one-minute vacation
 

one-minute vacation

Surely you can spare a minute to clean your ears? Take a one-minute vacation from the life you are living.

One-minute vacations are unedited recordings of somewhere, somewhen. Sixty seconds of something else. Sixty seconds to be someone else.

A new one-minute vacation will be added each week on Monday if I can manage it.

The first year's worth of vacations are now here. You can also purchase a compilation of them on CD; all profits go to charity. You can read more about the project here.

Your participation is encouraged. If you have a recording that you would like to share, here are instructions on how to submit it.

If it's your birthday, this is your present.

 

'Let's go away for awhile, you and I, to a
strange and distant land, where they
speak no word of truth...'
(Weezer)

 
november 29, 20041.1 MB After thanks, remembrance: 'This sound was taken last week on 11/11/04 at 1800 GMT from the Millenium Bridge in London, as two World War Two Dakotas make a fly past through spotlit skies to drop three million poppies over the River Thames as part of the Rememberance Day events, "one for every British and Commonwealth service person killed in action since the beginning of World War I" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4001577.stm). Gear stuff: a discreet handheld Sony T-Bar mic, home made "zeppelin" [to shield against wind] and a minidisc recorder.' So writes today's contributor, James aka Catskin Royale.
november 22, 20041.4 MB 'Please read after listening... This recording was made in Siena, Tuscany, Italy, on Sunday morning, August 1st 2004. At the Duomo (the Cathedral), we are waiting for the mass. Pews are cracking, the faithful are mumbling, and the guitar player is tuning his instrument. I remember I was astonished that the church music was played on a guitar. I recorded this soundscape using a Sony minidisc and a little MS microphone.' Sounds of thanks being offered for Thanksgiving week, courtesy of today's contributor, Etienne Noiseau, who is part of l'atelier de cration sonore radiophonique.
november 15, 20041.4 MB Intimations of winter: today's contributor Jay Thomas writes: 'This was recorded on an unusually windy night in a narrow passageway connecting the back of my apartment building to the street. Blasts of wind caused a wooden door to creak while rattling a paper sign. One particularly strong gust carries the faint sound of a wind chime and a barking dog. Toward the end of the recording a neighbor starts his truck, breaking the solitude... Recorded around 10 p.m., May 4, 2004, in the Mission District of San Francisco on a Sony MZ-R50 minidisc recorder with a set of Core Sound's Low-Cost Binaural microphones.'
november 8, 2004470 KB Of today's vacation, contributor Michiel de Boer from the Netherlands writes, 'I've been doing recordings now for maybe 4 months (since I got my MD recorder); I wanted to be mobile in recording sounds for the music I create. At the same time I found it very interesting to record soundscapes, especially "silence", because normally you aren't really conscious of it... Recently I got this cheap MP3 player (actually to use as a memory stick!) and found that it had a memo-recorder function. Setting the compression off and the sample rate at 44kHz, an amazing quality recording is created by this thingy... only with some skipping because the setting are just a bit too high [for the device] to process. So: where are you? Inside the little hole where the microphone is hidden; the MP3 player is in my hands, and it's so small that nobody probably even notices I have something in my hand — so recording occurs with no weird looks ;-) I am walking from the car park towards a stairwell that leads to a big media store in Aachen (Germany). By chance, there was a family saying good bye.' As Michiel says: '[this] shows that it doesn't have to cost you money anymore to record in a decent quality! The actual price of this Xiron MP3 player was about 35 Euros.'
november 1, 2004950 KB Some Sturm und Drang for the US election tomorrow! Of today's vacation, contributor Steb M. Fitzroy writes: 'Here is a humble submission for your one-minute vacations; it's a rare [sic!] thunderstorm here in Seattle from this summer (in July as I recall). You can hear the rain, the dribbling runoff in my gutters, distant thunder, a plane, some wind (causing a little wind static), and a neighbor's chimes across the street... I used a Sony MZ-R50 with a set of Sound Professionals in-ear binaural microphones.'
october 25, 20041.3 MB In keeping with the river theme (see October 18 below), of today's vacation meticulous contributor Derek BF Gunnlaugson writes, 'The Brandon Riverbank corridor, pedestrian bridge, and nearby Riverbank Discovery Centre [a Ducks Unlimited wildlife refuge and the local tourism centre] is a gem of a find in the middle of this small Canadian city. Halfway between the downtown area's CNR railyard and the north hill housing development, it's a chunk of nature smack in the middle of the city. It's just isolated enough to sit in and enjoy the wind through the tall grass and the trees, the song of birds, the peeping of frogs from the river, and the occasional splash of a beaver on the water... Captured 2004-08-08, approx. 15:15 near the pedestrian bridge at Brandon, Manitoba; recorded on a Sony MZ-NH700 Hi-MD recorder in LPCM mode [built-in mic preamp set to high sensitivity] using Sound Professionals SP-TFB-2 binaural microphone[s] with windscreens attached. Some wind noise was edited out [cut/crossfaded] and a -12dB 12dB/oct 145Hz low cut applied; the MD's transport seeking during writes is audible at some points.' Just so!
october 18, 20041.5 MB 'This sound [recording I've named] cascatella is about a little cascata (waterfall) and its water in the pool that we found on our two days trekking this spring on the Italian Alps near the Lago Maggiore. The pool was cool, made with the water from the melting snow a few hundred meters above, and full of stones and holes that made the sound change according to the position of the ear: that's what I tried to record. My gear was a cheap Sharp minidisk and a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone.' So writes today's contributor, Matteo Trisoglio. (A belated posting, I've chosen it as it resonates so well with where I was when it should have been posted: in the now green, now white, water of the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon... -Aaron)
october 11, 2004827 KB 'Sixty seconds for your site: I recorded it today [September, 2004] at nine o'clock in the morning. It's such a fast turn of the tides, from orange to grey. Location: Wesel, Germany near the Dutch border. Made with a Samson C01 Studio Condenser Mic, held out of the window of my working room around nine.' Today's vacation comes to us from Mirko Uhlig of www.alfaang.de.
october 4, 20041.3 MB 'This audio, my first submission to this project, was made at a Novice Fencing Competition at the Virginia Academy of Fencing on March 6, 2004. With over seventy fencers taking part and usually eight or more matches taking place simultaneously, sound captured the scene as accurately as any photograph could have. Recorded with a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone and Sharp MD-MT15 Minidisc recorder.' Today's vacation comes to us from Keith W. Jenkins.
