one minute vacations: year one one minute vacations: year three one minute vacations: year four one minute vacations: year five one minute vacations: current

one-minute vacations: year two

What follows are the second year's worth of one-minute vacations.

If you like what you hear, I encourage you to purchase a copy of the compilation CD that collects these recordings: all profit from the sale of the CD (about 85% of the cost) goes to charity.

Sales of these compilations netted $250 for charity in 2004; this was donated to Red Cross International Response Fund in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Deepest gratitude to the year's contributors, who shared their recordings with us, and who agreed to donate the profits of their work to charity.

 

'A week without you, thought I'd forget; two weeks
without you, and I still haven't gotten over you yet.
Vacation — all I ever wanted; vacation —
had to get away; vacation —
meant to be spent alone...'
(The Go-Go's)

 
january 12, 20041.4 MB 'Driving with friends of mine in my car, a 1985 Volkswagen Passat, on a Lithuanian country road in 1999: I never imagined that these sounds could be created by my car...' So writes today's contributor, gintas k, a sound artist exploring minimal sounds, sine waves, noise, glitches, microwaves and acoustic vibrations.
january 5, 20041.4 MB 'Here's a seasonal minute, recorded last year in the days right before Christmas in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. For several days just before the holiday, there is a daily 5 a.m. Mass in the cathedral followed by caroling loudly (for six in the morning!) through the old city. This recording is of the singing residents parading through the streets. Recorded to an HHb PortaDAT with a pair of DPA 4037 omni's velcroed to my shoulders.' Today's contribution comes from Scott Shepard.
december 29, 20031.4 MB Nature Recordist Mark Armstrong wrote in the letter he enclosed with this recording, 'It is a really neat experience listening to birds as they migrate. Just knowing they have come hundreds of miles and probably have a thousand more to go still amazes me....' Of his recording, he explains, 'I recorded this at 6:20 a.m. on September 20, 2003, at Frying Pan Gap, milepost 410 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. In the spring and fall millions of small songbirds migrate during the night. Instinctively, they migrate when conditions are most favorable and in the fall, this means after a front passes and a north wind will help to push them south. What you hear is the sound of birds calling as they descend from their night of migration. It is about thirty minutes from sunrise, so it is still quite dark and birds are searching for a place to land and rest and feed. Some of the more recognizable birds are Swainson's Thrushes, Bobolink, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The longest distance migrant is the Swainson's Thrush, which most likely came from central Canada. I recorded this with a HHb Portadisc and a Sennheiser ME-62 microphone in a Telinga parabola.' Wayfarers all: another year is ended.
december 22, 20031 MB 'This is an unedited one minute long excerpt from a recording of my fiancée and I walking through the snow here in Halifax Nova Scotia Canada one day last winter. The interesting thing to us about this recording is that within the 60 seconds you can hear us walking through heavy snow, light snow, and slush, all within one block. We both love to walk (and its always best to walk with someone you love). Recorded to MD with a Marantz PMD650 recorder with an unknown microphone; I applied a bit of hiss reduction, then normalized.' This fine reminder of the real meaning of the Solstice, for those of us in balmier climates, comes from sound artist Andrew Duke.
december 15, 20031.4 MB 'This recording was done at Geyikli, near Canakkale, Turkey. I was on my way back to Istanbul after a week holiday at Bozcaada. There at Geyikli, I waited for nearly 4 hours for the bus which would take me to Istanbul. While waiting, I decided to record the ambiance of the location. You will hear sounds of trucks, cars, bicycles and the night workers from the distant blended with the Turkish music played through a radio and the loud sound of a cicada: weird ambiance. Equipment: Sharp MD-SR70 MD recorder, Sony ECM-MS907 microphone.' Today's vacation was contributed by Erdem Helvacioglu.
december 8, 20031.2 MB 'For our Thanksgiving vacation, we stayed home (which was great) and worked on the house. This recording is of me sanding the old softwood kitchen floor. While I was working, the old refrigerator kicked on...' So writes today's contributor, multimodal artist Larnie Fox. Larnie's sound sculpture is displayed near mine at the Rx Gallery Supersonic show.
