Binaural Airwaves

A Far Cry - Encore

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:29:57 PDT

I can't help but post the vivacious encore from A Far Cry's (15 member unconducted string group) encore at St. Paul's Church.

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Encore:

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

If you liked this: check out my other binaural recordings of them playing Dvorak's Serenade for Strings here.

By the way, notice how close the violins on the left sound. Compare this to the violas on the right that are the same distance away. This difference is because the violins have a lot of lead lines and their instruments' strongest acoustical projecting side is pointed at the binaural manikin head. Instruments are directional like headlights on a car (for an exaggerated example). They're really bright when you stand in front of them but if you're in back of the car, you might only see the reflected light of the headlights illuminating objects rather than the direct light. This is analogous to the directionality of both instruments, speaker drivers, and other acoustic radiators.

For the specific case of violins (as well as the rest of the classical bowed string instruments: violas, cellos, and double bass which all have similar acoustic design) the "f-hole" (technical term, not a dirty word) on the violin is the most dominant directional source. The f-hole is similar in function to the open circular hole in an acoustic guitar and when it is pointed at a set of mics and another similar instrument is pointed away, much more of the facing instrument's sound reaches the mic and it therefore sounds more present and close, just like in this recording. To tie in my previous analogy, imagine a car headlight coming through the f-hole on the violin and the light being acoustic energy AKA sound. Now imagine how much more bright/loud/present it will be at the binaural manikin/your ears due to the violins facing you, compared to the violas facing away from you. It's pretty amazing how directional sound can be.

Aaron

Megapolis - Audio Art and Documentary Festival

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:07:21 PDT

The Megapolis Festival promises to be a unique and fascinating event for anyone who loves sound. Here is a more comprehensive description from their website: www.megapolisfestival.org

The Megapolis Festival is a weekend-long celebration of the craft of DIY audio creation. Artists, documentarians, musicians, and fans come together to share secrets on producing and presenting challenging audio works online, on-air, and on the stage.

A few of the happenings for our inaugural festival include: a featured presentation by audio legend Gregory Whitehead, a circuit-bending workshop for building your own weird instruments, an audio-based slumber party that may or may not include “Seven Minutes in Heaven with a Microphone,” a bicycle-powered 8-track player, a performance by a typewriter orchestra, a Max Neuhaus-inspired radio station created by you, and lots more. Read the schedule for the most up-to-date listing of events.

When: Apr 24-26, 2009
Where: Cambridge, Somerville & Boston, MA, USA
How much: $45 (regular), $30 (students)

I'll see you there.

Aaron

Audio and Video Description of 3 Binaural Techniques

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:34:31 PDT

This is a really great side by side comparison of 3 variations of binaural recording techniques. The first method with the manikin is similar to my ultra hi-fi setup while the other 2 mimic the biology of humans less and less. Listening to the short video allows you to quickly understand what binaural is by hearing the moving ringing phone sound source while seeing its location in reference to the microphones. Great thanks for this video go to Bird vs. Alligator and Rafael Sentoma. I put it permanently in my "What is Binaural?" section. Check it out:

Binaural Technique Demo - Rafael Sentoma from Bird vs. Alligator on Vimeo.

Aaron

A Far Cry - 15 Member Unconducted String Group

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:29:26 PDT

Preconcert Sound Check. Manikin is in middle of aisle ~3 rows back.

It is not everyday that you experience the novelty that is a 15 member unconducted string group. But this fact belongs only as a footnote in the compendium that deserves penning for the passion, precision, and soul that this group seems to effortlessly breath into their musical art. This group of professionals reenergizes classical music by transforming groups of notes into stuning statements of elegant meaning. This is the aptly named: A Far Cry.

To add to this, classical music is probably the most optimal type of music for binaural recording since it is an inherently acoustic form of music that tends to be played in prime acoustic spaces. If it's great for our ears; it's great for binaural.

And they're playing Dvorak's Serenade for Strings!!!

A Far Cry
www.afarcry.org
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
2009, March 6, Friday, 20:00

Antonin Dvorak
Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op 22
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Mvt. 1, Moderato:

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Mvt. 2, Tempo di Valse:

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Mvt. 3, Scherzo:

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Mvt. 5, Finale:

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

A Far Cry will soon be releasing an album with recordings from the legendary Mechanic's Hall in Worcester, MA-world renowned for its ideal chamber music acoustics. In addition to my binaural recordings there were stereo and 5.0 recordings made by Jesse Lewis who is a really top notch audio engineer at Sound Mirror. This was tracked entirely at 2.8MHz/1bit and promises to be a very exciting release. I'll post more info as it's available.

Aaron

Rökkurró @ Iðnó, Saturday 8pm (On-Venue)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:58:25 PDT

Over my time in Reykjavik the frostline on the Reykjanes Mountains had dropped day after day and Saturday was the coldest day. It was crisp and clear as the temperature ducked below freezing and puddles became solid. Inside the airy and reverberant acoustics of the venue Iðnó, Rökkurró took the stage.