september 27, 20041.8 MB 'My wife and I had a ten day tour of Bhutan in 1996 at spring festival time, which coincided with the welcoming of new monks. This was recorded in a small village dominated by its monastery, where masked dancers enacted the defeat of Evil by the Good (what else?). The ceremony started at dawn with the unrolling of a huge building-sized thanka [Buddhist painting of religious iconography -Ed.] reputed to guarantee entrance into Nirvana to all who viewed it. Monks lined up, sitting, with the head monk chanting over loudspeakers; these sounds are from first dance of the morning. We found the Bhutanese a wonderful, warm, and welcoming people, who related well to my few magic tricks — and to the gummed cartoon labels I'd brought, which soon decorated the foreheads of children who clustered around us. Recorded with a Sony professional cassette recorder, I'm not sure of the model number; it was a little larger than a deck of cards and cost about $250 at the time — and went out of production and couldn't be repaired when it quit!' For today's vacation and its evocative description we thank contributor Alan Leveton.
september 20, 2004700 KB 'Like most people in Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, I had a gas mask that I carried with me everywhere: there was a threat that the Scud missiles that Iraq was firing at Israel could be loaded with chemical or biological warheads. One night my gas mask and I went to a movie theater in Tel Aviv; this is a recording of an air raid that happened while I was sitting in the theatre. You can just barely hear the air raid sirens outside. Placed on the front of the stage was a small radio broadcasting instructions and updates; tou can also hear packing tape being unrolled to tape down sheets of plastic over the doors. Recorded with an ElectroVoice 635A microphone and a Marantz PMD222 professional cassette recorder.' A reminder of one thing that war means, from Daryl Richel of radio station CJSR, who interviewed me last week about this project.
september 13, 20041.4 MB 'Crickets: walking in the countryside during the Spanish summer of the Canary Islands, you cant avoid their sound, it's always around you. Listen for a long time: Im sure you have to listen for a very long time to recognize individuals among them. Hard to compare with any other animal sound... I know I would like to define this sound as just "summer." And at this place, I felt I had millions of them around my feet.' For today's vacation, which sees us softly out of summer, we thank artist Wolfgang Menzel, who you can read about by searching (sk) for 'Menzel' here.
september 6, 20041.4 MB 'This excerpt is a recording I made in Brussels: it's a bunch of BMX guys riding their bikes around my microphone and practicing on some wooden obstacles. Further away there is some noise from traffic coming into Brussels. A small setup: a Sanken CSS5 stereo mic, into a Core Sound Mic2496 preamp, into an iRiver iHP-120 [hard-disk MP3 player/recorder].' So writes today's contributor, Arnaud of TMRX.
august 30, 20041.4 MBMost of the way down the eastern coast of India, Mahamallapuram is the kind of town that would be described as sleepy and quiet, were it not for the industrious artistry of its resident — and the constant, rings with the constant skittering polyrythms of their work. Stonecarvers have worked local stone for millennia, and it shows: my wife and I couldn't decide which of three small statues of Shiva's benevolent mount Nandi the bull we liked best, so all three now watch over our bedroom... (Aaron)
august 23, 20041.4 MB 'Here is one minute on Brighton Beach, UK, in May, 2004...the sea, the pebbles and the wind. Recorded on a minidisc and two mono lapel microphones set up in binaural method [so best heard with headphones -Ed.] A small amount of compression on the mixdown, and that's it.' For today's vacation we thank the listener known only as AL.
august 16, 20041.4 MB Contributor Christopher Wilde writes of today's vacation, 'Wandering Sufi musicians, recorded in Cairo, Egypt, with a Sony MD recorder and stero microphone, in the Souk of Khan 'Al'Kahalili.'
august 9, 20041.1 MB 'Early in May, 2004: this recording was made up on the hill in Oyabu, in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. I came here to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday (beiju in Japanese). This place is an open area and you can hear sounds in the distance, as well as nearby. It was a windy day, so you may be interrupted sometimes... but I hope you enjoy it. Recorded to Sony TCD-D7 DAT, directly connecting an SP-TFB-2 binaural microphone.' Today's vacation comes to us courtesy of Eisuke Yanagisawa.
august 2, 20041.4 MB Regarding today's vacation, recorded at Samye monastery in central Tibet at seven in the morning a few months ago, Simon Lofting (who is still, to my envy, in the area traveling) leaves us without comment: with only what he heard.
july 26, 20041.4 MB 'It's late in the afternoon and my father, brother, and I are wandering Munich's expansive Englisher Garten. This recording was made as we approached the famous Chinese Pagoda beer garden to slake our thirst. Hear the German band play from atop the pagoda, the clink of glasses and the merriment of Munich's citizens escaping the afternoon heat with a refreshing stein or two or three! Recorded in the last week of July, 2003, in Munich Germany using a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone and MZ-R90 Minidisc recorder.' For today's refreshing vacation we thank John Vollmer.
july 19, 2004830 KB 'The recording is from a street called Riera Baxia in central Barcelona. My wife and I staued in a little flat overlooking the very narrow Riera Baxia. Below our balcony was a local cafe with men drinking coffee and talking/shouting. Every morning you could hear a man walking around in the narrow streets selling gas canisters whilst shouting the Spanish word for "canister." You clearly hear him moving around the narrow streets. The recording was made from the balcony in the morning at July 10, 2002. I used my Sony MZ-R70 and a pair of binaural microphones. It is my first and only MD Walkman and I bring it along on my vacations much inspired by your web site, that I found some years ago...' I hope today's contribution, which comes to us from Knud Albert, in turn inspires some of you reading this to participate as well!
july 12, 20041 MB Responding to my request for a contribution, French sound artist (and personal inspiration) Eric La Casa wrote, 'I finally chose a recording I did from my window. This is my street on a windy night in January 2002. I really enjoy the sound of the empty street in the night: the [way one can hear the] space...' For Paul Anson Brown, whose birthday it is.
july 5, 20041.4 MB 'A late May 2004 night in Nashville, TN, after a short rain. The frogs are conversing across the hollow where I live; the din of Interstate 40 is in the distance; the wind rustles the leaves high in the trees. I used the new Marantz PMD670 Solid State Digital Recorder with an Audio Technica 825 microphone to record this scene out at the edge of my property in a hillside in West Nashville.' Today's vacation comes to us courtesy of fognode.
june 28, 20041.4 MB 'Noon, April 1, 2004. The Ferry Building clock chimes out the hour as the faithful assemble near the San Francisco waterfront, for the 26th annual St. Stupid's Day Parade. Fabulous costumes, high spirits, cool noise for all. Recorded with a Sony MZR-50 with Radio Shack's stereo condenser mikes head-mounted on a disconnected pair of headphones.' Today's contributor was John Tenney, who has forty-nine more minutes of this!
june 21, 20041.4 MB 'This recording was made underground in London, inside a train traveling on the Victoria line. The recording was made using a pair of magnetic coil transducers, which pick up electromagnetic radiation instead of sound waves. The sound that has been captured is the electrical tones of the motor as it slows down approaching a station. With the right ears, the most mundane urban location can be transformed into an exotic space for exploration.' Today's most unusual vacation comes from disembodied arts, via Keith de Mendonca, who certainly has the Right Ears.
