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Re: interview with Steven Feld

Subject: Re: interview with Steven Feld
From: "Walter Knapp" waltknapp
Date: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:30 am (PDT)
Posted by: "Danny Meltzer"

> A recording, being a reduction of a three dimensional experience...and
> being divorced from it's companion sensory information loses some of
> it's effectiveness in this regard...I think that post production
> [removing airplanes, etc] only strives to restore some sort of
> balance.  To reenact the [recordist's] brain's perspective control
> that occurs naturally in a three dimensional experience.
>
> Does that make any sense?  I know these are not original
> thoughts...only my personal arrangement of them.

It makes sense, but probably only partially explains why we remove the
airplane (if we can).

Of course if one records in stereo (or surround) then one part of the
process is to preserve the three dimensional experience. Or at least
enough of it so that the brain can localize the airplane to tune it out.
Then the question becomes more problematic than removing the airplane in
a mono recording where the brain has non of the cues to do it's work. In
a well done stereo recording the brain can remove the airplane, so why
do we still remove the airplane?

Unfortunately our brains do more than this in their filtering. They also
color the sound depending on our attitudes, current emotions and so on.
When we record we are striving to reproduce our experience, which
includes the "filtered" sound our brain gave us. How far we modify the
sound to create the same attitudes and emotions in the listener could be
quite a subject for discussion.

As long as I could control it I'd love to have the brain's filtering as
a plugin to my software. Just think what you could do with that!

> While I will steer well clear of making any 'truthfullness'
> aspirations in recording...I recognize that the power of a nature
> recording DOES spring from it's ability to recall, remind, build upon
> ACTUAL sensory experiences.  Nature recordings are then related to
> truth in that way, as a construction built upon a 'truthful' foundation.

I believe that a nature recording is of the recordist's truth about
their experience. Or what they wish to communicate about that. Just as a
painting or a photograph reflect the experience of those that do them.

Walt





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