has been artist in residence at organisations in Japan, Korea, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic & the UK.
Jez also makes & sells his own hydrophones and contact mics (http://hydrophones.blogspot.com/) + runs the ‘in place’ project with a website exploring various aspects of field recording & related work. In recent years Jez has been working closely with specific architectural spaces, capturing a sense of place that is both highly personal and yet offers the audience a fascinating opportunity to look and listen anew to the environments in which we spend our time.http://jezrileyfrench.blogspot.com/

Piers Warren - Principal of Wildeye - Piers is well known throughout the wildlife film-making industry as the editor of Wildlife Film News and producer of wildlife-film.com, which he created in the 1990s. With a strong background in biology, education and conservation, he has had a lifelong passion for wildlife films and has a wide knowledge of natural history. He cut his teeth in the industry as a sound engineer and multi-media producer, running a studio for many years. He is one of the founders of the international organisation Filmmakers for Conservation and was Vice President for the first three years. Piers is the author of many magazine features and several books including Careers in Wildlife Film-making and Go Wild with Your Camcorder - How to Make Wildlife Films.

Travel Information

Visas: Please check if you need a visa to enter Sweden (holders of normal British 'European Community' passports do not need one).

Insurance: It is essential you take out comprehensive travel insurance. Whichever insurance you choose please ensure it provides adequate cover for both you personally and also for any equipment you may be bringing with you.

Dates:
10-14 May 2012 - Fully booked but let us know if you'd lie to go on the reserve list

Costs:
UK£595 (6,400SEK) plus travel to/from Ängskärsgården and international flight to Arlanda if required (which you book yourself). We can help with travel to/from Arlanda airport if required.

Includes activities, accommodation and full board (apart from expenses of personal nature like alcoholic beverages).

Bedding not included so bring your own (or it can be hired for £7 0r 7SEK).

Booking: If the home page shows that there are places available please complete the online application formand send in your deposit/fee as detailed.
Places are strictly limited so early booking is recommended.

2011-12-07T15:17:00.001Z

Vertikale Skift | Terje Paulsen & Ákos Garai
GrDl 093 | Gruen Digital
MP3 & lossless FLAC

Vertikale Skift, composed by Terje Paulsen (Norway) and Ákos Garai (Hungary), guides the listener through a series of alluring sound environments, ranging from discretely layered drones that highlight upon faint listening spectrums into dense tapestries of sound divulging complex layers of sonic interplay. The environmental aspects assoicated with these recordings are quite evident, however, the content also reflects a definite sense of intent, as the compositions are further processed and arranged in such a manner whereby the result is an all-encompasing listening enviroment. With that said, there’s an inherent sense of momentum and dynamic to the recordings that comprise Vertikale Skift, making it one of the more unique sound-based release I’ve heard in some time and a release not to be missed!

Christopher McFall / May 2011

01 Skisse 8 (Paulsen) 4:42
02 Waterworks I (Garai) 3:57
03 Waterworks II (Garai) 5:33
04 Skisse 9 (Paulsen) 6:50
05 Skisse 10 (Paulsen) 6:11

06 Waterworks III (Garai) 9:06
07 Skisse 11 (Paulsen) 7:09
08 Skisse 12 (Paulsen) 3:30

09 Waterworks IV (Garai) 8:32

09 Tracks (55′34″)

2011-12-07T13:22:00.000Z

Andrea Dancer -Michal Kindernay: Walking Sound

Andrea Dancer_e, Michal Kindernay_E Oct 29, 2011, 0:05 AM

[2000x1360]

na železničním mostu v Praze
Autor: Michal Kindernay

In this work, a proposition is put forward to listening across time, space and the body. One can experience soundwalking, the practice of walking and listening, as lived experience -- but what happens when a live soundwalk event is re-conceptualized and recorded for radio after the fact? Is the sound itself not prefigured? In this way, Andrea Dancer and Michal Kindernay propose, and compose, to take sound for a walk across a day and place the listener (you) as the omniscient silent body.

The basis of this composition, Walking Sound, is a soundwalk event organized in Prague in the beginning of spring (April 6th, 2011), as part of the EBU Ars Acoustica conference. While the soundwalk included site specific deep listening opportunities and sound interventions by artists and musicians, Walking Sound peripherally traces these and other serendipitous sound events with a focus on the contemplative character of the environment and listening-centered passage through a day.

From pre-dawn to evening, step by step through the liminal spaces of Prague's Albertov and Smichov neighborhoods, this ambient day coalesces around resonances, oscillations, anamorphic perspectives -- and time and place are recessed in the meditative potential of both noise and quietude. In this instance, we invite you to hover and float and let the sounds do the walking: Walking Sound.

Soundwalk Design: Andrea Dancer and Michal Kindernay
Recordings of caterwauling, fan, Lukas Fütterer, Frank Bierlein (ZKM Karlsruhe), Michal Kindernay
Interventions: Kateřina Zochová and Michal Kindernay (radios) and Klára Doležálková
Accordionist: Kate Romain (Katrzyna)

Produced and composed by Michal Kindernay and Andrea Dancer

to listen / download

click here

2011-12-06T13:02:00.001Z

Wild Pages
The Wildlife Film-makers' Resource Guide 2012–13
Edited by Jason Peters and Piers Warren

NOW AVAILABLE
CLICK HERE FOR ORDERING
Available as paperback, eBook or Kindle edition

An essential piece of kit!
All the best bits from a festival directory without the
expense of actually going to one, and much more!

A complete tool-kit of information for all wildlife film-makers – established and newcomers
Listings of wildlife production companies, footage libraries, distributors, broadcasters, location managers/fixers, film festivals, organisations, publications, freelancers and more, with contact details, weblinks and descriptions
Including answers to those all-important questions such as whether companies take people on work experience or consider co-productions, how to submit proposals etc.
Invaluable information at your fingertips to save hours of trawling through the Internet and sending many emails

Latest review soundbites:
Essential Resource
Its pages lead you to more doors than any other publication of its type
A must have for any wildlife filmmaker
Positively bursting at the spine with information
A fantastic, much-needed wildlife film resource
Highly recommended
Don't leave home without it!

