Switched-On Friendship – Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind-Tourre.
Where would electronic music be without Wendy Carlos? Carlos’ 1968 album Switched-On Bach brought the Moog synthesizer (and electronic music) to the public eye. It was popular enough to win three Grammys and become the first classical record to go platinum. With her influence, the 1970s became saturated with synthesizers from disco to advertisement jingles to Progressive Rock. The influential soundtracks of A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980), and Tron (1982) also came from her hand.
Carlos was a pioneer in other ways too. In 1972 she became one of the first public figures to undergo gender reassignment surgery and speak openly of it. Gender dysphoria was something that Carlos was aware of at an early age, but it was not until 1968 that she started her transition. The success of Switched-On Bach was both a blessing and a curse, as it made surgery available, but Carlos performed publicly as a man throughout most of the ’70s. It was in an interview with Playboy magazine published in 1979 that Wendy Carlos finally disclosed her true self. There was no public backlash, and Carlos’ main regret was that she had not come out earlier.
Wendy Carlos, a pioneer as she is, still relied on her friends to help her achieve greatness. In 1966 Carlos met aspiring jazz singer Rachel Elkind-Tourre. When she heard Carlos’ synthesized experiments of various Bach pieces, she brought forward the idea of a full album. At the time Elkind-Tourre was working as an assistant to the President of CBS and used her influence to help pitch Switched-On Bach to the company, and later used her connections to provide studio space for Carlos. With this first collaboration, Elkind-Tourre became a frequent contributor and producer of Carlos’ albums.
Not much of Rachel Elkind-Tourre’s private life is known. Around the time she met Carlos, she had recently moved from San Francisco to New York City to pursue a career as a jazz vocalist. It is this jazz background, and vocal training gave Elkind-Tourre the perspective and tools to be Carlos’ trusted co-creator. Together they created Trans-Electronic Music Productions, Inc. (TEMPI) with Benjamin Folkman, another of Carlos’ collaborators. In 1980 Elkind-Tourre married and moved to France, and ended the official partnership between the two.
The legacy of this friendship can be heard in the majority of Wendy Carlos’ albums. Elkind-Tourre’s voice (through a vocoder) adds texture in Sonic Seasonings (1972), and her compositional influence is integral in The Shining. Carlos does note that Rachel Elkind-Tourre is one to avoid fame and credit, which is a shame. This is a story of women empowering women. Their friendship should be celebrated, not just for the works they created together, but the barriers they overcame.
Listen to the room you currently reside. What do you hear? Is it traffic, an airplane, or is it a nearby playground? Can you hear your co-workers or just the hum of the air conditioner unit? These are questions Rosa Lin faces every day as an Acoustician in her quest to reduce unwanted noise.
Nicole Kirch (NK): Name/Occupation:
Rosa Lin (RL): Rosa Lin, Acoustician
NK: What is an Acoustician?
RL: Acousticians are professionals with scientific and engineering training and experience specializing in the optimization of sound environments in buildings and in the larger environment. We understand how sound energies behave and how they interact with different materials, shapes, machine systems, and the physical environment. We design different types of spaces with various functions, which drives the acoustic requirements. Good acoustics for a space means they are healthier, more productive, more comfortable, or most enjoyable, at least in terms of the sound environment. Many times this looks like making spaces quieter, minimizing noise problems from various sources, or optimize the performance of a critical-listening space. Sometimes, acousticians have specialization in vibration control in addition to noise control.
NK: What does a typical day look like?:
RL: Typically, we provide acoustic design targets for building projects. We take all types of noise and acoustic measurements using scientific instrumentation and standardized test procedures to collect data, then we analyse various engineering questions at hand and provide solutions. We then provide practical, effective design solutions to the architecture/design/construction teams and convey them in a clear manner. We also review architectural and engineering documents, building design details, and construction site conditions to ensure that the acoustic design is implemented properly for the project.
