Episode 4: Discovering the Erhu

While I was a sound artist in residence at the Swatch Art Peach Hotel in Shanghai I was able to explore the soundscapes - and musical traditions of that city. One day I took a trip with a fellow sound recordist to Fuxing Island, where we discovered a man playing the erhu in a local park. The erhu or Chinese fiddle has two strings and can be traced back to proto-Mongolic instruments which first appeared in China during the Tang dynasty. It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras and is the most popular of the huqin family of traditional bowed string instruments used by the various ethnic groups of China.

The small amplifier and concrete shelter gave a great acoustic as you’ll hear on the recording. Then I got to record a virtuoso erhu student in the practice rooms at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Another wonderful sonic treat.

Recorded in binaural stereo with head worn DPA 4060s - listen with good headphones to get the full immersive experience.

Episode 3: Anyone for Tennis?

Sports - like tennis - are great fun to record and have a lot of interesting detail and variety. These recordings were made of a practice game at a country club in the US -- and a giant indoor tennis arena in the UK. Both using a Sennheiser MKH 418S stereo shot gun. Using a mic like this gives you the option of working with middle and side - often abbreviated to m/s. A great advantage is that you can vary the width of the stereo field in post -- AND just use the mid-signal if you suddenly do a voice interview and want that in mono.

If some personal coaching would help you to improve your sound recordings skills check me out at: http://www.dianehope.com/fieldrecordingcoaching

Episode 2: Giant Telescopes

Recordings from the Mayall Telescope, which is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector located at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, as well as the Hall 42-inch (1.1-meter) fork-mounted telescope at Lowell' Observatory’s Anderson Mesa dark-sky site, which has been a workhorse telescope for more than half a century. Of the two I found the smaller one more interesting - its motor drive (now obscured by cooling fan noise) is an exquisitely fascinating sonic melange, while the dome booms and squeals are out of this world.

You can hear how I used these sounds in my immersive audio documentary Lonely Nights (BBC Radio 4) here: https://soundcloud.com/diane-hope/lonely-nights-bbc-r4

© 2015 Shanghai Sounds Guide