"Wild Pages: The Wildlife Film-makers Resource Guide'' © Wildeye 2011
ISBN 978-1-905843-03-9 (paperback)
also available as an eBook and Kindle edition

Contents

Introduction

Production Companies
Stock Footage
Distributors
Broadcasters/Channels
Location Managers/Fixers
Film Festivals
Education/Training
Organisations
Equipment Hire/Sales
Publications/Resources

Freelancers

Director of Photography/Camera Operators
Sound Operators
Producers/Directors
Assistant Producers
Production Managers
Researchers
Assistants/Runners
Writers/Script Editors
Presenters
Editors
Music Composers
Production Still Photographers

Out on October 17, 2011

“Sometimes, the impossible is a basket of new unlikely seeds – realizing the geographical difficulty of working in unison on the same site, we opted for using at least common geologic context, not knowing where this could lead us…

What could come indeed out of distance, sensory communion, a mutual love for depicting the relief of things, its tactility ?…perhaps as with the best abstraction, a fertilizing stream, something perhaps larger than what the initial elements could have implied…something surprising even to us…

“Injya” is the encounter of our combined wanderings, and most probably the emergence of an imaginary entity powerful enough to engage us in a strange way…”(James McDougall/layout by Daniel Crokaert)

Audio-sample

2011-10-08T15:24:00.003+01:00

an audio tour for the Slovak National Gallery

created by Jonathan Prior using JrF contact microphones & hydrophones

http://12gatestothecity.com/projects/slovak-national-gallery-audio-tour/

2011-10-07T22:49:00.001+01:00

hydrophone tests - Lake from jetty by JezrileyFrench

I began selling my own make of hydrophones because, quite simply, I felt the range of products out there wasn’t that good considering the prices being charged. I don’t ‘compete’ with other manufacturers as my hydrophones are custom built by a field recordist for other folks interested in this area of sound exploration & my prices are designed to make this technology accessible to as many folks as possible. Over the years lots of people have asked me for advice when deciding which make of hydrophone to buy & i’ve always give un-biased advice based on whats available at the time. Since I launched the c-series hydrophones i’ve had lots of requests for comparison tests & my reason for doing this now is that, simply, people want to get the best value for their spend & I believe in the products I offer. So, here is the same lake, recorded on the same day with 3 different types of hydrophone - the recorder (Sound Devices 702) settings were identical on all sections.

(4 seconds silence between each sample)

first 2 minutes recorded with JrF c-series hydrophones (£60 per unit with 5metre cable - longer cables currently at £1 per metre extra)

second 2 minutes recorded with Aquarian audio hydrophones ($169 per unit with 3 metre cable)

third 2 minutes recorded with Dolphin Ear Pro hydrophones ($399 per unit with 10 metre cable)

2011-10-02T20:58:00.002+01:00

now available for free download due to huge demand - 'a quiet position - edition one' is available as a high quality .wav download for a limited time only - so grab it while you can....

a quiet position - edition one - field fest by a quiet position

field recording, in all its forms, has been through incredible creative growth in the last few decades & yet its essential power to engage us in the act & art of listening remains inextricably linked to its subtle simplicity, its ability to make us listen ever more closely to the world in which we move by making us stop for a time....

in October 2011 Field Fest, bruxelles (curated by european sound gallery, q-o2) brings together many artists /composers / musicians whose work involves various aspects of field recording....'a quiet position - edition one' is an online compilation offering you the chance to hear some small elements of that work. it should be noted however that much of the work in this area of music / sound is not ideal for listening via computer speakers so please do listen via headphones or other speakers. I hope you will find the pieces enjoyable, inspiring and thought provoking....thanks....jez riley french

'a quiet position - edition one: FIELD FEST' is now online for your free listening pleasure....

featuring work by jrf, annea lockwood, anne wellmer, mechaorga, eric la casa, els viaene, michael pisaro, manfred werder, peter cusack & more....

direct link:

http://soundcloud.com/a-quiet-position/a-quiet-position-edition-one

link to pdf (artwork / track notes etc):

http://issuu.com/engravedglass/docs/a_quiet_position_-_edition_one?mode=a_p

here also is a link to the main web page for 'a quiet position':

aquietposition.tumblr.com

2011-09-27T19:21:00.000+01:00

new release on mystery sea

mites

"something to ponder upon for a restless soul like you"

MS71
CD-R ltd to 100 numbered copies
artwork+design+treatments by Daniel Crokaert/2011
photo insert & source material by Natasha Shakhnes

track listing

1. for a restless soul like you
2. brighter
3. kings real and imaginary
4. well c'mon, it's just snow
5. something to ponder upon

length

60:59

2011-09-22T16:35:00.001+01:00

interesting online journal on audio culture - issue one online now:

http://www.interferencejournal.com/

2011-09-10T14:49:00.000+01:00

testing rode lavalier mics

http://jrftests.tumblr.com/

2011-09-08T19:55:00.002+01:00

some nice recordings of natural environments by Finnish recordist Hannu Jannes can be heard on his soundcloud profile

HERE

& at

Birdphoto.fi

click on the species you'd like to see / hear from the list in the left hand column

2011-09-07T08:43:00.002+01:00

some interesting free downloads for those wishing to experiment with ambisonic recording & editing techniques:

firstly, it's worth visiting Daniel Courville's website & downloading his free software plus taking a look at the various articles & papers on ambisonic techniques he has made available.

click here to visit Daniel Courville's website

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Hochschule für Musik Winterthur Zürich and the Swiss Center for Computer Music a set of Ambisonic VST plugins have been written by Dave Malham and Ambrose Field from the Department of Music, University of York. England. They have been placed in the public domain as a service to the musical community in general, and electroacoustic musicians in particular, with two conditions;

All rights in the software reside with the sponsors. You may use the software, without charge to you, for any reasonable and legal purpose. You may also redistribute it but you may not sell it or charge for it (except for a materials charge). You must inform users of its source and acknowledge its use.
Although all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that this software is fit for use and in no way infringes any rights, copyrights or laws, by downloading it you accept full responsibility for all consequences, losses or outcomes however caused. You thereby absolve the sponsoring organisations and the code authors of all liabilities.

Currently there are two plugins available in the Swiss Center range;

B-pan Ambisonic Encoder
B-dec High resolution First Order Ambisonic B-format decoder

These are new versions, as of May 2005, with several bug fixs and internal extensions to improve handling of Nuendo 2 problems. They have been tested in Nuendo 2 on PC, in the latest beta version of AudioMulch on the PC, in Plogue Bidule and Tracktion on the PCand Mac (OSX) and in Max/MSP on the Mac.

Download Windows
Download Mac versions

Mac Users

Please note that there have been reports of problems with earlier versions of the plugins on the German language versions of OS9, the International and American versions seem more stable. However, we are no longer supporting OS9 and there will be no further builds for this platform, only for OSX.

More VST Ambisonic packages

are available from York University's Department of Music Music Technology group at;

York Ambisonic VST Plugins

VST Plugin code

The code for the gui-less version of BPan can be downloaded from this site. This code is released by permission of the Hochschule für Musik Winterthur, Zürich in an effort to increase the utilisation of Ambisonics within the community of electroacoustic musicians. The code is released under the standard GNU General Public licence for general use.