Iðnó during sound check:

Rökkurró
On-venue: Iðnó
Reykjavik, Iceland
2008, October 18, 20:00

Setlist:
1. [Not Posted]
2. [Not Posted]
3. Hetja á fjallinu
4. Í blíðu stríði
5. F. W. Murnau

Song 3:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Song/Piece: Hetja á fjallinu (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 4:

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Song/Piece: Í blíðu stríði (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 5:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Song/Piece: F. W. Murnau (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Rökkurró is currently headed on tour across Europe and will be featuring a choice selection of my ultra hi-fi binaural recordings of their Iceland Airwaves 2008 performances on a limited release special edition EP that will also include brand new songs. Check their site for info www.myspace.com/rokkurro If you have a chance to see them: do not miss it!

Aaron

Israel: Sea of Galilee

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:35:20 PST

Sea of Galilee:

I'm standing where the waterline has historically been. You can see that it is now hundreds of meters out due to 7 years of drought.

I stayed on the Sea of Galilee which is really more of a lake. It is a primary source of water for Israel. Though Israel is in the midst of a 7 year drought so the shores are vastly receded. Boats in Tiberias' harbor, which sits on the Sea of Galilee, sat on rock because the water level was so low.

However, this general area is in the more green part of the country compared to large desert expanses in the south. This means that there is abundant wildlife and plant life. Staying here for a few days I was able to take in the sounds at a few different times of day. It is amazing how different a place sounds throughout the course of the day.

Standing on shore, looking away from Sea of Galilee toward the sunset:

Track 1:
Evening, walking from shore inland toward trees
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Sunrise, looking through tree grove toward nearby Sea of Galilee:

Track 2:
Early morning Birds
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Track 3:
Early morning Birds (listen for individual bird calls in last few minutes)
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Preview for next post:
The next stop is the Golan Heights and the sounds from a hike through a picturesque canyon/valley whose floor holds a stream that becomes a waterfall in a large bowl at the end of the hike.

Aaron

Israel: The Holy City of Tsfat

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:00:51 PST

View from Tsfat:

My first full day in Israel was spent touring the northern region between the Sea of Galilee and the Lebanese border. One of the first stops was in Tsfat (spelling is open for interpretation). Tsfat, which translates to "lookout", is a prominent place for Kabballah study. "Kabballah" literally means "receiving" in Hebrew and it represents the school of thought that deals with the mystical aspects of Judaism. This is the thing that Madonna is fascinated with. Rumor has it that Madonna wanted to buy a place in Tsfat, so as to get her Kabballah study on, but was denied due to fear of excessive commotion due to her prescience there.

The Old City of Tsfat, Israel:

View Larger Map

At anyrate, Tsfat is a pretty small town (~32,000 people) built on steep terrain and inhabited by many religious people.

Track 1:
Walking up stairs past school yard
I made the first recording while walking up very steep stairs and through a largish landing that doubles as a school yard and there were many little kids out running around on recess.

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

From whence the Hoopdie cometh Na Na Na:

Track 2:
Hoopdie blasting Akon's "Right Now (Na Na Na)"
At the top of the stairs there is a narrow road and a beautiful view down over the town and across the valley. Of course, this picturesque moment was quickly shattered as Akon's "Right Now (Na Na Na)" enters the picture bumping from some dude's hoopdie. I guess it's impossible to escape Top 40 hit's...

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Track 3:
Chatter around tourist stalls + Hava Nagila in background
From the top of the city we walked down through the narrow and windy streets of the old city until we were squarely caught in the maw of a tourist trap. Though, it was actually a pretty cool little tourist stop--not too garish or over the top. You can hear the din of Hava Nagila in the background and so on.

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

One of the many narrow alleys of the Old City:

Track 4:
The sound of fresh orange juice
Then the answer to the parched tourist appeared: free squeezed orange juice. You can hear the oranges being squeezed in a hand press.

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Track 5:
Street musician playing the Panton (steel-drum-like instrument)
The musical highlight of Tsfat was this street musician playing this cool circular metallic instrument that is very similar to a steel drum in many ways except played with the bare hands instead of mallets and convex instead of concave on top. If anyone has pictures of this or a reference to the type of instrument online, I'd be most appreciative if you would send it. The guy said it is called the "Panton" or "Pantong" or something like that. Wish I could have stuck around a bit longer...

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

There are tons more recordings coming from my time in Israel. Stay tuned...

Aaron

Israel Recordings Coming Soon!

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:48:47 PST

I just returned from 10 days in Israel where I made ~14 hours of binaural audio recordings. My recordings span the gamut of everything from morning birds, religious towns, street musicians, bus rides, camels, sandstorms, flash floods in the Negev Desert, the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, open air markets, and many more. I'm currently going through this huge amount of audio and pulling out the most interesting sounds and will be posting these in chunks in the coming days.

Aaron

Klive @ Hressó (On-Venue)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:31:59 PST

Klive's Hressó performance was really great. The guy behind Klive is the same guy who did the Lighthouse Sound Installation that I posted previously. His style as Klive is this nice mixture of electronic sorcery melded with soothing acoustic samples which works particularly well with Klive at the helm. Playing live, Klive had a stellar female vocalist and 4 fantastic brass players who had previously played with Björk.

