My fears used to produce binaural audio walks
The image above shows a video clip of me sitting in a dark room. I have a fear of the dark and wanted to bring all my fears to the surface by positioning myself in an uncomfortable dark environment.I could hear the usual sounds of the house- the boiler, people downstairs, these were comforting to hear, however, I did hear some tiny creaks which sounded as if they were in the same room as me and were getting closer. I saw the experience of sitting in darkness as a trigger to bring back memories of why I was afraid of the dark, and therefore I see this more as a tool for research.
I have been gathering sounds that reflect my fear and memory of unexplained sound, for example as a child I remember the sound of a soldier walking up the stairs when I went to confront the sound It turned out to be my mum ironing downstairs.
The other sound is repetitive and can only be heard at night it sounds similar to keys tapping on a lamppost, this sound came from outside my bedroom window as a child, but was never explained or witnessed by anyone else, therefore I believe it was a sound in my head, this is where the title “Unheard Sounds” came from.
I recreated the tapping sound and recorded it using binaural audio when I played it to my mum she instantly knew where the sound came from. She commented: “We shouldn’t have let you watch it, you were too young.” She was referring to a spoof documentary about a family that was visited by aliens that would tap and bang on the pipes. “It was really convincing and everyone rang in to complained because it was so disturbing.” I have since tried to locate the documentary unsuccessfully.
When I moved back to Nottingham for the MA course the house I was staying in had a boiler, which desperately needed servicing it would often wake me early in the morning and late at night when it turned itself on and off. It would start off with a loud clunk and would follow with a succession of petrifying sounds. I’m getting used to it now, but it sounds as if it is alive, almost moaning and crying a mixture of low and high-pitched murmurs and screams! As a fan of horror and thriller films how could I resist recording this?
I intend to use the audio walks as a vehicle to express the notion of my fear by immersing the listener in sound and completely taking over this sense, causing dislocation with the physical environment. I feel the audio walks validate this fear of unexplained sound by using audio as a trigger for fear and suspense through an intimate experience of hearing sounds in your head.
15/4/07
Recording binaural audio
Although using the Edirol Roland 24 bit WAVE MP3 recorder was convenient with instant playback, I felt that I wanted the recordings to be more realistic as if they were taking place in the listener’s head.
I attempted to record the boiler sound using a technique called binaural audio, this uses two mono microphones placed either side of the head. I used a polystyrene dummy head and two clip tie microphones taped on to each ear. The recorder was set to stereo and the microphones set to mono so that the sound picked up by each microphone was similar to that of human hearing. The results were ok, but not amazing.
I realised that for a true binaural audio experience it is better if the sound moves from one side of the head to another.
The boiler is static therefore the sound comes from the front of the head. When I took the microphones outside, I picked up multiple layers of sound (traffic, people, church bells, wind, etc), the accuracy in sound was astonishing and I felt that I could extend the use of this technology to create an experience.
After a dreadful attempt at trying to record binaural audio using two different medium sized microphones strapped to a dummy head I decided to purchase two clip tie microphones. The microphones were small enough to tape to the dummy head or for me to attach to a hat and wear while recording. I found the difference in quality and experience of recorded audio astonishing when compared to the audio samples I had previously recorded. Although the dummy head was successful I still felt that there were problems with the material of the head, because it was made from polystyrene and it tended to squeak and shuffle as I was holding it. I felt happier using the hat technique to record binaural audio as the results were better in quality and allowed me to have both hands free while walking around.
