#1116

After what I think is about 5 years, I’m finally wrapping up my first proper album.
The album, which will be titled Intimate Spaces, is mainly based on a series of field recordings (and recording sessions) of functional spaces in structures of various kinds. Rooms or volumes that serve some function as part of an architectonic body, but are not destined to be lived in, and which I found inspiring and interesting for how they sound, or for the types of sonic events that happen inside them.

Besides recording the raw material and then creating the 6 tracks which will end up on the album, I’ve also made – with the kind help of my wife – some videos to document my process. I would have liked to make one for each track, but for several reasons that has not been possible. I’m finishing at least 2 of them, one is basically done (just need to tweak a few things) so let me post it already!

So here’s the first one, filmed on location in Tuscany!

Ironically, I’ve finished this album, after keeping in the drawer for quite some time, during the lockdown here in Italy. A time where everybody was forced to stay indoors.

17 Likes
#1117

why does everybody dislike airplanes so much?

I feel like I have a couple airplanes resonating every space I’ve ever recorded. They sound different over a snowy valley than they do over a university quad or a city park.

Eliane knew airplanes are music, appreciate their subtle resonances!

4 Likes
#1118

We’re summering in the most charming pool service equipment room–yes, in Tuscany! :wink:

Cool video, will look forward to any others you do, and the album!

2 Likes
#1119

Haha fun! Actually right now we are summering exactly in the same place where I did record the video and sounds. Unfortunately the pool is closed this year

1 Like
#1120

i think its mainly how frequent they are. a ton of different sounds in a large area get drowned out by the sound of planes. i don’t mind it, but then again i spent a lot of time and energy trying to get my private pilots license so i’m a bit biased.

#1121

mostly teasing, I understand the frustration.

1 Like
#1122

I have a release of field recordings via Room 40. I spent some very happy days recording 17-year cicadas in West Virginia last month. The sound isn’t exactly pretty but I found it pretty engaging.

13 Likes
#1123

Here’s a funny coincidence.
Since I currently am staying in the same place where I recorded the pool service room from the video above I decided to go back and make some new recordings.
The original recordings are from 2016, so 4 years have passed since then. The pipes have of course been fixed, but the pool is not operational right now.
Interestingly in this new recording I can hear very different things. Maybe it’s because instead of using the less-than-ideal built-in mics on the H5 I now have a pair of USIs, maybe it’s the placement.
But, here’s the coincidence. While I record the room, a plane flies by, its sound resonating in the pipes and in the room itself.
Planes are not always bad indeed.

7 Likes
#1124

No lack of flights now, if you want to intentionally capture some…

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#1125

I replaced the one minute of audio with a longer version of 14min, featuring an awesome duo of motorcycles coming through loud and clear due to the spectral character of their engines having evaded my car and wind filtering technique… enjoy!

EDIT Bandcamp doing something weird, shows the short version here still, even though it shouldn’t exist anymore! Going to link again here, see what happens… (weird, it works here…weeeiiirrdd)

4 Likes
#1126

that’s probably your browser’s cache at work. I can see he 14min version here.

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#1127

Of course that totally makes sense… Band camp was acting weird for me before for a while and I was aghast to see the weirdness spread over here, but I didn’t get much sleep last night and it took on more dramatic character then needed to have! Cheers!

#1128

I don’t know if this goes here, B.Eno and Laurie Anderson amongst others are talking about listening:

6 Likes
#1129

I have pulled together examples of how Lom Geofón has been used for field recording, music production, and sound design.
https://lom.audio/lom-applied-geofon-and-the-seismic-quiet-of-the-anthropause/

2 Likes
#1130

This looks fun. Love the minimal philosophy wich I struggle to do. What mics are those?

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#1131

The mics are LOM Usi Pros, and I highly recommend them.

1 Like
#1132

So I finally reached the end of this mega thread and it has been an amazing journey. I have listened to the vast majority of recordings posted and really enjoyed every bit of it.

A few thoughts came to mind during that time…

There is definitely a skill to capturing the sound of a place. Sure, good equipment helps, but skill, and probably some luck, is more important. I guess it’s the same as photography, but the framework is less defined - which is a good thing, if that is indeed the case.

Also, sound brings you into an environment in a totally different way than when accompanied with images. I know, it’s probably obvious to you and it should be to me as well - I have made field recordings on and off for many years, but I just rediscovered this fact while listening. I just wanted to thank all of you who posted your recordings here.

With this in mind, I am inspired to up my game and break out my old Olympus LS-10 and in-ear mics to create some new binaural material, and also experiment with some of the miking techniques I’ve learnt from this thread.

Fantastic forum too! I’m glad I found you lot.

15 Likes
#1133

Since lockdown I’ve been experimenting with a few clippy mics and two Tascam handhelds. Still got a lot to learn with regards to capture and processing audio but it’s been a lot of fun experimenting. I managed to capture the elements passing through a fence post last month and hope to go back with different gear at some point. There are similar gates/posts all along the river Severn

5 Likes
#1134

Trying to develop a workflow to mix field recordings without computer or modular synth. I’d like to keep things simple: Throw the field recordings in, find interesting points in each one of them, trigger and mix. Tried Norn’s Timber which is ok but again not very keen with the workflow. Any recommendations?

#1135

I’ve been trying a few things. Octatrack was ok, but one thing I do miss there is the ability to see where the playhead is – which can be useful when you have lots of things going on.
For shorter loops I’ve just made myself a Pd patch, that plays these loops and lets me change pitch, volume and filter. This works ok for shorter loops, but is not great for longer recordings.
I was looking into AUM for iPad, but am not sold on it. Samplr is great, and actually ticks most boxes. It has built-in fx, various play modes and lets you mangle recordings a lot, but I don’t like the lack of central control. I don’t like having to jump around between samples a lot. A proper MIDI implementation would solve the problem, but not sure when that’s going to happen.
Still, if I had to use something now, it would be Samplr and either Norns of Octatrack for on the fly looping/sampling and additional fx.

1 Like