Our working document types include analysis spreadsheets, reports and presentations, analysis software files, and architectural documents (3D models, 2D design and construction drawing sets).
These are example snippets of engineering questions we help solve in our everyday work.
Help make performance spaces like music halls or gym assembly spaces, work and sound their best.
Make meeting rooms work properly – to make sure participants have clear, intelligible discussions including over video or teleconferencing equipment, and to have privacy from adjacent rooms.
Design recording studios and music practice rooms.
Design classrooms that have good speech intelligibility for learning, understanding, and communication.
Design building systems like piping and air flow/HVAC to make them quiet; and we design apartments that do not have footfall problems from above, even in wood or composite wood buildings
NK: How is noise involved in our daily environments?:
RL: Sound transmission between adjacent spaces, Sound quality within a space, Traffic/environmental/party noise ingress to residential recreation or workspaces, Equipment, building systems, industrial and machine noise impacting residential recreation and workspaces.
NK: What are some ways to control noise?:
RL: Control the source – noise limits by regulatory prescription, Improve the sound blocking properties of building structures, such as walls, floors, roofs, etc., depending on what kind of sound we are dealing with. Improve the sound-absorbing properties of building surfaces.
NK: How did you get interested in Acoustics?
RL: My master’s degree program studies focused on small housing and noise conditions. Through this, I came to realize there is a whole world of people dealing with sound and noise issues, specifically sound in buildings and the built environment.
NK: How did you get into the field of Architectural Acoustics?:
RL: I have an architecture and science/engineering background and was exploring possible alternatives for a career. My master’s degree program encouraged me to explore this field and provided many work and advancement opportunities that kept me on track.
NK: What advice do you have for those looking to get into Acoustics?:
RL: Perseverance – it might take a few years for you to gain a wide range of topical proficiencies required of an architectural acoustics consultant. There is a lot of variety of work in our field, so keep up your curiosity and fighting spirit to conquer new subjects and new problems and develop the flexibility to understand new subject matters. Develop your expertise and be sensitive to the needs of your team outside of acoustics – there are many other key players you need to work with: the architects, the project owners, the regulatory bodies (this includes government and non-government bodies), mechanical engineers, structural engineers, interior designers, and the construction teams.
SoundGirls Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon
On May 26th, 2019, a group of SoundGirls met online to discuss the ins and outs of Wikipedia. Myself and April Tucker led the talk, and while initial attendance was small, I could see a growing interest among the SoundGirls community. Much of what was covered was an expansion of the previous articles I had written. I began with the ethos of the online encyclopedia, and quickly progressed to a step-by-step instruction of how to edit Wikipedia pages. April focused on tips and tricks that make Wikipedia even easier to navigate. I admit, I learned many new techniques from this talk.
If you missed the Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon event, we have you covered, starting at the 2-hour mark.
Furthermore, the best way to start editing Wikipedia is to create an account there. Wikipedia was made for everyone, and there are tasks for every editing level. I have a page available specifically for those SoundGirls starting their editing journey with guides and links. My Talk Page is also available for specific questions, and I check it regularly.
SoundGirls have an opportunity to spread awareness through Wikipedia, but it takes all of us. Every little edit, no matter how small, adds up. Similar to Geena Davis’ crusade of “If She Can See It She Can Be It,” let us build towards gender parity.
There are a variety of ways to approach the study of music. I often tackle it from a technical point of view, but one can look at the historical and cultural context of music to decipher the larger picture. Ethnomusicology is the study of the social and societal sources of music and is heavily tied with anthropology and the study of folklore. Through this human-centric approach, researchers learn about the ‘why’ of music and how emotions are expressed in different communities. As a field of study, ethnomusicology developed in the mid-1800s, supported by the nationalist sentiments in classical music of the time. In the 1930s with the increasing portability of recording machines, there was a push to document folk music from around the world, especially in the United States. In the Caribbean and the American South, Zora Neale Hurston was the champion of the African cultural diaspora.
