Death Valley wind recording

Artist David Andree made a call for field recordists to participate in a collaborative recording event which took place on February 28th at 15:00:00 GMT/UTC, as part of an art project to be exhibited at the big orbit gallery in buffalo, ny from march 7th – 28th 2009. Field recordists from around the world simultaneously recorded the sound of the wind for five minutes. David then compiled the recordings into the exhibition.

I was in Death Valley at 7am local time (3pm GMT) and, though I was travelling light and didn’t get access to the technology needed to upload the recording in time for the exhibition, I made this recording –

The hand-clap sound at the beginning is part of the project’s synching. Mostly this is the sound of my own circulation system, and occasional noises as I shifted my weight on the stoney ground. This is a binaural recording, so headphone listening might enhance the sense of it. Note, it is also very quiet – remember to turn your volume down before you put Metallica on again (or not).

I was near Daylight Pass – just South of where the road meets the California/Nevada state line (the white dashed line), on the California (left) side:

More stuff on Death Valley coming – I spent the day there, my second visit. Seven years ago I made the Venus Vulture album “Death Valley”, which had* limited** circulation. I listened to the CD as I drove around during the day. Now I’m starting work on a new project “Death Valley Redux”, which will hopefully see release later this year.

*(and always will have – I was still learning about music and how it works)
**(to friendly and encouraging family and friends)