june 14, 2004700 KB 'One cannot help but wonder about Mowie, the erstwhile friendly lab mix that belongs or belonged to the owners of the horse arcade overlooking Joshua Road, where I live, and became rabid a few months ago. During his last known meandering visit to my house, seeking a repeat offer of surplus frozen chicken, Mowie was frothing at the mouth and acting peculiar, more agitated than usual. He has not been seen or heard from since. However, his mom continues to enunciate his name each morning before dawn — except (usually) when I have prepared the minidisc recorder and microphone before going to bed. Is she okay? Then, I scored: this recording was made on a November, 2003, in the morning between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. — on an arboreal slope overlooking my back yard, in Juniper Hills, California.' So writes today's fortunately un-bitten contributor, David Woodard. From licked chips, to foaming lips.
june 7 , 20041.4 MB 'I enjoy taking walks around my apartment and neighborhood frequently, and decided to take my Sony MZ-N707 and Microphone Madness MM-STM-3 microphone along with me for something different. About the time I was taking my walk, the school bus was dropping off its load of children for the whole apartment complex. This recording puts you right in the middle of this semi- madness as I was walking by the school bus, right as the children got off the bus. The conversation is mostly indiscernible, except for one kid who says what sounds like "nah, he licked chips": but who knows what he was really talking about!' For today's vacation we thank contributor Ben Shewmaker, who I believe recorded it in Conway, Arkansas (USA).
may 31, 20041.4 MB Bookends: another rainy backyard for Memorial Day. About today's vacation, contributor Gunnar Gentzsch writes, 'I recorded it within the bathroom of my old flat's second floor. That means, my Soundman OKM II microphones were hanging outside the window recording the sound of the backyard. There was a very strong rain happening and the water was dripping down because of damaged eaves and gutter. Mine is a very typical Berlin (formerly East Berlin) backyard: grey walls; small; about 5 floors high. No plants or green at all. Damaged old bikes. I recorded this with a Sony MZ-R50, my first and only MD recorder for seven years.'
may 24, 2004800 KB 'The recording was made in the back garden of my house in Manchester, UK, on the first of June, 2003, at around 9:30 p.m., when it was still light. This is one of those rare, fortuitous moments which will probably never happen again, at least to me. I had just switched on the MD and gone out of the back door to record the birdsong, when just at that very moment it started to rain. So I stood underneath our oak tree and kept recording. You can hear, amongst other things, blackbird, swifts, starlings, blue tits, and of course the rain on the leaves, gradually getting heavier. The equipment used: a Sony MD Walkman MZ-R700 and a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo mic.' You must believe in spring indeed. A bit of it today from contributor Jim Murphy aka DJ Flywheel.
may 17, 20041 MB 'My extended group of friends, who are scattered all over Australia and various parts of the world, all come together at new years for a week of relaxing and a bit of a party. This year, we hired out a scout camp on a lake just out of Orange, a few hours inland from Sydney. We built a lovely chill space in a grove of trees near the main hall. This excerpt is from a recording of one of my friends playing us records on his 1920's vintage gramophone, in the evening of new years day this year. Pictures here and here.' So writes the contributor of today's wonderful vacation, Ben Dixon, who recorded it with a Sony MZ-R909 MD recorder, using a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo microphone.
may 10, 20041.4 MB 'This track captures the interaction of a subway worker and a drunk in front of the turnstiles at Park Street Station, a major nexus point for the Boston subway system. Sounds of the Green line trolleys and tokens being sold surround the sounds of this confrontation. Recorded on a Sony MZ-R700 mini-disc recorder with homemade binaural microphones.' So writes today's contributor, Boston-area experimental DJ, sound artist, phonographer, and theremin player Frederic Yarm.
may 3, 20041.2 MB 'It's 12 p.m. on Saturday at the entrance to Valladolid, Mexico's majestic baroque San Servacio Cathedral. The ice cream vendor taps a large metal spike against his tricycle ice cream cart as he makes a sales pitch to young school girls to buy ice cream after church. Overshadowing his plea is the ringing of the cathedral bells, clanging much as they have at this location on the zocalo (main square) for much of the past five centuries...' Today's vacation was recorded March 20, 1999, by Timothy Hoffman, 'through Sound Professional SP-BMC-12 microphones mounted in eyeglass Croakies to his bulletproof Sony MZ-R55 minidisc.'
april 26, 20041.4 MB Of today's vacation, Sarah Elzas writes, 'I recorded this on April 16, 2002 in the village of Avanos in central Turkey. We were sitting one evening on the balcony of the Vanessa Pension, taking in the sounds of the terra-cotta wind chimes hanging from the roof above us and the faint sound of Dervish music being played wafting from a neighbor's house. In this minute our host, Muko, started to play a clay gourd with an opening. He would hit the opening with his hand to produce the hollow thunking sound. He gets interrupted at the end by his friend calling him from downstairs. Recorded with a Sony MZ-R700 minidisc recorder and an Electro Voice RE50 omnidirectional microphone.'
april 19, 20041.4 MB 'New Orleans, Louisiana, 7:59 a.m. Sitting on the balcony outside my room in the Place D'Armes hotel reading the morning paper, drinking coffee with chicory. The bells of St. Louis Cathedral announce the 8:00 a.m. hour. Recorded on a small Aiwa minidisc recorder with a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone.' Today's vacation comes from P.W. Fenton of New Port Richey, Florida.
april 12, 20041.4 MB 'I made this recording at Portabello market in London while on vacation with my wife in February 2004. You can hear the sounds of shoppers, a fruit vendor and three women having what seemed to be a heated discussion outside a shoe store. Recorded using a really old Sony MD portable and some cheap binaurals clipped to my jacket.' For today's vacation we thank Justin Hardison AKA My Fun.
april 5, 20041.4 MB 'Polyrhythmic tires from under a bridge, Dead River Canal Tavares, Florida. On a family boat trip in my hometown, we eased under the bridge that holds the areas only four-lane road. Listen to this with headphones or in a nice stereo loudspeaker setup! Recorded with Oktava M012s (with cardioid capsules), a spaced pair at roughly 110 degrees, via Sound Devices Mix Pre into a Sony PCM-M1 DAT Walkman.' So writes today's contributor, Andrew Lackey.
march 29, 20041.4 MB Of today's vacation, contributor Mark Ragsdale writes, 'The world famous PC rooms of Korea have the reputation of the fastest connections and the most avid gamers in the world. You will hear in this one minute vacation the sound of two young Korean gentlemen discussing the availability of computers, as Korean pop music plays and gamers play away... This was recorded using a pair of Sonic Studios DSM-6/EH mics into a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 using the 192 kbs setting.' (These are the same mics I use - Ed.)