Last updated on Sunday June 18^th, 2006 (removal of bug report form due to Spam problem)

Learn more about Ambisonics

2011-09-07T08:02:00.001+01:00

wasps - september 2011, recorded by Shona Davidson using a pair of MM audio BSM9 spaced omni mics.

‘Here’s a lovely ambient recording of a small wasps’ nest made at Whitwell common in Norfolk. It was made by strapping a pair of BSM9’s at a 90 degree angle to the end of a long stick with some foliage between them and then placing them near the mouth of the nest. Thanks to Jez for ‘finding’ the nest by stepping on it and getting stung six times’ - Shona Davidson

click here to listen

2011-08-29T14:51:00.002+01:00

there's a new blog focusing on reviews of field recording based work - called

'THE FIELD REPORTER'

As far as I know there are several different reviewers who'll contribute to the site (including myself from time to time)....to take a look click here

four questions # 30 - Signe Liden

2011-08-04T23:21:00.002+01:00

JrF: when & why did you become interested in field recording ?
SL: First when I saved some cassette tapes of birds singing from being thrown away, recordings that my grandfather had done some decades before, I got interested in field recording. At that time I guess it was as much the narrative around the recordings: the idea of him sitting somewhere in the forest at the different seasons of the year, searching for songs to be caught. He is present in the recordings, as his breath and movements often drown out the sounds of the forest.

Shortly after, sound was an important element in an installation piece I was working on even though I knew little about sound and almost nothing about recording. A friend told me about the Soundman Binaural Microphones, and I bought a pair of those, connected them to my minidisc and recorded me through a travel around in Bosnia. Most of these recordings were crap but two of them caught my interest, one from the squeaking and hauling train in the mountains between Sarajevo and Mostar. The other one from a café on the riverside one evening in Mostar as the church bell sang along with the songs from minarets and where these celestial sounds got accompanied with the gay voices in the cafés. For fun, I had put the microphones inside some empty bottles at the table and I got surprised by the strange poetry I found down there. That was in 2007 and I guess that was where my interest in field recordings started.

JrF: how do you use your field recordings in your own artistic output ?

SL: I am interested in hidden sounds in our daily surroundings and I search for ways of discovering them. I often record sounds that are natural filtered, for example through pipes, wirings and also through waste laying around, like bottles and plastic cans. Much of my work where I use filed recordings are recreations of the "negative" spaces in places, the hidden spaces of auditive landscapes.

Also displacement of sound is a field of interest that I would like to explore more. How a place sonically reacts when it gets intruded by an alien sound environment.

JrF: do you regard 'natural' sounds as a musical element (bearing in mind that the conventional definition of 'music' is rapidly becoming obsolete) or as sound ? is this definition important ? does it matter ?
SL: Hmmm, no, I don´t consider that definition very relevant for my works. Still, I actually have to confront it when I do a live performance and use field recordings. As I have a visual art background, I think the approach to and language around my work are different from a musician`s but in the end I guess it does not matter.
JrF: has the act of making field recording had an effect (positive or negative) on the way you listen to your everyday surroundings and how has it affected the way you listen to other music and sound (if at all) ?
SL: Very much indeed! I think I hear much more than before and am more aware of how my perceptions of my surroundings effect me in different ways both physiological and psychological. The luxury of having the possibility to extend my ears from times to times through microphones and increase my hearing capacity through various types of microphones has opened up a mysterious and magic parallel space in my everyday life.

signeliden.com

2011-08-02T15:36:00.003+01:00

I also have just started another tumblr blog featuring recordings made with recording equipment tests that i'm asked to try.

The first set are of the Korg MR2 hand-held digital recorder:

click here

2011-07-31T19:49:00.001+01:00

Chris Watson using one of my standard series hydrophone elements on BBC TV's 'the one show - best of'

http://hydrophones.blogspot.com/

2011-07-31T19:02:00.000+01:00

rode lavalier microphone system

a pair of these are arriving tomorrow - i'll be giving them a thorough testing & sharing the results on here soon. I had a chance to test them briefly on the last Wildeye sound recording course & was impressed, so lets see what they can really do !

2011-07-31T18:27:00.002+01:00

the sound of ants eating an apricot, italy

(click to listen)

2011-07-31T18:27:00.001+01:00

the sound of nara deer, japan

(click to listen)

2011-07-31T18:25:00.000+01:00

the sound of hozugawa river, japan

(click to listen)

2011-07-31T18:23:00.000+01:00

the sound of tokyo vending machines

(click to listen)

2011-07-29T07:06:00.003+01:00

I have a new web page - it acts as a kind of audio / visual dairy with field recordings & images. click on the link below to view & follow:

Jez riley French on tumblr

2011-07-28T17:55:00.003+01:00

The Binaural / Nodar residency team have just issued a great book / catalogue & double cd - €25 ! & available from their site - click here

there are still so few books on sound that are inclusive in the way they are presented - that don't attempt to enforce one perception of what sound is or might be. this one is a very welcome addition to that small number of publications indeed.

Texts by:

Aaron Ximm (EUA), Alicja Rogalska (Polónia), Amaya González (Espanha), Andrea Brandão (Portugal), António Pedro (Portugal), Arnold Haberl (Áustria), Ben Owen (EUA), Cédric Anglaret (França), Christine Niehoff (Alemanha), Dennis Báthory-Kitsz (EUA), Duncan Whitley (Inglaterra), Evelyn Müürsepp (Estónia), Francisco Janes (Portugal), Ignacio Martinez (Espanha), Jason Kahn (EUA), Joana Nascimento (Portugal), John Grzinich (EUA), Jurate Jarulyte (Lituânia), Keiko Uenishi (Japão), Lezli Rubin-Kunda (Israel), Luciana Ohira (Brasil), Luís Costa (Portugal), Maile Colbert (EUA), Maksims Shentelevs (Letónia), Manuela Barile (Itália), Maria Idília Martins (Portugal), Marta Bernardes (Portugal), Martin Clarke (Inglaterra), Melanie Velarde (Austrália), Nilo Gallego (Espanha), Noemi Fidalgo (Espanha), Pali Meursault (França), Peeter Laurits (Estónia), Rui Costa (Portugal), Rui Silveira (Portugal), Satoshi Morita (Japão), Sérgio Bonilha (Brasil), Sérgio Cruz (Portugal), Stevie Balch (EUA), Suzanne Caines (Canadá), Svetlana Bogomolova (Rússia), Toomas Thetloff (Estónia), Vered Dror (Israel), Viv Corringham (Inglaterra), Wolfgang Dorninger (Áustria), Xesús Valle (Espanha).

