Becuase the natural world is always testing for optimum performance (given all the parameters extant in a given biome/habitat) no biophonic performance is the same...ever. It's always in a mutable state in terms of density, diversity and richness. The American robin singing outside our window each spring, sings from different locations, sometimes out of a nearby tree, sometimes others at different distances, sometimes alone, sometimes vying with others for some selective result.
There are lots of contradictions to what professional field recordists do, some touched on in this article, all too many not. I seriously doubt that this post-viral era will be the end of a "golden" one. I suspect, instead, it is merely the beginning of another, albeit a progressively more silent one, owing much to our great failures to come to terms with issues having no relationship to our gentle art and craft.
Thank you so much for this eloquent response, and for your inspiring work. The “progressively more silent” natural world is what I meant to highlight with the piece - your exhibition makes that tragedy very visceral. I didn’t mean to imply that field recording itself is causing this disaster - but wanted to call attention to the connection between the conveniences of our digital lifestyle and the damage being done to the environment. I overstated the point in the title for dramatic effect - please forgive that hyperbole.
Nothing to forgive, Damon. You are correct to point out the inconsistency of our efforts. (If you wanna know something or someone, look for the contradictions.) And, for sure, the contradictions don't end there. But since there are so few of us thus seriously engaged, I suspect that the damage by (work) class is more on the nano-scale relative to drilling off-shore for petroleum or ripping the earth apart for diamonds, or gold, or lithium for EVs. And without minimizing it, I'll be the first to take the hit.
Humans have had a presence within the fold of the natural world since we first set foot on the plains of Africa. Some groups are still intrinsically linked to that life-affirming resource. We, in our "civilized" bubbles, however, are not connected. And therein lies the rub: The further we draw away from natural world experience, the more pathological we become as a culture. Don't believe that, watch the news! Or, better yet, read Vonnegut or Margaret Atwood.
I found this particularly interesting, partially because I love field recording myself (one of my bandcamp releases from last year was essentially an environmental field recording with me playing banjo among the sounds of cicadas and crickets etc: https://coffeehut.bandcamp.com/album/beaver-creek), and partially because I'm a huge fan of the Anthology.
I remember from my college classes and other readings in Anthropology and other related fields about the concept of how just observing something can fundamentally change it. (Not sure if Schroedinger's cat fits in with this or not, but it might..) Certainly when cultural things become widespread and more widely known, they can influence the culture, and also likewise become influenced by that culture. That's how cultures evolve. And as folk music (and other folk arts) is popularized, it, too, evolves, and arguably can become more interesting even as it becomes less pure.
But the main thrust of your piece here seems more about the devolution of our planet; which, of course, is just another aspect of the evolution of our world (a scary one, no doubt). But that devolution is part of what's being documented, too.
This recent Atlantic article by Ed Yong, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/light-noise-pollution-animal-sensory-impact/638446/, talking about human quickening of our planetary devolution, mentions how sound can be important to undersea life, particularly in coral reefs. It talks about how earlier recordings of healthy coral reef sounds have more recently been used to help restore some of these damaged reefs by playing back the earlier recordings via underwater speakers, which seem to be attracting some species back to the reefs who had previously abandoned them. So there really is a practical use for some of these field recordings!
Brother Where Art Thou made me consider that we would be healed by such recordings if introduced. I have studios filled with gear that mock me as I walk past thinking one day I should get rid of this. Great perspective. I’m slightly less cynical having read it. We are rewarded when we make the effort to get as close to where we started as possible. “goin back back to my roots cause that’s where the money is” is half valid.
Oh well hello. This is great. A nice little find. Thanks. Thats a doorway into a nice little patch of my joy that I found here I think. I do field recording, but also I do a lot of work as a sound editor and mixer of Nature documentarys for the likes of the BBC and PBS. That is a great joy of mine. It involves listening a lot to field recorders work from around the globe and combining them all together with other sounds to make new aural moments to match what's on the screen. Its such a treat listening to moments that these wonderful people have consciously recorded in some beautiful wild space. Eyes closed, creating our own version of it. Mad stuff. A wonderful world of potential in the combination of sound and visual. So many degrees to it. So thank you to any field recorders out there whom take those moments. Lots of them find their way to other moments, for other people in other moments creating completely different experiences and perspectives for everyone. Mad. Haha. Sorry going with the flow here. Gordon Hempton and Thomas Rex Beverly are two sound recordists I value and use their moments a lot. Its nice even to visit their website and tune into some sounds. Anyway, thanks for this post, ill be tuning in now to see what's happening here. Thanks
Interesting essay, but ultimately lacking any evidence or even a convincing argument to support its central thesis, which is “ Could it be that the technology itself is somehow destroying the very soundscapes it documents…?”
Thanks, but I think I’ll continue to read your essays. You have some pretty good ones. I like the one about how a resurgence of the CD is not supported by any of the data we’ve seen so far. Well written.
Becuase the natural world is always testing for optimum performance (given all the parameters extant in a given biome/habitat) no biophonic performance is the same...ever. It's always in a mutable state in terms of density, diversity and richness. The American robin singing outside our window each spring, sings from different locations, sometimes out of a nearby tree, sometimes others at different distances, sometimes alone, sometimes vying with others for some selective result.