march 22, 20041.4 MB 'It's 11:00 a.m. and I'm on my way to meet a friend who lives in Breda, Netherlands. It's a fifteen minute walk from the railway-station to the place he lives. The recording (a fragment) starts at the moment I enter a shopping street near the city center. You can hear the carillon playing in the background and garbage collectors moving a bin back to its place, a street-musician, and a small truck. Recorded on December 2, 2003, with a Sharp MD recorder and Sound Professionals SP-CMC-4 mics.' So writes today's contributor, Auke de Boer, from Arnhem, in the Netherlands.
march 15, 20041.4 MB We mark the ides with a recording from Joseph Young, a UK-based sound artist currently studying for a research MA at the University of Brighton. Of this recording he writes, 'My background is in soundtrack composition but my recent practice has started to evolve towards a more interactive way of working with text and music. My MA project is based around a piece called "The Family Album"; this is an excerpt from the raw recordings that form the basis of that work. This was recorded in October 2003 in a family house in Suffolk at a gathering of my wife's brothers and sisters and their respective families. The babble of voices takes a little time to attune to before you can you can start to pick out individual voices. My final piece will combine this type of source recordings with manipulated loops and melodic fragments, to create a new narrative borne out of heard phrases and associated emotional moods. The recording was simply made with a portable Sony minidisc recorder and a tie clip microphone, casually left in various corners of the house to catch otherwise unheard conversations and sonic environments. I hope you enjoy it.'
march 8, 20042.5 MB 'This recording was made one summer evening of 1994 in the the southern French city of Avignon where I was working during the day as a theatre technician in The Fringe Theatre festival. In one of the small tortuous street of the medieval town I sat down, tired of carrying around a Nagra IV-S, and started rolling the tape to record a bit of pseudo-silence (you can hear a faint water fountain inside one the villa hidden behind the street walls). This little girl came along on her plastic tricycle preceded by her exhausted dad. I later used this recording for a torture scene in a theatre play! You can also hear the [Nagra tape recorder's] reel circular motion, but it sort of matched the circular motion in the sound picture. Recorded to Nagra IV-S with Schoeps MSTC 64 (ORTF) using Sony headphones and BASF 468.' Today's vacation inches along over a minute, but I didn't have the heart to trim it. Without permission, I'm dedicating a bit of its magic to my wife Bronwyn, who celebrated a plethora of threes on March 3rd: her 33rd. I hope the contributor, Xavier Briche, doesn't mind.
march 1, 20041.4 MB 'The Reading Room of the New York Public Library on Saturday, July 19, 2003, in the afternoon before I played at the NYC edition of the Placard Festival. My wife and I stopped in the Library to take a break from site-seeing and to plan the rest of our afternoon. You can hear my wife paging through a guidebook and her notebook as she jots down ideas for places to go, while moving chairs echo like thunder throughout the room. My favorite part, though, is the phone ringing and whispering in the last ten seconds. I recorded it on minidisc using a Sharp MD-MT15 portable recorder with a Sony ECM-MS907 stereo mic.' Today's contributor, John Kannenberg, runs the amazing Stasisfield online label.
february 23, 20041.4 MB 'The recording is at Koshoji-temple, Nagoya, Japan at midnight as we enter January 1, 2004. You can hear sounds of sutras (sung Buddhist prayers by bonze acolytes), people praying and enjoying the new year, and 'Joya-no-kane.' Traditionally Joya-no-kane, a big bell in temple, is struck 108 times continuously by the bonze only at midnight on New Year's Eve, but in 2004, everyone who could strike it did and the bell was rung [many times] from December 31st to January 1st (maybe over 108 times!): :too many people waited in line to ring the bell. Recorded to MD with a Sharp MD-MT831 recorder and an unknown small and cheap microphone; because my MD was in bad condition, there are some not-from-the-field-noises...' Today's vacation comes from a talented label-mate of mine, sound artist Sawako Kato.
february 16, 20041.2 MB 'Recorded outside of Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris on a Sunday morning before I went in a recorded the mass. The sound of the shuffling feet of the tourists is throughout this recording as well as the recordings of the mass.' So writes today's contributor, Erick Gallun. Not long after I began this project, Erick interviewed me for Omnicetera.
february 9, 20041 MB 'There are uniformed men in Mexico City who work in pairs, one cranking the oversized music box on a stick and the other with his hand in your face demanding cash. A common reaction is first confusion and then intimidation. They carry guns and are very convincing. I decided to record one before offering any cash. I was carrying my Sharp minidisc model MD-MS722 and a stereo Sony ECM-MS907 microphone.' Today's vacation, which I chose to celebrate my own departure for Mexico on Saturday the 7th, was submitted by Liz Bustamante, who is currently recording music under the name Noise and Light.
february 2, 20041.4 MB 'Busy Sunday in 2001 on Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY, walking to subway station. Turnstiles, though electronic, still took tokens. Soap boxes still human-powered. Recording makes me miss dense traffic. Excerpted from three days of NYC field recording, which included a spacious audio walk through the World Trade Center concourse (a segment of the recording of which, alas, is marred by static).' Recorded on a Sony PCM-M1 DAT Walkman with an Audio Technica AT822 stereo microphone, by audio collage improviser Ken's Last Ever Radio Extravaganza. Ken used a favorite recording of mine from Cambodia in a recent collage.
january 26, 20041.4 MB 'It is summer 2003. You are listening to the sound of an air vent on top of a covered reservoir near where I live in Reading, UK. The six iron air vents have been there since the Victorian reservoir was covered over. In autumn 2003 the vents were removed, leaving this recording to remember them by.' Today's vacation comes from sound artist Jonathan Coleclough, who once shared his thoughts with me about such recordings for a radio program.
january 19, 20041.4 MB 'Recorded early December, 2003 in Johnson County, Texas (west of Austin) at an exotic wildlife refuge. Out of dozens and dozens of species from around the world, what makes the most noise? Plain ol' American goats and cows. During this minute, the goat and cow seem to be speaking to each other: probably telling each other to pipe down. A minute before this section of tape, an ostrich snaked his head through a wire fence to peck the noisy baby goat on his head. This did not make the goatee any less vocal.' So writes today's contributor, Josh Ronsen of Brekekekexkoaxkoax and Monk Mink Pink Punk.
january 12, 20041.4 MB 'Driving with friends of mine in my car, a 1985 Volkswagen Passat, on a Lithuanian country road in 1999: I never imagined that these sounds could be created by my car...' So writes today's contributor, gintas k, a sound artist exploring minimal sounds, sine waves, noise, glitches, microwaves and acoustic vibrations.
january 5, 20041.4 MB 'Here's a seasonal minute, recorded last year in the days right before Christmas in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. For several days just before the holiday, there is a daily 5 a.m. Mass in the cathedral followed by caroling loudly (for six in the morning!) through the old city. This recording is of the singing residents parading through the streets. Recorded to an HHb PortaDAT with a pair of DPA 4037 omni's velcroed to my shoulders.' Today's contribution comes from Scott Shepard.