Lista de peças sonoras do CD duplo anexo “Nodar Location-Specific Sound 2007-2009”:

CD#1

1 -Jason Kahn: Windline [10:02]
2 -Satoshi Morita: .: :: – / – / – :. [2:55]
3 – Aaron Ximm: The Stone Giant, or, a millstone breathing in Nodar [9:56]
4 -John Grzinich: Flowlines [10:10]
5 – Maksims Shentelevs: Ghost of Nodar [10:00]
6 – Ben Owen: Resounding Nodar – Edit [4:56]
7 – Wolfgang Dorninger: in the water [8:00]
8 – Rui Costa: Traces of a Place [5:21]
9 – Xesús Valle: Tactile Processes [7:40]
10 – Samuel Ripault (Pali Meursault): Pleine Lune [9:15]

CD#2

1 – Martin Clarke: Mountain Quiet [8:21]
2 – Arnold Haber (Noid): Music for Five Instruments and a Gun [19:08]
3 – Manuela Barile: Moroloja [4:14]
4 – Duncan Whitley: Joga, Isso! [9:40]
5 – Keiko Uenishi (o.blaat): Serpentines and Chestnuts (several scenes for Nodar Social Composition) [7:41]
6 – Dennis Báthory-Kitsz: Three Songs for Manuela [4:33]
7 – Marta Bernardes & Ignacio Martínez: Coro de Noé [3:00]
8 – Viv Corringham: Where You Are [4:28]
9 – Melanie Velarde: Untitled [9:08]
10 – Maile Colbert: Over the Eyes [9:01]

2011-07-21T13:46:00.003+01:00

ants eating an apricot - recorded with JrF strung contact microphones - topolo, italy - july 2011 by JezrileyFrench

aquatic life in a stream, topolo, italy, recorded with JrF hydrophones by JezrileyFrench

2011-07-19T08:30:00.001+01:00

Water Beetles of Pollardstown Fen by Tom Lawrence
10 Tracks (70:46)
CD (500 copies)

http://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=5235

What is presented in this CD is a very alien world, a hitherto unheard
aural environment that breaks with all our preconceived notions of
what underwater life should sound like. All our traditional
conceptions and inherent cultural conditioning are overwritten, deemed
void and deleted. The work contained in this CD redefines our notions
of underwater life and presents a world of alarming sophisticated
communication; a myriad of signal generation, perpetuated by a
plethora of intelligent species. In this booklet, Pollardstown Fen and
the mechanics of insect stridulation are examined before an
explanation of the contexts of the sound recordings and the
methodologies employed are discussed. While every attempt at
comparative analysis, spectral analysis and species identification
from the known literature have been made, a certain interpretive
license has been used in suggesting the meaning of the sounds
recorded. Without doubt, further detailed investigations are necessary
to be convinced with scientific certainty the meaning and context of
each communication. Another consideration is that no mechanical
devices were operating on the Fen during the period that these
recordings were made. The recordings are not contaminated by any
electrical interference. Other than an occasional overhead aircraft,
no other sounds from above the water are present in the recordings.

Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder, Germany, 2011



2.
Ultrasonic Scapes by Eisuke Yanagisawa
10 Tracks (35:06)
CD-R (50 copies)

http://www.gruenrekorder.de/?page_id=5260

Buzzing of cicadas, pulses of bats, repeated beats from automatic
gate, drone sounds from street lights…We usually don´t hear but so
many ultrasonic sounds are emitted on the street as well as in nature.
Some are intense, continuous and harsh others are pulsing, fragmentary
and more harmonious. This is another soundscape documentary beyond our
audible range. All ultrasonic sounds were captured and real time
converted by bat detector. All tracks are unprocessed except for a
little amplification.

Field Recording Series by Gruenrekorder, Germany, 2011

2011-07-07T20:23:00.003+01:00

field recording / sonic arts label Gruenrekorder have announced a new series of digital downloads, with the first 3 releases available now:

exclusive digital releases click here to view

Caucasus Tapes | Martin Clarke
GrDl 090 | Gruen Digital
MP3 & lossless WAV

Armenia

1 Kobayr 02:48

2 Hayravank 02:45

3 Haghpat 02:11
4 Echmiadzin 02:01
5 Sayat Nova 01:36

6 Zvartnots 01:52

Georgia

7 Garikula 03:45
8 Sioni 03:14
9 Crickets 05:53
10 Dogs 02:09

11 Piano 04:29

12 Taxi 01:39

13 Ratcha 03:43

14 Sink 01:26

14 Tracks (39’50")

_________________________

Tupelo | Mirko Uhlig

GrDl 084 | Gruen Digital

MP3 & lossless WAV

Seven years after the first public musical outing. What a crucial phase. The first album planted flowers in an abattoir, this new one throws leaves on a grave. I guess for the running people a persevering man seems to be leaving.

The teeth are loose, we need a brace!

Two boys buried, I’ll travel with you to Tupelo. Towards Bright Music for Lulubelle.
"Don’t listen to Rock’N'Roll, it’s contaminated by death’s bite!"

1) Soot
2) Loosing Teeth
3) Lurking Teeth
4) Soot Toe
5) Losing Teeth
6) Soot Tea

Soundscapes

6 Tracks (39′57″)

__________________________

Antarctica | Craig Vear

GrDl 089 | Gruen Digital

MP3 & lossless WAV

In the winter (Austral summer) of 2003/4 I embarked on an ambitious musical project in Antarctica, having been awarded a joint fellowship from Arts Council England and the British Antarctic Survey’s Artists and Writers Programme. The purpose of my visit was to compile a unique library of field recordings from the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, which would become the sound source for music composition.

The focus of my many field recordings was to capture and reflect the relationship between the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the continent it embraces, and the life and populations of the area surrounding the Weddell Sea. Under these headings, the natural sounds (wind, sea, weather and wildlife), the human sounds (scientists living and working, boat captains, ‘talking heads’ interviews and conversation), the mechanical sounds (machinery, generators, boats, scientific experiments, travel, entertainment), and the phenomenological sounds (whistling rigging, clanking objects, crunching ice floes, musical accidents) were of equal significance.

I journeyed to far and desolate lands, recorded colonies of penguins and seals, flew to isolated huts deep in the Antarctic Peninsula, and smashed through pack ice aboard an ice strengthened ship. I experienced the euphoric highs and the mind-crushing lows of solitude, the overwhelming presence of all who had come and gone, together with the realization that I was, as a human and an artist, a mere speck on this planet.

The main artistic product of my three-month journey is Antarctica (earthear.com), a large-scale surround sound electroacoustic composition, created from this sound library compiled during my residency. Described originally as “theatre of sound”, this piece was created as a sequence of scenes, immersing the audience in a three-dimensional sound-scape of Antarctica. This album presents new audio elements not previously heard before.

