the real deal

i know there's an entire industry built on commercializing the sound of rain, but i'm sitting here this evening as a steady shower bathes the streets below outside, and on cue some thunder rumbles off in the distance every few minutes and lightening flashes across the sky. can't imagine a cd of recordings or fancy machine offering such anodyne, and can't think of a better way to fall asleep than lying in bed with windows open and just listening, until sleep overtakes.

may you hear a good rain yourself soon.

here is you are here

two women with memorable first names are about to embark on the next leg of their documentary project - the you are here project. they're driving across the country, recording interviews and snapping photos, documenting the lives and communities of different people. their subjects? well here's the especially cool part. everyone they talk to then recommends someone else for them to interview. the catch is - the next interviewee must live west of the person suggesting her/him, and preferably within one day's drive. the project started with an artist friend in brooklyn, who sent them on to a family in pennsylvania, and so on.

story by story, blue and flynn hope to cross the country, starting in brooklyn and ending somewhere in spitting distance of the pacific ocean. so far they've made it about a third of the way across the country, but are about to spend two weeks driving, collecting stories and blogging all about the experience. keep track of their progress, and maybe you'll even get to hear all about it. the adventure lasts june 25th - july 8th.

divinely inspired

ah, the magic of the internet. here's documentation of an audio installation by nate harrison about the most sampled drum beat in history. 'can i get an amen' caught my ear last year the first time i heard it as a radio piece. happy to be able to share it with others now - and while you're over there at nate's website take a peek at some of his other projects, most of which combine electronic media with cultural commentary.

field recordings - real and imagined

this past saturday evening i stood in a field in tennessee with my fella and watched fireflies do their thing for the longest time. if only each little guy would make a sound everytime it lit up! and not just any sound, but one that was unique to that bug, kind of like each snowflake is different. one could walk around a field for hours then, getting countless cacophonous firefly songs stuck in her head. now there's a new and improved summer pastime.

on a different sort of field recordings note, if you're itching to learn some of the finer points of collecting sounds in nature, here's your chance:

Nature Sounds Society 22nd Annual Field Recording Workshop
June 23-25, 2006

"The Nature Sounds Society (NSS) in partnership with the California Library of Natural Sounds of the Oakland Museum of California present the Twenty-Second Annual Field Recording Workshop, June 23-25, 2006 at San Francisco State University's Yuba Pass Field Station, in the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains."

specifically, you'll learn about recording in nature and the best equipment for the job during four field recording sessions in diverse locations with experienced recordists. there'll be some evening lectures, build-it yourself sessions and other opportunities to polish your chops, not to mention meet other as interested in this stuff as you are. AND you get to stay in a tent cabin beside the yuba river.

after you attend the workshop and figure out how to make beautiful recordings of meadow-lingering fireflies, please do let me know.

bach on bach on bach...

ever wondered what all 24 preludes from j.s. bach's well - tempered clavier might sound like, played simultaneously? of course you have. thanks to ed herrmann's wake up and hear the roses podcast, you no longer have to wonder, and this revelatory experience is brought to you in under three minutes. (though i recommend you take the time to hear the composition in real time as well. gould's version is lovely.)