Turning the Page

02021-03-12 | ASMR, Recording, Sound | 3 comments

Yesterday I recorded turning the page of a ring-bound notebook and occasionally writing something with a nib and no ink.

 

I love listening to this. I wonder wether it would be more interesting to use this file as a background to some guitar music as is, meaning not in any rhythm, or whether I should try to fashion a rhythm from this raw material. Turning the page could become a “hi-hat”, the scribbling nib might turn into a shaker. Back to the lab for more experiments.


PS: experimenting with the sounds this morning I am thinking that I might not want to use them to create a rhythm. That’s been done by lots of people before. Matthew Herbert did an album called “Around the House” in 1998 and one called “Bodily Functions” in 2001. The former utilized lots of house hold samples and the latter used sounds like brushing teeth and cracking knuckles. Matmos released an album in 2001 that is called “A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure”. It uses sounds from surgery and has titles like “Lipostudio… and So On” and “California Rhinoplasty”. Yikes.

No, I feel that the a-rhythmic quality is actually what makes sounds soothing, like the bubbling pumpkin sound, or the paper turning. Bare feet on wooden stairs might be nice too, and could be a little more rhythmic.

3 Comments

  1. Ali Shafai

    I like the idea of layering it as a background to a track. I have heard tracks where the needle scrape from a turntable cartridge was used as well as an old music box winding mechanism.

    So, it would be cool to experiment with that I would think.

    Reply
  2. JaneParhamKatz

    I used to sit in the dark and listen to a record of sound effects. Sounds of ice being dropped into a glass, soda bottle opening, pouring. Sounds of doors opening and closing, children playing. It went on and on. I loved it. I never thought anyone else would be fascinated by this sort of thing. My friends did not understand my enjoying this.

    Reply
  3. JaneParhamKatz

    I never knew that double cymbal with pedal was called a “hi-hat”! Great!

    Reply

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