While many ethnomusicologists start out as composers or musicians, Hurston was an anthropologist who studied folklore. Where folklore and music overlapped, she did not hesitate to explore and document. Her best-known works are Their Eyes Were Watching God (later made into a film starring Halle Berry) and Dust Tracks on a Road (an autobiography). Hurston’s relationship with human culture followed many avenues, as her name is most notably associated with the Harlem Renaissance literary movement.
Hurston was born in 1891 in Alabama and grew up in Eatonville, Florida where many of her books are set. She dropped out of high school after her father and step-mother stopped paying for her tuition and eventually became a maid to a touring theatre company. From there she found her way back to high-school and graduated at age 27. After receiving her associate degree from Howard University, Hurston pursued a B.A. in Anthropology from Barnard College of Columbia University. She followed this with masters from the same institution and began research of African American culture in the American South from 1927 to 1932 under the patronage of Charlotte Osgood Mason.
It was from this research that Zora Neale Hurston took inspiration for her many novels. The lumber camps in Florida became Mules and Men, and spiritual and vodoun culture in Jamaica and Haiti became Tell My Horse. Hurston’s dedication to anthropological research did get her into controversy. Her adherence to dialect was not always appreciated in the literary world, as it was seen as degrading by her peers. It took until 2018 for her nonfiction account of the last slave brought to the United States, Barracoon, to be published. Literature was not the only way to share her research, therefore Hurston staged several revues of folk music and dance from the Caribbean and American South. The Great Day was her first revue, staged at New York’s John Golden Theatre in 1932. Later revues included From Sun to Sun and Singing Steel. In 1935 Hurston collaborated with Alan Lomax and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle to record songs and interviews from former American slaves. There are other instances where Hurston herself would perform the songs she gathered in her travels. These recordings are still available in the Library of Congress.
Zora Neale Hurston’s influence extends to this day with the ZORA! Festival of the Arts and Humanities in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida among other institutions created and barriers crossed along the way. Hurston’s documentation and preservation of the voices of the American South and especially those of African American women help keep their stories alive. Our connection with our musical past is important for our musical future, and it takes many different disciplines collaborating to keep the connection alive.
Zines are a Riot
Originating from the word magazine, and the concept of a fanzine (fan magazine), zines are the do-it-yourself version of their mass-produced counterpart. Most zines have a small editorial team (sometimes only consisting of one person) and rely on office photocopiers (if they are lucky). Hand-penned sketches and counter-culture commentary fill their few pages. Advertising and distribution depend heavily on word-of-mouth, a downside on the one hand, but a powerful marketing tool for a generation that thrives on discovering the next viral hit. This small-scale approach gives zines the power to cover any topic, no matter how personal or controversial, and are therefore closely tied to alternative and fringe cultural movements.
The modern origins of zines stem from the Science Fiction fanzines of the 1930s and ’40s. A few decades later zines would branch out as creators found other shared interests in comics, horror, and rock music. As rock zines like Crawdaddy! (created by Paul Williams in 1966) matured and became professional, the underground punk scene took to zines aided by the increasing access to photocopiers. Punk zines and subculture then became the breeding grounds for LGBTQ and Riot Grrrl zines. Zines are still kicking today, finding their way to readers via local bookstores, Etsy, and on blogs and websites.
My exploration of zines is only just beginning, but I found a text that helped introduce me to the overall history and philosophy of zines with an emphasis on women/non-binary folk and music. DIY: The Rise of Lo-fi Culture by Amy Spencer provides an anthology as well as a timeline of the various zine movements. With each zine mentioned there is a description of how the progression of technology-aided manufacturing and distribution, and why the creator needed to publish. In addition to focusing on the creators, Spencer highlights the communities that because of their hunger for representation nurtured zines. Blogs, pirate radio stations, and DIY labels are all tied into the thesis by way of shared ethos. While I would not use it as my sole manual, this book acts as a guide to start your zine.