Klive
On-venue: Hressó
Reykjavik, Iceland
2008, October 15, Wednesday, 20:00

Hressó with stage against the far back wall and the bar directly to the left (out of view):

The Scene:
Hressó has a small concert area which you can't even really see in the above picture but it's basically against the farthest wall which you can see. This is connected to the larger dining area, in the opposite direction of the photo, by a narrow barway (kind of like a hall but with a bar in it-Ok, I just made that up). I was near the end of the barway relatively far back from the stage. So, you'll likely hear people walking around, making weird comments about the binaural manikin, and eating/drinking in close proximity. Take a gander.

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Set List:
1. Common Wealth
2. ???

Song 1:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Klive
Song/Piece: Common Wealth (from their release Sweaty Psalms)
***There is a slight cut out near the beginning-it's not loud and going to make you go deaf, it simply cuts out and then back in. I think I was readjusting a cable after moving the setup.

Song 2:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Klive
Song/Piece: ???

If you're a fan of this, you should check out Klive's CD here.

Aaron

Rökkurró @ Mál og Menning (Off-Venue)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:33:59 PST

The manikin taking in the scene from across the bookstore before the performance started:

Rökkurró
Off-venue: Mál og Menning (Language and Culture) Bookstore
Reykjavik, Iceland
2008, October 15, 17:00

This was Rökkurró's first performance of Airwaves and the first official show I heard of the Iceland Airwaves festival. It was an "off-venue" show that was free to anyone, as opposed to the "on-venue" shows which required the Iceland Airwaves Pass.

Off-Venue Shows=Short and Sweet:
The off-venue shows were all around Reykjavik in nice little spaces like record shops, cafes, and bookstores. There were so many concerts happening at the same time in different places that there was naturally a ton of running around to catch all the shows that you wanted to hear. It was impossible to not miss good music since there was so much. It kind of felt like a real world incarnation of hitting "Scan" on your radio and getting all of these little glimpses of different bands in a short amount of time.

I'm used to 1 hour sets minimum in the US with a pretty big chunk of setup time in between bands. However, the off-venue shows were typically only about 25-30 minutes which is really short in my mind. It worked amazingly well though. Many bands had an at least one off-venue show and then an on-venue show. So, sometimes you might have only been able to catch an act off-venue because their on-venue performance overlapped with another group you wanted to see only but had that one on-venue performance. It seemed a daunting task at first but it worked out quite well.

A close up of the band obscured by a cool looking light fixture and tons of other stuff:

The Scene:
Rökkurró had a great turn out and played quite well. This concert was in Mál og Menning, a bookstore who's name translates to "Language and Culture". It's located on the main drag of Reykjavik: Laugervegur. It should be interesting to compare the acoustics/ambiance of this performance to Rökkurró's 12 Tónar off-venue performance (and soon to their Iðno on-venue performance after I post it).

As you can see from the photos, I'm way across the room at the top of the stairs. I wanted to capture the acoustics of the large room by being away from the group and give the sensation of standing in the crowd, like you would have been doing if you had been there.

Some things to listen for:

The women speaking in Icelandic directly to the left (literally right next to the manikin)
Espresso machine ~8m to the left.
People chating and drinking coffee in the cafe seating area in back and to the left.
Something I thought was kind of funny happened near the end of Ferðalangurinn where this older woman walked up the stairs and we had this exchange:

She seemed to ask this same question in Icelandic to me and I gave a confused look back and she switched to English...
Woman: How long is this going, do you know that? How long is this going, do you know that?
Aaron: I think about another 20 minutes.
Woman: Ok [snicker], then I'm leaving.

What a hater haha. Though, I guess if you're into browsing books you wouldn't be so keen on tons of people blocking all of the books while they check out a cool concert.

Anyhow, it was indeed a great concert. Take a listen for yourself.

Set List:
1. Hún
2. Ferðalangurinn
3. Í blíðu stríði
4. Allt gullið
5. Í sjávarháska

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Song 1:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Hún (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 2:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Ferðalangurinn (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 3:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Í blíðu stríði (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 4:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Allt gullið (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 5:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Í sjávarháska (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Aaron

Photos Are Now Geotagged

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:34:53 PST

I just took advantage of the sleek integration of Picasa and Google Maps to geotag my photos. So, if you're wondering where a photo was taken or you want to take a geographically choreographed tour of my recordings you can. Simply click on the photo you're interested in and you'll be magically transported to the album it is in. Plus there are some additional photos that I didn't post on the blog.

Aaron

PS I would recommend viewing in satellite mode (namely for Iceland)

Finn @ Organ (On-Venue)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:21:49 PST

Finn was dressed like some type of of medieval troubadour or something. He played a great stripped down set however, consisting of guitar + voice through 3 microphones, for various effects. This song in particular reminds me very much, in chordal progression and vocal melodic/rhythmic/relation to the guitar, of Radiohead's "True Love Waits". I don't think I'm crazy. Judge for yourself.

