Posted by Sven on Jan 15, 2014
Blog Update 2 – Crevasse Recording This week my good friend Roger has taken me down a crevasse with different hammers and sticks to record icicles. We managed to record for 45 minutes, and then I chopped them into 540 individual samples, mapped them to a keyboard so that I could play them, and then processed them with guitar amps, effect pedals, EQ and compression. After about 40 hours of work I came up with this…. (98% is all crevasse, with the exception of a few drums that come in around 2:18) Listen / Buy from Bandcamp To enter the chamber we had to abseil through a very small hole just big enough to squeeze through (without a rucksack on!) – fortunately it was ice so it was quite slippery. It was a relief to get inside because the wind had picked up rapidly on the surface and the visibility was now less than 50 meters. As soon as we entered the chamber it was eerily silent considering how much it was blowing outside. The blueness and natural formation of the crevasse was beautiful. Some of the icicles had reached the floor and had slowly thickened to form massive columns of crystal clear ice. Roger was very helpful in hitting the icicles and different bits of ice with a selection of hammers. We found that a wooden mallet worked best for the larger icicles, and a drum stick was perfect for the smaller more delicate icicles. Inevitably some of them broke and hit the floor – although I felt a little bit guilty for destroying a few icicles in such a wonderful place I was assured that they reform quickly, and the sound they made when they broke and hit the floor was superb! I was stunned at how tuneful the icicles could be, and some of them would ring for around ten seconds. Although there was no wind in the chamber I used a Rycote windshield to protect the internal microphones on the portable recorder from the many tiny shards of ice that would fall and eventually melt and damage the capsules. The windshield also helped to gradually ease the sudden change of temperature from the comfort of the case to the surrounding air at around -20°C. The handheld shock mount was also very useful to eliminate any noise from handling the recorder...
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Posted by Sven on Dec 25, 2013
Blog Update 1 Sorry it’s been a while since the last update – the interweb is really slow over the satellite connection! I have been in Antarctica for just over 2 weeks and have now completed my training to drive snowmobiles, live in tents and how to survive in case of accidentally falling down a crevasse. Antarctica is amazing – the pictures and films I have seen are in themselves a work of art but unfortunately no replicated image can do this wilderness justice. Ice bergs as big as small villages silently drift by, snow covered mountains raise six thousand feet from the ocean to their summit, lenticular clouds hover like spaceships over the mountain peaks, and snow drifts smudge the horizon and create waterfalls of ice from the glacial peaks to the black sea. When the sun shines the ancient ice that has been compressed for thousands of years shines an etherial sapphire blue just under the ocean surface slowly melting into the surrounding sea. I feel inspired, invigorated and honoured to experience the visual feast before me. I have already started a couple of tracks that are inspired by this unspoilt wilderness and I now can’t wait to get out to record some sounds to create some more music… I will do my best to keep an updated blog on my recordings and endeavours but please forgive me if it is not updated regularly – there is not any cheap reliable phone service or interweb this far south! ...
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Posted by Sven on Nov 28, 2013
Introduction Hello – My name is Steve and I am a musician and producer based in London. For many years I have been writing and creating music and I enjoy using everyday natural and man-made sounds and rhythms to create compositions. London offers many noises but the lifestyle can sometimes feel a bit hectic so I decided choose somewhere a little more remote that could offer some unique sounds to inspire new songs. The remotest place I could think of was Antarctica so I shut up shop and moved out of my flat in London to go on a 6 month trip to the driest (even though it holds 90% of the worlds ice, and 70% of all the fresh water), windiest and the coldest place on earth! Lets see what happens! Antarctica can be an unforgiving place so I will need some serious professional equipment to ensure that I can record pristine audio. I have invested in a new laptop, and will be using a portable handheld recorder. This will give me the option to either use the portable recorder by itself, or power a shotgun microphone to record seals, penguins, ambiences, and anything else that I can’t get too close to without the fear of being eaten or freezing to death! The most important thing for me is to have a clear recording that is free from any wind noise and handling rumbles. Rycote windshields and shock mounts should provide the perfect solution for both the portable recorder and shotgun microphone to eliminate these issues. Even when there is no wind the windshield will provide great protection from snow, spindrift, falling icicles and wind chill that could cause damage to the microphones. Avoiding damage to the microphones is very important because my good friend Steve Williams from Sound Moves has been kind enough to lend me a selection so I want to return them in good condition. Also, I could not manage to find a pro audio shop anywhere in Antarctica so it might be difficult to buy a replacement, and the post usually takes around three months to...
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