december 29, 20031.4 MB Nature Recordist Mark Armstrong wrote in the letter he enclosed with this recording, 'It is a really neat experience listening to birds as they migrate. Just knowing they have come hundreds of miles and probably have a thousand more to go still amazes me....' Of his recording, he explains, 'I recorded this at 6:20 a.m. on September 20, 2003, at Frying Pan Gap, milepost 410 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. In the spring and fall millions of small songbirds migrate during the night. Instinctively, they migrate when conditions are most favorable and in the fall, this means after a front passes and a north wind will help to push them south. What you hear is the sound of birds calling as they descend from their night of migration. It is about thirty minutes from sunrise, so it is still quite dark and birds are searching for a place to land and rest and feed. Some of the more recognizable birds are Swainson's Thrushes, Bobolink, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The longest distance migrant is the Swainson's Thrush, which most likely came from central Canada. I recorded this with a HHb Portadisc and a Sennheiser ME-62 microphone in a Telinga parabola.' Wayfarers all: another year is ended.
december 22, 20031 MB 'This is an unedited one minute long excerpt from a recording of my fiancée and I walking through the snow here in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada one day last winter. The interesting thing to us about this recording is that within the 60 seconds you can hear us walking through heavy snow, light snow, and slush, all within one block. We both love to walk (and its always best to walk with someone you love). Recorded to MD with a Marantz PMD650 recorder with an unknown microphone; I applied a bit of hiss reduction, then normalized.' This fine reminder of the real meaning of the Solstice, for those of us in balmier climates, comes from sound artist Andrew Duke.
december 15, 20031.4 MB 'This recording was done at Geyikli, near Canakkale, Turkey. I was on my way back to Istanbul after a week holiday at Bozcaada. There at Geyikli, I waited for nearly 4 hours for the bus which would take me to Istanbul. While waiting, I decided to record the ambiance of the location. You will hear sounds of trucks, cars, bicycles and the night workers from the distant blended with the Turkish music played through a radio and the loud sound of a cicada: weird ambiance. Equipment: Sharp MD-SR70 MD recorder, Sony ECM-MS907 microphone.' Today's vacation was contributed by Erdem Helvacioglu.
december 8, 20031.2 MB 'For our Thanksgiving vacation, we stayed home (which was great) and worked on the house. This recording is of me sanding the old softwood kitchen floor. While I was working, the old refrigerator kicked on...' So writes today's contributor, multimodal artist Larnie Fox. Larnie's sound sculpture is displayed near mine at the Rx Gallery Supersonic show.
december 1, 20031.4 MB 'I got this in the town of Monasterevin, Ireland in March 2003. I was traveling on a barge through central Ireland with my brother his new wife and her family and friends. In the middle of the city there is a large forested area that had been taken over by this cacophony; I had to record it, so I came back the next morning before shoving off. I was hoping to get the church bells next to this site but for some reason they never rang. I filtered out as much of the traffic as I could, but otherwise this is a unedited ORTF recording with two Schoeps MK21 subcardioid capsules and a Grace Designs V2 Preamp into a HHb MDP500 Minidisc recorder.' Today's vacation was contributed by multitalented recordist Greg Weddig.
november 24, 20031.4 MB 'It's springtime in the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland. In late afternoon, the air is warming after a rain. We are walking out of the park as the guards call out "Closing Time." Recorded in Edinburgh Scotland, April 2000.' So writes today's contributor, sound designer and recordist Jeremiah Lyman Moore.
november 17, 20031.4 MB 'Silently sitting on the bank of a river in the rainforest at dusk, waiting for a platypus to surface. A cacophony of rainforest birds, walking turtles, and jumping fish appeared instead. Recorded in the Atherton tablelands rainforest, North Queensland, Australia, on Mini DV in 16 bit stereo...' Today's vacation comes from artist Dawn Neal, my occasional collaborator and sister-in-law, who recorded it on her honeymoon, and brought it home as a birthday present for both of us (hers was yesterday, mine is Wednesday).
november 10, 20031.4 MB Dr. Frank Veit of the International Laboratory for Dolphin Behaviour Research in Eilat, Israel, works with hydrophone (underwater microphone) recordings professionally. Of this week's vacation, he writes, 'I've selected a recording of eight bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the open sea (Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, off the coast of Eilat). You hear the typical ambient noise of the sea, a lot of low frequency rumble from waves and distant ships etc. The irregular clicks that sound like a campfire are the constant background sound of pistol shrimps. All the other sounds are from the dolphins: whistles, the regular patterned echolocation clicks, pulsed sounds, low-frequency sounds and noisy sounds. Many of them come from two 10-week old calves that played close to the hydrophone, with one of their mothers approaching them at the end of the sample...'
november 3, 20031.4 MB 'A brief and beautiful walk through a tiny yet well-stocked aquarium store in downtown Seattle's cultural district...' Today's vacation comes from Russell Fincher, who actually submitted a recording about twice as long — which I ruthlessly cut to fit the one-minute format... :)
october 27, 20031 MB 'This was recorded towards the end of a baci celebration at a private home in Laos. A group of women were sitting together eating, drinking, and making merry... Recorded September, 2002.' A baci ceremony bestows good luck on a person or event; baci are held when people are promoted in their work, move into a new house, star a new job, and so on. Special baci can be arranged for new mothers or people getting married. Few Lao would embark on a long journey without a Baci. Unique to Lao culture, a Baci involves transferring good luck through blessed strings tied to the wrist. The strings must stay attached for at least three day the luck to remain... (adapted from Travel Laos). Today's vacation comes from the lucky Scott Avery.
october 20, 20031.4 MB 'It is dusk in the Bosque Eternal de los Ninos (Children's Eternal Rainforest), outside of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Birds, frogs, and insects sing to the accompaniment of water dripping, a distant waterfall, and drummers practicing for the Costa Rican Independence Day parade. Recorded with a Visivox stereo condenser mic into a Sony MZ-R70 MD recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Joe Balestreri.
october 13, 20031.4 MB 'Elk recorded in Yellowstone National Park, September 21st of 2003 The sounds you are hearing are the bugling of the big bull elk defending his cow and asserting his territory during the autumnal rut. I used a Sony ECM-MS957 stereo mic directly into a Sony MZ-R 55 minidisc. I also used a homemade windscreen made out of fake fur.' A fine recording from today's contributor, Lady Raven.
october 6, 20031.4 MB 'Singapore, mid-January, 2003... walking through the tunnel from the Orchard Road MRT station towards the Scott's Road exit, a blind busker plays a vaguely Slavic-sounding theme on his Casio and wishes passersby a Happy New Year... Recorded with a Sharp DR-7 MiniDisc and an AudioTechnica stereo lavalier mic.' Today's vacation was contributed by Ian Kasley.