Finn @ Organ (Iceland Airwaves 2008):
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Song/Piece: Unknown (Think Radiohead's "True Love Waits" for the 21st century)
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Aaron

Correction for The Heir Electric (is really The Airelectric)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 00:23:30 PST

This is extremely overdue:

I was very happy to get an email from Karl who is the guy behind what I thought/hoped was "The Heir Electric" and it was great to reconnect. Though, in this email I learned that Karl is in fact "The Airelectric"... a name that came to him in a dream. I can not argue with that. A cool name and even more cool music--it makes me feel kind of bad for proposing "The Heir Electric". At any rate, here are Karl's links so you can check out his great music. Enjoy:

www.theairelectric.com
www.karlpestka.com

Aaron

New Years Resolution... More binaural, less blather.

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:28:41 PST

As simple as that.

Aaron

Monday: Icelandic Waterfall in Fall 2008

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:37:25 PST

Behold, Seljalandsfoss Waterfall:

On Monday we went on a road trip along Iceland's scenic south coast. There was a lot of green moss and grass, volcanic rock, and fog. Rugged yet beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the Oregon Coast sans trees.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall in the distance as we arrive by car:

The first waterfall, Seljalandsfoss, we stopped at was unique in that you could walk in back of it making a complete 360 walk of the waterfall. This 360 encircling of course meant you got pretty soaked with icy waterfall spray but that was no big deal-rather refreshing.

About to go behind Seljalandsfoss:

In back of Seljalandsfoss:

Be aware that throughout this recording I am wearing the mics in my own ears and am turning my head quite a bit to check out the place. Therefore, your perception of where the waterfall is will likely make drastic spatial shifts often-it will sound like you're turning your head to look around, even though your head is probably stationary, relative to your body, listening to the recording.

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Song/Piece: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

At the end of our walk we decided to try some pure Icelandic water direct from a stream. We used our hands to ladle the water out and it tasted quite deliciously pure. This was rather Vikingtastic I guess.

A fine grained look at the ultra-green moss that gives so much to the landscape:

We then made a stop at a second and far more internationally known waterfall called Skógafoss. To me, this looks highly similar to the "waterfalls" in NYC that were installed in the Summer of 2008. This is why I say "far more internationally known": replicas of this waterfall appear all over NYC. In my mind, this looks very similar to many of Elias Eliasson's waterfalls because the water exits the stream in a wide parallel formation (even though aspect ratios vary between Eliasson's falls). I'll agree that the aspect ratio of the fall is not exact to any one of Eliasson's falls but the exiting of the stream across a seemingly sharp 90 degree linear edge seems to be highly similar to this waterfall in Iceland.

***Disclaimer: I have not investigated much of Eliasson's theory other than seeing his exhibits first hand in NYC. Though, perhaps my innate visual perception of the falls is far more primary than a relation to an abstract theory convoluted by an artist for one's exhibit: a general conclusion, not a railing on Elias Eliasson.

A picture is worth 1000 words... Skógafoss Waterfall:

Along the ride we saw many interesting and beautiful sights.

...

Man, Icelandic Horses are sickeningly cute.

If they mated: Viking horses + '80s hairband =

(pssssst, where are their crazy guitars? and spandex? and pyrotechnics?)

We finally made it to the very coast where, in a quaint small town, there was amazing food.

Tumultuous Icelandic Coast in Stokkseyri (there is a rock wave break kind of far out):

The really great meal we had was at the restaurant where Dave Grohl ate when he came to Iceland. Amazing lobster. The really funny story about Dave Grohl eating here is that he heard some local teenage band practicing nearby and invited them to play a song to open for the Foo Fighters. Nilfisk is the band's name. It means "No Fish" (This is a fishing town). They'd been playing together for, effectively, just days. Pretty awesome story. You can see video coverage in the film "Screaming Masterpiece".

Aaron

Rökkurró @ 12 Tónar Record Store (Off-Venue)

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:32:37 PST

And now the band that is responsible for me going to Iceland Airwaves in the first place. Those bastards...

Rökkurró playing inside 12 Tónar (ultra hi-fi binaural manikin head in foreground):

Rökkurró:
www.myspace.com/rokkurro
Album: Það kólnar í kvöld...

This quintet melds warm contemplative candlelit dynamics with jazzy syncopated tapestries as they swap instruments and create interesting contrasts of mood, often sounding more cinematic ensemble than rock quintet.

Meaning of the Name "Rökkurró":
For those of us who don't speak Icelandic it might seem their name is merely some Icelandified version of "Rockers" or something like that. Though, this is not even close. In fact, "Rökkurró" is the combination of 2 Icelandic words with much deeper meaning:

Rökkur (sunset / twilight) + ró (quiet / calm) = Rökkurró

This basically describes the time of day when the sun is setting and everything seems calm and relaxed.

How apt: I couldn't believe how perfectly fitting a title this seemed to be for their unique sound after thinking it was some derivative of "Rock___" for so long.

Impressions of the Rökkurró Sound:
Indeed, like a setting sun, the bright warm vocals seem to cast beautifully long winter shadows, with their internal dialogue of swooning cello, while conversing with the rich smoldering accordion lines. These tender but elegantly reasoned lines seamlessly mesh with the integral guitars that vary from tonally rich chords and arpeggiation to jazzy-surf counterpoint and even ethereal textures that all sum to create the underlying harmonic backbone-often adorned with sweet glockenspiel.