One zine that caught my fancy is Filter Sweep. This one-off publication follows Jade Payne on tour as Front of House engineer. Through the zine, she gives you a diary of her triumphs and headaches, complete with pictures and diagrams. The way she pours her heart out and shares her wisdom makes it a perfect companion to a young engineer. Filter Sweep is zines at their most raw: photographs are replaced by hand-drawn sketches, and each entry is written in frantic scrawl reflecting the bustle of tour life. And while you have to contact Jade directly to acquire a copy, I cannot emphasize enough how much one can learn from reading it.
A more polished zine is Women in Sound by Madeline Campbell. I feel Women in Sound is essentially a written companion of SoundGirls. The majority of its pages are filled with interviews with amazing women and non-binary folk who work in audio and music, but there are sections devoted to past greats and helpful guides. The interviews focus on the careers of each person and how they got there, as well as their personal philosophies. They feel inclusive and insightful. Each issue is its own powerful seminar. Maggie Negrete tailored the design, and the work found within is clean and bold. Even with the staple-bound 8 ½” by 5 ½” packaging (a standard sheet of paper folded in half), the stories inside are more fulfilling than most music glossies.
In finding ways to support your siblings in arms do not forget the humble zine. From birth to now, it has been the voice of those without power. It can be a low-cost and personal way to share your and others’ stories. Within the convergence of writing, art, and music, zines can be a way to say “I see you,” and “I hear you.” Like the mixtape, all you need to start is a sharpie and an idea.
Winter Carnival at Michigan Tech
Introduction
In the remote upper peninsula of Michigan lies my alma mater Michigan Technological
University (Michigan Tech). When the weather is at its snowiest is when the year’s biggest event takes place: Winter Carnival. Unofficially the carnival is a month-long event with broomball tournaments and highly ambitious snow statues, but the majority of the events occur within a week in February. My favorite memories were of the All-Nighter, an outdoor party throughout campus that accompanied the building of the smaller snow statues. Our student Audio Engineering Society chapter would DJ the whole event with a set of snow speakers. Well, the Winter Carnival spirit continues with the current generation of students, and the SoundGirls of Michigan Tech wanted to share their experiences.
Stage Revue:
Michigan Technological University’s SoundGirls student chapter recently took part in the production of this year’s Stage Revue. Stage Revue is a theatre event that takes place during Winter Carnival, a mid-winter break that is a significant part of the Michigan Tech experience. There were four designers that helped design the sound and music of five teams that each put on an original ten-minute play. The sound team was comprised of four students.
Sarah Calvert is the president of the SoundGirls student chapter at Michigan Tech. She is studying Sound Design major and Music Composition minor who is set to graduate in the Fall 2019. She has a passion for design work, especially in theatrical entertainment and video games. What she loved most about working on Stage Revue was the opportunity to foster future opportunities and collaborations for future members of SoundGirls at Michigan Tech. She is looking forward to creating more of these opportunities throughout her final semesters and is enthusiastic about what these opportunities and events mean for passionate students.
Tyler Quinn is a 4th year sound design major and music composition minor. He enjoyed the apparent freedom that the groups were given to write their plays for stage revue. He also appreciated that they ranged from fearlessly madcap to gleefully offensive, making for an entertaining night of theater. His work for Stage Revue ended up being a pretty even mixture of background ambiences that I made with either some of my personal field recordings or various industrial machinery recordings layered on top of each other and some sci-fi effects made with synthesizers.
Marie Zgurich is a first-year Software Engineering student at Michigan Technological university. Her dream job is to create and promote software which can be used for audio production. While she claims she may not have as much experience as some of her peers, helping out with audio for Stage Revue and the chapter of SoundGirls was a fantastic learning experience. She learned that knowing your audience is important, as well as becoming familiar with the unique array of tools used by audio producers. Being able to incorporate the amusement and humor delivered by Stage Revue into the work made the environment much more fun and welcoming!
