I'm now well in to the process of writing the songs for this EP, and have begun experimenting with sounds and recording demos to use for my studio recordings later on.
Recording 'non-musical' sounds
One of the main aims for this EP was to explore climate change through a modern take on 'tone painting' - matching the themes and ideas of the music with the materials and instruments used to create it. One way I wanted to achieve this was to use 'non-musical' sounds or 'found sounds' to create a sound world that reflected the themes of the EP.
So far I have decided that each of the four tracks will explore a different aspect of climate change:
Trees and deforestation
Water, rising sea levels, melting of glaciers etc.
Air pollution
Plastic - single use culture, landfill etc.
Therefore I wanted to record the sounds of these issues to include and manipulate for my songs. This came two fold in a studio recording session and an 'in-the-field' session.
In the field
I used a Zoom H6 handheld stereo recorder to get high quality outdoor recordings of running water, leaves, twigs, birds and crowds of people.
In the studio
I also wanted to get some high quality recordings of other sounds, such as crinkling plastic, pouring water, glass, polystyrene.
I recorded these using an SE Electronics Z 5600 A condenser and a Rode NT5 condenser pair to see what effect the different microphones would have on the recordings.
I then took these recordings and began to use them to form the basis of my songwriting to explore the different themes of my project.
A timelapse of me recording the sounds of these objects
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