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April Lounge

4/14/2022

April's Listening Lounge otherwise known as “eyeball kicks, vacuums, wars and zen”

started with introductions and a discussion (or at least mention) of animal sounds we found captivating including: non-mammal burps, bird song, frog calls, and chirps... in disguise.
Henry kicked the night off with audio inspired by Howl.
That lead to a conversation about a possible future DCLL instrument building workshop (interested??) and the delights of making an electric cello, or perhaps a more accessible

noise box and/or cigar box guitar.
Discussions expanded into an exploration of creative uses for pickups
(piezo pickups are easy to solder two leads to anything)
Penelope shared audio from a drill rig recorded in Ajax, Ontario, and that launched us into conversations of mic'ing slinkies.
Tanya mentioned meeting Penelope at the Sound Girls Conference and that led to talk about how the recording reminded some of Luigi Russolo, who was an Italian futurist who predicted people would make music with "noises"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Russolo

That led to a suggestion that we all check out Music for 16 Futurists! (links courtesy of Henry).
https://youtu.be/oqgyXiR_WH4
https://youtu.be/Lqej96ZVoo8

A delightful evening was had by Penelope, Henry, Jocelyn, Lusen, Stella, Marika, Tanya and Steve (and some guy with a vacuum who shall not be named).

We are looking forward to our May Listening Lounge! If you want a prompt to inspire some fresh audio work for May, try “outrage” as suggested by Marika. There is plenty to draw from.
Bring your audio to share!
Looking forward to listening with you soon.DCLL

Feb Highlights

3/9/2022

We started the night off introducing ourselves and sharing a food sound that we each found funny (or delicious or both!).

Alberto, pop rocks
Steve, crunching nonpareils
Jocelyn, kneading bread and the sound of air escaping (aka the escaping “bread farts”)
Tanya, her cat eating food without chewing
Stella, slurping – both satisfying and giggle-inducing.
Will, bubble tea bobba-ball-chewing, and also the sound of his pizza cutter coming out of the drawer (he and Tanya may compose a duet of pizza cutters...maybe!).
Ben, an oyster knife sliding into an oyster and the sucking sounds of the opening and scrapping heard when working to release the oyster.
Henry, bratwurst and onions sizzling in avocado oil, (and the delicious, not particularly sonically hearty) french dressing with dijon mustard added.

Audio
Steve got the audio playback portion of the night started when he shared an NPR highlights reel he produced a while back. It featured some memorable clips including a great moment with Susan Stamberg in the closet crunching a wintergreen Life Saver to test the spark!

Jocelyn shared a sound clip she received via email from her friend Ruth which featured some satisfyingly sharp scissors cutting into fabric.

Henry said that inspired him to think of a Yoko Ono film called Cut Piece (https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/yoko-ono-cut-piece-1964/) and may inspire a future performance art ensemble musical piece from Henry created entirely by amplified cutting sounds - stay tuned!).

Jocelyn also played a short video recording that her sister captured of a Brooklynite beating, with a wooden stick, the frozen ice surface of a winter pond in Prospect Park. The wood on ice combo generated laser alien sounds.

Tanya shared “First Happening” an original composition crafted from naturally captured sounds like “leaf suckers” and their stereo movements transformed to create an arc of time and space.
For some it called to mind 2001 Space Odyssey, for others it was,“both familiar and unknown.”

Henry closed out the night with an original composition titled, “Journey to Delphi.” Impressions from the group included: “a processional feel,” “like a piece about memory” and “false endings and codas” and “liked the way it moved to shift directions into new scenes.”
Henry revealed it was all created on Tetrax organ!

Looking forward to listening with you all in March.

Jan Highlights

3/6/2022

We started the night with the prompt: What food item is sonically satisfying to you?
Henry- the sound of an omelet in the pan. “doing a variation on it now”
The sound preparation of the onions and sausage just starting to sizzle.

John: Donkey chips, very crunchy dipping chips, very thick and firm chips, something in the texture and the crunch that makes them very satisfying

Jocelyn- when making roasted tomato, lentil, eggplant stew there is a great sound that comes from tearing the juicy, canned whole tomatoes by hand and then dropping them into the pot (per the recipe's instructions!).

Renne: A chocolate machine, a chocolate fountain, and the soft whirrr (and the visual is really nice flowing). And inevitably the table where the fountain is located also has a nice collection of happy laughter too.

Steve: Trying to make Indian rice in the style of my wife. The sound is the key to things – saute basmati rice in oil a couple minutes with high heat, then boil water at the same time. The sound when you pour the boiling water into the pot with hot oil and rice, and the really great steam sound that erupts when the water is sucked up into the rice. (he admits that during his last attempt to make the rice he didn't hear that sound, and the rice took twice as long and turned out mushy). Now you know.

AUDIO:
Henry has a new album called Pivot out on Bandcamp, an homage to improvisation and the greats of the field and a little bit about omicron and themes of cycling and return. (Steve said, it sounded somehow familiar and then realized after Henry shared his inspirations that it was probably those references to Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, and Stockhausen.
Renne: said it sounded jazzy but unhurried.
John: noticed that he was following along anticipating the cyclical parts (given the mention of that at the start). He might not have heard that without the introduction. The piece had an impression of
sounds leaving the room but never quite leaving altogether...kind of like COVID in that way.

Jocelyn shared a short story that she produced years ago that wove a love story and the commercial songs from Hershey's. It was meant to be a celebration of a Reese's Peanut Butter cup love story.
(Steve enjoyed the bustle of a cafe where the two love birds were talking – the tape was clear and also textural. John mentioned that it feels like a time long gone after a few years of us all being isolated.

Steve shared audio from a time when he found himself in Kansas City at a pivotal moment. It was the day after the Paris, France bombings and learned that KC calls itself the “Paris of the Plains.” He gathered all his sounds by iPhone.
(Henry was very moved by the collections of acknowledgements across faiths.
John- really appreciated that too and how it captured a dramatic and painful day in a memorable way.

Dec Highlights

12/17/2021

The December Listening Lounge was another great one! And a beautiful way to wrap up 2021. An unexpected theme emerged connecting all the audio shared throughout the night! a sort of space/natural world connective through line.

We started off the evening going around introducing ourselves and sharing a sound that we might describe as “quiet” (though the adjective can certainly be relative)

Steve- the quietest birdsong in ambi within the mix of a story he published recently
Jocelyn- ¼ volume dog barks from the neighbors sweet pup downstairs.
Tanya- a mysterious electrical buzz stumping both her and her husband. This lead to a description of “anoyatrons” which may be an exciting new word for our community to employ.
Barry- is actively sanding the stairs in his house with an orbital sander which has an awful drone, “akin to hours and days at the dentist” so at the end of that each day is the quiet sound he delights in.
Neal- recalled the quiet sound of a musical prank that was pulled on him a long while back-- when someone tucked in a noise-generating greeting card under his bed. The pesky (impressive) prank played for 4 weeks before being uncovered.
Henry- rocks moving over water when the bicycles stop passing by

Audio:

Tanya shared some audio from an ongoing project that she's crafting using archive.org audio along with original music and design.

There was a thoughtful conversation of the contrast of the familiar / well known clips surrounded and remade into something altogether new and artistic and about how and when religious text can become a secular part of public life (and if it can? If it should be?)
Tanya explained that the project was/is inspired by drives in unfamiliar places and the obscure radio you can stumble upon, and number stations and comms back and forth to space. She's working on a personally curated “station” herself : tantroniq.com/seta
https://soundcloud.com/tantroniq/tantroniq-hello-good-earth/s-IRini0dKuij?si=7257307fc8914f8d93eecd58fa46203c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Henry recommended this terrestrial radio station MUSIC WITH SPACE on WPRB, 11pm-3am EST.