Moira Van Loon is a first-year Audio Production and Technology major. Stage Revue was the production she has done sound design work for. Her favorite part was watching the performances and getting to hear everyone’s work come together. What Moira likes best about sound design is that it blends both the creative and technical, which is important to her.
photo credit: Michigan Tech AES
Afterward, I asked Sarah Calvert what she thought of the event:
“Well, we did five, ten-minute plays. Each one was different, but they all had to do with STEM courses in some way. Not all of the groups gave us the scripts that they wrote, so what the teams sent us as well as fun because they were fairly relaxed and grateful for whatever we designed for them. They liked everything we made. We learned that it is challenging working with students, as well as people who are not use to directing or giving specifics to designers. I know we all enjoyed the creative opportunity to design sounds for the shows. They were small shows, and I thought it was a great opportunity for younger designers to get their feet wet, which is something that I enjoyed and felt was an important opportunity for our younger members.”
Co-Written by: Sarah Calvert the president of the SoundGirls student chapter at Michigan Tech. She is studying Sound Design major and Music Composition minor
Editing SoundGirls into Wikipedia
Why is editing a Wikipedia article so important?
First of all, Wikipedia is the modern equivalent of an encyclopedia; it is the first stop in finding an answer. With over 5.6 million articles in the English language, it is one of the most comprehensive collections of knowledge available. Currently, there are very few female Wikipedia editors and a very small percentage of female-related articles. Art+Feminism is looking to change that by training new Wikipedia editors (it could be you or me or anyone). They are not the only ones either. Wikipedia has its own group of Wikiprojects dedicated to providing female-related articles.
Editing an Article
While I had not formally edited a Wikipedia article before, I was vaguely familiar with their style and guidelines, so I thought I would try my hand in becoming a Wikipedia editor and share my experiences with SoundGirls. I had some knowledge of formatting and citing in the Wikipedia style, but I also made sure to keep several tabs open of Wikipedia’s helpful tutorials.
Wikipedia requires strict standards in sources, citations, and sentence structure. There is a lot to keep in mind when writing an article, and so Wikipedia has tutorials and templates to copy from. Self-promotion is not permitted when creating an article. Therefore, sources cannot be a personal website or an IMDB page. Bias is also frowned upon, which means many controversial articles are locked from the fledgling editor.
Often new editors are guided to almost complete topics, ones that only need cleanup in citations or a couple of extra facts. Many niche articles are plagued with improper citation and writing flags. From there, an editor can build up their chops before turning to a completely new article. Focusing on pre-existing articles also helps with the moderating backlog that is a constant problem for Wikipedia.
Creating an Article
Even knowing all of this, I still decided to create a completely new article. I wrote about Karen Lam, a female film director, and producer, known for her horror short films and for promoting other women in film. While I did meet her briefly, I have no professional association with her, and therefore I had no conflict of interest with which to color the tone of my article. She had been interviewed several times in local and national magazines, and her films had won several awards. This meant that she was relevant and documented enough to have an article based on her. I, the lowly blog writer, still early in my career, do not have the right credentials to have a Wikipedia article, and so it goes. As an added bonus, a film directed by Karen had its own article already and therefore referenced my subject. An article that is not referenced by anything else is an orphan, which often suggests the irrelevance of the topic.
Not including the time it took to research her, I was able to write my article and submit it for the first time during the Art+Feminism event, and within minutes I received my first error flag. I had cited IMDB for awards won by my subject, and so I updated the article, took out a few awards that were only listed on IMDB, and put a new award mentioned in a reputable press release. I did not hear back for a month and a half. My article was then finally approved.
Wikipedia Advice
When first delving into the land of editing, start with a pre-existing article or your “personal sandbox.”
Take your time, and learn the ropes of syntax and citation.
If you do desire to write a new topic, then find several print sources as well as reliable internet sources.
An image is nice, but not necessary.
Conflicting facts between reliable interviews do happen, if you are unsure of a fact, then do not include it.
Avoid topics that you are connected to, either with heavy emotional bias or professionally.