1. Iceberg (Rothera Point) – 12’20"

2. Uranus Glacier (Adelaide Island) – 5’08"
3. Katabatic Wind (Sky Blue) – 5’15"
4. Adélie penguins (Jenny Island) – 12’20"

5. R.R.S. James Clark Ross hold #2 (Lemaire Channel) – 21’51"

5 Tracks (56’54")

2011-06-28T06:46:00.002+01:00

for those readers of this blog based in / around London, Goldsmiths is hosting a 2 day colloquium on phonography, featuring talks, presentations, performances & sound walks - whats more all events are totally free.

events start at 2pm on Tuesday 5th July....

Phonography Colloquium

Phonography as: activism; archive; autopsy; catharsis; composition; design; discovery; documentation; ear cleaning; interpretation; interpose; forecast; reportage; simulation; tourism; ventriloquism; vivisection; …

Unit for Sound Practice Research (SPR)
Music Department
Goldsmiths, University of London
Chaired by John Levack Drever & Emmanuel Spinelli

Dates: 5 – 7th July 2011
All the events are free and all welcome

A colloquium on current practices of sound work which incorporate field recording as part of the process and the sonic material of the medium. Our aspiration is to foster a forum for artists to openly share and explore their practice and to develop the discourse and theorization germane to this expansive interdisciplinary field.

Themes include:

• rationale (including dogma and personal agendas)
• methods (be that tacit, decisive or strategic)
• fieldcraft insights, anecdotes and best practice
• conceptual frustrations
• ethical dilemmas
• technological fetishes
• virtues and shortcomings of the medium
• alignment with lineages, traditions and precursors (acoustic ecology, architectural practice, documentary, education, ethnography, experimental music, fine art, fluxus, natural history recording, sound design…)
• other issues that come to bear on the making and articulation of practice

Phonography Colloquium follows on from SPR’s Art and Soundscapes series in 2009 which hosted presentations by Peter Cusack, Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp.

2011-06-25T09:29:00.002+01:00

new release on Winds Measure:

wm22

click here for more info

scott smallwood, sawako, seth cluett, ben owen and civyiu kkliu phonography meeting 20070823
edition: 300
cd + insert booklet.
3 color letterpress sleeve
designed and printed by ben owen
release date: July 2011

mastered by scott smallwood

tracklist:
phonography meeting 20070823 47:00

the recording is comprised of unprocessed field and or location recordings in 10 minute parts mixed consecutively person to person.
recorded live at issue project room - oa can factory, brooklyn ny.
the order of performance: scott smallwood, sawako, seth cluett, ben owen and civyiu kkliu. 2007-08-23.

2011-06-02T09:36:00.000+01:00

2011-05-27T13:45:00.000+01:00

field recording badges

set of 3 designs

2011-05-27T07:10:00.000+01:00

C-SERIES pro contact microphones

new addition to the JrF range

sound sample here

a step up from the basic JrF contact microphone - features:

. high spec, low noise, flexible specially designed cable as used by film sound crews all over the world.

. large diameter element providing, in conjunction with the JrF exclusive 'acoustic-transfer' coating, an even stronger signal.

. strengthened top of element for increased placement & handling durability.

. available with 1/4 inch jacks only.

. available as single mono contact microphone or in stereo pairs.

. come with 3metre cables as standard.

(please email me at tempjez@hotmail.com for a quote if you'd like longer cables - the price per metre will be worked out at current bulk rates)

(cable colour is subject to change depending on supply)

prices / options below
NB. standard contact microphones are of course still available - click here

2011-05-23T15:41:00.002+01:00

Maile Colbert has compiled an article on certain aspects of field recording - available here

featuring interviews with JrF, Rui Costa, Catherine Clover, Andrea Williams, Hildegard Westerkamp etc

2011-05-14T23:18:00.001+01:00

new addition to the specialist range of field recording equipment available from JrF

parabolic reflector / dish

£50 inc p&p (uk only)

(the size of these means posting abroad would be costly - do contact me for a quote)

Designed & built by a highly respected maker, now retired - LIMITED NUMBER of his remaining stock left - grab one now !

an example of bird song captured with one of these reflectors fitted with a simple MM omni mic (as in the pictures below) is available now in the player at the top of this page

parabolic reflectors are an essential addition to the kit for any serious field / sound recordist. In essence the act as a natural 'zoom' for sound - noise-free amplification enabling the listener / recordist to isolate the sound of distant sound sources. Developed with the wildlife recordist in mind these dishes have been used for years to record the sounds of birds for example & are used all over the world by film, tv & radio crews.

The 'parabolic curve' is a specially designed shape, scientifically formulated to provide natural amplification.

I use one to not only capture natural sounds but to achieve interesting creative effects in all kinds of environments - such as locating small sounds in busy locations.

These particular reflectors are supplied ready for you to adapt for your own microphone option & without pre-cut holes. They have a focal point of 4 inches (this is the point where the beams of sound hit the microphone capsule) & are 23inches diameter, 7 inch depth. They were built by a respected sound recordist who has recently retired.

Constructed from vacuum-formed ABS thermoplastic.

For more information on the use of parabolic reflectors there is an article on the website for the Wildlife Sound Recording Society - click here to read.

please note: these come as just the disc itself & one has to create / attach ones own mic system (hence the lower cost). However a chap on one the recent courses I teach on came up with a really handy way to do this: basically it's an industry wide standard fitting for (wait for it) a toilet flush handle & when you mount one of those (complete with its handy collection of washers & twist caps) as a handle on the dish the 'bolt' of the handle protrudes into the dish to a height of 4inch - which is the focal point of the curve ! Then one can mount small microphones either onto that bolt or use it as a point at which to structure a further mic holder. I'm not sure if toilet handles are the same size in the rest of the world though ! (but I could always get one & supply it with the dish if not).

below are some photos of one of these dishes being set up with the above handle / mount solution:

reflectors will be sent in double-walled card boxes by standard parcel service.

four questions # 29 - Stefan Thut

2011-05-02T18:12:00.002+01:00

JrF: when & why did you become interested in field recording ?

ST: In my childhood I had access to a cupboard containing a collection of bird songs stored on 7 inch vinyls; every now and again I played-back these records. This might have been first episodes of hearing field recordings – a specific kind though. I remember not only having heard a certain bird call portrayed but also an atmosphere of sound the bird song was surrounded by. I often went to ‚ear trips’ to the woods finding life situations instead of listening to stored examples at home. In the eighties I must have heard for the first time Luc Ferrari’s Le lever du jour au bord de la mer to name a reference. Some years later at the mediterranean sea the piece came to my mind again while listening to the cikadas creating complex polyrhythmic structures. I see these listening experiences as antecedents to my field recordings.