Bonding these elements together is the sleek dark bass that is at once exacting and particular in highlighting the overall harmonic direction and relating it to the often nuanced syncopation of the unifying percussion that cleverly reminds: the drum set is indeed a melodic instrument. The carefully crafted drum patterns ebb and flow-sometimes recursive and subtly phased while, at other times, Rock. While there are legions of groups who anchor their paradigm on shock, Rökkurró have somehow reinvented awe.

Reykjavik - Clearing Thursday Weather:

The Scene:
The cozy space in 12 Tónar was packed wall-to-wall. People overflowed to the entry stairs but, listening to the recording, you'd probably think there was no crowd at all because everyone was so quiet and attentive. The set list includes songs from their release Það kólnar í kvöld... (English: "There's a chill in the air tonight...") as well as a new song. I would highly recommend checking this album out: you will not be disappointed.

Rökkurró
Off-venue: 12 Tónar (best record shop ever)
Reykjavik, Iceland
2008, October 16, 17:00

Set List:
1. Ferðalangurinn
2. Ljósglæta
3. Allt gullið
4. Í sjávarháska
5. F. W. Murnau

Song 1:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Ferðalangurinn (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 2:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Ljósglæta (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 3:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Allt gullið (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 4:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: Í sjávarháska (from their release Það kólnar í kvöld...)

Song 5:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

Artist: Rökkurró
Song/Piece: F. W. Murnau (new song)

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 88.2kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

This is chronologically out of order with the rest of my posts but I couldn't resist since it was easily one of my favorite Iceland Airwaves concerts plus I have 2 other concert recordings of Rökkurró. So, I figured I'd spread them out.

I hope you'll enjoy rehearing their 12 Tónar concert as much as I have. As I said, Rökkurró and their music are really responsible for drawing me to Iceland to make these recordings. And since I have enjoyed their music so much I am compelled to give a heartfelt personal stamp of approval and recommendation for their album because it is really quite sublime. Check it out: Það kólnar í kvöld...

Aaron

Barack Obama Elected President of the United States: Harvard Square Celebration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:33:00 PST

I have never seen anything like this. A spontaneous wide scale eruption of cheering, celebration, and congregation in tribute to the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. This went on for hours in the streets which had to be closed down. People were simply beside themselves with excitement yet everything was hugely peaceful.

There were people everywhere, chants, tears of joy, cars honking, more enthusiasm than I have ever seen before in my entire life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The enthusiasm of hope and change!!!!!!!!!!!!

Astounding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Sound of Hope and Change:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
Obama Election Night Celebration - Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, USA by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: Ecstatic Americans
Song/Piece: Huge Celebration of Obama Victory in Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Harvard Square:

View Larger Map

For much of the recording I was facing north looking at the large crowd centered in the half circle thing that swirls around in the square.

Translation Note: Some of the chants are in Spanish. "¡Sí se puede!" translates to "Yes, we can!".

A tapestry of 700 newspaper covers from around the globe with the news of Obama's victory.

I hope that people around the world can share the experience and excitement that this monumental event is.

Aaron

Sunday, Reykjavik House Show: Úlfur Hansson Lighthouse Sound Installation

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:31:43 PST

Grótta Lighthouse Sound Installation

Grótta Lighthouse which is an island at this moment:

Artists:
Elín Hansdóttir, b. 1980
ICELAND
www.elinhansdottir.net

Úlfur Hansson, b. 1988
ICELAND
www.myspace.com/kliveisklive

Selkórinn
ICELAND

Project: Helix

Location: Gróttuviti- lighthouse in Seltjarnarnes

Date: October 12, 2008, 21:30

About the project: Vocal installation in Grótta lighthouse in collaboration with local choir Selkórinn.

The house show wrapped up and we had very little time to get to Úlfur Hansson's lighthouse sound installation--we had to make it to Rökkurró rehearsal soon after that. Karl AKA "The Heir Electric" grabbed a ride with Árni, Hildur, and myself. It becomes very "cozy" in the car when you have 4 people and a cello.

Árni and Hildur actually took me out to the lighthouse earlier in the day when it was light as it is very scenic. It's different from any other lighthouse I have ever seen in a very bizarre and interesting way: at high-tide the lighthouse becomes an island, at low-tide, it is a peninsula and you can simply walk to it.

Satellite image of the lighthouse:

View Larger Map

Another view from farther away:

The concept for the lighthouse sound is pretty interesting. There was a choir singing descending pitches so the music always sounded like it was falling but it never really fell.--a gerbil wheel of musical descent. Karl said this reminded him of an electronic music piece that had a similar effect but used falling sine waves. It is a really cool effect.

To even get to the lighthouse you first arrive in the parking lot and you can see the lighthouse off in the distance with a path marked with large flames that show you the way to get to the lighthouse. Following these flames you walk over rocks and seaweed and sand, basically unable to see much of anything. It took about 5 minutes to reach the lighthouse. It was packed--what a great turnout.

The view looking back toward the parking lot and Reykjavik from the lighthouse. You can see the flame outline of the path:

This recording is quite long (19:20) and a lot of that is due to waiting at each of the landings between staircases since there were so many people packed in there. I was expecting a spiral staircase but this lighthouse had floors every ~6m/20ft which were connected by straight staircases. People had to go both ways on the narrow steps which was not easy. And, as you got close to the top, where the choir (and fog machines!) were, it became even more packed with people. At the very top there was a bright light, fog machines, and the choir behind a white sheet covering the highest staircases entry to the next landing.