september 29, 20031.4 MB 'I took this recording in the Austrian Alps when hiking to Seekarspitze, a mountain right above Achensee Lake. A peaceful and timeless place, Seekarspitze gathers a couple of wee "almen" — small alpine farms, mostly populated only by flocks of cattle. Most of the time the cows, goats, and sometimes even horses don't live between fences, but stroll around... so farmers tie bells to the cows — these bells help finding cattle being lost in the woods or in steep areas. These sixty seconds were recorded in June in a wee, dark cow barn in Seekaralm; the sound of bells mixes with cows heavily breathing and endlessly ruminating...' So writes today's contributor, Fabian Mohr. (A donkey bell of mine with a similar sound was used in the ceremony wedding my sister-in-law Dawn and my friend Frey this weekend — congratulations to the new Mr. and Ms. Meson!)
september 22, 20031.4 MB Late afternoon river traffic on the busy, busy Buriganga, in the heart of Dhaka, Bangladesh: as heard from a leaky rowboat. Commuters, haulers, trawlers; dredging, building, wrecking, remaking: all in hazy golden light. Another of my own recordings: the business of communal life reasserting itself.
september 15, 20031.4 MB At the end of San Francisco's Pier 39, a troop of sea lions has established a permanent colony: golden, fat, and wet, they seem to be enjoying their lives to the fullest. Last week my brother miraculously survived a very bad motorcycle accident, so I am late adding this vacation to the collection; now, I offer it because the enjoyment the seals take in their lot (and the pleasure I take in witnessing them) echoes the mood of humble thanks that pervades me ~ my gratitude for my brother's survival.
september 8, 20031.4 MB 'A steamy, summer morning in Paris. A friend of mine who lives there invited me to accompany her to, what she described as, an "Asian market". I browsed rows of colorful produce, tomatoes and open melons, and listened to the frenetic, rhythmic calls of the men behind the stalls. Recorded July 13, 2003 using OKM/Soundman microphones and an Aiwa DR7 minidisc recorder.' Today's contribution comes from Ken Reisman.
september 1, 20031.1 MB 'Taking a day off whilst on a work trip to Japan in June of this year I visited Kamakura - about an hour by metro from central Tokyo. Kamakura is the place where the first Shogunate (military government) under Yoritomo was established in 1192 and has a outstanding collection of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines dotted around the gentle hills that form a backdrop to the sandy beach. This recording was made (using the built in microphone in a Casio EX-M1 camera) at the end of a hot Sunday afternoon wandering around shrines and temples crouching down at the ocean's edge to capture the sound of children playing amongst the breaking waves.' So writes today's contributor, Bow Apostle of 12 Apostles.
august 25, 20031.4 MB Writes today's contributor, the amazing field recordist and sound artist Yannick Dauby, 'Clans is a small village in the Alpes-Maritimes of France, located at around 700 meters. Numerous tiny streams are found in this place, kind of 'water paths'; they spread their sounds like an organic acoustic network. It is very different from the other villages in the area, which are always very dry. As a result life is much more active here.. This recording was made in a water-free area, at 2 o'clock in the morning, in June 2003. I so like bats...!'
august 18, 20031.4 MB'Coming out of the Powell Street BART station [in San Francisco] on a Saturday, I heard this blind homeless man singing. He had change in a styrofoam cup, which he was jangling in strange rhythm with his songs... surrounded by all the hustle and noise of a Saturday afternoon downtown, he was quite a contrast. There was a cellist playing somewhere else in the station, which can be heard in the background. Between songs he took long drinks from a large bottle of diet coke, and he said "bless you" to everyone who gave him money. Recorded with a pair of headphone-mounted Audio Technica AT835s and a consumer Sharp minidisc recorder.' Today's vacation was contributed by violin player and Field Effects alumni Milton Cross.
august 11, 20031.4 MB 'It's mid-July 2003 in Oaxaca City, Mexico, and I am standing outside the open doors of the Church of Carmen Alta during an evening mass. Behind me, just outside the church, a festival dedicated to the virgin Carmen is in full swing: The street is lined with stands selling food, religious knickknacks, and, most audibly, bootlegged CDs.' Today's vacation comes from my wife, Bronwyn Ximm.
august 4, 20031.4 MB'July 4, 2003. West Oakland, California certainly knows how to celebrate the Fourth. Illegal fireworks flood the city, no doubt a side effect of the massive drug trade, which is in turn no doubt a side effect of Oakland being one of the largest ports on the West Coast. Community disrepair aside, a beautiful noise occurs on a lovely night: sounding like a toy war, the night crackles, rumbles, and snaps with the reports of various explosives and perhaps a gun or two. A distant train and an overhead plane compliment the aural pleasures of the night.' So opines today's contributor, Bay Area electronic musician Peter Nyboer.
july 28, 20031.4 MB 'While walking along Vaci Utca, on the Pest side of Budapest in August of 2001, I encountered an eccentric elderly man singing in tongues and tones while playing what appeared to be homemade stringed instruments. The voice in the background towards the end of the recording was a man attempting to serve as an accomplice in relieving tourists of their Forint (HUF) — or perhaps he was simply a voluntary interpreter. Equipment: Sony Mavica FD camera.' Today's vacation was contributed by Shoepal.
july 21, 20031.6 MBNot everyone travels. This week's contributor, Hetty Litjens, writes of her recording, 'I stay at home during vacations. This small piece is called Suburban Silence. It was recorded a few weeks ago here in Amsterdam in my garden. It has the sound of a plane and a blackbird.'
july 14, 2003225 KB 'Winter, late afternoon, a rainy twilight. The heating oil truck is making its way through the neighbourhood, playing its winsomely melancholy jingle. Three cars come by with perfect timing, and from sixteen seconds in the rain stops. A drop of water falls onto the tin above the window. Recorded at Setagaya-ku, western Tokyo, February 2003.' Despite my preference for sixty second recordings, I begged this lovely half-minute vacation from Jeremy Hedley of Antipixel fame.
july 7, 20031.4 MB'Fire juggling rehearsals in a field not far from Chaillac, France, on 15 July 1999. I was on a trip with some French street performer friends who were taking time out to rehearse material for their company Eldtraff's new show. In this instance Hanna was practicing with a 6-or-so-foot-long hollow pipe, alight at either end. On either vertical axis as she twirled, the pipe acted as a chimney, the hot air rushing through it and creating a sound similar to blowing over the mouth of a very large bottle... it was a very hot summer's night in an empty field, the air otherwise filled with the sound of crickets and the clicking of electric sheep fences...' This vacation was contributed by recordist .murmer. based in England, who hosts a program 'consecrated' to field recordings on London's marvelous ResonanceFM104.4. The show, Framework, is broadcast alternate Fridays at 8:30 pm GMT. You can contact him here.