december 1, 20031.4 MB 'I got this in the town of Monasterevin, Ireland in March 2003. I was traveling on a barge through central Ireland with my brother his new wife and her family and friends. In the middle of the city there is a large forested area that had been taken over by this cacophony; I had to record it, so I came back the next morning before shoving off. I was hoping to get the church bells next to this site but for some reason they never rang. I filtered out as much of the traffic as I could, but otherwise this is a unedited ORTF recording with two Schoeps MK21 subcardioid capsules and a Grace Designs V2 Preamp into a HHb MDP500 Minidisc recorder.' Today's vacation was contributed by multitalented recordist Greg Weddig.
november 24, 20031.4 MB 'It's springtime in the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland. In late afternoon, the air is warming after a rain. We are walking out of the park as the guards call out "Closing Time." Recorded in Edinburgh Scotland, April 2000.' So writes today's contributor, sound designer and recordist Jeremiah Lyman Moore.
november 17, 20031.4 MB 'Silently sitting on the bank of a river in the rainforest at dusk, waiting for a platypus to surface. A cacophony of rainforest birds, walking turtles, and jumping fish appeared instead. Recorded in the Atherton tablelands rainforest, North Queensland, Australia, on Mini DV in 16 bit stereo...' Today's vacation comes from artist Dawn Neal, my occasional collaborator and sister-in-law, who recorded it on her honeymoon, and brought it home as a birthday present for both of us (hers was yesterday, mine is Wednesday).
november 10, 20031.4 MB Dr. Frank Veit of the International Laboratory for Dolphin Behaviour Research in Eilat, Israel, works with hydrophone (underwater microphone) recordings professionally. Of this week's vacation, he writes, 'I've selected a recording of eight bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the open sea (Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, off the coast of Eilat). You hear the typical ambient noise of the sea, a lot of low frequency rumble from waves and distant ships etc. The irregular clicks that sound like a campfire are the constant background sound of pistol shrimps. All the other sounds are from the dolphins: whistles, the regular patterned echolocation clicks, pulsed sounds, low-frequency sounds and noisy sounds. Many of them come from two 10-week old calves that played close to the hydrophone, with one of their mothers approaching them at the end of the sample...'
november 3, 20031.4 MB 'A brief and beautiful walk through a tiny yet well-stocked aquarium store in downtown Seattle's cultural district...' Today's vacation comes from Russell Fincher, who actually submitted a recording about twice as long — which I ruthlessly cut to fit the one-minute format... :)
october 27, 20031 MB 'This was recorded towards the end of a baci celebration at a private home in Laos. A group of women were sitting together eating, drinking, and making merry... Recorded September, 2002.' A baci ceremony bestows good luck on a person or event; baci are held when people are promoted in their work, move into a new house, star a new job, and so on. Special baci can be arranged for new mothers or people getting married. Few Lao would embark on a long journey without a Baci. Unique to Lao culture, a Baci involves transferring good luck through blessed strings tied to the wrist. The strings must stay attached for at least three day the luck to remain... (adapted from Travel Laos). Today's vacation comes from the lucky Scott Avery.
october 20, 20031.4 MB 'It is dusk in the Bosque Eternal de los Ninos (Children's Eternal Rainforest), outside of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Birds, frogs, and insects sing to the accompaniment of water dripping, a distant waterfall, and drummers practicing for the Costa Rican Independence Day parade. Recorded with a Visivox stereo condenser mic into a Sony MZ-R70 MD recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Joe Balestreri.
october 13, 20031.4 MB 'Elk recorded in Yellowstone National Park, September 21st of 2003 The sounds you are hearing are the bugling of the big bull elk defending his cow and asserting his territory during the autumnal rut. I used a Sony ECM-MS957 stereo mic directly into a Sony MZ-R 55 minidisc. I also used a homemade windscreen made out of fake fur.' A fine recording from today's contributor, Lady Raven.
october 6, 20031.4 MB 'Singapore, mid-January, 2003... walking through the tunnel from the Orchard Road MRT station towards the Scott's Road exit, a blind busker plays a vaguely Slavic-sounding theme on his Casio and wishes passersby a Happy New Year... Recorded with a Sharp DR-7 MiniDisc and an AudioTechnica stereo lavalier mic.' Today's vacation was contributed by Ian Kasley.
