“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris


Friday, May 27, 2011

Australian Sound


I'm in love with things Australia and New Zealand, as you may be able to tell. So I have these CDs of Australian birdsong, and of sounds of the Outback and rainforest. Of course environmental sounds cds are highly mediated, I know that. But even that is interesting to me—to figure out someone's view of how they would aesthetically translate the rainforest, for instance, may add to the experience rather than subtracting from it, since there is no unmediated access to objects (right?).

These mediations are by Andrew Skeoch and Sarah Koschak of Listening Earth. Their website has an informative blog.

Yes yes I know it says “The Pure Sounds of Nature.” I'm a hypocrite not a cynic, remember?

1 comment:

isaaclinder said...

I would also highly recommend the work La Selva by Francisco Lopez: available here: http://bravojuju.blogspot.com/2009/04/francisco-lopez-la-selva-1998.html

I've also heard tell of a phonographer who reconstructs the exact microphone placements and EQ levels used to make record famous symphonies such as the LSO, etc. with the added catch that he reconstructs the arrangements in the middle of various jungles around the world. I love the idea of listening to a patch of moss reconstituted by the means of which we'd otherwise hear the tenor solo in Carmina Burana... or something like that.

However, I haven't been successful in tracking down documentation of his work.

On a related, but decidedly prodding, note- did John Cage play any role in the development of the philosophical positions you navigate today? If so, have you written anywhere on him? Thanks for indulging me - & check out that Lopez record.