Thanks Dean, most of the Very Quiet releases are available to listen to on
bandcamp. I recommend headphones
On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 4:59 PM, Dean Rosenthal <>wrote:
> **
>
>
> Hi Tony, all:
>
> Now discovering "Very Quiet Records" yesterday, having read the reviews
> posted on the blog, and your interview for the British Library blog. Rich
> material to engage with and encouraging listening to further encounter!
> Thanks for this essential work, now following along.
>
> I look forward to adding more to the discussion as my experience with
> soundscapes and recording in the field continues to grow. Nice to see R.
> Murray Schafer's work appear here; I would imagine his would be the bedrock
> for much discourse.
>
> Best,
>
> Dean Rosenthal
>
> On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 11:16 AM, Tony Whitehead <
> > wrote:
>
>> **
>>
>>
>> Thanks John. To my ears, in general, soundscapes in which individual
>> sounds can be heard clearly are more attractive than their opposite. It's
>> what I understand from Murray Shafers talk of hi-fi and lo-fi sonic
>> environments. The only qualification perhaps is that some natural (however
>> you wish to define that) soundscapes could be thought of as lo-fi. A river
>> in spate. Or rain. But then, on paying attention, I find beautiful
>> variations within the grain of falling rain, its different intensities.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 3:23 PM, John Crockett <> wrote:
>>
>>> **
>>>
>>>
>>> These are very thoughtful and interesting comments. I wonder if it is
>>> fair to say that part of the attraction to soundscapes, whether rural or
>>> "wild" or even urban, is a high degree of silence, or spaciousness, in
>>> which the particular sounds, whatever they may be, can be heard clearly and
>>> sonourously. The more space around the sound, the more the full shape and
>>> texture of the sound can be heard, and the more fully the sense of the
>>> space we are in is communicated, which probably appeals to a very old part
>>> of our brains.
>>>
>>> I think about being on the coast of New Brunswick with no sound but the
>>> fog horn - not a natural sound by any means - and when the near deafening
>>> sound of the horn stops, every reflection of that sound off of every bit of
>>> coastline can be clearly heard for many seconds and many miles, until the
>>> horn sounds again. The shape of the space is communicated vividly. Without
>>> the "silence," (the space in which to hear the shape and texture of the
>>> sound) it would just be noise with no sense of place communicated.
>>>
>>> Does that make any sense? That this spaciousness is being filled with
>>> noise of every kind is a terrible loss to our sense of who and where we
>>> are, I believe. Very disorienting and probably driving us crazy whether we
>>> know it or not.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>> John Crockett
>>> Westminster, VT
>>>
>>> Let us live in harmony with Earth
>>> And all creatures
>>> That our lives may be a blessing
>>>
>>> On Oct 19, 2013, at 3:46 AM, Tony Whitehead wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you Bernie, much appreciated. I read with interest your interview
>>> with the Dark Mountain Project (
>>> http://dark-mountain.net/repairing-the-silent-spring-a-conversation-with-bernie-krause/)
>>> this week. In particular your thoughts on what you describe as an atavistic
>>> attraction to natural soundscapes. Here in the UK, a small crowded island,
>>> we have very little wilderness.
>>>
>>> Everything has been touched in some way by our hand. We have few
>>> pristine old growth forests for instance. Our moorlands and heaths are the
>>> products of grazing. Our farmed landscape a patchwork of fields and
>>> hedgerows that although ancient are as man made as tower block. And it's
>>> been like this since not long after the ice retreated. I wonder if this
>>> results in differences about the soundscapes we are attracted to?
>>>
>>> I wonder if here in Olde England, for some of us, our preferred
>>> soundscapes would be more "rural" than wild. A conditioned wild that
>>> alongside bird song and the crackle of leaves in the breeze, would also
>>> contain peel of medieval church bells and the clip clopping of horse hooves
>>> (that's a crass example, but you get what I mean). In other words, that in
>>> a land long devoid of wild, I personally show a cultural bias to
>>> soundscapes that reflect some romantic dream of a rural idyll.
>>>
>>> But, here's the rub, - the bad news for those of us who's "natural" is
>>> defined by Samuel Palmer and John Clare - that rural idyll doesn't exist.
>>> Everywhere in the English countryside is noise. Last weekend I was trying
>>> to record the interior of what I hoped would be a quiet, remote rural
>>> church. You know the story, we all do. What I recorded was motorcross,
>>> strimmers, tractors, cars and planes. I've been recording long enough to
>>> know this would be the case ... but it still gets to me!
>>>
>>> So, yes, I have an atavistic attraction to natural soundscapes ... but
>>> my notion of "natural" is possibly very different to yours? But,
>>> ironically, it amounts to the same, because neither exists, neither
>>> conforms to our dreams. This is the tension of living in a noisy world.
>>>
>>> Hope that makes some sort of sense?
>>>
>>> Tony
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 11:32 PM, Bernie Krause <
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> **
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks, Tony. Yes. I do know about your label and love what you're
>>>> doing and how the subject is being approached. Keep up the fine work.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Bernie
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Oct 18, 2013, at 3:21 PM, Tony Whitehead <
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi Bernie and all
>>>>
>>>> Last year I started a label called Very Quiet Records to offer field
>>>> recordists and sound artists the opportunity to share what they considered
>>>> quiet places or quiet situations. The definition I left open.
>>>>
>>>> The responses have been wonderful and you can if you wish hear and read
>>>> about them here http://veryquietrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
>>>>
>>>> I also offered some thoughts on quiet for this blog on the British
>>>> Library website
>>>> http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/sound-and-vision/2013/10/recording-the-sounds-of-nature-six-questions-with-tony-whitehead.html
>>>>
>>>> all the best
>>>>
>>>> Tony
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 6:33 PM, Bernie Krause <
>>>> > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> **
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> This came thru today from Barry Truax, at Simon Fraser Univ. and the
>>>>> World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. http://i.sfu.ca/CDzFCm
>>>>>
>>>>> Bernie
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Wild Sanctuary
>>>>> POB 536
>>>>> Glen Ellen, CA 95442
>>>>> 707-996-6677
>>>>> http://www.wildsanctuary.com
>>>>>
>>>>> SKYPE: biophony
>>>>> FaceBook:
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/TheGreatAnimalOrchestra
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/BernieKrauseAuthor
>>>>> Twitter:
>>>>> http://www.twitter.com/berniekrause
>>>>> TED Global talk (12Jun13):
>>>>> http://www.ted.com/talks/bernie_krause_the_voice_of_the_natural_world.html
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> http://veryquietrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
>>>> http://veryquietrecords.bandcamp.com/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Wild Sanctuary
>>>> POB 536
>>>> Glen Ellen, CA 95442
>>>> 707-996-6677
>>>> http://www.wildsanctuary.com
>>>>
>>>> SKYPE: biophony
>>>> FaceBook:
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/TheGreatAnimalOrchestra
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/BernieKrauseAuthor
>>>> Twitter:
>>>> http://www.twitter.com/berniekrause
>>>> TED Global talk (12Jun13):
>>>> http://www.ted.com/talks/bernie_krause_the_voice_of_the_natural_world.html
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> http://veryquietrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
>>> http://veryquietrecords.bandcamp.com/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> http://veryquietrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
>> http://veryquietrecords.bandcamp.com/
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Dean Rosenthal
> www.deanrosenthal.org
>
>
>
>
>
--
http://veryquietrecords.blogspot.co.uk/
http://veryquietrecords.bandcamp.com/
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