A Vacation for your Mind
This episode is built around a simple concept: that sounds can invoke the imagination and transport you to other places. Instead of featuring the usual vintage recordings of music as I normally do, I will be editing and modifying vintage sound effects and field recordings to assemble a vacation for your mind.
This episode’s Sonic Suitcase is packed with a variety of sounds that I collectively call Harbors. Beginning with the hidden sounds of coffee brewing, the sounds evolve into ambient depictions of ports of call, the clattering of communication devices such as the typewriter and teletype, and the restful quiet of pattering rain. The playlist found on the website for the podcast lists all of the tracks in the general order in which they are played. But beware that I have taken liberty to edit them, embellish them with various effects, and repeat them as needed to craft the overall experience. This might be an episode to listen to in the dark. It’s about an hour long.
I want to acknowledge a program that got me interested in doing this, the BBC’s new Radiophonic Travel Agency. They offer sonic journeys for armchair travellers. The way they do this is to present a sequence of documentary sound as you experience them if you were taking a trip—the cab ride to the airport, traveling by airplane, arrival at the hotel, and walking around various sites of interest at the destination. For example, they do this for a gondola ride along Venice’s Grand Canal, a hike in Wyoming’s Yellowstone Park, and the buzz of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. My Sonic Suitcase is much more abstract that what the BBC has done as well as being much more composed as a sound creation, but I recommend that you check out the BBC program.
Playlist
1. Thom Holmes, contact microphone on an expresso machine (2021 Connecticut).
2. Cook Laboratories, “Coffee Percolating” and “Pouring,” from Cook Sound Effects Vol 2 (1961 Cook).
3. Cook Laboratories, “Power Sawing.” From Cook Sound Effects Vol 2 (1961 Cook).
4. Cook Laboratories, “Water Dripping.” From Cook Sound Effects Vol 2 (1961 Cook).
5. Argo Transacord, “Evening in Harbour,” from Sounds of the Sea and Ships (1965, Argo).
6. Leo Hurwitz, Charles Pratt, “ Ocean Into Inland Waters” from Here At The Waters' Edge 1 (1962 Folkways).
7. Audio Fidelity, “Sawmill Scene” from Sound Effects Volume 14 (1972 Audio Fidelity).
8. Major Records, “Chopping Tree” from Major Records 5045B (1950).
9. Audio Fidelity, “Hammering Nail and Electric Saw” from Sound Effects Volume 1 (1960 Audio Fidelity).
10. Cook Laboratories, “Water going down noisy drain” from Cook Sound Effects Vol 2 (1961 Cook).
11. BBC, “Heavy Seawash” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
12. BBC, “Seagulls” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
13. Thom Holmes, contact microphone on an espresso machine frother (2021 Connecticut).
14. BBC, “Diving, 1 splash” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
15. BBC, “Diving, double splash” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
16. BBC, “Threshing water” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
17. Mcintosh, “Alarm Clocks“ from Thru The Sound Barrier With McIntosh (1955 McIntosh Music).
18. Audio Fidelity, “National Cash Register Electronic Adding Machine” from Sound Effects Volume 1 (1960 Audio Fidelity).
19. Philip S. Gross, random morse codes without vocal instruction (1962 Folkways).
20. Philip S. Gross, vocal instruction without morse code (1962 Folkways).
21. Audio Fidelity, “IBM Electric Typewriter” from Sound Effects Volume 1 (1960 Audio Fidelity).
22. Audio Fidelity, “Royal Typewriter” from Sound Effects Volume 1 (1960 Audio Fidelity).
23. Cook Laboratories, “Power lawnmower.” From Cook Sound Effects Vol 2 (1961 Cook).
24. BBC, “Fireworks - General Display” from Sound Effects No. 1 (1969 BBC).
25. Speedy Sound Effects, “News Effects No. 11: Receiving from a Teletype Machine” from Sound Effects No. G-14 (1950 Speedy).
26. Audio Fidelity, “Railroad Telegraph” from Sound Effects Volume 1 (1960 Audio Fidelity).
27. Major Records, “Space Computer” from Sound Effects Volume 21 (1978 Major).
28. Audio Fidelity, “Serenity: The Silent Surf” from Ambience One (An Adventure In Environmental Sound) (1970 Audio Fidelity).
29. Thom Holmes, rain and thunder (2017 Connecticut).
30. Thom Holmes, chicken coop (2017 Upstate New York).
31. Audio Fidelity, “Fire Island Ferry” from Sound Effects Volume 14 (1972 Audio Fidelity).
32. Mel Kaiser, “Medium Freq. Sweeps (With Echo Re-Verb & Pulses, Drones)” from Science Fiction Sound Effects Record (1958 Folkways).
33. Mel Kaiser, “Low Freq. Sweeps” from Science Fiction Sound Effects Record (1958 Folkways).
34. Mel Kaiser, “Frequency Sweep - Dual” from Science Fiction Sound Effects Record (1958 Folkways).
35. Thom Holmes, bonfire (2017 Upstate New York).
36. Brad Miller, “The Sounds of the Storm” from Nature's Mystic Moods - The Sounds Of The Storm And The Sea (1974 Bainbridge).
37. Thom Holmes, rain drone study (2016 Connecticut).
38. Audio Fidelity, “Sunday Cycling, Central Park” from Sound Effects Volume 14 (1972 Audio Fidelity).
39. Thom Holmes, “Study for Interference (opening)” (2017, Connecticut).
40. Thom Holmes, electronic crickets and birds (2016-17 Connecticut).
41. Mcintosh, “Machinery Sounds“ from Thru The Sound Barrier With McIntosh (1955 McIntosh Music).
42. Cook Laboratories, “Festival” (excerpt) from Mexican Firecrackers (1956 Cook).