Neal, worked at the Crystal Bridges Museum, and for the 10 yr anniversary they wanted to bring the 120 acres of the property into the museum and he proposed and produced a work drawn from days and days of field recordings from that property and shared a clip with the group this evening.
https://soundcloud.com/vanwinkletunes/tandg-soundscape-final/s-hEHdmKxJba3?si=3b71df3cdf9e414b8328c61155612c9b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

discussion included appreciation for the separations of seasons and silences- to keep visitors' ears engaged that this is intentional art work - not to be tuned out
beautiful distinct audio within the field sounds composed together
led to some debate of whether we are hearing frogs, goats or other animals. (later revealed to be spring peepers and bull frogs)
Neal used an audio moth recorder (https://www.openacousticdevices.info/audiomoth). And he's excited about ways to help the audio live on in fresh settings.
A discussion of how to handle a year of recordings, how to file, organize and make one's way through them. Neal uses a spectrogram to scan- bc humans can look faster than we can listen to bulk information and he learned to ID the sonic shapes of certain creatures along the way
discussion about how to create work that is “discoverable” and how to use data to make work available to the world beyond the immediate audiences.
Mentioned Phonography Austin and Barry and Tanya mentioned the Field Recording zoom meet up for field recordists which may start up again after the holidays (keep yer eyes and ears peeled!)
Neal is going to lead some sound walks in the winter too.

Time was flying with all the great discussion so we headed into the last audio clip of the evening shared by Henry. A beautiful wrap up to a captivating evening of sonic inspirations.

Henry shared his original sound and video work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5YGZV0rHA
featuring an electric balalaika. Inspirations included Christmas and Pink Floyd

Neal pointed out the nostalgia of the sound... reverb and bright strings which really captured a winter night in all it's beauty.
Henry also used a cymbow and an alto Yamaha venova (here is an image:

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YVS-100-Recorder/dp/B074R86GRQ)

Barry shared a parting listening link to an online show he was a part of. The show was organized around a prompt to create a 5-7 min piece just using field recordings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF-KmybqivE&t=9052s

Looking forward to listening with you in January!

November Highlights

12/10/2021

Listening Lounge November Highlights

The night began is a quick go-round of introductions, who we are, what we love about audio and a sound that brings delight.

Alberto G.- has worked with sound since the 80's, in a sculptural way. He loves the sounds of pistol (slingshot) shrimp.

Ben P. - connecting from Annapolis MD, loves the sound of Carpano vermouth (good in many cocktails) and especially the uncorking of it. If he were a foley guy, Carpano Antica uncorked would be a go-to.

Steve M, now based in Baltimore MD, in the work he does if he can hear the personality spirit and soul of a person come through than that is a sound he really likes.

Jocelyn F. based in Minneapolis MN, podcast producer and a curator and organizer of Sound Scene. She loves the sound of blaring blasts – the kind made popular on radio shows- but made delightful by her former bandmate using the imitation of that sound effect to celebrate great moments in band practice.

Patrick Sullivan in DC. is getting into making audio for the first time even though they've always wanted to (made animation and film). Now trying to learn how to use recording and mixing equipment as well as some beat making. Patrick S. is a ham [ham radio fan] and loves the sound of noise on the bands with voices fading in and out. and morse code.

Lizzie P. is based in Washington DC, host and producer of the Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast.
Loves the sound of sticking a hand in coffee beans, that hollow crackling noise.

Ian F. in Pittsburgh, is an organizer curator of Sound Scene. Crunchy leaves under foot is a winning sound for him.

Barry S. - is a sound artist, musician, field recordist, sound hacker and installation artist. The sound that he likes: leaves -- specifically the scraping and rustling of leaves that sort of sounds like little crabs scurrying.

Audio of the evening
Barry got the night going with “something related to a daxophone” which very few people know to begin with – the instrument includes sheets of metal, piezo microphones and other cool things like metal bars, bouncy objects like springy door stops and a contemporary shaped piece of wood – for which the instrument is named (photo attached). It's generally a bowed instrument. He gave us a live performance.
Alberto asked if we ever heard of the apprehension engine (https://apprehensionengine.squarespace.com/)
Lizzie- noted that her whole environment transformed...into a horror movie? What does the instrument sound like without the reverb?
And we got a second demo!
Ian pointed out that the instrument gives a similar feeling to prepared piano. Bowing strings for example.

Quote of the night: “amazing how many things you can bow” a metal bookshelf, a fence, a lot of things will resonate.
Jocelyn said in some ways it reminded her about a performance of a woman who played the Brooklyn Bridge (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U02X8UWgxY)

Ben shared an ambient sound recording taken under the SF bridge in the warming hut. It was a foggy day and he was struck by the fog horns and how the notes danced together. Ben shared a binaural recording....to explore the seemingly accidental harmonies. He went back to a keyboard to figure out the intervals (and he gave us a keyboard/melodica demo) and realized the horns call back to an opening movement in opera.
Barry mentioned the film sound track for Eraserhead with it's melancholy ship's whistle evoking quite an emotion.
Alberto- talked about the artist who worked with geographic folds, involving (if I understand correctly) a speaker on the ground in an abandoned train station, and transmitted to another train station in Germany. That artist did an installation at the Kennedy Center, piping in fog horn sounds from SF (sometimes in real time). That led to a chat about nature and how it can create music including the much beloved wave organ which works with the tides (https://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/wave-organ)

Jocelyn and Lizzie: shared their KCRW 24 race submission. They talked about their backstory brainstorming adventures which felt like transforming into semi-pro private investigators and the fun involved with that (the piece went on to win 2nd place! Congrats Lizzie and Jocelyn!)

https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/special-programming/radio-race-2021-winners

Ian shared his KCRW radio race story as well and explained a bit about how it transformed from a story of Emily Dickenson into quite a different tale.

The group remarked and applauded the use of home-gathered/performed musical sounds to support the scoring and the fantastic pacing and delivery of the story. And a lesson at the end!

Barry shared a video of a lithophone, a slice from a block of marble with contact mics and exciting sonic potential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithophone.

That reminded Steve of the audio tour he made for the Getty in LA and when he invited a featured artist to play the walls of the museum to create the soundscape!
Made Lizzie think of the ringing rocks of Pennsylvania LINK: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sonorous-stones-ringing-rocks-park

Ben talked about the David Byrne in Battery Park Manhattan installation

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/david-byrne-plays-the-building

and David Vantigum- played buildings
https://www.newschool.edu/mannes/faculty/david-van-tieghem/

Steve shared audio with the hope for feedback on the series he helped produce called “Living Downstream” about Salton Sea in the Coachella Valley in California. Episode: “The Sea Next Door” https://www.npr.org/podcasts/655974992/living-downstream

As the night wrapped we offered some impressions about the character of the episode and if the behind the scenes workers were more or less audible/evident than the local voices that grounded the reporting and storytelling itself.

A great sonic evening was had by all. Looking forward to listening with you in December!

Vibrant Autumn

12/10/2021

We had a very vibrant autumn of delightful listening together.
Here are highlights from September!

Hope you will enjoy and join us for an evening of listening together soon! We meet via Zoom these days. Looking forward to our next gathering.

Highlights:

We got the night started with a sonic prompt and introductions: what is your favorite fall sound or sound that you look forward to hearing falling?

Henry: Leaves underfoot, and also dodging them

Lizzie: Crunching leaves and also getting boots under the leaves and swishing them all around

Sonia: Hooked on leaves too, so many different colors of tree shedding, yellow, red, brown, tan. Enjoys stepping into certain parts where they are burying everything, and enjoying the visual of wet sloppy post-rainfall leaves (though they aren't as sonically satisfying).

