Category: Aural Culture

Finally, I put all the recording together and edit them. Most of the time, I would try to cross-fade different recording. But In some of the recording, I found to use low pass filter to fade out are sound better. If it is from the recording that is louder and have wider range frequency (the ethnomusicologist recording), to a quieter sound (field recording), then using a low pass filter to fade are sound better and subtle to just use volume cross-fade.

When I am question about is the soundscape of the recoding really like this, used a filter to gain more high frequency when I said ‘Maybe it has a high frequency’. Then I turn the echo on and off in the field recording track while I said ‘More reverberation. Or less’. I found if I use reverb, the effects of adding and decreasing effects are not very noticeable, and audience may can’t tell the different, which will lost the point of doing. I also increase the volume in between line. However, for last example part, I increased the volume very little compare to the first one, as I want the audience listen the sound of the room rather than the field recoding. I also boots a little middle frequency of my voice as I want it always stand out from the background recording.

To end the audio paper, I found a field recoding that I did back in Hong Kong during summer. This recording is a departing light rail and it has distinct bell. I used the departing tram when the audio fade out, as I am leaving, the audio paper end. The reasons I pick this is because I want to echo the conclusion, of how field recording is personal. This recording is a value experience to me because this light rail only appear in my home town.

For the field recording in the audio paper, I used a field recording I did in Little Venice at night. I just want some field recording on the background under my voice to create a space. I also can be use as the example, while I am saying how audition and listen field recording are overlapping the acoustic of the that space. I also used the field recording I did in elephant and castle. I went to St Mary’s Churchyard (a park near LCC) since I want both little natural soundscape with heavy traffic. I like to record those traffic with a stereo pair to create a spatial effects when those cars past from one side to other.

For the sound archive, firstly I found Ludwig Koch first recording on BBC sound effect archive, alone with a Reindeer recording that  Roger Parry to shows how Zoologist record bioacoustics. Then I found Ivory-billed Woodpecker recording, that Peter P. Kellogg did in 1935, in Macaulay Library by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. And I found recoding in UW Ethnomusicology Archives to show ethnomusicologist field recording sound like. Then I use Hildegard Westercamp – Kits Beach Soundwalk as she said how she used to filter out the city and shows how post-production of field recording being use in soundscape composition. Finally, I found Francisco Lopez, Manuela Barile and Tom Fisher composition as examples of how different field recordists used their field recording to make sound pieces. Most of their works, including Westercamp, can be found in Bandcamp or Sound Cloud.

When I started to record the audio paper, I was thinking to record it outside because it seems more interesting and more fun to do. However, I started to think why do I need that? Is it related to what I am trying to say in audio paper? Not at all. Plus, If I record my voice outside, I can’t edit background soundscape. I am planning to add examples or different artist works or old field recoding, and if I record my voice outside, then the soundscape of the place, where I do my voice over, overlap the audio examples; plus what I said in the audio paper is how the acoustic of the playback double and layer the recording, so if I do it outside, there have three layering. But I want to keep it clean and simple, and in this way, the effects of how playback recording is not real can be seen(actually listen) clearly .

The mic I used is a SM58. The reason I use it not just because it has good quality on record voice, and also I will pickup less background noise as I am recording in my flat. I tried to record with my field recording stereo pair by Immersive Soundscape, and of course the condenser mic have cleaner and more natural sound, but it also capture too much details of my voice which I don’t like the clicks sound produce by the saliva when I am speaking. Therefore, I use SM58 at the end and record a clean voice rather record outside.

The book written by Cathy Lan and Angus Carlyle interviewed a lot field recordists. It is interesting to see different field recordists has different perspective, practice and methods in field recording. In this book, I discover a lot of other field recordists. Then I found Francisco Lopez practice is basically reflecting what I’m doing in the audio paper. He said in the interview when Cathy Lane asked him why him interested in field recording: ’I’m interested in the exploration of sonic reality… and field recording is a creative way of interacting with reality, rather than representing reality’.

I disscover Manuela Barile when I am reading the book(which I still reading it). Her practice is interesting. She like to use her voice as she is a singer and she mix field recording in a vocal practice. And she said she is looking for something that she feel is unique and which allows her the possibility of transmitting something of her perception about the world when she is looking for sound in the field; something that feels coherent and faithful to what she want to represent. It seems field recording are not just want to capture the soundscape or a sound sources, field recording is about the recordist experience since we can’t capture the whole soundscape. It is more the recordist experience rather than recreate(replaying) the experience to the audiences. The audience sonic experience while listen the a soundscape composition is a creation of the artists. It is more composing rather documenting.

I found an article written by Michael Gallagher. It have a lot of information about field recording. He state a lot of details of why field receding aren’t realistic. He stated that there are four style of field recording: nature style, soundscape style, acousmatic style and sound arts style. He argue that how field recording is representational, particularly in the soundscape and nature styles. Then he stated that field recording is performative.

In the recording process, the texture of the recording medium is shaped through an ensemble performance involving various human and more-than-human actants: the vibrations in the environment being recorded; its acoustic qualities of reflection and absorption; the recording apparatus of microphones, cables, preamplifiers, electrical currents, memory cards, batteries, and headphones;and the recordist’s ears, hands, and eyes. All of these forces and machines function together in a carefully orchestrated arrangement.

Micheal Gallagher, Field recording and the sounding of spaces, pp. 568

And how playback field recording is creating a ‘hybrid space’ where mixed with the acoustic of playback location. Furthermore, he talked about how field recording is superimposition and it related to political economy which I can’t include in my audio paper.

(guest lecture)

Tom Fisher, working under the name Action Pyramid. His practice involved composition to facilitate a reconsideration of our surroundings, examining the relationship between ourselves and the nonhuman, and our part in the wider ecologies of landscapes. During the lecture, he shared a lot of field recording that he did. It amplified the tiny or unheard sound in the nature. For example, Hover flies and yellow water lily. Firstly, how the water lily and hover flies sounds are fascinating. I didn’t know how water lily or aquatic plants made ‘weird’ sounds (it almost like alien or old school sci-fi synth), but yet, we are just kind used to the stereotypical nature sounds such as birdsongs, wind, moving leafs, or certain insect.

He pointed out that in the visual dominant world, a lot of the sound of different species are often missed in scientific studies. It stills has a lot of sound are undiscovered. He also part of a bioacoustics study where he record a pond and it shows the sonic cycle of it. Aquatic plants dominate under daytime, and insects for the night.

Since he also work in scientific research, a lot of people asked him (which I also kept thinking that during his shareing) about realism in field recording. For him, field recording can’t be 100% realistic. Therefore, his work always fictional and he called ‘realistic’ illusion. He stated that he is creating a space which more closer to natural environment, hence, he like to use quadraphonic or other spatial setup in this composition. His goal is direct audience to a certain sounds, an unheard nature.