With all due respect, Hempton has often come across in the press
making important points, like his concepts of one square inch of
silence and "noise-free-intervals (NFI)," now part of the lexicon.
But then he has a tendency to obscure and diminish the good work with
broad hyperbolic statements that, when in print, tend to lessen his
credibility as a dedicated recordist and naturalist. But that's his
style and he has made the choice to trade on it. He is charming,
intelligent and abets the cause, despite the claim that there are
only 10 quiet places to record in Washington State. As Kevin points
out, there are actually many, many more. As Martyn will attest, one
just needs to know where to go and when to record. On one trip,
alone, capturing sounds for the Washington State Historical Museum
(Takoma), I found several sites nearly every day I was in the field,
from east to west, over the course of two or three weeks.
Bernie Krause
On Sep 11, 2008, at 8:19 AM, Kevin Colver wrote:
> Juan Carlos,
> Thanks for sharing. These videos put forth thoughts that a lot of us
> have while out in the field. I know that Bernie and Martyn have also
> been major players in the move to preserve quietude in nature.
>
> One of the points made was about the many vanishing locations where
> recordings can still be made. It's getting harder and harder to find
> those pristine soundscapes. I still know of quite a few good
> locations and keep discovering more as I have time to explore.
> Clearly there are a lot more than 10 quiet places in the United
> States. If any of you come to visit Utah I will be happy to get you
> out to some of them. Aircraft are the big problem though, its so
> hard to get away from overflights.
>
> Another point that might be helpful for those of you just getting
> started in recording: There are quiet TIMES even in otherwise noisy
> places. I have recorded beautiful soundscapes between 4-6:30 AM
> right in the middle of crowded campgrounds in Yosemite and Olympic
> NPs, the secret is recording before the campers awaken (and not being
> near a snorer.) It's not the ideal but sometimes you can get some
> sounds. In spring the birds are quite vocal in the predawn.
>
> A major problem is that there are some entire habitat types that seem
> prone to human noise intrusion. Sure, I can get you to a quiet aspen
> grove or sage desert, but what about all the other habitat types? A
> quiet wetland is very challenging to find in the west because people
> go where the water is.
>
> Kevin
>
> On Sep 11, 2008, at 2:13 AM, Juan Carlos Blancas Avil=E9s wrote:
>
> > Hi Kim, there is a documentary about Gordon
> > Hempton where he talks about this issue.
> >
> > =A8The Soundtracker=A8, by Nickolas Sherman:
> >
> > http://www.foufilms.com/Intro/Soundtracker.html
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D9AFG9B8gDrk
> >
> > Best regards,
> > jc
> >
> > El 10/09/2008, a las 23:25, Kim Cascone escribi=F3:
> > > so I was wondering if anyone on this list knew about his
> recordings
> > > and whether or not his recordings were 'composed'
> > > they sound like they were to a certain extent
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
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