Tanya: took the second half of the prompt and said...”the Republican party- unfortunately it doesn't seem to make a sound as it falls” (which is debatable ...though they lost the presidency, it doesn't seem to be falling elsewhere...anyway we aren't about politics at the Lounge). She noted the way that sounds shift as it gets cooler and drier compared to the sounds of humid summers. And commented on how, since moving to a more rural place, the few human sounds around her are more noticeable.

Jocelyn: The sound she thought of was of apples falling from trees and their full thuddy sound on the earth or over cement, which is a little sad and not soo satisfying but sometimes stepping onto really small fallen crab apples over cement can be somewhat satisfying (maybe more texturally than sonically). And that made her wonder if stepping on the pods from gingko trees would be more satisfying if they didn't smell like vomit.

Sound:

Henry: shared audio involving a spoken word and soundscape.
reflections
Sonia: soundtrack was so cool it distracted me (like White Lotus)
Jocelyn: beautiful textures in that refreshing scoring (refreshing break from the overused music from podcast music library scoring). Might enjoy the voicing more as a story than enunciated poetry – though loved the very sparse leaning on the “wee, eees, eees” (which can be tiring if overused but because it was sparse it really worked) and use of silence throughout.
Tanya: Schoenberg's Sprechstimme style, might be interesting to play with to play with the gestural phrasing https://www.britannica.com/art/Sprechstimme
Henry: Lou Reed might be a contemporary version of sprechstimme. Snake eating its tail was symbolic of the rebirth he was conveying. Orouboros https://soundcloud.com/henry-lowman/ableton-orouboros. Shared tracks from King Crimson with added piano and percussion.

Tanya: Being in the music industry as a woman and dealing with unwanted commentary, implied, things said and not said and sometimes outright harassment...sometimes it feels like a constant wash that we (women and female identified folks) learn to ignore but that we shouldn't have to. In a recent exchange with a person in a position of power to promote her work serious professional boundaries were pushed into harassment
from behind a veil of “collaboration.” Among the many inappropriately titled working tracks she took one called Flute Flaunt https://soundcloud.com/tantroniq/flute-flaunt-source/s-6lkuKEWfexn
Tanya created Grow Up
https://soundcloud.com/tantroniq/grow-up-v1/s-3HhcGBHc6ic
use of public domain https://vimeo.com/384796494

Quote of the evening: “It's not hard to not be an ass”

Jocelyn wrapped up the night with audio from a recent Solvable episode about consumerism and faith organizations. She gave a shout out to the old fun moments of public radio production that used to be shared at Listening Lounges in the past: the audio left on the cutting room floor. From time to time that audio can find an easier resting place at the end of a podcast. This little snippet was a joy to publish.

Looking forward to next month!

Summer 2021

8/2/2021

The DC Listening Lounge in partnership with the Smithsonian Hirshhorn was beyond thrilled to be able to safely present Sound Scene 2021 both online AND in-person in Washington DC.

It was a delight to interact with audiences of all ages as they explored giant cicadas, uncorked messages in bottles, leaned in to hear the stories and sounds from our talented contributors and embodied (aka danced), constructed and deconstructed sound.

We were honored to host a world premier of multi-sensory work, provide ASL for all programs and to bring international talents together in conversations around the theme of "emergence."

Thank you to all our artists, audience members, volunteers and our truly terrific team of curators and facilitators. We are looking forward to 2022 already!

April Highlights

5/9/2021

Here are some highlights from our April Listening Lounge

(Thanks to Tanya for taking notes)

We kicked off the night with introductions and each of us shared a sound we had heard recently that we might associate with a color or shape.

Tanya, a composer and musician heard and was ever-calmed by the sounds of falling rain. Tanya associates the sounds with being enclosed and secure, sheltered and cozy more than with a specific color.

Jocelyn, a podcast producer and media consultant heard recently the wind scurrying across the siding of the house and connected it with light pink more as an exploration of the ways that colors and descriptive language can evoke different impressions in sound (something she's been playing with in her writing and storytelling recently).

Sharon, a trained audio engineer, introduced us to a song that came to mind recently that was refreshing to her with its new sonic feel. Shanon felt that it expressed a little lavender or maybe more of a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes (possibly influenced by the video).

Kesley- sound artist and teacher and heard wind chimes and associated that with the color blue (sort of calming and a little more fluid).

Henry- mixed media artist, amateur luthier, and multi-instrumentalist /composer, heard a chirping bird on a walk and two colors were on his mind that day: white blossoms and vibrant greens. The sounds were on a walk in Arlington VA.

Audio shared:
SHARON shared audio and video work by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dQn_JMuASM
“In honor of Women's History month, “Minnie Lives”, produced and written by V.C.R, is an ode to women everywhere. Birthed from the growing pains of a physically and emotionally abusive relationship, this offering is a gift, a journey through the mind of a healing violinist. Named after her heroine Minnie Riperton, its storybook cinematic quality is sure to transport the listener into her own world of fantasy soul. Perfectly paired, the poet and ingenious rapper Pink Siifu ends the song with a foreshadowing of what’s to come. This is the just appetizer of her upcoming EP releasing this summer. Enjoy, and meals like this are best savored slowly.”
- Henry heard it to be trip-hoppy-ethereal (even as he pushed back against the genre language that he associates with record labels). Liked thinking of it as a tribute and a play on words.
- Tanya was delighted by the unexpectedness of the genre and enjoyed the surprises that came along with it. Tanya noted that it had really effective visuals to pull in the audience focus and tune in.
- Henry heard some backward tracking which added “a little bit of spice.”

HENRY shared an original multimedia piece (with appreciation for poetry month)

Sharon noticed the hawk imagery and lured Henry out to reveal that he is also a hobbyist photographer
Tanya commented on this era of independent content creation and the various mediums that can be so expressive in this time. She found the work to be both intensely personal along with universal
appreciating the homemade footage we can capture in this time of isolation, loss, meaning and the small universes we are all existing within.
Jocelyn appreciated the line “your smile so far away” and the silence that followed especially in contrast to the visual illustrations that came before and after- that moment was a vivid sonic illustration of space. (Henry replied that he appreciated that noting that many of the musical masters he respects, from Debussy to Miles Davis, value and make use of space)
Kelsey, mentioned that the work had her thinking about her students and what they are exploring and bringing together too. She referenced James Benning films and the camera pointing to the sky (for 2hours). (Henry: like Andy Warhol's Empire State Building)
Conversation about Echkart Toll to wake up to this presence.

JOCELYN mixed up her previous run of water-themed recordings and instead tried playing out some spring sounds from another plane of listening – an active (water) bird fly-over.

Sharon was surprised by how many different birds showed up
Kelsey commented that the melodic birds were vary jarring with the sporadic honking of geese, and she enjoyed the interplay of elegance in bird song and then not with the geese.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: SOUND SCENE IS COMING JUNE 26+27. LIVE in DC AND Globally ONLINE. STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO.

KELSEY shared shared a Boschian Hellscape
She had been invited to do a remix of two stems from an artist. She manipulate the stems and layered in her own field recordings. She also created the visuals using footage from a motorcycle road trip with her Dad. Henry noted that the theme of the evening had turned out to be "memory".

TANYA/TANTRONIQ shared the opening six minutes of music from the Inside of Time. Applying techniques she normally only uses on her own field recordings, she used a small swatch from a public domain industrial film soundtrack.

We chatted a bit about career paths in music and audio, how to foster collaboration with other artists, and how non-linear all these paths tend to turn out to be.
SHARON shared Imogen Heap's The Creative Passport which allows artists to put their work out there in a findable format for collaboration and hiring.
An interesting idea!

TANYA later found the link to a webinar on "Careers in Audio" she had seen a week or two before. It has a nice array of panelists who shared a lot of info about their careers. Definitely worth checking out.

