First up i’d like to formally introduce myself, I’m John and a musician from London, England. You can find out more about me by going to the contributors page.
Now onto the sound. For my first sound here at audiocookbook.org I wanted to start quietly. The recording is of a bucket containing lots of snails. 137 of them to be precise. They were collected by my flat-mate who was trying to stop them eating all the vegetables she had just planted in our garden. Recording them was not easy because they are very quiet and also surprisingly fast escape artists as you can see from the photo. Although the recording is a little noisy (due to high gain settings) you can hear their little shells clattering together and there slimy suction action as they make a bid for freedom. Please note no snails were harmed in the making of this recording and they were set free after their 5mins of fame. Recorded with a matched pair of Oktava MK012’s and a DAV electronics BG1 preamp.
Snails in a bucket
This large clay ocarina was a gift from my friend Jerry who purchased it from his friend Barry who used to craft them and then sell them at Camden Market in London. This recording is from 2003 and was used on an experimental improvisational piece I worked on with Dr. David Means during my Music Technology studies at Metropolitan State University. I originally ran the sound through all sorts of processing including delay and reverb, but here I’ll include it in its original state. You can still hear some room ambiance, and a curious high frequency overtone created by the hardened clay resonating. 