september 29, 20031.4 MB 'I took this recording in the Austrian Alps when hiking to Seekarspitze, a mountain right above Achensee Lake. A peaceful and timeless place, Seekarspitze gathers a couple of wee "almen" — small alpine farms, mostly populated only by flocks of cattle. Most of the time the cows, goats, and sometimes even horses don't live between fences, but stroll around... so farmers tie bells to the cows — these bells help finding cattle being lost in the woods or in steep areas. These sixty seconds were recorded in June in a wee, dark cow barn in Seekaralm; the sound of bells mixes with cows heavily breathing and endlessly ruminating...' So writes today's contributor, Fabian Mohr. (A donkey bell of mine with a similar sound was used in the ceremony wedding my sister-in-law Dawn and my friend Frey this weekend — congratulations to the new Mr. and Ms. Meson!)
september 22, 20031.4 MB Late afternoon river traffic on the busy, busy Buriganga, in the heart of Dhaka, Bangladesh: as heard from a leaky rowboat. Commuters, haulers, trawlers; dredging, building, wrecking, remaking: all in hazy golden light. Another of my own recordings: the business of communal life reasserting itself. [Aaron]
september 15, 20031.4 MB At the end of San Francisco's Pier 39, a troop of sea lions has established a permanent colony: golden, fat, and wet, they seem to be enjoying their lives to the fullest. Last week my brother miraculously survived a very bad motorcycle accident, so I am late adding this vacation to the collection; now, I offer it because the enjoyment the seals take in their lot (and the pleasure I take in witnessing them) echoes the mood of humble thanks that pervades me ~ my gratitude for my brother's survival. [Aaron]
september 8, 20031.4 MB 'A steamy, summer morning in Paris. A friend of mine who lives there invited me to accompany her to, what she described as, an "Asian market". I browsed rows of colorful produce, tomatoes and open melons, and listened to the frenetic, rhythmic calls of the men behind the stalls. Recorded July 13, 2003 using OKM/Soundman microphones and an Aiwa DR7 minidisc recorder.' Today's contribution comes from Ken Reisman.
september 1, 20031.1 MB 'Taking a day off whilst on a work trip to Japan in June of this year I visited Kamakura - about an hour by metro from central Tokyo. Kamakura is the place where the first Shogunate (military government) under Yoritomo was established in 1192 and has a outstanding collection of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines dotted around the gentle hills that form a backdrop to the sandy beach. This recording was made (using the built in microphone in a Casio EX-M1 camera) at the end of a hot Sunday afternoon wandering around shrines and temples crouching down at the ocean's edge to capture the sound of children playing amongst the breaking waves.' So writes today's contributor, Bow Apostle of 12 Apostles.
august 25, 20031.4 MB Writes today's contributor, the amazing field recordist and sound artist Yannick Dauby, 'Clans is a small village in the Alpes-Maritimes of France, located at around 700 meters. Numerous tiny streams are found in this place, kind of 'water paths'; they spread their sounds like an organic acoustic network. It is very different from the other villages in the area, which are always very dry. As a result life is much more active here.. This recording was made in a water-free area, at 2 o'clock in the morning, in June 2003. I so like bats...!'
august 18, 20031.4 MB'Coming out of the Powell Street BART station [in San Francisco] on a Saturday, I heard this blind homeless man singing. He had change in a styrofoam cup, which he was jangling in strange rhythm with his songs... surrounded by all the hustle and noise of a Saturday afternoon downtown, he was quite a contrast. There was a cellist playing somewhere else in the station, which can be heard in the background. Between songs he took long drinks from a large bottle of diet coke, and he said "bless you" to everyone who gave him money. Recorded with a pair of headphone-mounted Audio Technica AT835s and a consumer Sharp minidisc recorder.' Today's vacation was contributed by violin player and Field Effects alumni Milton Cross.
august 11, 20031.4 MB 'It's mid-July 2003 in Oaxaca City, Mexico, and I am standing outside the open doors of the Church of Carmen Alta during an evening mass. Behind me, just outside the church, a festival dedicated to the virgin Carmen is in full swing: The street is lined with stands selling food, religious knickknacks, and, most audibly, bootlegged CDs.' Today's vacation comes from my wife, Bronwyn Ximm.