Looking forward to listening with you in May!

March highlights

5/9/2021

Everyone introduced themselves and each of us replied to this sonic prompt: “What loud disruptive sound did you experience recently?”

Will-
His baby Phoebe…

Denée-
Whaling cars

Ann-
A helicopter over the city

Ben-
Live BINGO game broadcast on the radio station Voice of Bonne Bay, Newfoundland (link shared from DCLL alumnus Shea Shackelford).

Lizzie-
A black-crowned night heron

Jessica –
A neighbor doing some clamoring and banging around the house

Neal –
A Dr. Demento song, Tommy’s Egyptian Simba (listen at your own risk)

Joc –
Coyotes howling

Barry –
Had a nightmare in which he heard breathing in the house. Noted that auditory dreams are scarier since they don’t allow immediate verification, upon waking, that they don’t exist, unlike visual components.

WE LISTENED TOGETHER:
Denée- shared audio from an a capella song she created and performed for Black History Month 2021, as part of the Kuumba Showcase sponsored by Baltimore’s Creative Alliance. The piece was called Black Butterfly and generated a lot of enthusiastic questions about her process.

Barry – was moved by the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, so shared an original and very personal composition described as “haunting” and having “dread,” and “with eyes closed, visions with echoes of familiar sounds such as chains on a swing set.”

Joc – mentioned her ear seemed to try to find rhythms where none really existed...and she shared a recording of ice melting and falling from a rooftop to the ground interested to find out if other people seemed to hear rhythms in it too (then geeked out about how complex the equation would need to be to predict the timing and rhythms of ice melt by mapping ice shapes and roof angles!).

Ben – played an interview with a friend who rescued a vulture, then kidnapped it back from a rehab facility, since they wouldn’t let her help care for it. He left listeners unsatisfied by stopping the tape as the phone rings at her house; the game warden a' callin…

Matthew – shared an audio/video composition of sounds made entirely by bicycle components. It was meticulously edited (using Ableton) and resulted in a stunning experience. DCLL listeners/viewers described it as “joyful” and “amazing.”

Henry – wrapped up the evening with a presentation of an original composition EN-CE-Qui, CONCERNE VOUS which involved a prepared guitar and moody overlays. It was an immersive tonal experience.

Announcements – Lizzy mentioned that the Smithsonian Podcast that she produces and hosts, Sidedoor, has a position for a producer – please apply!

And we said goodnight.

January Listening Lounge

2/19/2021

January Lounge Highlights:

Jocelyn welcomed attendees. She suggested a prompt of “what do you do with, or enjoy, in audio?” And/or “what food sound comes to mind?”

Barry – Gaithersburg, MD
Environments created with sound. The slurping sound of ramen noodles exemplified by the 1985 film Tampopo.

Ben, Annapolis, MD
Fly-on-the-wall sound exemplified by the New York Times online live-stream of the inauguration where a hot mic captured the sound of the prez and vice prez couples’ footsteps descending the hallway stairs in the Capitol.

Christopher
The talking sound of a frozen lake in PA. The silence between sounds, including pauses in music. The crunch while eating corn-on-the-cob.

Jocelyn, Petoskey MI
Breaking the sugar crust on a crème brulee.

Missy, Mt Rainier, MD
Theater sound design & Foley. The sound of chicken frying as compared to rain falling.

Macy, Chiang Mai, Thailand
The sound of a spoon traveling up and down inside a tall glass of Vietnamese iced coffee.

Rene, Takoma Park, MD
The iconic Pop-Rocks candy sound.

Genise, Fairfax, VA
Creates World Reggae Party and hears her boyfriend eat crab legs.

WE LISTENED TOGETHER:

Barry – shared a 4-minute piece of the sound dead & live trees touching. He used a geophone which captures sound <100 Hz. The creaking sound is influenced by wind movements and evokes the feeling of “frictional bark.” Barry shared the anatomy of a geophone. Rene said that he had heard that you can actually hear the sap running through some trees and that the DC cherry blossom trees might be good subjects to geophonically explore.

Ben – played a 6-minute piece documenting an annual urban holiday hike visiting Christmas trees on the DC Mall. He used a binaural headset which gave a deeply spatial, surrounding experience. Highlights included participants playing Oh Tannenbaum (in F minor) on toy synthesizers and a hiker/musician playing Bach (Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring) on the ukulele in the sonically-appealing open dome of the Embassy of Canada (which contained an awesome tree).

Jocelyn – shared a recording taken at a Northern Michigan 8-mile long frozen lake at 17 degrees Fahrenheit. A sound was produced that was described as “Wonder Woman’s whip.” Worried that her Sony PCM recorder wasn’t cold-tolerant, she stuck the recorder “butt-end out” in her mitten, next to a teabag hand warmer. The faint sound of a bird pecking, then peeping, was also heard. She shared a photo of her sound-loving partner also recording icey-lake sounds earlier that day.

Henry – presented a collaborative sound project originating with King Crimson’s drummer Pat Mastelotto in which Pat provided an electronic drum file for other artists to overlay tracks. Henry multi-tasked with adding a vocal track (singing a traditional folk song), playing a Tetrax wood/oscillator organ, and a baroque E-flat clarinet. The work was described by one listener as “amazingly beautiful” and “emotional” and another observed “the sustains between phrases were especially appealing since they weren’t in the predictable key signature.” This led to a spirited discussion about profound quotes attributed, rightly or wrongly, to Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock such as “What you see here is the stew without the sauce” and “if you play a wrong note, play it again.”

Rene – was coaxed to close out this Listening Lounge with piece he recorded during a historical tour of a Parmesan factory in Italy. Parmesan is beat with wooden mallets in a process termed “sounding the cheese.” The sounds reveal the level of doneness. The charming tour guide could be heard interpreting the sonorous cheese sounds by saying “its perfect” or “its not perfect.”

And our evening concluded.

***Afternote: The day after LL Macy wrote a FB post expressing an appreciation of our meeting and shared that it inspired her to explore the use of sound in her work on environmental justice projects in the Mekong region. She and her colleague are considering using the sound of forests as a grounding experience for environmental activists being trained to learn skills to help protect their communities against megadevelopment projects. Thank you Macy!

Nov. Listening Lounge and Oct. Highlights!

11/16/2020

Thinking of joining us for our November Listening Lounge on Nov 18th, 7:30pm ET?

Check out how fun listening (and talking about sound) with others can be...here are our October highlights.

Hope to listen with you soon,

**Register for November's Listening Lounge to receive the information about how to join us.

October Lounge Highlights (courtesy of Ben):
Jocelyn welcomed attendees stylishly sporting a wool blanket – a reminder that she was zooming from a great deal north of DCLL’s geographic birthplace. Unseasonable DC temps in the hi 70s made the contrast even greater. The night’s prompt was "what was your first live music performance experience?”

Henry – Falls Church, VA
Beverly Sills in Massenet’s Manon in 1970 at the NY City Opera. He still can feel the joy of being enveloped by a cloud of fog that was part of the production.

Greg Kelly – Charlottesville, VA
The comedian Gallagher in St. Louis. Knowing that he might be challenged on the musicality of watermelon-smashing, he quickly followed up with the band Yes. Henry asking and getting confirmation that it was, indeed, the configuration having band member Jon Anderson.

Ben – Annapolis, MD
Was gonna start by saying Elton John, Merriweather Post Pavilion in the 70s (his dad did a drop-off and pickup), but remembered even further back, while in Germany, his parents taking him to see Van Cliburn who was all the international buzz after winning the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow during the cold war.

Tanya - Walkersville, MD
Seeing her violin teacher play at the Kennedy Center; an experience which possibly helped inspire her interest in composition.