Looking up at the top of the lighthouse:

The recording includes my descent down the stairs as well all the way until I get outside. This is what it sounds like:

Sound Installation:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 Ulfur Hanson Lighthouse by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: Úlfur Hansson
Song/Piece: Lighthouse Sound Installation @ Sequences Festival
Microphone Setup: In-Ear Microphones
Master Recording Format: 44.1kHz/24bit
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

It was very eerie as you ascended in this haze of fog while the descending pitches grew louder and louder. Perhaps this is an allusion to the sensation of vertigo--these contradictory senses of ascending (the lighthouse) and falling (the sung tones of the choir), while you swirl around landings and up the lighthouse stairs, in a haze (fog), but never getting to a destination, only the sound growing more and more intense. Very cool.

Klive is Úlfur Hansson's alter ego under which he makes really cool electronic music (very much different from this sound installation). Here is what Klive's Iceland Airwaves bio says:

Playing a self-devised genre he dubs 'concrete', this tongue in a cheeky-chappy slaps sexy female vocals over abstract electronica. Klive sounds a lot like Aphex Twin and Jackson & His Computer Band.

Look forward to these recordings from Wednesday. I recorded his performace at Hressó with female vocalist (amazing voice) and 4 brass players (who were Björk's brass players). This was a great show. I'll be posting them soon.

Aaron

Sunday, Reykjavik House Show: Ólafur Arnalds

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:30:44 PST

The final set at the house show was:
Ólafur Arnalds

His group consists of him on piano and controlling the electronics/beats + a live string quartet. The melding of classical and popular elements is really difficult but he pulls off this feat remarkably well.

I really love hearing a live string quartet. Most people would just grab a synth or sampler and say "here is the string quartet". Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), a box making sound is just not the same as 4 real/breathing string players. Human beings playing music, compared to a premade backing track, add so much more nuance and subtlety and it really comes through by making the music all the more beautiful. Though, the unfortunate reality is that there are very few hybrid popular/classical groups (popular meaning "non-classical") that actually have a real string quartet. Sigur Rós, Björk, and I know that one of my friends played violin as part of a quartet with Jethro Tull. Pretty short list (even if I'm surely forgetting/don't know of others).

Let's take a moment to think about the logistics of why this is:
You are Ólafur Arnalds and are going on a tour to Europe and North America. You need to cut costs so you are able to make some cash for all of the music you're playing--and by "make some cash" I mean "just barely cover the immense costs of traveling and staying in hotels night after night"--think of the cost of flights, train trips, hotel rooms, and meals to travel to say 33 cities in 35 days... then multiply by the number of people you are taking. Why in the hell would you ever want to increase your musician posse by 400%/4 musicians when you could just plug in a MIDI or sampler unit and have something "approximately" the same?

The answer (in my mind):
You have to really care about the music and it being true to what you intended to have a real string quartet. The fact that Ólafur Arnalds not only has a live string quartet in Iceland but everywhere he travels in the world is truly remarkable and more than worthy of mention. This dude cares about sound and it being good. If you like interesting music and nuanced sound you should support Ólafur the next time he comes to your city. Not just because he has the balls to have a real string quartet but, primarily because his music is cool. You will not be disappointed.

Piece 1:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - Olafur Arnalds - Piece 1 by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Song/Piece: Unknown
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

This second recording is tragic, in a way. My recorder died right in the middle. The batteries could have cooked an egg they were so hot... well not quite that bad but they were piping. It's very unfortunate as this is a cool piece. So, I wanted to at least make what exists available. I have more recordings of Ólafur Arnalds from other shows later in the week so do not despair.

What seems to have happened:
(for non-audio-geeks: be satisfied that the batteries died a tragic death. And then skip this paragraph.)
My super hi-fidelity mics, being super hi-fidelity mics, require a lot of phantom power and I discovered during this session (the maiden voyage of my system in a live concert) that I needed different, more robust (robust="true 48V/10mA"), phantom power. Though, this glitch changed my recording throughout the rest of the week almost negligibly. The whole "phantom power issue" became a non-issue thanks to people like Árni from Rökkurró letting me borrow some awesome equipment and by using my portable setup (I have a completely different setup with tiny mics that I physically place in my own ears). This portable setup was the only thing that could work in many of the concerts because the crowd was so packed. Indeed, it was basically impossible to use the manikin at any of the on-venue shows because of the huge crowds. So, this portable setup was key/the only option for the on-venue shows.

At any rate, here is what exists of the 2nd piece:

Piece 2:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)

2008 10 12 House Concert - Olafur Arnalds - Piece 2 Incomplete by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: Ólafur Arnalds
Song/Piece: Unknown
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

By the way, Karl AKA "The Heir Electric" and Hildur from Rökkurró are string players in Ólafur's string quartet--they are currently on tour in Europe. It is really awesome how many musicians are involved with different groups in Reykjavik. Everyone seems to be looking out for one another, no matter their genre. In my mind, this is one of a hand full of the fundamental reasons that the music scene is what it is in Reykjavik: Utopian.

