Resources
Contributors: Hildegard Westerkamp and Katharine Norman
Books, Articles,Texts
Compact and DVD Discs
Web Sites
BOOKS, ARTICLES AND TEXTS
COMPACT and DVD DISC
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CD "Pulse of the Planet: Extraordinary Sounds From the Natural World"
This a collection of some Jim Metzner's favorite sounds from many years of collecting, recording and producing the "Pulse of the Planet" and "Sounds of Science" radio series.
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There's booming sands, volcanic lava flow, water drumming, an aeolian harp - and 28 other remarkable ambiences.
The CD has been out-of-print for almost five years, and many people on this list have asked me when it might be available again. It was featured in a recent New York Times article on nature sound recordings.
To find out more about the CD and order copies online, please visit the Pulse of the Planet website and click on the Pulse Store < http://www.pulseplanet.com >.
Relaxation: Songs for City Dwellers
An audio CD project by Annie Martin.
"I am fascinated by the contemporary pursuit of relaxation and by popular, intuitive notions of what constitutes a relaxing environment. Relaxations will examine relaxation audio from a listening perspective, mimicking the patterns of new-age audio healing practice, while utilizing sound images from the local urban environment." Annie Martin
To order and info: anniemartin@sympatico.ca
Produced at OBORO,
OBORO Media Lab Production Residency Program
Montréal, 2004 www.oboro.net
Electronic Journal Technical Acoustics (EJTA). This is the fourth year of the Electronic Journal Technical Acoustics (EJTA), which publishes accepted papers on the Internet. This journal is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original articles in all areas of acoustics and related branches. EJTA has benefits of an electronic journal: speed of publication and wide circulation. EJTA is available without charge to readers via the Internet: http://webcenter.ru/~eeaa/ejta/. EJTA is principally funded by article charges from authors of published papers. Authors are encouraged to take full advantage of the electronic medium to include colors, video, audio or other innovative presentation formats and links to more extensive tutorial information or data. Maximum article size is 16 pages A4 and 1 Mb disc space. Detailed information about the journal you can find on the above website.
Contact: Igor Grushetsky, editor, eeaa@online.ru
Travels Together - A work in progress by Zoë Irvine
MP3 downloads for a limited period from http://www.mediascot.org/zoe_irvine.html
Travels Together is a radiophonic work on the trail of Alma Maximiliane Karlin (1889 - 1950). Karlin was an extraordinary Slovenian traveller and writer. On the 24th November 1919 she set off on a journey that was to last 8 years including South Peru, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Borneo, Australia, New Zealand, Java, Thailand and India... In the first chapter of her book The Odyssey of a Lonely Woman (Einsame Weltreise 1933) she writes about the journey to the journey, her trip from Celje in Slovenia to Genoa in Italy from where she sets off. Travels Together work weaves extracts from this chapter together with my own journey to Slovenia on the Alma trail.
The first 3 parts of the work are released to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the start of Alma Karlin’s journey. Available as high quality MP3 downloads for a limited period.
Drift is a programme of New Media Scotland which is supported by the Scottish Arts Council, the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science & Technology and Liverpool John Moores University. Live streaming supported by the Community Media Association. To find out more about Drift visit http://www.mediascot.org/drift
Web Sites
Resoundings.Org. A web site created by Bill Fontana to provide information about his work in soundsculpture for public spaces and museums, and his experimental ideas for acoustic design in the built environment.
The Online Guide to Whistling Records. Whistling seems to have acquired a poor reputation in recent decades, with some people finding the habit rather obnoxious. What people may not know is that the practice of whistling remains immensely popular, and that there are several international whistling competitions held each year. Of course, some six or seven decades ago, there were a number of whistlers who honed their craft on records, often providing the backdrop to the vocal choruses of artists such as Perry Como. This fine site provides a host of information about the great whistlers of the past, such as the amazing Fred Lowery, Muzzy Marcellino, and Brother Bones, who is best known for his recording of Sweet Georgia Brown (which visitors can listen to on the site). There are a number of audio selections here that are a great deal of fun, and also some nice cover art for albums such as "Whistling on the Beach of Waikiki" and the rather intriguing "The Birds Sing His Praise". Finally, there are some whistling discographies, including one dedicated to those records that were intended to teach people how to whistle for fun and relaxation. Source: Scout Report.
Omaha Indian Music. The oral traditions of many North American Indian groups are generally well known, though access to existing sound recordings and the like can often be limited to on-site listening booths at major museums and archives. This nice collection of traditional music from the Omaha tribe is a fine way to begin learning about these traditions. The online exhibit was created by the American Memory project at the Library of Congress and includes traditional Omaha music both from the 1890s and the 1980s. The selections from the 1890s include 44 wax cylinder recordings made by Francis La Flesche and Alice Cunningham Fletcher. Equally compelling are the 323 songs from the 1983 Omaha harvest celebration powwow that are also available here. The collection also includes abrief introductory essay, fieldnotes from the 1983 powwow, and an original program from the 1983 celebration. Source: Scout Report.
Frogs: A Chorus of Colors. Frogs have been on Earth for more than 200 million years, and range in size from half an inch (the Cuban tree toad) to the much larger goliath frog of West Africa, which can grow to 15 inches and weigh up to 7 pounds. As a public service, the American Museum of Natural History has created this thoughtful online site that introduces visitors to the world of frogs, and as a way of highlighting their own work with these amphibians, both in the field and at the Museum. After reading an introductory essay, visitors can peruse a section on a number of frog species, which include some fine photographs and general information. Visitors will want to take a look a the Budgett's frog, which can puff up its body with air, arch its back, and scream like a cat in order to frighten intruders. The rest of the site is equally delightful, including a nice area on the reproductive cycle of frogs, a live "FrogCam" direct from the Museum, and a great section containing the sounds of frogs from the island of Madagascar. Source: Scout Report
Musipedia. Previously known as "Melodyhound", Musipedia is an open music encyclopedia modeled on (but not formally associated with) Wikipedia. Online (in one form or another) since 1997, Musipedia is a searchable, editable, and expandable collection of tunes, melodies, and musical themes. Essentially, every entry can by edited by any concerned visitors, and entries can contain pieces of sheet music, a MIDI file, and text that describes the work and its composer. Visitors can also whistle or sing a melody through their computer's microphone in order that they might search the site and find out more about that individual song or melody. The current database includes over 10000 classical melodies, over 17,000 folk songs, and around 100 national anthems. Finally, the site also has two helpful discussion forums where visitors may seek the assistance of other users of the site. Source: Scout Report