Jenifer - Washington, DC
Liberace in Western Mass, which was part of the celebration of her mom’s marriage. The iconic chandelier was not really as memorable as the six amazing costume changes.

Jocelyn - Minneapolis, MN
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra at an outdoor venue. She also remembers going to the Billy Joel River of Dreams stadium concert with her mom and was struck how she became part of a giant sing along – perhaps sparking her present-day passion for interactive audio experiences.

Barry – Gaithersburg, MD
Led Zeppelin in the Chicago Black Hawks Stadium. Possibly as notable as the performance itself was the overt drug use.

[We later welcomed Ana Maria (Alexandria) and Ishy Viray’s avatar]

Further pleasant conversation revealed Jocelyn as an oboist – immediately prompting Henry to inquire weather she had ever tried a shawm – to which she replied with a smile – “you mean one of these?” as she held one up. Things got amusingly lost in the reeds when further discussion centered on double, quad, and triple-reed configurations.

WE LISTENED TOGETHER:

Henry – set up his sound offering by describing it as an “electro-acoustic dark ambient” piece that he produced and is shared on Bandcamp. Listeners were treated to an atmospheric conversation between a reedy instrument sound and a low, oscillating drone, thematically conveying “love/myth/environment” with an overriding idea of “space.” We later learned that a “Shnth’ was used; an instrument somewhat akin to a kalimba in stature but with amazingly creative possibilities. Henry also shared that he is working on a composition using a Ciat-Lomdarde Tetrax organ, another touch-sensitive electro-wooden instrument.

Tanya picked up on the “space” feeling and explored the presence/absence of narrative; stating that she didn’t think it had an identifiable narrative, which made it even more appealing. Furthermore, another listener felt that there was a distinct cinematic quality to it. Further discussion on contemporary electronic/experimental/free jazz composers including the Toshinori Kondo Quintet and the Peter Brotzmann Quartet and performers were discussed and links to works shared.

Barry - whipped out his geophone; a device originally used by geologists for exploratory geologisty kind of things but now showing endless possibilities in the sound art world. He used his geophone to record the performance of a cable attached to a pole that anchored traffic lights over a road. Joc observed that she “felt the sound” instead of “sensing the pitch” and others experienced the piece at a “microsonic level.” For Barry’s next project he’s going to tackle an enticing set of pylons holding wires that cross the Potomac over the C&O Canal. He already has heard the audible hum of those wires, so no telling what a geophone will reveal when added to the mix.

Ben – shared the first audio piece he made called “Olga” which arose from attending his first DCLL meeting roughly 15 years ago. A prompt was assigned to “ask someone about their first best friend.” With little technical knowledge on recording (with a minidisc) and editing (with Garage Band), he got lucky capturing the charms of his mom which led to an unexpectedly sad story involving the Holocaust. Ben attributes DCLL for showing him the joys of sound and for helping him realize that profound discoveries can come to light by simply taking the time to ask someone something about themselves.

Some thoughtful discussion followed with Jocelyn observing that there’s “time” and then there’s “audio time” and Henry, referencing William Maxwell’s writing, noted how “the past and present can be remembered simultaneously” and how “stuff just comes up.” Henry also observed how Proust captured it so well (on page 44 of his edition) of Remembrance of Things Past of how “biting into the (madeleine) triggered memories.” Really nice sharing-of-thoughts to round-off an evening of listening.

CONCLUDING WORDS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND SHOUT-OUTS:

It's never to early to plan, especially when it comes to putting on a summer weekend of interactive sound & fun; Sound Scene, so Jocelyn put out the call for volunteers to be on the planning committee.

Jocelyn is also seeking input on on-line collaborative performance software that minimizes latency and was wondering if anyone has used Jacktrip software? Barry also mentioned that there’s other software out there; for example Audiomovers. Any input appreciated.

Henry recommended, highly, the movie “A Night in the Garden” a short doc that consists of footage of a “pro-American” rally that took place on 20 February 1939 in Madison Square Garden.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1MNGFHR58

There was another shout-out for the 2020 docu-drama “The Social Dilemma” which is about an insider whistleblower in the tech industry.

And we said good night.

Sept Lounge Highlights

10/12/2020

Next Listening Lounge: Oct 21, 7:30pm ET (ZOOM)

September Lounge Highlights:
Neal welcomed Loungers that trickled in from near and far. The night’s ice-breaker was "what memorable sound did you hear today?”

Neal, from AR & DC
the negative sound (aka - quiet) of not hearing the normal drone of the AC.

Jennifer, DC
the discomforting sound of an overhead helicopter with "silver missiles," eliciting a somewhat of a “Pavlovian” conditioned fear response.

Tanya - Walkersville, MD
a neighbor, normally quiet, but picking today for his annual ritual of cutting loose with a super-loud motorcycle. He does this sometimes too with a super-loud camper truck.

Denée - Columbia, MD
the pleasant sound of voices in the street having a variety of languages, consistent with Columbia’s nurturing of diversity. Also the meditative voice of hearing Ibram X. Kendi reading from his book “How to be an Antiracist.”

Matthew - Denver, CO
actually let us hear what he heard, the sonorous “POP” of uncapping a medicine bottle.

Jocelyn – Petoskey, MI
the building up of wind that was so intense that it was surprisingly discovered to actually be hail.

Ana Maria - Alexandria, VA
the potentially embarrassing, rhythmic creek of the floor boards as she did her exercises, conjuring up the 1991 French Film Delicatessen ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVL5_I4CvTc )

Jay - Ashville, NC
As an ethnomusicology/experimental audio professor at Georgetown, he had lined up Atlanta-based hip hop producer Renegade El Ray for a zoom lecture but had concern how it would come off – turned out it was amazing. Jocelyn expressed what most were thinking “hmm, what’s Georgetown’s policy on auditing courses?”

Barry – Gaithersburg, MD
Living in a townhome he had the pleasure of hearing his neighbor refinish their floor, but from the sound of it, very badly. Erratic drilling tempos and timbres being dead give-aways.

Ben – Annapolis, MD
Venturing outdoors he witnessed the grunts and slaps of a football hitting the hands of mask-less teens evoking feelings of both envy and anxiety.

[We later welcomed: Nina (DC), Ian (Pittsburgh- sound: Kanye’s metronomic sonic pallet), Ann (DC- sound: baby sounds), Brandon]

WE LISTENED TOGETHER:

Neal – shared Sound Collage #8, where pandemic lock-downed participants agree to add 30 sec of creative audio to a forwarded file, exquisite corpse style. As a “contrarian,” Neal’s contribution soothed out the preceding 8ish contributions. Guidance to participants included “you should surrender to it…make it exciting…don’t be precious.”

Jocelyn – was moved to contemplation of our times by the sound of a creature of the night; a cricket. The cricket sounds reminded her of Steve Reich’s 1968 piece “Come Out” where the tape moves out of phase much like the crickets. In “Come Out” the voice of a man beaten by police is heard to say that the only way he could get hospitalized was to open up one of his bruises – flowing blood being the entry criterion. Although the crickets were peaceful, the reminder was disconcerting. It ultimately left her with determination to “stay on causes that I care about,” and not just relax into the peacefulness she was privileged to enjoy.

https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9886-blood-and-echoes-the-story-of-come-out-steve-reichs-civil-rights-era-masterpiece/

Jennifer – took last month’s prompt – “ask someone about their first, best friend” – and ran with it. Erik Johnson, a UPS driver became her subject and shared that his first best friend was actually “a mob of us” wandering around the Rock Creek/old Walter Reed property with nicknames including “Catfish”…”Smokey”…”Peanut”…”Fat Steve.” His nickname? He and his brothers were the collective “Johnson Boys.” The rain on the in-truck interview added a nice ambiance to Jennifer’s remarkable first interview sound piece.