I made my first recordings in the early nineties with the cheap equipment of a sony walkman. I was experimenting with hollow objects being used outside as filters while recording.

The reason why I was interested in field recording had to do with my early interest in any acoustic phenomena. Those of the traditional instruments like recorder or cello were not enough to satisfy my curiosity about sound. Finding, listening and also creating acoustic situations were as important as the learning of ‚proper’ notes.

JrF: how do you use your field recordings in your own artistic output ?

ST: My field recordings are bound to scores written beforehand serving as an outline to be interpreted by anyone. Today one of my artistic output is the realization of scores through field recording. I use my recordings in an untreated way except applying slight filtering for low registers. It has to do with microphones often having a tendency to overcaracterize the low parts of the acoustic spectrum. I do not assemble the recordings to form a composition as an artistic enhancement. I like things how they happen to be - thus when recording with a certain equipment things are already changed by the combination of the device and the object observed. In other words any recording of any acoustic situation may be seen as an act of interpretation.

What I do sometimes is performing several recordings at one site. I am interested in hearing various versions of one location. What I like about field recording is its theoretical impossibility of an exact repetition. The process of collecting many recordings of one location alludes to the fact of infinite possibilities.

I have written my score ‚an ort, 1-9’ in order to apply a limiter to the possibilities offered. The piece consists of nine recordings each of the same duration following each other.This leads to the formatting of the work as a whole. (nb. a realisation of this score by Stefan himself is available as a limited edition release on the . point engraved label: http://engravedglass.blogspot.com/ )

JrF: do you regard 'natural' sounds as a musical element (bearing in mind that the conventional definition of 'music' is rapidly becoming obsolete) or as sound ? is this definition important ? does it matter ?

ST: The ingredients or basic materials forming a musical work have been enlarged to theoretically every sound available in the world. As long as ‚natural’ sounds are just happening in the world detached from any other involvement they do not serve as musical elements. But what if someone is listening to the sound of let’s say the wind? The act of listening deals with the perception of a sounding world – it is open to the recipients to decide whether to call it sound or music following their cultural backgrounds.

Thinking over listening experiences as described before: yes, to me what you call ‚natural sounds’ serve as a musical element. Music is created again and again with every artistic

involvement in sound. I am constantly surrounded by sound and eventually depending on the situation sounds serve as a musical elements.

JrF: has the act of making field recording had an effect (positive or negative) on the way you listen to your everyday surroundings and how has it affected the way you listen to other music and sound (if at all) ?

ST: My involvement into field recording has affected my approach to everyday surroundings especially when going for walks outside. When walking or riding outside I like to remain still for a moment of time allowing myself to immerse into the sounding world. I often try to immagine how an atmosphere encountered would sound through speakers. Listening outside is very much influenced by other senses aside the sense of hearing: seeing, smelling, feeling temperature and wind contribute to the overall sensation outside. When recording sound outside and then playing it back through headphones or speakers the attention is focused on the sense of hearing at first. There is a potential in recorded sound to provoke visions and thoughts about space, time and eventually other sensations as well. By applying the medium of sound recording a great deal of the atmosphere encountered is missing and this is what makes recordings somehow disturbing and attractive at the same time.

Sometimes I let run recordings at home along my daily life keeping the doors open. I go from one room to another and therefor I hear the recordings from different angles and distances and also intermingled with other sound sources. In such moments recorded sound changes my perception of everyday surroundings and leads to expanded listening experiences.

2011-04-23T12:20:00.000+01:00

Antarctica | Craig Vear

GrDl 089 | Gruen Digital > [order]

MP3 & lossless WAV

The main artistic product of my three-month journey is Antarctica, a large-scale surround sound electroacoustic composition, created from this sound library compiled during my residency. Described originally as “theatre of sound”, this piece was created as a sequence of scenes, immersing the audience in a three-dimensional sound-scape of Antarctica. This album presents new audio elements not previously heard before.

1. Iceberg (Rothera Point) – 12’20"

2. Uranus Glacier (Adelaide Island) – 5’08"
3. Katabatic Wind (Sky Blue) – 5’15"
4. Adélie penguins (Jenny Island) – 12’20"

5. R.R.S. James Clark Ross hold #2 (Lemaire Channel) – 21’51"

5 Tracks (56’54")

2011-04-14T12:56:00.002+01:00

new net release by

Chris Whitehead - 'estuary'

listen / download by clicking here

sections of this release were recorded using JrF hydrophones

(click here for more info on Jrf hydrophones, contact mics & coil pickups)

Estuary

CHRIS WHITEHEAD

IHab021

Arnside stands where the estuary of the River Kent opens out into the vast, featureless expanse of sand that is Morcambe Bay. Classified as an area of outstanding natural beauty, this desolate landscape of mudflats and tidal channels is sliced through by the Arnside Viaduct, a 477m long railway bridge over the estuary built in 1857.

Some trains carry a cargo of nuclear waste, often from other countries, to be processed at Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant further up the coast. The reinforced containers used to transport the waste are known as coffins.

Some of the recordings were made using hydrophones to capture the ever present flow of water and the breathing mud.

2011-03-26T10:27:00.002Z

CHRIS WATSON using some of my contact mics to explore the hidden inner sounds of trees on BBC's The One Show (friday 25th March edition)

click here to visit my site selling these + hydrophones

also you can hear results possible by using the mics this way on this great recording of beetles in an oak tree by Peter Toll:

click here to listen

2011-03-20T14:40:00.001Z

Richard Kamerman - 'CHANGES. txt'

eg.p013

limited edition taiyo yuden full size cd mounted on art card

Richard Kamerman - 3 (mp3 extract) by JezrileyFrench

focusing on the acoustic material offered up in one room, this recording session captures a spirit of creative field recording & focused interaction with the contained sounds and objects.

price options

2011-03-19T22:32:00.001Z

Binaural / Nodar presents:

Sound Map of the Paiva River

In the context of Paivascapes #1 – Paiva River Sound Festival, a sound mapping project of one of the cleanest rivers in Europe, the Paiva river in northern Portugal, was developed in collaboration with several primary and secondary schools from this rural region. The project lasted over one year and followed a simple but effective principle (so we think) : those kids who know and live in each territory are in good position to grasp its most detailed aspects. The project only provided some additional tools, concepts and perspectives for them to recognize and give value to the land and communities they already know. The project also aimed to stress the subjective and emotional aspects of the connection with territory, namely through a series of improvisations with landscape elements.

