Disquiet

Been a while since the Downstream has included an entry from the ever expanding “Remix! Tree” at the Freesound website, freesound.iua.upf.edu. The site is a trading place for recorders and admirers of raw field recordings. The Tree is where folks go to tweak sonic reality more to their liking. Take, for example, a trio of tracks that begin with eerily dripping water drops (MP3), then loop a segment to distantly musical effect (MP3), finally warping the material until it sounds entirely synthesized (MP3). And, as it turns out, even the original track involves some slight of ear; what appears cavernous was, in fact, recorded inside a washing machine. More info on the original and resulting tracks at freesound.iua.upf.edu. They’re all attributed to a user who goes by the handle roscoetoon, whose Freesound member profile reads, “I couldn’t hold a tune if it had handles on it.”

By Marc Weidenbaum