august 4, 20031.4 MB'July 4, 2003. West Oakland, California certainly knows how to celebrate the Fourth. Illegal fireworks flood the city, no doubt a side effect of the massive drug trade, which is in turn no doubt a side effect of Oakland being one of the largest ports on the West Coast. Community disrepair aside, a beautiful noise occurs on a lovely night: sounding like a toy war, the night crackles, rumbles, and snaps with the reports of various explosives and perhaps a gun or two. A distant train and an overhead plane compliment the aural pleasures of the night.' So opines today's contributor, Bay Area electronic musician Peter Nyboer.
july 28, 20031.4 MB 'While walking along Vaci Utca, on the Pest side of Budapest in August of 2001, I encountered an eccentric elderly man singing in tongues and tones while playing what appeared to be homemade stringed instruments. The voice in the background towards the end of the recording was a man attempting to serve as an accomplice in relieving tourists of their Forint (HUF) — or perhaps he was simply a voluntary interpreter. Equipment: Sony Mavica FD camera.' Today's vacation was contributed by Shoepal.
july 21, 20031.6 MBNot everyone travels. This week's contributor, Hetty Litjens, writes of her recording, 'I stay at home during vacations. This small piece is called Suburban Silence. It was recorded a few weeks ago here in Amsterdam in my garden. It has the sound of a plane and a blackbird.'
july 14, 2003225 KB 'Winter, late afternoon, a rainy twilight. The heating oil truck is making its way through the neighbourhood, playing its winsomely melancholy jingle. Three cars come by with perfect timing, and from sixteen seconds in the rain stops. A drop of water falls onto the tin above the window. Recorded at Setagaya-ku, western Tokyo, February 2003.' Despite my preference for sixty second recordings, I begged this lovely half-minute vacation from Jeremy Hedley of Antipixel fame.
july 7, 20031.4 MB'Fire juggling rehearsals in a field not far from Chaillac, France, on 15 July 1999. I was on a trip with some French street performer friends who were taking time out to rehearse material for their company Eldtraff's new show. In this instance Hanna was practicing with a 6-or-so-foot-long hollow pipe, alight at either end. On either vertical axis as she twirled, the pipe acted as a chimney, the hot air rushing through it and creating a sound similar to blowing over the mouth of a very large bottle... it was a very hot summer's night in an empty field, the air otherwise filled with the sound of crickets and the clicking of electric sheep fences...' This vacation was contributed by recordist .murmer. based in England, who hosts a program 'consecrated' to field recordings on London's marvelous ResonanceFM104.4. The show, Framework, is broadcast alternate Fridays at 8:30 pm GMT. You can contact him here.

Postscript: I received this update on July 20th: 'I have some sad news relating to the one-minute vacation of mine that you used. On the 14th of July, 2003, Hanna Antman, the unsuspecting performer in this sound piece, was killed in a car accident in the east of France. This one-minute vacation has become, therefore, a one-minute memorial and tribute to a much-loved person. Hanna, you will be missed.'
june 30, 2003950 KB 'I recorded this in Antarctica on a crappy hand-held tape recorder. It's a woman singing in a hollowed out oil drum on Elephant Island, which made a lovely, angelic reverb sound on her voice.' She expands on the story: 'I'll tell you a little more about the recording - I went on a trip with my family, for fun, for about two weeks in February, 2001. We stayed aboard a Russian icebreaker called the Captain Dranitsyn, and the entire crew including the captain spoke Russian exclusively. However, we were able to communicate through the universal language of ping pong, which we played incessantly during the long cold nights after a day of hiking around different Antarctic beaches. The day I made this recording, we were taking a tour of an abandoned research site on Elephant Island. The woman who was singing is a marine biologist in her 50s. She's withered and tough and somewhat shy. But she took us into the oil drum to demonstrate its acoustic qualities, and let a sound come out of her that was so angelic it brought tears to my eyes. I made one of the boat crew take me back to the ship to get my Sony microcasette recorder, and immediately returned to shore to get at least a few minutes of that sound on tape...' Today's vacation was contributed by Jules Bernstein.
