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Everything creates a distinctive sound. Here are the sounds of my world. January 7, 2006 As is obvious, I haven't posted any new clips since October. My microphone broke and it took some time to get it replaced. The good news is that Sony sent me a much better microphone than the one I sent in for repairs, an ECM-MS957. So thank you, Sony. I have four clips to post today as a way to make up for all the lost sounds from the last two months. The first was recorded while home on Christmas vacation. It's just a guy on cable access teaching people how to do math, but thanks to poor reception he sounds like some sort of alien. The second clip was recorded at a party when a guy that graduated a few years ago came up to me to say hi, or at least tryed to over the noise of the party. The last two clips have the same sound source: a wet finger rubbed around the rim of a wine glass, which is one of my favorite sounds. The first in the set is just one glass, but I held it so close to the mic that movement of my finger around the rim "tricked" the mic into creating a very exaggerated stereo recording. The second clip is actually the composite of about six recordings of a wine glass singing, with varying amounts of water used each time. I layered them to create a wine glass chorus. October 18, 2005 Today is a very special entry: I think this might be the best clip I've captured yet. It's a simple scene: one of my house mates is chopping apples in the kitchen. Youu'll hear her make these wonderful slicing noises followed by the creak of the refrigerator door. Also present in this clip are the hums of the lights and the fridge, and at the very end, the voices of more house mates floating down the stairs. There is a lot to listen to here. I suggest you give this clip a couple of spins in order to catch it all. October 12, 2005 I think the city buses are following me. Every time I leave the house I see them and every time I come home I see them. They follow me to class, to lunch and dinner, everywhere. I don't know what they want with me or where they want to take me. I'm not crazy, I can prove it. See for yourself. October 11, 2005 I love living in older homes. New, cookie-cutter houses just don't have the character that comes from the minor flaws that develop over the years in an aging home. For example, in my house, whenever anyone upstairs takes a shower I can hear the water rushing through the pipes in the west wall of my room. Here's what it sounds like: October 8, 2005 I've spent the last three summers working at Bjorklunden, Lawrence University's lodge in Door County. There's also an old chapel, a replica of the wooden chapels that were built in Norway about 500 years ago. Of course, no chapel would be complete without an old pump organ. This recording features the hymn-stylings of Megan Hamm. October 7, 2005 The first clip is of a steel pan band that played around campus last year. This is from a performance at the annual conservatory picnic. In fact, come to think of it, this was one of the first recordings I made with my mini disc recorder. I recorded the second clip a few days ago in Waterman house, where all conservatory students have their sight-singing classes. This is from the end of one such session, where the class gets to sight-read some hymns. October 6, 2005 Last night an ensemble that I'm in held a little recording session. We dismantled and smashed two rotten, old pianos that were sitting behind the local music store. This clip comes from about half-way through the 90-minute long destruction sequence. The sound you hear is the result of threading the hair from a violin bow around two sets of strings and pulling on them to make the strings vibrate. Dedicated to Alicia Franz |