Know that errors get noticed quickly, but positive responses are slow.
Errors are not permanent but instead are a learning experience.
Finally, your article is always open to change and grow, so if you want to update anything, give it a shot.
Wikipedia was made to be edited by the public, and it can be another tool to grow the influence of women in media and to break the glass fader.
Where to Start
In my prior article on Wikipedia editing, I focused on the basics of choosing a Wikipedia article topic and the reason for writing them. Through this article, my goal is to give you a few definitions and resources in other ways to make women more present in the online encyclopedia. For further tips and ideas, you can view my Wikipedia profile (Lyrelyrebird), which I formatted as a hub for SoundGirls looking to start their Wikipedia journey.
Green Articles and Red Articles
When a Wikipedia article already exists, any link to the article is blue in color while any link to a non-existent article is red.
It is tempting to search for these “red” articles and start a page from scratch, and many people do, but Wikipedia is littered with pages that have only the bare minimum of word count and are lacking in proper sources. Internally, Wikipedia rates articles based on their quality with green designating a “good” article. It takes time and effort to turn an article “green.” New articles and major edits must be approved by veteran editors, and any mistakes or errors are flagged for fixing. Once everything is finally up to snuff, then the article is slated for a final review and approval before the green designation is assigned. Even then, if the article is about a living person, the article might need babysitting for updates as time passes.
Green articles are great examples for templates and guides in editing articles needing TLC. One cannot feasibly memorize every code trick that Wikipedia has available, so use others’ insight to your advantage. For example, when working on an article about a sound designer, find a page of a more well-known designer or even a cinematographer and see how that article formatted things like filmography and career highlights. I use copy and paste frequently, and Wikipedia encourages it. Consistency is part of why Wikipedia is a respected first stop in researching any topic.
This is also a good approach when working on a “stub” article (one that is too short or needs more verified information) or working on a poorly written articles.
What will you see on a pre-existing article?
Once you are logged in, the top of every Wikipedia article will show several tabs such as “Edit” (where the magic happens), “View History” (an edit log), and on the other side is “Talk.”
Talk Pages
The talk page is a mini-forum where collaborating editors can communicate page plans and goals. This is also where error flags are discussed in more detail. More established articles often have many notes on edit histories and unverified content. If one is not respectful of the talk page, then an edit war may occur. An edit war happens when a segment of an article is repeatedly changed by two or more editors. If changes to the article are malicious, the article gets locked. Many of the most popular articles in Wikipedia are locked to prevent these occurrences. The best way out of an edit war is to step back from the article and reevaluate it again through the talk page at a later date, but there are ways to request dispute resolutions if one of the feuding editors is acting in bad faith.
Categories
Articles are grouped by way of Categories. A page is assigned to categories and you’ll see an article’s assigned categories at the bottom of it’s page.
Categories with enough articles have subsections called Subcategories:
An article will reside in an appropriate subcategory whenever possible before populating the main Category. As with articles, it is better to start with existing Categories before creating new ones. Parent Categories (more general groupings) with too many children can make a topic more confusing than it has to be, and articles can be overloaded with related topics. In my opinion, because adding Categories is a simple task, it is better to save it for future edits when the main Category becomes too unwieldy.
Lists
Lists can be confused for Categories, but they have one large difference. Categories apply to every article they can be used for, but Lists are reserved for the best examples of a subject matter. Another difference is that Lists are a type of article (it can be edited like a page), while a Category is not an article.
I would also caution that due to their formating, Lists inherently cannot be “good” articles, and should be deemed as a lower priority. I have mentioned both Lists and Categories in my user page as edit ideas, but please prioritize the existing ones before making new ones, and use my talk page if you have any questions or ideas.
User Page
A user page is your personal page, similar to a profile page (but functions like an article where you have to build it yourself). Not every user page look the same, and some users ignore their pages altogether. There are a few rules on what should and should not go on a user page:
Do write your interests and possible affiliations (if you have them)
Don’t self-promote, antagonize, or copy copyrighted/wiki article content.
