note: the terms for using the music in this page (entirely royalty free) are laid out in this document.
Almost three years ago, in July 2008, I bought a flash memory field recorder to replace my defunct cassette tape field recorder after 19 years of loyal service. It is a Zoom H2 (I wrote an article about it), a neat, simple to operate compact piece of technology, capable of recording over three hours of 4-channel surround sound, or up to a little over 6 hours in Digital Vido sound track format (better than CD audio). It’s one of the enabling technologies for the Cork City Gamelan.
I put it to the test almost immediately, recording some noises made by my friend and neighbour Paul’s almost classic (1991) Mercedes: door closing, engine starting up, and the horn.
I created melody and bass notes from the beep of the hon, and percussion beats from the rest of the sounds. Then I composed this little ditty (885 KB in the iPod / iTunes MPEG 4 format).
It was a sort of “proof of concept”: it is possible to create music from tiny bits of field recordings without taking ages. While it is not exactly a CCG piece (I don’t believe Paul would like me to beat this beauty with sticks and mallets), I am calling it The Grandfather of The Cork City Gamelan. Quite entertaining, isn’t it?
Great to hear this again, I’d lost it and now I can add it back to my music collection. When you first listen to it it might appear that there are standard digital instruments included in the background. It’s almost hard to believe that it’s all made from the sounds recorded from the car. I think it’ll be good for the cars self esteem and her general well being to know that she’s tooting her love of life all over the internet. The only car in the world that can say that I reckon. I’ll have to put it on CD and play it to her. Chuckle.