Barry – shared a field recording that didn’t require him to trek into the wilderness as he saw a “storm a comin” so stuck his LOM Uzi PRO omnis on his window sill. This turned out to be an immersive, mysteriously air-traffic-sound-free, and perfectly timed to catch the entire storm symphony concluding with a rain-drenched finale. Some side discussion included Barry saying he had to perform an “audio biopsy” on tape since he “kept hearing voices.” Why? – “some sound software algorithms favor the vocal range.”
https://store.lom.audio/collections/microphones-accessories

Brandon – got a cabin in the Shenandoah which offered a great opportunity to use his Wildtronics Pro Mini Parabolic Stereo Microphone hooked up to his Zoom H4N. The crystal clear, peaceful track revealed multiple bird species identified as: a red-bellied woodpecker, multiple blue jays, Carolina wren, and downy woodpecker (thanks to Neal - DCLL’s resident bird expert).
https://www.wildtronics.com/stparabolic.html#.X38vjZNKjFo

Ben – shared a clip from a January trip to Vieques Island where he and a friend went to the Human Society to check on a dog that they had previously rescued. The walk through the kennel, stepping around dog bowls and tools, inspired an impromptu salsa dance lesson given by one of the staff.

Tanya – as a sound artist and composer was coaxed to share one of her compositions “Terrestrial Sounds for the not Terrestrial.” When asked a little on her process, she cagily described it as “I hunt and farm” but clarified everything by revealing it was “hard-disk based.”

CONCLUDING WORDS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND SHOUT-OUTS:

Denée announced information on the Comeback Champion Summit which promotes positive work habits and enhanced productivity.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/comeback-champion-summit-tickets-118911039119?aff=erelexpmlt

Ana Maria announced she is conceptualizing an Environmental Art Project involving plastic pollution and was seeking input on how to add a sound component. QR codes and sonic delivery hardware were suggested.

Ben announced that the Transom podcast “How Sound” is really good and helpful for sound enthusiasts and creators.

https://transom.org/topics/howsound/

And we adjourned.

August 2020, The Listening Lounge returned!

10/12/2020

After a lot of re-imagining to curate, revise and celebrate Sound Scene in the start of 2020 and a great interactive festival (online) in June... we finally returned to our beloved monthly listening sessions. It was so wonderful to bring thoughtful ears together again- this time from the full DCLL diaspora thanks to the online format! Highlights below.

The night kicked off with a go-round of folks introducing themselves, where they were connecting from, and sharing one sound they enjoyed/noticed or found memorable over the past week.
Neal, based between: Arkansas and Takoma MD
interesting sound- skunks snuffling around

Nina- DC based, summer insects' sounds

Matthew- Denver, Colorado, last Friday a lone cicada

Genise- Fairfax, VA. Her 2 yr old nephew's joyful squeal

Jocelyn, Minneapolis, MN, Refreshed by her own shouting boldly into the remote wilderness

Shea, Montreal, Quebec, over the last couple of months- forgetting his headphones were on from working all day and then taking them off and that sound of reuniting with the sounds of the local micro-environment.

Jennifer Bethesda MD, was recently painting a mural and heard the summery sounds of young children playing and a nonsensical singsongy 10 min adventure

Ben, Annapolis MD has recently obsessed on little things like the quest for making clear ice cubes (through directional freezing) and has delighted in the sound of that perfect cube dropping into a leaded double old fashioned glass.

Henry, Arlington VA. Their regular haunt is a bench off near the Westover public library, where cars go up Washington Street and recently traffic and regular morning sounds were busted into by a helicopter overhead and that sound of the morning fading back up and dissipating the rest was memorable this week.

Mina, Toronto, Toronto sounds are unpleasant says Mina but biting into this Rye cracker <holds up> is a sensational delight-- the biting in and chewing of it!

Barry, Maryland. Relished the opportunity to overhear the rare sound of one tree becoming 2! Barry heard trees split during the recent storm, and it seemed to take almost 40 seconds for that split to happen... the sound of rending wood was unearthly almost.

Erin, in their mother's attic in Niagara Falls Canada, normally Philly based, Recently thought they heard rain and heard almost “sparks” but it was millions of bugs, not rain, but brown flies with longer wings hitting the windows and roof.

Ted, DC area. Recently thinking fondly on the sound from X-Files, that chirpy tinkling sounds that came up as alien noises, and recently moving groceries, putting rubber bands on eggs- realized it would/could sample very similarly!

Brandon, DC (plus the company of a Zoom backdrop of active goats). The sounds of dusk, katydids, and car breaks

Virginia, NYC. Feels ears sharpening during the pandemic... heard in a park in the distance drumming and clapping and bike bells, and discovered a march was coming through, in honor of John Lewis, with speeches all moving across the bridge. Immediately after riding her bike home, started pouring and sheltered under the metal roof. She was appreciating the quick combo of human, constructed and natural world in NYC.

Sam, Raleigh NC heard mewing and rustling in the leaves, two deer walked right up!

Ian, Boston based but joining currently from Pittsburg. Night in the Woods video game, story game with no dialogue, is all sound track driven and Ian was appreciating how it established everything from eerie to serene with a humming transforming into distortion, making it grow with your experience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc6f9llfs0w

AND WE LISTENED TOGETHER:
Jennifer shared audio from WVA, biking / paddling near the Green Briar River trail. About an 80 mile journey -barred owls and chickens in the early morning hours

Henry- balalaika and electric alto and chalumeau https://youtu.be/mAPxRd6k4e0

Barry- A forest winds stereo mix https://soundcloud.com/hovercraft-dc/forest-winds

Break for Announcements:
Erin: airmedia.org/jobs , great webinars almost 2 per week. You can email for more info: erin@airmedia.org, or visit airmedia.org/jobs to sign up for free webinar trainings or virtual hangouts. They have a new 'opportunities board,' an archive of Freelancer Tools, brand new AIR community forums for connecting with other members and the Talent Directory for finding - or showcasing - your talent.

Genise: Fairfax Public Access is open again! My first broadcast is Thursday (Aug 20) at 7 PM, World Reggae Party!! Goddess Genise DJ'ing

Denee:
An event/ music performance (voice and instrumental) at the Joseph Isaacs Music Matters Showcase Zoomcase email jcisaacs@gmail.com for more info about future events! folk, rock, blues, jazz, etc. 3 set of musicians take turns in the Zoom

Barry:
Playing in a streaming electronic music show with the theme of water this Sat Aug 22 at Noon ET. Artists from us and Europe https://www.twitch.tv/lines_community

Ben:
Suggested listening: David Weinberg, podcast called Welcome to LA, relaying the story of being in a Tesla.

BACK TO AUDIO
Nina: In her first podcast production foray she's learning to love making all the mistakes and learning as you go. The first mistake: 3 hr taping for a 1 hr episode. Second lesson, self awareness of talking in paragraphs and learning to shorten/break it up.
- Looking for feedback to have this chopped up and if in talky podcasts listeners want more going on behind the sounds of the voices.
Podcast about queer readings of apocalyptic video game
Queers at the End of the World

Jocelyn and Matthew shared a clip from Lemonada's newly released pod series: The Untold Story: Policing

Neal – digging spectrograms from Cornel Ornithology Lab and being able to combine ears and sight to identify sounds of birds and identify them,
Has been using Audio Moth w/ 3 AA batteries will record for 35 hrs. in a waterproof case to record dawn chorus and evening bugs/bats
https://www.openacousticdevices.info
A discussion followed about how silence shapes the music around it, with references to Claude Debussy and Miles Davis – music is what happens between the notes

Henry:
Olivier Messiaen https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olivier-Messiaen- would notate the bird songs, and wrote a quartet for the end of time

shout outs to the sounds of :
stylus on a twig
- radio expeditions sonic discoveries
millipedes mating in Shenandoah

Brandon- shared poetry of Folger Shakespeare Theater
https://soundcloud.com/folgershakespearelibrary/sets/not-just-another-day-off-2019
it is not light that is needed but fire, we need the earthquake, the conscience of the nation roused. Words of the founders and testimonies of the movement.