If you are unsure about having a user page, then ignore it, you are not required to edit it.
Sandbox
After you create your Wikipedia account, you get space for both a user page and a sandbox page. Like a sandbox in real life, the sandbox is where you can play/practice using Wikipedia and get familiar with how it works. Wikipedia encourages you to create and test your new article ideas in the sandbox before adding it to the main encyclopedia.
A note on languages
While I and the majority of the rest of Wikipedia editors are English speakers, Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia. Nearly every language is represented, and many popular articles are written in all languages. That means there are editors for those languages, and resources for those editors to follow language-specific styles. If you are comfortable in a language and want to edit in that language, go for it. Be aware that some articles may not exist in English, and your sources should be in the language you are editing in.
WikiProjects
WikiProjects are groups of like-minded editors who have a passion for a particular subject matter. The broader a subject matter, the more editors working together and the more resources the project has to work on specific articles. Often the WikiProject pages are full of templates and tips for turning articles green and are great places to frequent as a new editor. My favorite resource is their list of high-priority articles, or articles that are either close to completion or are of more prominent subjects. I suggest Women in Red and Women in Green but have links to other WikiProjects on my user page.
Sonic Tourism
Have you ever planned a vacation around your ears? As in a location with something unique to offer in aural pleasure instead of gastronomic or visual? If you have not, it is time to become an epicurean for your ears. Many places host ear-pleasing experiences, but some are local secrets. Here are a variety of options to kickstart your listening adventure.
If you are tight on vacation time, Soundwalking is a simple way to reward your ears. According to Dr. Andra McCartney, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Concordia University, “Soundwalking is a creative and research practice that involves listening and sometimes recording while moving through a place at a walking pace.” It is to observe, rather than participate in the surrounding environmental ambience.
Soundwalking can happen anywhere. Urban centers are full of industrial symphonies for people watchers. Cars and machines can lay a rhythmic background for melodies from sirens and conversations. City parks are a quieter option, full of birds and trees. During certain seasons birds migrate and bring with them a variety of songs. When I visited the Sandhill Crane Festival in Othello, Washington, I was fine with not using binoculars, because I heard the calls of cranes, hawks, harriers, and my favorite redwing and yellowwing blackbirds (metalheads of the bird world). Next time I will bring an audio recorder in addition to a camera.
More remote parks and wildlife refuges reward listeners with isolation from mechanical sounds. In the Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state, there exists one square inch of silence. Other old growth forests might be hiding similar pockets of stillness as well.
Hoh Rainforest
Big Trees at Hoh Rainforest
When planning a metropolitan vacation, add a multipurpose experience. Architecture is not just designed around the eyes, and older buildings are full of creative pockets of reverberation. Cincinnati’s Union Terminal, a train station turned museum is not alone in its whisper arch, as an arched channel will do. Whisper arches are perfect for private conversations between two opposite ends of a crowded room. In Europe, there is a garden that you can have a discussion with your echo. The delay time of the reflecting sounds allows them to respond to your initial spoken message. Complex words can become full discourse as the word’s beginning decays with each successive reflection.
The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City has gorgeous acoustics purpose-built for the choir and a massive pipe organ. While the modern trend is to create multi-purpose performance halls, venues from the early 20th century (or even earlier) are awe-inspiring locations for the bold and beautiful verb.
Mormon Tabernacle
An ambitious sonic tourist should start with The Sound Book by Trevor Cox to create their travel plans. Cox chronicles the weird and the unique in the sonic realm. Abandoned cisterns in the UK boast insane sustain times, sand dunes in Death Valley sing and boom, and Australia has a little bird that can copy whatever sound it hears. Also explored in the book is a silent retreat, where Cox does not speak at the monastery and instead learns to meditate and listen. After reading about his experiences, I started paying attention to other sonic peculiarities in the news. Detroit has a fascinating little island with a mysterious hum of possible sinister origin, and Siberia has an old mining pit that emits an eerie noise. Otherwise otherworldly intermittent sounds, like ultra-low frequencies, occur in ways similar to UFO sightings and inspired The X-files.