Postscript: I received this update on July 20th: 'I have some sad news relating to the one-minute vacation of mine that you used. On the 14th of July, 2003, Hanna Antman, the unsuspecting performer in this sound piece, was killed in a car accident in the east of France. This one-minute vacation has become, therefore, a one-minute memorial and tribute to a much-loved person. Hanna, you will be missed.'
june 30, 2003950 KB 'I recorded this in Antarctica on a crappy hand-held tape recorder. It's a woman singing in a hollowed out oil drum on Elephant Island, which made a lovely, angelic reverb sound on her voice.' She expands on the story: 'I'll tell you a little more about the recording - I went on a trip with my family, for fun, for about two weeks in February, 2001. We stayed aboard a Russian icebreaker called the Captain Dranitsyn, and the entire crew including the captain spoke Russian exclusively. However, we were able to communicate through the universal language of ping pong, which we played incessantly during the long cold nights after a day of hiking around different Antarctic beaches. The day I made this recording, we were taking a tour of an abandoned research site on Elephant Island. The woman who was singing is a marine biologist in her 50s. She's withered and tough and somewhat shy. But she took us into the oil drum to demonstrate its acoustic qualities, and let a sound come out of her that was so angelic it brought tears to my eyes. I made one of the boat crew take me back to the ship to get my Sony microcasette recorder, and immediately returned to shore to get at least a few minutes of that sound on tape...' Today's vacation was contributed by Jules Bernstein.
june 23, 20031.4 MBTraveling to Tibet from Nepal on the 'Friendship Highway,' my wife and I were stopped at the border town of Kothari and denied entry for several days. We passed the time in this one-street truck stop high in the Himalayas listening to gloomy news of martial law in Kathmandu, where the royal family had just been killed, and visiting local hot springs A hundred meters up the hill a small monastery perched; beside it, this water-powered, bell-clad prayer wheel spun perpetually, powered by a rushing stream. Making this recording in sandals, I unwittingly befriended several plump black leeches... (Todays' vacation is for Zack and Kate, who we met there.)
june 16, 2003890 KB 'I was at a recording session in a big construction warehouse, the ensemble being a 21st century improvisation-oriented big band. The composer has moved an upright piano into the space, and had prepared it a la John Cage, inserting objects into the strings to cause odd microtonal pitches and percussive timbres. Lunch break had been going for a while, I had my new Sharp DR7 and my Core Sound binaural mics, and I thought I'd go over, sit down and improvise on the piano, and see what it recorded like... I almost forgot: brass players seem to never want that horn to leave their face for more than 90 seconds. Wouldn't you know they'd start up just as I sat down, wandering around the room like metal cows bellowing bronzed burps?' Today's contributor is Harry Partch enthusiast Jonathan Szanto.
june 9, 20031.3 MB'Place: The Avergat cave in Kanne, Belgium. It is an 'underground' recording, above groundwater level, but below a mountaintop! Time: The stealth recording was made during my holiday on Sunday the 23rd, February 2003, in the afternoon around 16 hundred hours. Event: a guided tour for tourists, we were a group of about 7 and there was the guide and his two kids. The guide is telling how he used to scare tourists who visited the cave while he was a youngster; that explains the laughter. The language he speaks is Flemish (Vlaams), not Dutch, 'though it almost sounds the same. Equipment used: besides the flashlight, a Sony MZ-R55 portable MD recorder and Soundman OKM II Classic Studio binaural microphones.' Today's vacation ('56 seconds to be precise') was contributed by the meticulous Evert Veldhuis.
june 2, 2003730 KB 'In Japan during the cold season vendors in small pickup trucks call out (or as in this case in recent years, play a loop tape recording) "yaki imo... oishii, yaki imo" (get your toasty hot sweet potatoes). Other night-time vendors who cruise the neighborhoods have their own signature sound (e.g. hot ramen noodle dealers on wheels). Years ago people selling bamboo (for hanging clothing to dry) and tofu could also be heard through the side streets of towns and cities, too. Recording made on Ricoh DU-4 digital camera using the sound-record feature and built-in mic, in May 2000 in rural west Japan.' So writes today's contributor of but half a minute, Guven Witteveen.
may 26, 20031.4 MB'The recording, dating from 1995, features the sound of a London Underground train, the Northern Line to be precise. I have always loved the London Tube and the sonics generated by this older generation train evoke(d) the notion of long-distance travel within a metropolis, strangely hypnotical and peaceful, while at the same time hinting at the decades of development of such a complex sub-city system. The track was recorded onto tape using a simple Walkman and a stereo microphone.' Today's vacation comes from Christian H. Soetemann who can be contacted here.
may 19, 2003700 KB 'I just returned from Morocco, here is some far away call to prayer at dawn and some people walking in the alley. This was recorded at 5 am, February 13, 2003, Marrakech.' So writes today's contributor, traveler and sound artist Greyg Filastine of Seattle's Postworld Industries and Infernal Noise Brigade.
may 12, 20031.4 MB'Recorded at 4:30 am in Vermont at my great aunt's farm back in 1975 using a Sony reel to reel and two Sony Electorate Condenser mics. My great aunt's farm is called "Verona" (Shakespeare reference) and it is a flyway for migratory birds. In the peak of the summer when the sun rises at 4:30 the birdsong is amazing! This is a one minute sample from the recording which is available at SoundsOfOurPlanet.com...' So writes today's contributor, Eric Van der Wyk. (Hey world, submit more vintage recordings please!)
may 5, 20031.4 MB 'This recording was made in October 2001 on the shore of the east German village Ahrenshoop, on the Baltic Sea. The stereo microphone was placed on wooden wave breakers. The waves rolled by on the coarse gravel, sometimes producing gurgling sounds and bursting splashes; in the background you can hear the steady thunderous voice of the sea... Equipment: Sony MZ-R90 and Aiwa CM-S1 stereo microphone..' Today's vacation was contributed by Gunther Reiche of Hanau, near Frankfurt/Main.
april 28, 20031.4 MB'Recorded on the afternoon of October 1, 2002, on MiniDisc in Santa Cruz, California. Skateboards... the 'Fun Zone'... near train tracks.' Today's contributor is Trummerflora Collective sound artist Marcelo Radulovich. (I can't help pointing out that this recording was made on my anniversary -Aaron)
april 21, 20031 MB 'Early last March, my wife and I were walking towards James Bond Beach, in Oracabessa, Jamaica. Its name comes from the fact that it's right next to Golden Eye, where Ian Fleming wrote his novels and fished for barracudas. It was a warm and sunny day, as usual, with just a few local people around. Suddenly, out of the bush came a couple of kids - baby goats, that is! To our amazement, they did not act scared at all. One of them, the one in the center, came up really close and welcomed us. You can hear his sister or brother answering off to the left. If you listen carefully, you can also hear my wife 'oooing' early on in the recording. I used a Sennheiser binaural mic and a Sony MZ-N707 minidisc recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Ned Bouhalassa.
april 14, 2003470 KB'These are the sounds surrounding the Pyrolarium, my 1.5 ton wooden sculpture, as it was engulfed in flames at the 1999 Burning Man Festival. Art is often destroyed by fire at this event, and the Pyrolarium's inferno attracted percussionists, fire dancers, and other chilly observers. The sculpture existed for a week as a pyrotechnic sundial, so it was fitting for it to be destroyed by flames at sunset, the last night of the festival.' So writes today's contributor, VC Scafati.
