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.)

sonic manicures

here's my latest bajillion dollar idea, inspired by having just received my very first manicure last weekend. (this is the sort of thing that happens when dear friends get married.)

what if you could choose a nail polish that omitted music, very softly, the entire time it coated your nails? this way you could sit at work or ride the train with your hand casually resting on the side of your head near your ear and be listening to beautiful music (or death metal) at the same time. as your nails started to chip you might hear noises like cd glitches or record skips. and it'd be a great pickup line, "hey, is that erik satie coming from your fingernails??" or you could write your OWN music and then wear it around on your hands. and holding hands could bring forth the purest harmonies, or even lovely dissonance. (if your partner wasn't into wearing a color on her/his nails, there's always the option for clear polish.)

i really think i'm on to something here. any backers out there?

art + soccer = berlin

i know, i really mean football. but not for the title of the post, ok?

by way of the sonambiente 2006 festival berlin's about to become one giant art installation (as if it's not already). "the festival for seeing and hearing" will take place from june 1 - july 16 (or 1.6 - 16.7, for those of you over there already) and will incorporate just about every art form you can think of including lots of sound-based work. the festival spans the length of the world cup which is of course happening all over germany during that time. apparently much of the festival's artwork will be directly (or indirectly) involved with the games. sounds to me like a time to meet (artist) friends.


p.s.
here's a funny article about the relationship between music and the world cup.