Call for Participation: Drifting

[Aaron Ximm <ghede@xxxxxxxx>]

Phonography International and Aaron Ximm announce:

 [
  Drifting: walking music
 ]

is open for submissions. Your participation is invited.

Please forward to potentially interested parties.

[what]

'Drifting: walking music' is the working name for a proposed compilation
to consist entirely of field recordings made while walking, running or
otherwise ambulatory (wheelchairs welcome).

Selected recordings will be combined by curating phonographer Aaron Ximm
into a seamless walk through the many moods of the world.

The listener with headphones will come along as we collectively explore
what happens when we get up, get out, and walk into the world.

[the motivation]

A majority of [field] recordings are made from a stationary position.

The effect of this convention on the listener are an unremarked,
unchallenged presumption of (i) objectivity in the recording, and (ii) the
invisibility of the recordist.

Walking recordings foreground the active role the recordist plays, and
remind us that as in photography, every recording has a frame.

Walking with the intention to drift (see "Drifting", below) is a
particularly liberating experience; reproducing something of the joyous
serendipity of such drifting is the goal of the compilation: as is
encouraging the listener to get up, get out and listen (and record!)
themselves.

[on walking]

Walking is a primary engagement with the world, a universal part of the
human experience.

The rhythm of footfalls is perhaps the second we learn (after the beating
of the heart), and is hence a progenitor of music: it is no coincidence
that many cultures have produced 'walking musics', to be sung or recited
or chanted while walking.

Moving in the world, we multiply our frames of reference. Motion roots us
in time. Walking grounds us in our bodies. Walking, we hear the world
differently.

Listening to recordings made while walking, we are reminded that all it
takes to change ourselves is to change our location.

[how to participate]

If you haven't, make a recording while walking. Send it on CD or CDR to:

 Aaron Ximm / Quiet American
 964 Natoma
 San Francisco, CA 94103
 USA

Be sure to label your CD and all accompanying materials with your name and
email address.

Include a description of the time and place of recording, equipment used,
and contact information for correspondance.

Submitted materials will not be returned.

Multiple submissions are acceptable, with no limitation.

I may request some assistance composing, editing, producing, and mastering
the final CD.

[deadlines]

Recordings should arrive no later than January 15, 2003.

Announcements on recordings selected for inclusion will be made by March
1, 2003.

The compilation should be finished and distributed in the summer of 2003.

[art as business]

The compilation will presumably be self-funded: participants will be asked
to contribute to the costs of professional duplication of the final
compilation, in exchange for which they will receive multiple copies.

The total requested donation and number of copies will be determined by
the number of recordings used, but assume something on the order of
US$50-60 donation per person, each person receiving forty-fifty copies
(assuming 15-20 participants).

On a TBD basis, copies may be withheld for distribution through
distributors and for reviewers, reducing the number of copies each
participant receives.  In this case any and all proceeds will be
distributed equally among participants.

Grants and angel investors will be persued, but should be considered
unlikely.

Donation is not an absolute requirement for participation, but without
donations duplication will not be possible.

The final composition will in all likelihood be posted in MP3 or
equivalent form in effective perpetuity on the Quiet American website,
with full credits and links as desired provided for all participants.

Recordings will remain the property of the submitting recordist; by
submitting, however, you agree to allow use of your recording in this
compilation, and agree that it may be distributed with no renumeration.

[qualities of a desirable recording]

Most important is subject matter and its presentation: the nature of the
environment documented, and the approach taken in documenting it. Unique
environments have the best chance of inclusion, as a goal of the
compilation will be to range far and wide: acoustically, aesthetically,
culturally, emotionally, physically.

Preference will be given to binaural and stereo recordings, but this is
not an absolute requirement. Good subject matter and good luck always
trumps good equipment; that said, sound quality matters.

Preference will be given to recordings in which some discernible sound of
walking or ambulation is present: not on aesthetic grounds, but in the
interests of presenting a coherent focus to the compilation. In
exceptional circumstances, this requirement may be waived.

Climbing stairs, crossing bridges, etc. are acceptable subject matter, as
long as the primary mechanism of movement is walking.

Ideally, recordings should be at least five minutes long. Depending on
content and context, shorter recordings will be acceptable. Recordings
longer than five minutes should be accompanied by suggestions on where to
find the most interesting moments, as I may not have time to listen with
full attention to every minute of every submission.

[fine print]

Specifically prohibited are recordings made while stationary or riding a
mount (mechanical or animal).  Wheelchairs are explicitly allowed, but
should be noted in submission materials.

Contributions are not to have been manipulated, edited, composed, or
distorted in any way.  Minor 'clean up' operations such as normalization,
extremely mild dynamics control (e.g. limiting or correction of digital
'overs'), and unnoticeable EQ are acceptable.

[drifting]

The working title of the compilation derives (pun intended) from the text
"Theory of the Derive" by Guy Debord of the Situationist International.

The text may be of some interest to field recordists and others accustomed
to attending with intention to the world around them. As it is explicitly
free from copyright and open to reprinting, it will probably be reproduced
and included with the CD as part of packaging materials.

The text in one form may be found here:

 http://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/2.derive.htm

Three cult movies immediately come to mind as embodying the theory of
drifting: 'Mondo New York,' 'Slacker,' and 'the Waking Life.'

[questions?]

Questions about the compilation should be directed to Aaron Ximm
at ghede@xxxxxxxxx

A webpage with information about the project will be added in early
November to the Quiet American website:

  http://www.quietamerican.org

[thanks, and good recording!]