Sound Dinner Revisited

What's on the menu - a little less bass and a hint of this and that. Here's the sound dinner revisited. Let's see if this version of Sound Dinner is somewhat gentler to your computer speakers. Still some wind rumble with which to contend. See earlier entry for more info on what you are listening to here:

Welcome to Japan!

A series of Japanese sounds follow...there's birds and traffic from Shibata, Niigata and some "mall" sounds from Toyko - as well as a few surprises. All sounds were recorded by college students on a summer trip.

A typical morning in Shibata. So very quiet. The raw recording was comprised of extremely long stretches of "silence" - 70% silence, 20% wind, 10% birds - this segment represents a fairly accurate representation of nearly 60 seconds of particularly busy activity for the birds during a period of about 20 minutes. I refer to the term "silence" very broadly and loosely here.

Busy Intersection?

Here's "traffic" sounds at a major intersection outside the prison in Shibata - a town about 100,000. Fairly quiet for a busy intersection.

Sound Dinner

All in all, nearly a dozen students headed for Japan - rural and uban - during Summer 2006. What is shared are the memories and impressions from some of the college students who attended a debriefing dinner. Here's a soundscape of what they heard, as remembered, with actual audio from their trip. The primary question centered around differences between Japan and U.S. sounds. Some of the students compared their sonic experiences within the context of other countries that they had travelled as well. Here's an except from the dinner, and field highlights from their trips. Spoiler: ending might be a bit bizarre for some listeners - includes excerpts from a worship service in Japan.

Sonic Tourist

On being tourists. Conversations of college students, upon arrival to Japan, 2006, from America.

Sonic Stroll I

A musical stroll through Japan - malls, stores, along the sidewalks (unprocessed)

Reflections - On Walking Japan

Sonic Stroll II. Recalling a musical stroll through Japan: music from malls and stores, and street musicians, etc. (processed)

Nearly A Year Ago

WALDEN 2005
















COOLING WATERS OF APPROACHING WINTER - Last year on Thanksgiving, my family and I went on a recording stint to Concord, MA to hear Walden (and of course see it, too). Here's some pics, as I reflect - I remember that I never shared these photos.

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INTERNATIONAL ROUTE 66 FESTIVAL

September 2006

Great times in Springfield. Chris and Julie (first pic) tagged along as I sought answers for my burning questions about the beginnings of the car radio in the early 1920s and 1930s, the romance between the car radio and the driver, the sense of freedom that music and the road give us, etc. I meet some really cool folks (see pics) - intelligent and knowledgeable. The more I find out, the more I realize I have only begun this project. Ultimately I will complete my book and hopefully accompany it with a soundscape that resonates road culture. What would have Thoreau thought - he was awed by the sounds of the train and its signaling of unrestrained technology.

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Tangled Up in Blue

Legendary Strip. First Cold Day - and of course, it is recording day. Here's one of three groups (Fall 362 ers) which took to the campus strip - with mini disc and flash recorders in hand to discover and seek out sounds for their first soundwalk/soundscape. They are picking up where the summer 2006 362ers left off. Great stuff so far. Josh and I plan to continue chronicling the sounds of the strip - forever. With SIUC located so close to the Shawnee National Forest, you never know what you might hear on the strip - a bit of urban in a natural soundscape. We will resume recording in the summer edition of 362, with intentions to create a sound installation somewhere on campus featuring life along the strip in all its sonic glory. For more photos, go to our class site, soundpractice.blogspot.com

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