june 23, 20031.4 MB Traveling to Tibet from Nepal on the 'Friendship Highway,' my wife and I were stopped at the border town of Kothari and denied entry for several days. We passed the time in this one-street truck stop high in the Himalayas listening to gloomy news of martial law in Kathmandu, where the royal family had just been killed, and visiting local hot springs A hundred meters up the hill a small monastery perched; beside it, this water-powered, bell-clad prayer wheel spun perpetually, powered by a rushing stream. Making this recording in sandals, I unwittingly befriended several plump black leeches... [Todays' vacation is for Zack and Kate, who we met there. -Aaron]
june 16, 2003890 KB 'I was at a recording session in a big construction warehouse, the ensemble being a 21st century improvisation-oriented big band. The composer has moved an upright piano into the space, and had prepared it a la John Cage, inserting objects into the strings to cause odd microtonal pitches and percussive timbres. Lunch break had been going for a while, I had my new Sharp DR7 and my Core Sound binaural mics, and I thought I'd go over, sit down and improvise on the piano, and see what it recorded like... I almost forgot: brass players seem to never want that horn to leave their face for more than 90 seconds. Wouldn't you know they'd start up just as I sat down, wandering around the room like metal cows bellowing bronzed burps?' Today's contributor is Harry Partch enthusiast Jonathan Szanto.
june 9, 20031.3 MB'Place: The Avergat cave in Kanne, Belgium. It is an 'underground' recording, above groundwater level, but below a mountaintop! Time: The stealth recording was made during my holiday on Sunday the 23rd, February 2003, in the afternoon around 16 hundred hours. Event: a guided tour for tourists, we were a group of about 7 and there was the guide and his two kids. The guide is telling how he used to scare tourists who visited the cave while he was a youngster; that explains the laughter. The language he speaks is Flemish (Vlaams), not Dutch, 'though it almost sounds the same. Equipment used: besides the flashlight, a Sony MZ-R55 portable MD recorder and Soundman OKM II Classic Studio binaural microphones.' Today's vacation ('56 seconds to be precise') was contributed by the meticulous Evert Veldhuis.
june 2, 2003730 KB 'In Japan during the cold season vendors in small pickup trucks call out (or as in this case in recent years, play a loop tape recording) "yaki imo... oishii, yaki imo" (get your toasty hot sweet potatoes). Other night-time vendors who cruise the neighborhoods have their own signature sound (e.g. hot ramen noodle dealers on wheels). Years ago people selling bamboo (for hanging clothing to dry) and tofu could also be heard through the side streets of towns and cities, too. Recording made on Ricoh DU-4 digital camera using the sound-record feature and built-in mic, in May 2000 in rural west Japan.' So writes today's contributor of but half a minute, Guven Witteveen.
may 26, 20031.4 MB'The recording, dating from 1995, features the sound of a London Underground train, the Northern Line to be precise. I have always loved the London Tube and the sonics generated by this older generation train evoke(d) the notion of long-distance travel within a metropolis, strangely hypnotical and peaceful, while at the same time hinting at the decades of development of such a complex sub-city system. The track was recorded onto tape using a simple Walkman and a stereo microphone.' Today's vacation comes from Christian H. Soetemann who can be contacted here.
may 19, 2003700 KB 'I just returned from Morocco, here is some far away call to prayer at dawn and some people walking in the alley. This was recorded at 5 am, February 13, 2003, Marrakech.' So writes today's contributor, traveler and sound artist Greyg Filastine of Seattle's Postworld Industries and Infernal Noise Brigade.
may 12, 20031.4 MB'Recorded at 4:30 am in Vermont at my great aunt's farm back in 1975 using a Sony reel to reel and two Sony Electorate Condenser mics. My great aunt's farm is called "Verona" (Shakespeare reference) and it is a flyway for migratory birds. In the peak of the summer when the sun rises at 4:30 the birdsong is amazing! This is a one minute sample from the recording which is available at SoundsOfOurPlanet.com...' So writes today's contributor, Eric Van der Wyk. (Hey world, submit more vintage recordings please!)
may 5, 20031.4 MB 'This recording was made in October 2001 on the shore of the east German village Ahrenshoop, on the Baltic Sea. The stereo microphone was placed on wooden wave breakers. The waves rolled by on the coarse gravel, sometimes producing gurgling sounds and bursting splashes; in the background you can hear the steady thunderous voice of the sea... Equipment: Sony MZ-R90 and Aiwa CM-S1 stereo microphone..' Today's vacation was contributed by Gunther Reiche of Hanau, near Frankfurt/Main.
