Free Pussy Riot

At 17th of August 2012 about 100 protesters gathering together front of Russian embassy in Reykjavik call for free Pussy Riot.
The protest stay in one hour between 10 and 11am (Icelandic time). All the time people call “FREE PUSSY RIOT” so in the end when the lips and tongue get tired it start to sound like “Peoples right”.
Protest like this was held all over the world at same time.
Sadly during the protest three member of the Pussy Riot was doomed to stay in prison for two years.
For all those out of space who do not know Pussy Riot or human rights should search in Google for more information.
Please play this recording loud and share everywhere.  Now people all over world need to scream Pussy riot out of prison.

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 28,17Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices 744
Mics: MKH30/20 (MS setup)
Pix: Sony DSC-P120
Video: Punk prayer “Fuck off Putin“
Icelandic radioprogram about the Pussy Riot movment

Sound in Víðgelmir Cave

Víðgelmir is a lava tube situated in Western Iceland in the Hallmundarhraun lava field, ca. 2 km. Southeast from Fljótstunga farm in Hvítársíða, Borgarfjörður. The roof of the lava tube has collapsed, creating two large openings near its north end which are the only known entrances. Viðgelmir is 1585m long, the largest part of the cave passage is 15.8m high and 16.5m wide making it by far the largest of its kind in Iceland. The cave has a wide entrance but narrows down in some places. An iron gate was installed at the first constriction in 1994 to preserve the delicate lava formations or speleothems which haven’t already been destroyed. Evidence of human habitation, probably dating to the Viking age, has been discovered in the cave and is preserved in the National Museum of Iceland. Long stretches of the cave floor are very rough and shouldn’t be navigated without a guide. Access and guided tours are provided at nearby Fljótstunga.
Lava tube caves are formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust which thickens and forms a roof above the molten lava stream. When the eruption subsides, the still molten lava moving beneath the crust will continue to drain downhill, leaving an open lava tube cave. Many other lava tube caves have been discovered in Hallmundarhraun (formed around 900 AD), most notable Surtshellir and Stefánshellir.(*)
This recording was made 30th of June 2012, close to the entrance, where ice from last winter was still melting. Water drops from the cave roof are falling into differenet places on the floor, in holes in the ice and on stones on rough surfaced floor.
Deeper in the cave there is no dripping water so it is completely quiet. For most people it could be an interesting experience. During the summer people can have guided tour in Viðgelmir, just contact Fljótstunga farm.

Download mp3 file. (192kbps / 28,1Mb)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net

Recorder. Sound Devices 788
Mic: Rode NT1a (NOS)
Pic: Canon 30D. See more pictures at Google. My camera did not work perfectly in the cave, but anyway here is my picture
(*) Information about the cave is copied from Wikipedia.
 

Opus for power line, bass, wind and birds.

It is not every day when I am free from traffic noise. But when it happens it is possible to notice other small sounds in the surroundings. That happened in beginning of June 2012 when I was at Krossholt at Barðastönd, in the northwest of Iceland. One night someone was playing loud music in the neighborhood. The rumbling bass beat was noticeable all night along. During the night the wind started to blow from east with strong gusts. Suddenly nearby power line started to give a strange sound and the niggling beat from the neighborhood started to be interesting. In combination with the wind, power line, birdsong from the field and nearby cliff it started to be like a music from other planet. In fact it was a really interesting composition. Better than many modern human made compositions today. The intro is more than two minutes long, so just lay back in your chair, relax and listen. High quality headphones are recommended.

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 34,7Mb)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net

Recorder: Sound Devices 744 (24bit/48Khz)
Mics: Rode NT1a. NOS setup.
Pix: Canon 30D
Interesting link: Wired Lab

White Wagtail in the wind

I and my family spent a bank holiday last weekend in May in Union´s vacation house at Apavatn in south Iceland. The weather was typical for spring. Sunny, but cold and windy.
This was not exactly the best weather to record bird song, or “nice spring mood”, but when I placed the microphones not far away from the house, a White Wagtail gave me a nice tweet as a professional singer close to the microphones.
Not far away was a playground with big trampoline. Most of the background sound is the drumming sound from this trampoline, screaming children and waves from the lake. Through the all recording a weak tweet sound is coming from young bird in nearby nest.
In the end of the recording people are gathering together in a hot tub.

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 24,6mb)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net      

Recorder: Sound devices 744
Mic: Rode NT2a in spaced omni (60cm AB setup )
Pix: Canon 30D (see more picture)

Accordion day 5th of May 2012

Accordion day was celebrated all over in Iceland 5th of May with concerts in many public places all over the country. This was a perfect opportunity to cycle downtown and record a “squeeze box concert”. The concert was held in an open place at Hallærisplan (Ingólfstorg) in Reykjavik center and the players were members of the Reykjavik Accordion Club. In background, mostly on right side, are some bang and rumble noise from skate boards and motorcycles.
This recording was made with “binaural microphones” and Primo EM172 capsules.  There were rather much wind which sometimes disturbed the recording. So -20db was enabled at 20hz  in post.
Best to listen with headphones.

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 24,2Mb)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net    

Recoder: Olympus LS10 (24hz/48Khz)
Mic. Binaural (Primo EM172)
Pix: Sony DSC-P120

Free Tibet

In April 2012 the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Wen Jiabao, visited Iceland.
On the first day he was driven to the Musical Hall to have a dinner.
On Facebook, people were encouraged to go there and request for free Tibet. I arrived rather late, but right at time when the prime ministers arrived with a lot of security staff on cars and motorcycles.
This recording was a “wind test” for my home made binaural mics with Primo EM 172 capsules. I put them in Rode WS5 foam and the result was very nice.

Download mp3 file (192kbps / 14,3Mb)
See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net   

Recorder: Olympus LS10
Mic. Binaural headphones w/ Primo EM172 capsule
Pix: Nokia N82

Creatures in the pool

In the beach below the Hotel “Europe Villa Cortes GL” at Tenerife is a sea pool. It was probably build some years ago for people to swim, but today it is full of all kinds of algae, snails, crabs and other creatures, so it looks not popular for humans.
In the afternoon at 22 of December 2011, I put hydrophone in the pool and recorded more than one hour of mystique sound. Most audible sound are rumbling sound from the surf. Sometimes the waves goes all the way in the pool with splashing sound and sometimes footsteps can be heard when people walk by the pool side. But there is also many other sounds from organic creatures, most likely from hungry snails scratching the pool surface.

Short version Download mp3 file (192kbps / 4,2Mb)
Long version Download mp3 file (192kbps / 28Mb)

See more and listen at: www.fieldrecording.net
Recorder: Sound Devices 744 (24bit / 48Khz)
Mic: Aquarian H2a-XLR
Pix: Olympus 4040 (underwater) and Canon 30D (See more pictures)