There are lots of contradictions to what professional field recordists do, some touched on in this article, all too many not. I seriously doubt that this post-viral era will be the end of a "golden" one. I suspect, instead, it is merely the beginning of another, albeit a progressively more silent one, owing much to our great failures to come to terms with issues having no relationship to our gentle art and craft.
Thank you so much for this eloquent response, and for your inspiring work. The “progressively more silent” natural world is what I meant to highlight with the piece - your exhibition makes that tragedy very visceral. I didn’t mean to imply that field recording itself is causing this disaster - but wanted to call attention to the connection between the conveniences of our digital lifestyle and the damage being done to the environment. I overstated the point in the title for dramatic effect - please forgive that hyperbole.
Nothing to forgive, Damon. You are correct to point out the inconsistency of our efforts. (If you wanna know something or someone, look for the contradictions.) And, for sure, the contradictions don't end there. But since there are so few of us thus seriously engaged, I suspect that the damage by (work) class is more on the nano-scale relative to drilling off-shore for petroleum or ripping the earth apart for diamonds, or gold, or lithium for EVs. And without minimizing it, I'll be the first to take the hit.
Humans have had a presence within the fold of the natural world since we first set foot on the plains of Africa. Some groups are still intrinsically linked to that life-affirming resource. We, in our "civilized" bubbles, however, are not connected. And therein lies the rub: The further we draw away from natural world experience, the more pathological we become as a culture. Don't believe that, watch the news! Or, better yet, read Vonnegut or Margaret Atwood.
I found this particularly interesting, partially because I love field recording myself (one of my bandcamp releases from last year was essentially an environmental field recording with me playing banjo among the sounds of cicadas and crickets etc: https://coffeehut.bandcamp.com/album/beaver-creek), and partially because I'm a huge fan of the Anthology.
I remember from my college classes and other readings in Anthropology and other related fields about the concept of how just observing something can fundamentally change it. (Not sure if Schroedinger's cat fits in with this or not, but it might..) Certainly when cultural things become widespread and more widely known, they can influence the culture, and also likewise become influenced by that culture. That's how cultures evolve. And as folk music (and other folk arts) is popularized, it, too, evolves, and arguably can become more interesting even as it becomes less pure.
But the main thrust of your piece here seems more about the devolution of our planet; which, of course, is just another aspect of the evolution of our world (a scary one, no doubt). But that devolution is part of what's being documented, too.
This recent Atlantic article by Ed Yong, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/light-noise-pollution-animal-sensory-impact/638446/, talking about human quickening of our planetary devolution, mentions how sound can be important to undersea life, particularly in coral reefs. It talks about how earlier recordings of healthy coral reef sounds have more recently been used to help restore some of these damaged reefs by playing back the earlier recordings via underwater speakers, which seem to be attracting some species back to the reefs who had previously abandoned them. So there really is a practical use for some of these field recordings!
Brother Where Art Thou made me consider that we would be healed by such recordings if introduced. I have studios filled with gear that mock me as I walk past thinking one day I should get rid of this. Great perspective. I’m slightly less cynical having read it. We are rewarded when we make the effort to get as close to where we started as possible. “goin back back to my roots cause that’s where the money is” is half valid.
Oh well hello. This is great. A nice little find. Thanks. Thats a doorway into a nice little patch of my joy that I found here I think. I do field recording, but also I do a lot of work as a sound editor and mixer of Nature documentarys for the likes of the BBC and PBS. That is a great joy of mine. It involves listening a lot to field recorders work from around the globe and combining them all together with other sounds to make new aural moments to match what's on the screen. Its such a treat listening to moments that these wonderful people have consciously recorded in some beautiful wild space. Eyes closed, creating our own version of it. Mad stuff. A wonderful world of potential in the combination of sound and visual. So many degrees to it. So thank you to any field recorders out there whom take those moments. Lots of them find their way to other moments, for other people in other moments creating completely different experiences and perspectives for everyone. Mad. Haha. Sorry going with the flow here. Gordon Hempton and Thomas Rex Beverly are two sound recordists I value and use their moments a lot. Its nice even to visit their website and tune into some sounds. Anyway, thanks for this post, ill be tuning in now to see what's happening here. Thanks
Thank you so much, I’m off to those websites you recommend!
Interesting essay, but ultimately lacking any evidence or even a convincing argument to support its central thesis, which is “ Could it be that the technology itself is somehow destroying the very soundscapes it documents…?”
I wonder why you are bothering to comment, then…?
Because I respectfully don’t agree with the essay. Is that not a valid reason?
You haven’t yet given me “any evidence or even a convincing argument” for your disagreement, so…
Except that’s not how it works. The individual making the claim is responsible for providing the evidence. But you already knew that…
Please read whatever you prefer to my essays
Thanks, but I think I’ll continue to read your essays. You have some pretty good ones. I like the one about how a resurgence of the CD is not supported by any of the data we’ve seen so far. Well written.