april 28, 20031.4 MB'Recorded on the afternoon of October 1, 2002, on MiniDisc in Santa Cruz, California. Skateboards... the 'Fun Zone'... near train tracks.' Today's contributor is Trummerflora Collective sound artist Marcelo Radulovich. [I can't help pointing out that this recording was made on my anniversary -Aaron]
april 21, 20031 MB 'Early last March, my wife and I were walking towards James Bond Beach, in Oracabessa, Jamaica. Its name comes from the fact that it's right next to Golden Eye, where Ian Fleming wrote his novels and fished for barracudas. It was a warm and sunny day, as usual, with just a few local people around. Suddenly, out of the bush came a couple of kids - baby goats, that is! To our amazement, they did not act scared at all. One of them, the one in the center, came up really close and welcomed us. You can hear his sister or brother answering off to the left. If you listen carefully, you can also hear my wife 'oooing' early on in the recording. I used a Sennheiser binaural mic and a Sony MZ-N707 minidisc recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Ned Bouhalassa.
april 14, 2003470 KB'These are the sounds surrounding the Pyrolarium, my 1.5 ton wooden sculpture, as it was engulfed in flames at the 1999 Burning Man Festival. Art is often destroyed by fire at this event, and the Pyrolarium's inferno attracted percussionists, fire dancers, and other chilly observers. The sculpture existed for a week as a pyrotechnic sundial, so it was fitting for it to be destroyed by flames at sunset, the last night of the festival.' So writes today's contributor, VC Scafati.
april 7, 20031 MB 'This recording was made in Ghana in the Summer of 1999. I dropped a small Aiwa lapel microphone (CM-S20) out of the window of my room at the University Of Ghana, Legon (a suburb of Accra). I recorded directly to my Compaq laptop hard drive, using Sound Forge. As far as I can recall the file has not been processed except for fade-in, fade-out, and WAV to MP3 conversion. I am sending it as a stereo file because that is how I found it on the laptop. The channels seem so even, I suspect it was recorded in mono but I honestly do not know. It is about 6:00 a.m. The roosters have been calling for some time. You can hear the low rumble of the commerce of Accra as trucks move toward the city. Mostly it is birds, a dawn chorus much like what I hear outside in North Carolina. I cannot identify any of them except the roosters.' Today's vacation was contributed by James S. Lee.
march 31, 20031.4 MB'In October of 2001, the town of Paro, Bhutan opened its first Internet cafe. As with any new business venture, this was done with an all-day blessing ceremony. I happened to be in town and was invited to attend. There was a lama and a half dozen monks in the back room, thick incense smoke, drums, flutes, food and drink offerings, and painted scrolls on the walls. At one point they all went to the front of the shop and threw holy rice on the computers.' So writes today's contributor, Brian Romer.
march 24, 20031.4 MB '[This] recording was taken end of February at 5:40 in the morning in Bharatpur, India. I was standing on a rooftop. You hear peacocks which are sitting in the trees all around. Additionally you hear the never-ending noise of heavy lorries and a rhythmic sound which is the neighbour's hand driven water pump. The recording was made with Creative Jukebox 3 and OKM Soundman II Klassik microphones...' Today's vacation was contributed by Walter Schiessberg.
march 17, 20031.4 MBToday's contribution was recorded by Yehlin Lee (Rio) on February 14, 2003, in Yanshwei county, Tainan, Taiwan. Of the recording, Yehlin writes: 'Yanshwei (Salty water) Bee-Firecracker is the biggest and most famous activity on Lantern Festival in Taiwan. This tradition originates from Ching dynasty, when the widespread plague prevailed in this region. The rumour is that the god of Gwangung in the martial temple (Wu Myau) instructed people to let off firecrackers to get rid of the pestilence... As its name [suggests], the Bee-Firecracker is made of hundreds of thousands small firecrackers in pile, just as a honeycomb. On the night of lantern festival, the crowds and the palanquin of gods run among the exploding bee-firecrackers in [their] variety. With its extremely danger, this physical hearing experience fascinates me with [its] unexpected shape of sound. Recorded with Sony TCD-D8 and Sonic Studios DSM binaural microphones. Suggested to listen with headphones, but please be cautious of the unexpected high volume.' I chose this recording for today as more than ever the world needs good fortune and protection. If only this were the only use for gunpowder.