april 7, 20031 MB 'This recording was made in Ghana in the Summer of 1999. I dropped a small Aiwa lapel microphone (CM-S20) out of the window of my room at the University Of Ghana, Legon (a suburb of Accra). I recorded directly to my Compaq laptop hard drive, using Sound Forge. As far as I can recall the file has not been processed except for fade-in, fade-out, and WAV to MP3 conversion. I am sending it as a stereo file because that is how I found it on the laptop. The channels seem so even, I suspect it was recorded in mono but I honestly do not know. It is about 6:00 a.m. The roosters have been calling for some time. You can hear the low rumble of the commerce of Accra as trucks move toward the city. Mostly it is birds, a dawn chorus much like what I hear outside in North Carolina. I cannot identify any of them except the roosters.' Today's vacation was contributed by James S. Lee.
march 31, 20031.4 MB'In October of 2001, the town of Paro, Bhutan opened its first Internet cafe. As with any new business venture, this was done with an all-day blessing ceremony. I happened to be in town and was invited to attend. There was a lama and a half dozen monks in the back room, thick incense smoke, drums, flutes, food and drink offerings, and painted scrolls on the walls. At one point they all went to the front of the shop and threw holy rice on the computers.' So writes today's contributor, Brian Romer.
march 24, 20031.4 MB '[This] recording was taken end of February at 5:40 in the morning in Bharatpur, India. I was standing on a rooftop. You hear peacocks which are sitting in the trees all around. Additionally you hear the never-ending noise of heavy lorries and a rhythmic sound which is the neighbour's hand driven water pump. The recording was made with Creative Jukebox 3 and OKM Soundman II Klassik microphones...' Today's vacation was contributed by Walter Schiessberg.
march 17, 20031.4 MBToday's contribution was recorded by Yehlin Lee (Rio) on February 14, 2003, in Yanshwei county, Tainan, Taiwan. Of the recording, Yehlin writes: 'Yanshwei (Salty water) Bee-Firecracker is the biggest and most famous activity on Lantern Festival in Taiwan. This tradition originates from Ching dynasty, when the widespread plague prevailed in this region. The rumour is that the god of Gwangung in the martial temple (Wu Myau) instructed people to let off firecrackers to get rid of the pestilence... As its name [suggests], the Bee-Firecracker is made of hundreds of thousands small firecrackers in pile, just as a honeycomb. On the night of lantern festival, the crowds and the palanquin of gods run among the exploding bee-firecrackers in [their] variety. With its extremely danger, this physical hearing experience fascinates me with [its] unexpected shape of sound. Recorded with Sony TCD-D8 and Sonic Studios DSM binaural microphones. Suggested to listen with headphones, but please be cautious of the unexpected high volume.' I chose this recording for today as more than ever the world needs good fortune and protection. If only this were the only use for gunpowder.
march 10, 20031.4 MB 'Rachmaninoff at the Fish Counter. Well, why not? I took this Vacation at Ranch 99, the huge Asian-oriented supermarket in El Cerrito, California. Bubbling tanks, sharpening knives, and the Sounds of Romance on the Muzak. Recorded 1/27/03, using a Sony MZ-R50 and Radio Shack's stereo condenser mikes mounted on a dummy pair of old headphones under a wool cap...' So writes today's contributor, Bay Area musician John Tenney.
march 3, 20031.4 MB'Water in contact with seaweed, which has been washed up on the shore. Recorded around midnight in mid- November, 2002, in the Swedish archipelago...' Today's lovely, subtle contribution was recorded by Herr Axelsson. (A quiet birthday present today for my wife Bronwyn, and our dear friend Susan Robb who shares it.)
february 24, 20031.4 MB 'This was recorded at 2:00 AM on Sunday, April 29, 2001 at Le Petit Journal in Paris, France. The band was called the South New Orleans Serenaders and they were finishing their second set. I was sitting at a small table in the former brothel with my future wife. Seeing Dixieland Jazz played with such exuberance always brings a smile to my face. The fact that we were in Paris only made the smile larger...' This vacation was submitted by Andrew J. Stitt, who also comments that the recording was 'made on a 16 bit 16khz MP3 player with its built in mono mic, a very lo-fi device. The recording is not exactly oozing with sonic quality. Nonetheless, it's a snapshot...'
february 17, 20031.4 MBChinese New Year, and the year of the Ram has just begun. We celebrate with a recording from San Francisco's famous Chinatown, made in March, 2001, courtesy of today's contributor, Tommy of Broadcastatic. (A more recent recording of Chinatown, made by my wife Bronwyn, was aired on The Savvy Traveler a week or so ago; it should be in the archives. Also, I can't resist mentioning that the 'year of the Ram' makes a great spoonerism.)
february 10, 20031.4 MB 'Recorded in September of 1987 when my wife and I were in Beijing. We were walking around Temple of Heaven Park and came upon a group of people watching some men play mahjong. In the background you can hear a woman singing with the accompaniment of a two-stringed fiddle. I used a Marantz PAD 201 portable cassette recorder. Have no idea what the mic was.' This vacation was submitted by Jeff Sampson.
february 3, 20031.4 MB'In summer 2001, I discovered a pedestrian tunnel in Stockholm that is about 200 meters long and 4 meters in diameter. An old man was sitting in the center of it playing a stringed instrument and taking advantage of the resonance. This recording was made with Sonic Studios DSM-6S mics and a Sharp minidisc recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Steven Fruhwirth.
january 27, 2003510 KB 'I record my soundscapes during my travels. I submit an extract from a recording I did this summer (22 august 2002, afternoon) in the Arab quarter of Agrigento, a city of Sicily. The girls of the recordings are Italian girls, daughters of Arab fathers who emigrated to Sicily. They sang a popular Arab song; I recorded it with a minidisc Sony using the headphones as a microphone (because my microphone was broken). Enjoy it.' This vacation was contributed by Tiziano Bonini, a radio researcher at the University of Milan.
january 20, 20031.5 MBNot all Americans are quiet. On January 18, antiwar protests in Washington DC and San Francisco were attended by several hundred thousand people. These recordings document a range of the voices and sounds at the San Francisco protest, from strident to inspiring, from insipid to stirring. Today is the first anniversary of the one-minute vacation project; thanks for listening. Here are more MP3s: chimes 1.4 MB no blood 1.4 MB justice 1.4 MB peace 1.4 MB baez 1.4 MB mlk 1.4 MB donations 1.4 MB discordian 1.6 MB now 814 KB stridency 1.4 MB.
There are more.
The first year of One-Minute Vacations are here.
You can also purchase a compilation on CD; all profits go to charity!


Thanks to Annabelle Port for this LP