The next DC Listening Lounge (again via Zoom) will be <drum roll>
Wed. Sept 30th, 7:30pm ET.

SEPT AUDIO CHALLENGE: Press record: ask someone about their first best friend (could be a telemarketer, campaign worker or other socially distanced stranger!) and bring that audio (clips or edited to be under 6 mins) to the September Listening Lounge!

October Highlights!

10/30/2019

Hey audio pals,

- For everyone going to Third Coast- have a safe trip! For everyone not going to Third Coast- have a great weekend too!

- Planning an audio-specific costume for Halloween this year? See one in the streets? Tag it #soundscenedc

- We are looking for a friendly host for the November Listening Lounge- it could be you! No prior experience needed.

- Highlights from our October lounge below (and some fun announcements if you read to the end)!Thanks to Lizzie for hosting the October Listening Lounge. It was so fun! She can tell you about it. You should try it! (oh, by the way yes, we are looking for November and December hosts- it could be you! Click the CONTACT tab on this website if you'd like to host).

Oct Lounge Highlights for real this time...
We started the night off with stories of lost tape or lost data or things we thought we lost but didn't but then sort of did...
Rene shared the story of managing 24 hours of tape and thinking he lost a lot of it but realizing that he didn't but then realizing later that he actually did lose some small bit of something (his sanity?)

Lizzie shared the tale of a lost passport which was really missing (not lost) and then she realized that the prompt might have been audio-specific so she shared a story of deciding to interview someone about a relationship ending, at a time when things were still raw, and that she felt like it was quite painful and then when both she and the subject made it through the whole thing she realized she had not been recording (#standbymode).

Joey talked about the epic crashes of Audacity just when he was about to be done with a podcast episode. He also mentioned that he worked on a pod targeted at people selling their wedding and engagement rings after divorce (who knew!?). The podcast is called: “Divorce and Other Things You Can Handle.”

And Jocelyn made a guest appearance! (in DC for a quick visit/work trip) but she can't remember what she talked about as she writes up these notes! So that's meta...

Sonic highlights from the night:
Rene shared audio from a skate park short doc-in-progress including the producer “dropping in” - did he keep “rolling?” (yes that was an audio pun/joke...and also a question we asked him.)

Joey shared audio from his KCRW Radio Race submission- the story was motivated by a family trying to say thank you to a person who helped save a life and ultimately connected estranged siblings.

This lead to a conversation about audio mapping and then later over the course of the evening a few delightful expressions were brought out such as, “Which alligator is closest to the boat?” and “...with faces newer than their hands.” (yes, I know what you're thinking: you should definitely attend the Listening Lounge in November)

Lizzie shared audio recorded from a pink bolder beach in France. It featured “small and clackety” sounds from a grotto-esque cave near the water and rocks- also...there were bees.

Jocelyn shared a recording made surreptitiously in a small tea shop where a classy tea aficionado spoke with the abrupt tone of (a former New Yorker) someone who can't be bothered with people asking to smell the teas.

That lead to a conversation at the Listening Lounge about how and when to ask for permission to record (before, during, after, all three?) and tales of correcting those choices when they are made in the wrong order.
Then we all had a robust brainstorming session about all the things a creative audio collective can offer up at a silent auction and if an audio group can even create a silent auction without sacrificing a sense of group identity (a la “if a tree falls in the forest...”). It was really fun to brainstorm and we're thinking of organizing some events ahead of Sound Scene 2020 (June 27-28th, 2020) to raise money (like an auction) build hype (like a mini sound scene), raise money (like a fancy party we invite rich people to attend) and to get more organizations and individuals involved (a strategic mingle?)! Click the CONTACT tab on this site to get in on the planning!

Also, we're going to announce the Sound Scene theme in November and publish a CALL FOR WORK!

So get your sonic thinking caps on and start considering what kind of interactive audio art work you might want to produce, perform or teach in a small group workshop! Stay tuned
--
Special Thanks to Teaism for being a Sound Scene 2019 Supporter!

You can support us too! Email dclisteninglounge@gmail.com to learn more.

September Highlights!

10/30/2019

Hey Listening Loungers,

We had a great time listening together in September. We're looking forward (listening forward?) to October's gathering.

You should host!

It doesn't take more than a living room to host.

Please contact us via our website contact form if you're interested in hosting this month's Listening Lounge or next month's!

Here are some highlights from the September Listening Lounge!
Thanks to Zach for hosting and Rene for taking notes to share.

9/19 DCLL Zach’s House
As we mingled before the introductions, we discussed Sound Scene. Rene mentioned that he didn’t like the idea of DIY wind-chimes when he first heard about it—he thinks wind-chimes sound lonely—but after working with them at the table it is one of his favorite aspects of Sound Scene.
Ice breaker: A lonely sound.
Rene: Wind-chimes. About three years at DCLL
Roger: A barking dog. Second DCLL
Zach: When his family’s African Gray Parrot is alone it will start making garbled sounds that are like a person talking. Also, the parrot loves wind-chimes.
Amy: A snowplow on a quiet snow day. Five years at DCLL.
Liz: The silence after a slamming door. Whether someone leaves in anger, or everyone leaves in excitement and the door slams. First DCLL.
Listening:
Rene is preparing to spend four days field recording. Instead of sharing a recorded piece he asked the group for input on the story idea. He will be recording his uncle and friends as they skateboard to raise money for Seattle Children’s Hospital. He is concerned that there is no inherent tension to the story. The group had several good suggestions.
Sports stories often follow a simple chronological arc: lead-up, event, reflection.
Pre-interview participants. Stay general.
There may be a shift in the tone as the participants get tired
Get someone describing what someone else is doing.
If you can figure out the ending, you can build a structure from it. Among other things, an ending should be surprising, inevitable, and the resolution of tension.
Liz shared three minutes of an interview about exhuming then disposing of a decaying elephant. Memorable quote, “It started out great!”.
Zach Shared a Midi arrangement he created from a clarinet quintet he found on vinyl when he was in school.
Amy shared a mystery clip. It turns out that her new upstairs neighbors have very heavy footsteps.
Discussion turned to other sounds of row-house living. Particularly rats in walls.
Rene played an excerpt from a conversation about a POW camp during WWII. This is the second selection he’s shared from a conversation with fellow DCLL member Bohdan.

July Highlights and next Lounge

8/15/2019

Many thanks to Aditi for hosting the July Listening Lounge!
Highlights below!

Save the date for the NEXT Listening Lounge.
Thursday September 12, 2019
Details coming soon.

July Lounge Highlights (thanks to Aditi for taking notes!)Icebreaker Q - What is a sound that you associate with comfort? OR Pick a wildcard question from the basket
Aditi - Sound of rain
Troy - Cat purring
Stef - Boiling Kettle
Becca - Bird Noises in the morning
Minahil - Crickets at night
Roger - Lines clattering against masts - sailboats at dawn
Barry - (WILDCARD QUESTION) ‘How did you get here” - took the metro and walked
Zack - WILDCARD Q - What’s something you’ve done recently that was risky? In December, he sailed down a skycraper in Bolivia face first ?!
Deb - When Deb’s son’s breathing changes to sleep breathing
Bond - Laughter
Mina - Fountain in front of her apartment building
Tyler - WILDCARD Q - What would you eliminate from your daily life? Period between waking up and feeling awake
Joey - podcasts
Julia - Waves crashing
Chris - Sizzling food on a stove
Rene - Bell on a bouy noise
Ilana - Crunch of footsteps on gravel
Parth - Popcorn in a microwave
Naina - the ocean at night, when the waves are crashing
Lizzie - missed icebreaker =(
Roman - missed icebreaker =(

Intro to listening lounge - Rene - listening lounge is long running, community audio collective,
THE ONLY RULE IS KEEP IT UNDER 6 MINUTES

Rene - Went to radio boot camp in Brooklyn - the prompt was to talk about alter egos - Rene finished making this piece in a weekend!

