Thursday, May 20, 2010

Field Recording (Part 1)

I've always noticed when I watching a family home video from a few years ago how real and vivid it all seems, I mean these are images and sounds from another time that have somehow been captured on threads of magnetically charged video tape and now a couple years later those images and sounds are playing out once again exactly as they happened, word for word, moment by moment. You hear yourself speak, you sound so strange, you want to believe that the recording has somehow discoloured or faded with time, but it hasn't, that is you, those are your family and friends, that place is real. Its at that point when your realize how badly your memory has been deceiving you. The events you had in your head seem dreamily opaque compared to the high fidelity rendering currently presented to your senses. For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with and seen the value of these representations of the past or near present. I think part of that notion is what lead me to be a photographer in the first place. I could use this medium to record the things that I experienced and let others share see what I saw and if I did my job right, feel what I felt as I was there.

- Trevor and Myself hiking down to Wreck Beach, Vancouver (04:36 min) Please use headphones where possible, 2010

For many years I've been wanting to make audio recordings in much the same way I take photographs and allow others to experience the same sounds as I did. When you mention audio recording your mind typically associates it to either music or spoken words which are two of the most powerful human forces around. I began learning about the subject and as I delve deeper I found that there was an aspect I really wanted to explore, the audio spectrum most of us take for granted, the background noise of human existence, all the sounds that our brains and modern life have taught us to ignore. So a few months ago I purchased a portable stereo recorder and took my first steps into what is known as Phonography or Field Recording.

Some recent Stereo Field Recording examples, please use headphones where possible.

- Power Failure on a dark and windy night, Vancouver, (03:48 min), 2010

- Seniors 5-Pin bowling, Grandview Lanes, Vancouver, (02:19 min), 2010

- Sitting on the cliff over looking Wreck Beach, Vancouver, (04:09 min), 2010

The End.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Oh my word!!! You are gifted my friend! LOOOVE the pic with the broken wood...the living tree...and the picnic table
Tells a story for certian....how wonderful and sad it is at the same time.

You new pics are fantastic....your sound clips too!