noisefloor.org

Sometimes i will find myself in a public space that is acoustically interesting. It is often a parking garage stairwell or marble building lobby. This time of year is probably the best time to attempt this kind of thing - a small group that just locates themselves in such a space and simply starts singing. I am sure others have done this, and like I said, this time of year, people are likely to be more forgiving (especially if the chorus is good!!) … I would definitely consider being a part of something like this.

This is not exactly on topic but it is content, isn't it?

I often watch a show on Ovation called Iconoclasts. The show takes two well-known people and lets them interact. Once the had Maya Angelou and Dave Chappelle. It was beautiful to watch. Ms. Angelou said: "I believe words are things, and I live on them".

Anyway, one episode had Sir Richard Branson and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The two of them got along like small children. They actually played and hugged and laughed and wrestled with each other. And I learned that Nelson Mandela started a group called "The Elders". Tutu, Branson, Jimmy Carter and Peter Gabriel are members, among other notable people.

Iconoclasts shows Celebrities in very real, human perspective. It's a wonderful thing.

Today is the first day that I've had to learn some of the new features of Steinberg Wave Lab 6. The first, without a doubt, is Spectrum editing. After perhaps an hour of exploration, I've found a 'technique' that I hope when polished a bit, will be of great value to performers; The people who put in countless hours in rehearsal for a performance, only to be disappointed when extraneous noises intrude upon a recording of the event. I present a link to a short clip. It is a sample of my new-found skills in surgical noise reduction, thanks to Steinberg. It is not perfect, but I'm quite excited that I can accomplish this much with so little experience with the product.

(You may want to set your player to loop this)

noise-removal-example.ogg, Stereo,  500kbits,  0.51MB,

For all my friends who have come here and found nothing new and only dust and decay, I apologize.

I must thank all of you who helped keep me busy the past holiday season. You should be excited to learn that I am waiting for shipment of the lastest release of Wave Lab. The new release has tons of extremely useful features, like Spectrum Editing.

Again, if you want to email me, my email address is andrew AT noisefloor dot org.

Happy Christmas 2007. One of the really special things that happens here in Columbus on Christmas day is a thing called Bethlehem on Broad Street. For the last 20 years, the First Congregational Church downtown has been serving a first-class hot dinner, on china with real silverware and tablecloths, to anyone who walks, wheels or is carried through their doors. They serve about 1000 meals every Christmas. The tables in the parish hall seat about 130 people, so, as you might imagine, there are considerable amounts of people from all walks of life milling about waiting for a seat to come free. This is such a remarkable experience that I wanted to share this with you, whoever you are.

I made this recording just a few hours ago. It was recorded in various parts of the church. This Christmas Day, the sky is completely clear, and the sun shines warmly on the frozen, frosty cityscape. It really is a beautiful day. I began recording about 9:45 AM. It starts with me outside walking up to the church steps and sidewalk area. There are dozens of people milling about, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, caring for unhappy children and catching up with old friends, accompanied by the sounds of traffic on Broad street.

There is a tent set up outside, with some kerosene heaters and chairs inside. There are half a dozen multi-gallon coffee urns continuously dispensing that wonderful, hot, black suspension so well loved and craved by so many of us. After a little time enjoying the clear, crisp Christmas morning air, I went inside the church where there were hundreds of people making themselves quite at home. It was a remarkable sight. I am sure that the recording will help you understand why this event has fostered its own nickname: Bedlam on Broad Street.

Dec-25-2007-part1.mp3, Stereo, 128kbits encoding, 16.2MB, 17:19

Whoever you are, where ever you are, I wish you peace.