march 10, 20031.4 MB 'Rachmaninoff at the Fish Counter. Well, why not? I took this Vacation at Ranch 99, the huge Asian-oriented supermarket in El Cerrito, California. Bubbling tanks, sharpening knives, and the Sounds of Romance on the Muzak. Recorded 1/27/03, using a Sony MZ-R50 and Radio Shack's stereo condenser mikes mounted on a dummy pair of old headphones under a wool cap...' So writes today's contributor, Bay Area musician John Tenney.
march 3, 20031.4 MB'Water in contact with seaweed, which has been washed up on the shore. Recorded around midnight in mid- November, 2002, in the Swedish archipelago...' Today's lovely, subtle contribution was recorded by Herr Axelsson. (A quiet birthday present today for my wife Bronwyn, and our dear friend Susan Robb who shares it.)
february 24, 20031.4 MB 'This was recorded at 2:00 AM on Sunday, April 29, 2001 at Le Petit Journal in Paris, France. The band was called the South New Orleans Serenaders and they were finishing their second set. I was sitting at a small table in the former brothel with my future wife. Seeing Dixieland Jazz played with such exuberance always brings a smile to my face. The fact that we were in Paris only made the smile larger...' This vacation was submitted by Andrew J. Stitt, who also comments that the recording was 'made on a 16 bit 16khz MP3 player with its built in mono mic, a very lo-fi device. The recording is not exactly oozing with sonic quality. Nonetheless, it's a snapshot...'
february 17, 20031.4 MB Chinese New Year, and the year of the Ram has just begun. We celebrate with a recording from San Francisco's famous Chinatown, made in March, 2001, courtesy of today's contributor, Tommy of Broadcastatic. [A more recent recording of Chinatown, made by my wife Bronwyn, was aired on The Savvy Traveler a week or so ago; it should be in the archives. Also, I can't resist mentioning that the 'year of the Ram' makes a great spoonerism. -Aaron]
february 10, 20031.4 MB 'Recorded in September of 1987 when my wife and I were in Beijing. We were walking around Temple of Heaven Park and came upon a group of people watching some men play mahjong. In the background you can hear a woman singing with the accompaniment of a two-stringed fiddle. I used a Marantz PAD 201 portable cassette recorder. Have no idea what the mic was.' This vacation was submitted by Jeff Sampson.
february 3, 20031.4 MB'In summer 2001, I discovered a pedestrian tunnel in Stockholm that is about 200 meters long and 4 meters in diameter. An old man was sitting in the center of it playing a stringed instrument and taking advantage of the resonance. This recording was made with Sonic Studios DSM-6S mics and a Sharp minidisc recorder.' So writes today's contributor, Steven Fruhwirth.
january 27, 2003510 KB 'I record my soundscapes during my travels. I submit an extract from a recording I did this summer (22 august 2002, afternoon) in the Arab quarter of Agrigento, a city of Sicily. The girls of the recordings are Italian girls, daughters of Arab fathers who emigrated to Sicily. They sang a popular Arab song; I recorded it with a minidisc Sony using the headphones as a microphone (because my microphone was broken). Enjoy it.' This vacation was contributed by Tiziano Bonini, a radio researcher at the University of Milan.
january 20, 20031.5 MB Not all Americans are quiet. On January 18, antiwar protests in Washington DC and San Francisco were attended by several hundred thousand people. These recordings document a range of the voices and sounds at the San Francisco protest, from strident to inspiring, from insipid to stirring. Today is the first anniversary of the one-minute vacation project; thanks for listening. Here are more MP3s: chimes 1.4 MB no blood 1.4 MB justice 1.4 MB peace 1.4 MB baez 1.4 MB mlk 1.4 MB donations 1.4 MB discordian 1.6 MB now 814 KB stridency 1.4 MB. [Aaron]

There are more: archives of the first, third, fourth, and fifth year; recent vacations are here.
You can also purchase compilations on CD; all profits go to charity!

One-minute vacation podcast beta (RSS2.0 with enclosures) podcast, write me if you have comments.


Thanks to Julie Shapirofor this image