Some data:

96 sound files – 96 geographic locations along 112 kilometers / 69.59 miles of this Portuguese river
Over five hours of recorded sounds
Sounds recorded by 35 participants (either Binaural/Nodar’s team and students) from 9 to 42 years old
Sounds divided in four categories: soundscapes | oral heritage | sounds of work | music tradition
Sounds recorded with stereo, shotgun, parabolic, lavalier and hydrophone mics

Original idea and coordinator: Luís Costa
Technical assistance: Rui Costa and Duncan Whitley
Production and photo documentation: Carina Martins
Production assistance Ana Fernandes

Here is the link to the sound map:
http://www.mapize.com/soundmap_paiva/

Additional information on the recordings (what, when, who, how) and a Portuguese version of the map will soon be included.

four questions # 28 - Hiroki Sasajima

2011-03-09T14:20:00.003Z

JrF: when & why did you become interested in field recording ?

HS: In recent years we can easily own the equipment such as the high-performance microphone or recorder. It was a chance to have owned one portable recorder before, and it caused an interest for field recording. By experiencing some field recording, I was able to know that a lot of sounds that we cannot predict were included in daily life and nature. The possibility that they have is unknown. This element of expression can be, with sensitivity, endless. I am interested to explore this.

JrF: how do you use your field recordings in your own artistic output ?

HS: Field recording is very important in my all works. When I express all characteristics of the material, sometimes I use them unprocessed. Or when the focus it on a specific part of the material, I approach an outline of the material and the internal details through processing several times. I restructure them again and compose meditative soundscapes. I usually reflect the inside of the material that it is difficult to notice. And their existence becomes clear again. Also, I believe that it affects the inside of listener.

HS: As for natural sound, the expression of every field is possible with feelings or a scene. I think about these as a musical element. In addition, these can change in various styles by the thought of the listener. I do not like limiting a way of hearing of the music. I think that is to lose a part of the possibility. Of course even if it was only a simple sound...

HS: Field recording has really many influences for me. There is still frequently a change in the idea to the sound now. As for me, such a new discovery is very exciting. And such an environment will bring growth of the music to me later.

http://hirokisasajima.blogspot.com/

2011-02-09T12:48:00.001Z

Jez riley French . between gestures . glasgow

live and field recordings

one . between kinetics (live sections from performance at sharmanka)

two . spaces between others (between scores, concert room at wandelweiser event)

three . between window and table (live sections from performance at 12 / 2)

four . between still morning and a long picnic (recording of room at 12 / 2)

five . between agedashi tofu, udon and central (recordings in restaurant and station)

Jez riley French - field recordings, zither, salt, glass lenses, lx-1 camera, paper, contact microphones, table, fingers, shells

p&c 2011

engraved glass eg-sr02

42.25 mins

free download

(loseless wav audio file + pdf)

engraved glass / compost & height

to visit the download page click the link below

gesturelink

2011-02-09T12:47:00.001Z

revenant : zeltini

Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, John Grzinich, Kaspars Kalninsh, Felicity Mangan

‘revenant’ is an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific acoustic actions. All sounds originate from materials found in-situ, and from interactions with the space itself.

There were some “dark” elements surrounding this session. It was mid-November in the Baltics which meant that it was cold, gray and the sun goes down early. By the time we entered the bunker and set up to record there was no natural light left to see. Trying to find a shared experience through improvisation among a group that is not familiar is hard enough, trying to do this in the dark in an unfamiliar place is even harder. Knowing we would be without visual and sometimes auditory communication because of the multiple spaces available I suggested to do a recording experiment, to each use our own equipment yet synchronize the timing at the start. If we were to get “lost” or immersed in our own experiences, it would be interesting to reassemble them later as a shared “fictional” space. This is indeed what we ended up with. Using only my ears and a headlamp to guide my way, I foraged through that unknown space collecting objects and playing them on the varied surfaces I discovered. I remember the old rags, the dust, broken pieces of concrete, pipes coming out of the ground and how I searched for ways to animate the space and instigate interactions with the others. Whether it was the quest for new objects or the need to stay warm I constantly moved around and even ended up outside toward the end. (John Grzinich)

U05

cd ltd to 250 copies hand numbered copies - all include an additional art card on 300 gr satin-paper
cover design + treatments by Daniel Crokaert
based exclusively on photos by John Grzinich and Eamon Sprod

track listing

zeltini

length

57:30

two new releases on 3leaves

2011-02-02T20:12:00.002Z

Ákos Garai | BARGES & FLOWS
2011, 3L005, CD-R, 100 numbered copies

Mathieu Ruhlmann & Banks Bailey | ANÁÁDIIH

2011, 3L006, CD-R, 100 numbered copies

the first thing to say about these two new releases on 3leaves is that they look great ! packaged in environmentally friendly brown card slipcases, complete with obi & a photographic print attached to the front. This attention to detail is also present in the choices the label has made in terms of the material it issues.

I have to say that the write up on the 3leaves website for the cd by Mathieu & Banks doesn't (for me anyway) capture what one will find on this release & that is why I haven't included that here. My advice would be to buy it & lets it's sounds capture your attention without referring back to those words. Here we have both straight field recordings & the sounds created by the artist from natural objects. This is music of detail & whilst the pieces occasionally become very active indeed there is always a sense of space & forward movement. I confess that the hydrophone recordings of water born insects & plant life sound like they were recorded with the hydrophones I make (correct me if i'm wrong) & if so then it's great to hear them put to such use.

This music sounds like ones ears have been placed on the living ground, twigs pushed aside & leaves crumpled by ones breath. All around nature is moving, waiting & speaking not to the human but amongst itself & we are listening in on some form of bio-acoustic radio signal, complete with static. A disc well worth checking out - but grab it fast as there's only 100 of them out there !

Next up we have a new cd of work by the labels owner, Akos Garai which focuses on untreated field recordings of, as the title suggests, barges & river flows. Capturing these types of sounds is a well documented area these days. I have 35 cd's on my shelves by different artists featuring the creaks & groans of barges, jetties & other structures floatings on rivers & lakes. However, what is interesting is the way the sheer number of discs featuring these sounds illustrate that even though they all use unprocessed field recordings it is in the choices made by the artist involved that the success of the release is decided. I'd guess that around half of those discs are 'ok' - more documentary than anything else & of the others there are only a handful that really stand out. So far, I think this one by Akos can be added to that handful. When I made my first jetty recordings back in the 1990's I was fascinated by the range of sounds & the way things moved from incredible subtly to ear-pounding force. I would listen for hours to a single structure & become transfixed by its voices. The way Akos has put this cd together, by recording in autumn 2010 & deciding on the choices by October does manage to capture something of a sense of his immediate fascination with these sounds. I think with sound worlds that have been well explored it's always best to keep things simple, as if saying '& this is what my ears liked, simply presented to you'

I'm glad to have this cd & to add it to the handful of dics in this area that I will listen to many times. Again, I recommend you get hold of this pronto - 100 copies only !

you can find more info + sound clips & a way to order by visiting the 3leaves website here.