Aaron

Technical Note: Odeo Audio Player Hiccups

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:26:54 PDT

I've noticed that the Odeo Audio Player that I have been using to embed the audio in my site will start playing immediately but it just can't handle the higher quality mp3 files that I have and, therefore, starts stopping the audio at multiple points. This REALLY kills the music. So, until I find something better...

My Suggestion:
1) Download the podcast and listen to it with your iPod or other player.
To do this:

iPod (this all assumes that you have iTunes already installed): Click here or the iPod icon on the right side of my site. This will prompt you to download the podcast from within iTunes. After all the files are downloaded, you will have no internet bandwidth issues becuase you've already downloaded it all. You can simply play it on your computer or from your mp3 player.

Other Players: If you're not simply using iTunes, you are probably used to syncing podcasts with your software/hardware. So, I will hope that is indeed the case. I have a link for alternate podcatchers which should be helpful.

2) Playing it via the Odeo player:
Click "Play" (starts download of the track) and quickly hit "Pause" (same button) (stops playback but the download continues. Wait a minute or two or possibly more (depending on your connection and the length of the track), and then hit play again. Enough of your track should be downloaded now that there will not be hiccups. You can see a green line increase from left to right. This indicates how much of the file is already downloaded to you computer.

Quick Recap: Your connection likely cannot keep up with the required transfer rate of the audio and therefore drops out... hitting play and pausing allows it to download a lot of the track so that you have a nice big buffer and don't get drop out/pauses in your audio playback.

Reasoning for Having Large High-Quality mp3s in the First Place:
I opted for high quality/high bandwidth mp3s because it is imperative for our perception that the audio be of the highest quality possible. That is why I made my master format the highest quality possible in the world today: 5.6MHz/1bit DSD. I want to give the most accurate/realistic perception of what happened acoustically and have your experience be simply natural: as if you are there.

Aaron

Sunday, Reykjavik House Show: My Summer As A Salvation Soldier

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:28:21 PST

Let me open this post with a picture of the really cool looking red house across the street from the show. You'd think that Reykjavik would look drab gray with all of the aluminum sheets covering cement walls but no: it is one of the most colorful cities I have ever seen. Árni was telling me that people paint the aluminum panels and I must say, it has a really nice effect. Look at some pictures of Reykjavik: it's extremely pleasant, not at all gaudy, just extremely pleasant.

Below is set 2 of the house show with:
"My Summer As A Salvation Soldier"

Song 1:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - My Summer As A Salvation Solider - Song 1 by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Song/Piece: Unknown

Cryptic Analysis:
Like commentaried quiet, amplifying silence with awkward yet deeply meaningful, hesitant, punctuation. (Self referential beat poetry or the best description I could come up with: you be the judge)

Binaural Tidbit:
Listen for the mewling cats and their collar bells (mainly to the front right/right side [direction assumes your headphones are on the right way and your desktop computer was wired correctly, unlike my desktop computer {laptops are almost surely OK}]).

The remainder of My Summer As A Salvation Soldier's set:

Song 2:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - My Summer As A Salvation Solider - Song 2 by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Song/Piece: Unknown

Song 3:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - My Summer As A Salvation Solider - Song 3 by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Song/Piece: Unknown

Song 4:
(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - My Summer As A Salvation Solider - Song 4 by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Song/Piece: Unknown

Binaural Recording Info:
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

Aaron

Balmy North Atlantic Weather in Iceland

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:38:26 PST

And by "balmy", I mean "cycloney". This is completely off topic but I just saw this really cool satellite image of Iceland in the midst of tandem cyclones. For full resolution and a description from NASA (the photographer), check it out here. By the way, in case you are not some sort of geography/country-border-silhouette buff: the island of Iceland is right about in the middle of the top edge of the image--hard to see beneath the cyclone(s) cloud(s). For reference:

Ok, enough of this... why am I making small talk about the weather from Nov. '06??? The real issue here is how much this weather pattern looks like an owl. Allow me to introduce...

Exhibit 1:

Case closed.

Forced Segue:
As I was saying: Binaural Recording!!! Back on topic! Hooray!

Aaron

Sunday, Reykjavik House Show: The Heir Electric

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:04:49 PST

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday: We'll sell you the whole seat but you'll only need the edge. Sunday was like a monster truck rally of awesome music--sans monster trucks and mullets. I didn't think I would be bombarded with this many music options until Iceland Airwaves was in full swing but Sunday was a most pleasant contradiction. Of course, there was so much interesting music going on that the choices became perplexingly difficult. Though, in the end, I definitely heard a ton of awesome music, even if some other music was missed due to this specific trajectory.

