audio-recording 8

In the 1980s, we rarely used to buy audio cassettes. It was a lot cheaper to record songs from the radio. It’s amazing that in the 2000s, this technique seems to be less used than before. If you wanted to record a song that was streamed online, you could go through the complex procedures I’d mentioned earlier to download online songs, or you could use the 1980s technologies. Get a tape recorder, connect the headphones of your PC to the tape recorder’s microphone using a stereo cable, and record to your heart’s content. ...

Tom Mabe likes playing pranks on telemarketers while recording the call. This is a recording of a hilarious telemarketing call. Tom: Hello? Mike: Yes, can I speak with Tom Mabe? Tom: Who’s calling? Mike: This is Mike (beep). You’ve been selected to receive a complete digital satellite system for free. With this, you’re going to… Tom: Um, let me ask you something. Did you know Tom Mabe? Are you a friend of his? Mike: No, I’m not. I’m just calling to… Tom: Hold that thought… hold on one second, alright? (off phone) Hey guys, get really good pictures of the body. Yeah, dust everything down for prints. (on phone) Are you there? Mike: Yeah. Tom: Let me bring you up to speed. You have actually called a murder scene and Mr Mabe is no longer with us. I’m Officer Clarke. I’m conducting a homicide investigation. I want to ask you a series of questions. Firstly, what was the nature of business you had with Tom Mabe? Mike: I, uh, had no business with him. I’m… I’m sorry to have bothered you… Tom: No, no, no hey hold on look, I want to ask you to stay on the phone. This call has already been traced and we may need to you to come here for further questioning. This … Mike: You see, you don’t understand. I’m just calling … Tom: No, no, look, you don’t understand. Unless you want to be charged with obstruction of justice it’s imperative to keep your ass on the phone, Mike. Mike: Or, how about you just talk to my supervisor then? Tom: No no no no we’ll get to your supervisor in a second. Now, give me your whereabouts. Mike: I’m at work. Tom: You’re at work? Mike: Yes. Tom: You being a smartass? Mike: No, sir. Tom: Let me put it to you this way, Mike. Say I want to mail your ass a letter. What would I have to write on the outside of that envelope to ensure that the mailman will deliver it right to your ass? Geographically speaking, Mike, where is work? Mike: 40 West (beep), Middleton, Colorado. Tom: Hold on, that’s 40 … Mike: Yes sir. Tom: Michael, hold on one sec, alright? Mike: Yes sir. Tom: (off phone) Get the Middleton homicide department on the phone. Yeah, give them this information. Tell them there been a talk in connection with a fatal shooting and aggravated robbery. (on phone) Mike, how did you know Mr. Mabe again? Mike: Wait, you’re calling the Middleton police department? I’m hundreds of miles away! I don’t even know the guy… I’m in Colorado! Tom: No, no, it’s not that scary… that’s just a formality. Tell me, have you been to any place other than work, then? Mike: No! Tom: OK, and tell me again what, where were you last night for twenty hours after eight and ten? Mike: I’m not feeling really comfortable with any of this. Tom: Have you even ever spoken to Mr. Mabe, Mike? Mike: No I haven’t. I don’t even know the guy. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Tom: OK, very good, calm down, calm down, look, I’ve got one more question for you, Mike. As you well know, I’m sure, Mr. Mabe was a flaming homosexual. There’s no easy way of asking this, I don’t want to embarrass you or nothin’, but, were you his gay lover? Mike: What!? No… what kind of a question is that? Tom: (you just have to hear what he says!) ...

You can play a video backwards and still recognise the scenes quite well. Can you do that with sound? I tried it on this Bryan Adams clip of Summer of ‘69 (mp3). When played backwards (mp3), it almost sounds like Arabic! Instruments sound weird backwards too, like the guitar played backwards and drums played backwards. It’s seems obvious once you see the wave file. The picture below shows the guitar. The sounds are clearly not symmetric left to right. ...

It’s interesting how Steven Spielberg created his sound effects in movies. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy’s whip is the treated sound of a jet taking off; the punches in fist fights are the result of bashing leather jackets with baseball bats; and the rolling boulder rumble is a Honda station wagon coasting down a gravel road mixed with a rocket blast-off. … or in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial ...

It’s possible to make sense out of keyboard whispers.

Garth is working on audio-blogging tools. Given the amount of poetry I see among bloggers, this might unleash a host of blog-singers.

Sanskrit texts and bhajans are available as audio.

Bhagavad Gita online. Has audio, translations in several languages, etc. Very well organised. The final quote was very fitting for Mr. Krishnan’s IIMPressions, incidentally.