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Re: Very quiet recordings

Subject: Re: Very quiet recordings
From: "Jez" tempjez
Date: Sun Jun 3, 2012 4:25 pm ((PDT))
very quiet recordings (quietudes) have been something of an obsession of mi=
ne for many years. I spend a lot of time recording stillness in buildings f=
or example. When there are just small sounds to hear we have to micro/macro=
 listen & that draws you in, closer.

--- In  "soundings23" <tony.whitehead2332@=
...> wrote:
>
> Hi All, just for interest here are two very quiet recordings I uploaded t=
o Soundcloud this morning. Both are hydrophone recordings taken yesterday n=
ear where I live.
>
> http://soundcloud.com/tonywhitehead/pond-at-chudleigh-knighton
> http://soundcloud.com/tonywhitehead/fish-shoal-little-bradley
>
> I was in two minds whether to upload them, because they are so quiet. But=
, I was fascinated because they are so full of tiny detail, especially the =
pond at Chudleigh. I also found that I enjoyed listening to them without ex=
cessively turning up the gain - which just seemed to increase the noise of =
my Edirol's pre-amp.
>
> As I said on the soundcloud page, they make me think of sound work by the=
 like's of Francisco Lopez, Radu Malfati and Bernhard Gunter .
>
> Ages ago there was a review of this sort of quietness in Ed Pinset's Soun=
d Projector magazine where, reviewing Lopez's "Untitled 74" he said
>
> "There's something going on there all right, but what is it? How is it po=
ssible to record and produce sounds so remote and tiny that you're only dim=
ly aware of them? ... No point turning up the volume - that'll only cause m=
ore damage - these are fugitive spirits, like fairies of the air which will=
 vanish if you draw to near to them."
>
> I like that. And I like what the hydrophone reveals of these tiny sound w=
orlds.
>
> BTW, while writing this, I felt like I was reviewing my own recordings - =
which would be odd and not a little arrogant - but I don't feel these are m=
y recordings, I simply dropped the hydrophone in a pond, hit record, and li=
stened - so I'm reviewing and sharing thoughts what I heard rather than wha=
t I did with what I recorded.
>
> Be glad of any thoughts on very quiet sounds, or links to anything simila=
r?
>
> Tony
>








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