No matter your vacation goals and budget, there is an audio experience for you. Treat your ears to sounds that vary from peaceful, luxurious, strange, to intriguing. There are places to participate or spectate in the sonic wonders, and there are places to be introspective. Enjoy the world with a new perspective and add a new dimension to your memories. Go forth and explore with your ears.
Prepping Your Studio for a Hurricane
As you may know, I am currently based out of coastal North Carolina and it was the epicenter of Hurricane Florence. Luckily Florence lost steam before hitting land and I evacuated safely.
Clean-up is still happening, and I thought I would share some tips in case anyone else finds themselves in the same boat. This list is not exhaustive, and emergency numbers are based on where you live, so be sure to do extra research on what is unique to where you live.
Start thinking about the storm season at least a month out.
Update your studio insurance, include hurricane and flood insurance if possible
Be knowledgeable of the flood plains in your area and how often they flood
Keep your roof in good repair and trim all dead and overhanging branches from nearby trees
Check your generator for any maintenance
Create an emergency plan for both your studio and your family
Take pictures and video of your studio, be sure to include serial numbers for insurance purposes
Meet your neighbors, communities rely on each other in times of emergencies, if your building is fit it could help the recovery or evacuation process
One week out while the storm trajectory includes your area start planning for the worst.
Get your supplies now while everything is in stock and reasonably priced. Supplies should include boards for windows, extra gas for the generator, bottled water, sandbags, non-perishable food, walkie talkies and flashlights, fresh batteries, a life jacket
Organize what gear stays or goes in case of evacuation and prepare it to make evacuation faster and simpler
Pack emergency kits like paperwork and backed up hard drives in case of rapid evacuation
Confirm with clients with rescheduling and backup plans for worst-case scenarios
Confirm with your emergency contacts your emergency plans, and have any employees do the same
Find out where your nearest evacuation shelter is and any emergency contact information or apps 2 to 3 days out with the storm being imminent be ready on a moment's notice.
Book hotel if storm is increasing and you are within the cone of uncertainty
Prep studio for the impact, board up windows, place sandbags, bring in any outdoor furniture or things that could become projectiles, generators stay outside
Keep everything rapid deploy ready
Call clients and execute cancellations or rescheduling
Day of decision, it is time for action.
Execute decision to stay or go
Mandatory evacuation means no or delayed emergency services
If you go, drive safe watch for trailers, ditches and shoulders
Follow your local department of transportation, electrical department and others for updates
Have emergency numbers handy
If you stay, know that resources are scarce and rescue is slow
Follow your local department of transportation, electrical department and others for updates both on social media and the radio
Help out neighbors with final prep and get their contact information, and be patient
Day of hurricane, it is too late to do much.
Hunker down, stay calm, stay safe
Stay away from windows
If floodwaters rise make sure you can exit if you move to higher floors, i.e. a sledgehammer or go to the roof
Report any outages and calls for rescue as they occur, be patient
1-2 days after the storm passes, assess your damage and slowly start the recovery process.
Follow emergency personnel instructions
Do not return until the “all clear” is given
Flooding may still occur even a week after
Electricity and roads take time to repair
Help neighbors only if you have the resources to do so
Follow news and social media for updated photos and videos
Stay safe, avoid floodwater, downed power lines, and bridges
Afterwards tie up any loose ends.
Follow up with insurance
Document property damage with pictures and video
Apply for FEMA assistance, there are many programs available and not all are income dependant
Follow up with clients and employees
Volunteer if you have the resources
Blood drives, community debris removal, community rebuild or fundraising projects
While you cannot predict every disaster, you can prepare for some. Use this list as a starting point to help you and your studio survive whatever storm Mother Nature throws at it. Mix safe everyone.
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