Sunday House Show in Autumn
Reykjavik, Iceland
2008/10/12

This is a picture between sets where a lot of people left to get some fresh air, AKA smoke (it was relatively packed during the music). You can see my ultra hi-fi manikin head in the foreground with the Icelandic hipster haircut (not so apparent from the back). He is looking intently at the chandelier and sound stage. I took the picture while bracing the camera on the door sill since I needed a long exposure with as little movement as possible. You can hear this door, that I used as a stabilizer, being opened in back of you at least in Song 1 of My Summer As A Salvation Soldier set.
-------------------------------------------------------
The Heir Electric
My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Ólafur Arnalds

This house show was in a small neighborhood next to the Reykjavik Airport

View Larger Map

It was a brisk clear autumn night and people gathering indoors in the comfort of someone's home to enjoy music seemed apropos.

It took a while to setup my ultra hi-fi binaural recording manikin--this would be its debut live concert recording. Perhaps, at somepoint I'll post a bit about how I built the binaural manikin head and the technical/artistic decisions that I made to create what is quite probably the highest fidelity binaural recording system in the world (not to brag or anything).

At anyrate, I started capturing the acoustic environment somewhere in the middle of The Heir Electric's set.

Behold:

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - The Heir Electric - 2nd from last by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: The Heir Electric
Song/Piece: Unknown
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Master Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

If I remember correctly, The Heir Electric played 3 pieces and this is the 2nd of those.

The Heir Electric:
Basically, The Heir Electric is a solo act that sounds more like a swath of musicians (perhaps a modern string quartet + some electronic musicians) creating interesting textures with loop and effect pedals. Think Steve Reich ("Electric Counterpoint" comes to mind) meets, Jimi Hendrix (shreding the violin [instead of guitar]) meets, Shostakovitch (interesting syncopation and harmonic dissonance), meets Daft Punk ("phat beatz" that are like comfort food). It's really fun to watch this come together because not only is The Heir Electric crafting this large sound in front of you but he is often doing it using his toes to turn knobs and tweak sounds. His toes.

The Heir Electric's 3rd and final piece was interesting not only in that it was a cover but it was a cover of a musician who was playing at this same show: Ólafur Arnalds. It's the last track from Ólafur 's album "Eulogy for Evolution" which is now available in North America.

(Use Headphones for All Recordings)
2008 10 12 House Concert - The Heir Electric - last song - Olafur Arnalds Cover by BinauralAirwaves
Artist: The Heir Electric
Song/Piece: Cover of Ólafur Arnalds' last piece on the album "Eulogy for Evolution"
Microphone Setup: Ultra Hi-Fi Binaural Manikin Head
Original Recording Format: 5.6MHz/1bit Direct Stream Digital
Streaming Format: mp3 LAME 3.97 variable bit rate ~240 kbps 44.1kHz

An aside regarding the name "The Heir Electric":
I cannot claim that "The Heir Electric" is indeed the exact written name of this artist. I know his real name is Karl and he is a really interesting guy who seems to be hugely into classical and electronic music and their hybridization. Though, it was unclear to me if he actually went by "The Air Electric", which sounds the same when spoken. I only heard him say it; never saw it written. "Air" could definitely be an allusion to the era of Bach and The Heir Electric's classical ("classical" encapsulating all time periods of classical music, as opposed to meaning the "classical period" within classical music) influences.

However, I must say I very much hope that Karl is indeed "The Heir Electric" as that can be understood in so many various and interesting ways. He's not the heir apparent, he's not the heir presumptive, he's... The Heir Electric.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Does that mean whenever electricity dies (like, for instance, my iPod battery on a long flight) Karl is crowned in a lavish ceremony and, from then on, wears a cape that reads "The Electric"? Is it his bank account that my electric bills go to? It's hilarious, confounding, and, more than anything, vexing.

It's a tragedy but I don't have any contact or website for The Heir Electric.

Karl: drop me a line por favor.

Ok, there is far more to hear from Sunday.

The rest of the house show including:
My Summer As A Salvation Soldier
Ólafur Arnalds

The lighthouse sound installation put on by:
Klive
Overview of the Sound Installation

Plus, I heard a Rökkurró rehearsal.

So, stay tuned. More binaural audio + context will soon be posted.

Aaron

Árni and Hildur, Your Families, and Rökkurró: Þakka þér fyrir!

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:59:41 PST

Firstly, before any binaural recordings from Iceland Airwaves 2008 are heard, it is my pleasure to thank my extraordinarily amazing hosts Árni and Hildur of Rökkurró and their most hospitable families for not only making my trip/binaural recording possible but hugely memorable. Árni was key in convincing me that I had to make a pilgrimage to Iceland Airwaves and, throughout my entire stay in Iceland, Árni and Hildur and their families made me completely forget that I was traveling because I simply felt at home.

Many thanks are also due to the entire Rökkurró band for lots of great music in rehearsal and concert and many good times all week. You are all great musicians and hearing you guys play was a true highlight of the trip. Plus you guys totally made my day by playing Dagur Þrjú (Track 9 on their album Það kólnar í kvöld... english: "There's a chill in the air tonight...").

So, to Árni and Hildur, your families, and Rökkurró...

Þakka þér fyrir!

-Aaron

Just Back From Iceland Airwaves 2008: Recordings Coming Soon!

binaural.airwaves@gmail.com (Aaron) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:59:51 PDT

I'm freshly back from Iceland Airwaves and am editing the many hi-fi binaural recordings from this amazing week of music. So, stay tuned as there will be many new recordings coming in the next week or two.

Aaron