2011-02-02T14:43:00.000Z

NEW RELEASE on . point engraved series:

STEFAN THUT - 'an ort, 1-9'

nine sound recordings

spread over a year

always at the same place and at the same time of the day

eight minutes of each recording, uncut

to be aligned (almost) seamlessly: seventytwo minutes altogether

score written & performed by Stefan Thut, 2009

engraved glass / . point engraved series eg.p009

"i'm very pleased to be releasing this work - a 72 minute composition of field recordings that both transport the listener & focus ones attention (as all good field recording based work should) on the art of listening & the endless vista of natural sound. The subtle task of composing with these sounds is best left simple, clear & focused & that objective is achieved here by Stefan" - JrF

review by Richard Pinnell (the watchful ear website):

Tonight, another release on Jez riley French’s prolific Engraved Glass CDr label, the ninth in his .point engraved series of releases by musicians other than himself. Now, if you played me this one blind, and asked me to name the label it was released on, I think I would have guessed correctly, such is the fit between this release, Stefan Thut’s an ort, 1-9 and riley French’s personal musical aesthetic. The written score for this piece, which was both composed and recorded by Thut, reads as follows:

nine sound recordings
spread over a year
always at the same place and at the same time of the day
eight minutes of each recording, uncut
to be aligned (almost) seamlessly: seventytwo minutes altogether

The CD consists of just what the score prescribes, nine eight minute long pieces placed one after the other with no space in between. So obviously then, what is important for any particular realisation of this score is the choice of place and time of day. I imagine that if you chose to record a deserted forest at midnight nine times the results may not be so great. Or maybe they would be fantastic? perhaps the point of this composition is to draw attention to one place, wherever it may be, and through close listening notice how different one place may sound, even at the same time of day if recorded on separate days.

Thut seems to have chosen a site that sounds not that dissimilar to my own home, a suburban site, quite peaceful and full of birdlife, but also not so far from a large town or busy traffic as to remain completely separate from the sounds of human activity. After just a cursory first listen, nothing particularly dramatic seems to happen across the nine recordings here. There is a calmness to them all, seemingly recorded during the daytime while birds are out singing, and a soft grey hum can be heard, a composite of what I think may be distant roads, wind in the air, passing aircraft etc… They are all generally quite serene and gentle, but it would do Thut’s score an injustice to reduce any commentary to that.

What is interesting here (to me at least) is how recordings made, presumably with the same equipment and the same volume and gain settings each time, can sound subtly different each time, so that the joins between the recordings really stand out a mile. In a few of the recordings rain can be heard, never that heavily, even though a roll of thunder appears at one point, and on these sections the recording feels darker, perhaps due to changes in air pressure? The birds sing happier on some pieces. One, that I am guessing was recorded on a Sunday as it includes rolling churchbells, is absolutely full of the sounds of what I would have easily accepted to have been an English summer’s afternoon, churchbells, dogs barking, choruses of twittering birds, light aircraft passing overhead. Only the sound of leather on willow seems to be missing! What stands out is the overall difference in feel to the nine parts here. I sense that they were all recorded at considerably different times of the year, as, perhaps like if you viewed the same place photographically, there seems to be a different colour to the recordings, as you might expect if viewing different seasons. The most summery part of the disc includes insects buzzing close to the mic as well as all the birds. The colder, more desolate recordings, that suggest winter to me, such as the one that opens the CD contain much less activity, and somehow the greyness of the background sounds seems amplified further.

OK, so this isn’t a release for everyone. Its possibly not even a release that every fan of field recordings will enjoy, as the subject matter is hardly unusual or original. The idea to reflect one place as it changes at different parts of the year though is a very nice one, an audio equivalent to the sped-up time lapse films we see every now and again that show how particular places evolve across the seasons. I found myself listening here in manner that didn’t really consider this release as ‘music’ as such, rather as a kind of audio documentary. I wondered about the place, wishing I could see it, picturing it in my mind, maybe a suburban back garden, with plenty of trees to catch the wind and hide the birds, the local church just down the road, the neighbour’s dog lying in the sun… A nice release anyway, coupled with one of riley French’s distinctive photos that I like, but can’t easily connect to what I hear on the CD.

2011-01-25T22:29:00.002Z

new field recording based works available for free download from the 'compost & height' label. Click on the title.

Dominic Lash

'Ledig lullaby'

Being a blend of eight untreated field recordings of different lengths collected in upstate New York between the 27th July and the 3rd August 2010 at various locations (and at various points of the day and night) on the premises of the Omi International Arts Centre. Who said the countryside was quiet?

Edited and compiled in Geneva and Oxford in January 2011. Special thanks to Jeffrey Leppendorf and everyone involved in Music Omi 2010.

Brian Beaudy

'How Would You Describe Yourself' - Vancouver, BC - field recordings and equalizer.

This began as a series of recordings involving the capture of natural sounds within an urban environment – downtown Vancouver in the summer. As I focused on the sound event of my choice with my microphones, I similarly edited the recordings to remove the majority of the dynamic range of traffic, pedestrian and HVAC sound. What resulted are sounds no more or less valuable to the ear than those that were removed (at least to me).

Liquid Spite – Strachan Bay, Broughton Island & Port McNeill, BC – field recordings, equalizer and effects.

A product of my most recent bought of work in remote locations along the west coast of British Columbia. The spring there generally involves a great deal of rain, fog and wind: whose patterns and rhythms supplant the traffic, pedestrians and machines of the city. The effects of listening to the recordings once I had returned to the city surprised me. Much of it was psychologically comparable to listening to rush-hour traffic – a stressful and inadvisable practice. While the sound of rain on the roof of my house lulls me to sleep, the same sound on the roof of the bunkhouse on a ship is just a reminder of the dismal day ahead. Listening back now, without the immediacy of recent memory, I find them more pleasant. The dull echoes of distant trains and subways cannot replace the soothing hum of the ship's masts and cables. I suppose that “noise pollution” is what you make of it.

Jez riley French ....'in place'

Out on December 27, 2011

Andrea Dancer -Michal Kindernay: Walking Sound

Out on October 17, 2011

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four questions # 30 - Signe Liden

four questions # 29 - Stefan Thut

four questions # 28 - Hiroki Sasajima

Maksims Shentelevs, Eamon Sprod, John Grzinich, Kaspars Kalninsh, Felicity Mangan

‘revenant’ is an ongoing project with open membership that focuses on site-specific acoustic actions. All sounds originate from materials found in-situ, and from interactions with the space itself.

two new releases on 3leaves