Audio: Alter ego of being a metal fan - Convo w/ Jeff and Mindy at Metal Bar. Jeff has a diff professional persona, Mindy has more space. Nick “I’m a cubicle man at work” - is a diff persona at work - ‘all my coworkers are women in their 40’s” Tim the metal head vs Mr. Nassau the public school teacher.

We talked about
- Alter egos in metal
- Did Rene change his voice - he wants to make sure he sounds natural, -Tips for not sounding robotic.
Bond - It’s important to consider who the audience is when factoring in what your narration voice and tone is like - who are you trying to connect with?

2. Bond - Works with Sirius XM in their music programming department, he usually shares a piece of music that feels relevant to him or important to him. Bond is being relocated to LA for his job - and is thinking a lot about his relationships and time in DC. AUDIO: Youtube channel gamegrumps - two guys playing video games and chatting with each other. They have a show at the Warner Theatre that is coming up - and their final show is coming up (bond is attending).
Dan and Aaron from the show are from east coast (Bond is from east coast too!) and they live in LA now. These dudes are having a good time, as east coast transplants - and they signify to Bond that there is a lot to be excited for in his move to the west coast.

3. Minahil - discussed idea for “Listening Chorus”

4. Tyler - talked about and shared oral history - tends towards less produced, raw audio.
Trip to NY with dad - dad lived in NY until he was 6 or 8, then moved to Florida where Tyler was born. Tyler's cousins would go to NY with their grandparents.
AUDIO - recording of Tyler and his dad walking through his dad’s old NY neighborhood, and finding his dad’s old home and school.

5. Zach
AUDIO: original musical composition.

6. Roger -
AUDIO: recording of rainstorm,
recording of sound of the metro rail.

FUTURE PLANS: Brainstorming about how to jam with PRX's new DC Pod Garage! Planning meeting coming soon. Reply to DCListeningLounge@gmail.com to get involved!

July 25 Lounge coming up!

7/24/2019

Reminder- tomorrow!
Are you ready for some community listening?

Please join in for the July Listening Lounge- a cozy living room, listening gathering at Aditi's place!

Please bring food, drinks, friends and audio to share (limit audio clips of any style to under 6 minutes).

Details:
Thursday July 25th, 7:30pm

Address - (email for details) it's a house, ringing the doorbell is fine!
Questions? Aditi's Phone -(email for details)
Public Transit Tips: Columbia Heights Metro is closest

Buses: 42/43 + S1/S2 (16th st) exit near Park Road

**Please note there is a dog that lives there- so if you're allergic, plan accordingly. If you are a fan, get ready for the good stuff!

What a Sound Scene!

7/6/2019

Happy summer everyone.
Sound Scene was a tremendous success! Thank you to everyone who volunteered, exhibited interactive audio art, performed live, led a workshop and told a friend! One week ago, nearly 14,000 people attended Sound Scene 2019: Amplify! What a privilege it was to help raise the volume on stories less often heard and help audiences explore and delight in audio art of all varieties.

A giant thank you to our sponsors and of course the incredibly generous and wonderful support of Amy Bower and the staff and contractors of the Smithsonian Hirshhorn.

And it’s not just the numbers that shine- it’s the engagement — the smiles, laughter, pointing, playing, exploring and listening. It was a tremendously gratifying weekend. Thanks to all of DCLL for bringing so much sonic creativity into the spotlight and celebrating DC as a magnetic center for it all.

If you, or anyone you know, might be interested in helping to sponsor Sound Scene in the future (or any of our other interactive events, sonic workshops, audio fields trips or operations) please contact us here.

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And now onward:
Looking forward to gathering for our (smaller, cozy) monthly living room-based listening sessions. Would you like to host a “listening lounge” in July and/or August? Please contact us here.
All you need is a living room or patio. Can’t wait!

June 13 Lounge

6/8/2019

Join us June 13th for the next "Listening Lounge!"

Thursday June 13
7:30pm
Please bring any combination of food and drinks and friends to share. Also, if you'd like to share some audio that you've made, or found or heard, please do! Think: radio, podcasting, found sound, music, ambiance, oral history, sound design, field recording, family stories, testimonials, games etc...(Please limit audio clips to under 6 minutes)

Email DCListeningLounge at gmail for details.

June 04th, 2019

6/4/2019

May Listening Lounge Highlights!

We gathered at Rene and Kate’s place in Mt. Ranier, MD.

Introductions
The prompt was (1) a particularly good or memorable sound from a vacation or trip, and (2) a personal audio goal.

Rene
1) A steam train on a recent trip to Savannah, which had lots of great sounds including its whistle and a loud turntable, which blew out the levels on the recording he made.
2) Rene's audio goal is for Clyde (their dog) to bark a bit less.

Sarah
1) From a trip to the Smoky Mountains, the sound of an active mill—water turning the wheel, the millstones grinding.
2) Sarah is working on a mixtape, and wants to learn a bit more about audio so she can try some new techniques.

Teague
1) A piano rehearsal heard behind a big wooden door in an atmospheric Oxford quad.
2) It has been a while since Teague has made an edited audio piece, and he would like to make one soon.

Bond
1) Hearing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” while walking through a London Christmas display, and thinking about how cultural associations with songs differ even though the song remains the same.
2) Bond’s goal, in his job working in satellite radio, is to help people discover music that is meaningful to them and preserve older music in people’s lives.

Ann
1) The whispering corners at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. They allow two people speaking softly to hear each other across a room, and she was surprised they worked as well as they did.
2) Ann’s goal is to take on a personal audio project, outside the podcast production she does at work.

Kate
1) Hearing waves lap at the side of a boat at the dock on the Mississippi, when she was growing up in Iowa.
2) Kate’s audio goal is that Rene and Clyde (again, their dog) achieve their respective audio goals.

Listening
Bond played a song by the band AJR called “Don’t Throw Out My Legos,” about the emotional challenges of moving on to different life stages, which is particularly meaningful to him at the moment because he is considering whether to accept an offer to move to LA for work. We talked about some unique aspects of the track’s production, including its contrast between straightforward singing in the verses and complex layered production in the chorus.

Teague played a few clips of ambient street noise from Istanbul. We talked about the ability of sound to evoke the feeling of a place, and how the iPhone provides pretty reasonable recording quality.

Ann, in response to the Istanbul sounds, played audio (from a news clip) of a recent spontaneous protest in Istanbul. The protest, in which people leaned out their windows across the city banging on pans or other objects, was in response to the President Erdogan’s nullification of municipal elections. We discussed how the sound was somewhat otherworldly, and we would not have necessarily been able to discern was was making it without having been told.

Sarah shared a track she recently made, “Pokey Hokey.” While she has been making music for a while, this was the first one that she mixed entirely by herself. She said she is trying to work sounds into her tracks, in the style of of trap music, and we discussed the ones she had included in this song.

Rene shared a first edit of an oral history interview he did with fellow DCLL member Bohdan, and asked for feedback. We discussed ways to make parts of the narrative fit together, and agreed that even the first cut gave a really compelling story. We also discussed the pros and cons of adding narration.