Category Archives: Audio News

Audio news stories and sound technology in general

The Sounds of Failing Hard Drives

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Slashdot.org has an article about a site that is hosting the sounds of thirty five different hard drives failing. Although the recording quality is generally poor there are some really interesting sounds including a Maxtor drive with a stuck spindle producing a “futuristic cell phone melody”. You can read the article and checkout the sounds here, although it might be a bit busy due to the site being slashdotted.

Also, click the image to see a video of a remix of Nude by Radiohead made entirely out of sounds captured from old computer peripherals including a dot matrix printer, scanner, cassette drive, hard drives, and so on. The remix and video was created by Glasgow based artist James Houston.

One Hundred Consecutive Sounds

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Today marks a total of one hundred sounds that I have posted consecutively in the One Sound Every Day category. To create todays sound I have simply started grabbing tiny, uniform chunks of audio from previous entries in the One Sound Every Day category. I sequenced them chronologically from oldest to newest, selecting what I thought might work in a micro sample opus. Sadly I ran out of time before I was able to sequence one hundred consectutive sounds, but I managed to make some good progress. As soon I return to the country I will continue this sequence and post a new version for you to listen to.

One Hundred Consecutive Sounds

ACB September 2008 Sample Pack

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Today, freesound.org approved my second sample pack, ACB September 2008. This sample pack is comprised of sounds found on AudioCookbook.org that were posted during the month of September, 2008 in the Share Remix Adapt category. I am packaging these sample packs on a monthly basis so that ACB readers have access to higher quality versions of the ACB sounds.

Each sound is uncompressed and available through freesound.org under the user keston in it’s original .wav format for free download and use in non-commercial works (I will most often grant permission for commercial use if you contact me in advance). If you make use of these samples please consider donating to AudioCookbook.org using the paypal link in the sidebar.

Good Quality Field Recording on a Budget

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I made this recording of a freight train near downtown Minneapolis today using an old third generation 20 gig iPod running Linux (more info at ipodlinux.org). The microphone I used to capture the sound was an Audio Technica AT822 stereo condenser, list price of $419, but zZounds.com has them for about $250. The nice thing about the AT822 is that it comes with an XLR to 1/8″ stereo cable as well as a standard “Y” cable. This makes it easy to plug it into a hand held portable recording device like a DAT recorder or MiniDisc.

Unfortunately the iPod only records in mono via the headphone jack, but I was able to get a good strong signal into it via the left channel element, and record at a staggering 88.2kHz sampling rate! 96kHz is also supported. There is a way to get a stereo line level signal recorded through the dock connector, but I would need a preamp between the iPod and the mic so I may not bother unless I find something cheap, tiny and battery operated. I’ve ordered a replacement battery for the iPod, and I’m planning on keeping this small kit in my bike bag to make impromptu recordings. I would be interested in hearing about other examples of good quality field recording ACB readers have used. Anyone else have similar techniques?

iPod Recorded Freight Train

Good Copy Bad Copy

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The conversation happening under Acceptable Use of Factory Presets and Samples? is starting to reflect the subject matter that is examined in the film Good Copy Bad Copy, so I thought it would be a good idea to reference it here in case any ACB readers haven’t seen it yet. I have been showing this one hour long documentary to friends and students since its release in 2007 and highly recommend it.

Good Copy Bad Copy is a fascinating look at the current state of copyright law and how it clashes with popular culture. The film has extended interviews with artists like Danger Mouse and Girl Talk, industry big wigs like Dan Glickman CEO of the MPAA, and IP and music copyright expert Dr. Lawrence Ferrara director of the music department at NYU. It covers the Brazilian phenomenon Techno Brega, a form of electronic music that merges western pop songs with latin styles, and takes a look at the rapidly expanding Nigerian film industry. The film can be viewed here at ACB, at their website, or legally downloaded from a torrent (www.goodcopybadcopy.net).