On january 1st, 2008 I began a project where I would take one
polaroid picture every day of 2008. It was a fun, challenging,
and sometimes frustrating endeavor, but I now have 365 polaroids
portraying the ups and downs and travels of a year in my life.
And 2009 is upon us...
The most rewarding aspect of that project was the fact that every
day I was forced to look at the world around me and experience
each day on a very visual level. Oftentimes, though, I'd pass
over what turned out to be a great photographic opportunity in
the hope a better one would be around the corner, resulting in
a mediocre photo for the day. However, the project was not about
the “best” photography but rather simply of a diary
of seeing for a year.
As 2008 drew to a close I set my sights to 2009. A picture-a-day
was very challenging, do Igive myself a break, freedom from carrying
the Polaroid with me every day, freedom from having to constantly
be on the lookout? Or, was the forcing of this creative project
on me every day a priceless exercise? Never one to rest, I have
decided that in 2009, starting on January 1st, of course, I will
carry a small digital audio recorder with me every day of the
year and record one sound per day.
As a musician I rarely work with “field recordings”
although I am familiar with them enough as a sound source and
have used them in my compositions from time to time. However,
I am always listening and find beauty and serenity in many of
the everyday sounds that surround me. This exercise will not only
force me to listen more carefully every day, but expand my own
sound palette. Like my polaroids, it will not be about capturing
a "perfect" sound, but be a simple audio diary of each
day. Undoubtedly, there will be many wonderful sounds that I capture,
but that is not the primary focus of the project.
I will not set a time limit on each day’s recordings, but
rather make each recording as long as it needs to be to capture
whatever it is i’ll be recording. The only rule I will set
on myself is that all of sounds must be recorded through a microphone,
no direct line connections into the recorder. This will assure
a certain quality (at times, poor) and character. These recordings
will be featured on my blog (12kblog.wordpress.com)
and, of course, this web page.
If 2008 was a year of seeing every day, 2009 will be a year of
listening. The death of Polaroid's instant film market has made
the Polaroid-a-day difficult to continue... My project was timely.
Needless to say, as a photographer, I will never stop looking,
nor will I rarely be caught without a camera, but to form a year’s
worth of living and travelling with an audio diary will be a new
way for me to experience each day.
DECEMBER
31
Pound Ridge, NY, 3:59pm
the final sound of this year with a little bit of video. a beautiful,
snowy december 31st here in Pound Ridge and one minute of audio
composed with an old acoustic guitar, an ebow, and an electro
harmonix looping box. this One Sound Each Day project has been
a lot more difficult than ever imagined it would be, but i felt
that i discovered and appreciated everyday sounds in a totally
new way throughout the year. i hope the quiet and often mundane
sounds of my every day life have inspired you to listen more closely
around your everyday as well.
DECEMBER
30
Pound Ridge, NY, 5pm
one of the last recordings to be made with a broken guitar (owned
by gwendolyn alker and kenneth kirschner). this was the guitar
used on "northern", but it's in pretty sad shape. it's
resting on a chair.
DECEMBER
29
Norwalk, CT, around 1pm
at a bowling alley with annoying music, loud people, and the oddly
fun sport of bowling.
DECEMBER
28
Pound Ridge, NY, 3:04pm
shaking a California "San Francisco" snow globe. unfortunately,
you can't hear the sound of the glittery "snow" settling
on the skyline.
DECEMBER
27
Pound Ridge, NY, morning
a water-spritz bottle, misting the houseplants.
DECEMBER
26
Suffield, CT, late morning
rain on the tin roof of my parents' house, recorded through a
partially open window.
DECEMBER
25
Suffield, CT, 7:15am
an old, spinning, wooden christmas toy in the library of my parents'
house in front of the fireplace on christmas morning.
DECEMBER
24
New Hartford, CT, around 9pm
a tall, 4-tined sculpture by Harry Bertoia owned by my uncle who's
father was given the sculpture by Bertoia himself. this was recorded
on christmas eve and, sadly, in a rush only with my iPhone as,
in classic Tascam DR-1 style, the "fully charged" battery
proved to be dead.
DECEMBER
23
no sound.
DECEMBER
22
Pound Ridge, NY, late morning
... and then they start sawing floorboards over my head. not a
pleasant sound. i was going to get out my good microphones and
looper pedals and try to make a live composition, but i wasn't
in the mood.
DECEMBER
21
Pound Ridge, NY, 11:10am
house (de)construction on the room above my studio. times like
this, i can't really work.
DECEMBER
20
Pound Ridge, NY, early afternoon
christmas shopping at a local bookstore.
DECEMBER
19
Pound Ridge, NY, late evening
the sound of the window shades in my studio clicking against the
wall as they're being moved from the gentle hot air of heaters
underneath.
DECEMBER
18
Pound Ridge, NY, 2pm
physical modeled plucks and wooden resonances.
DECEMBER
17
Pound Ridge, NY, early afternoon
the sound of a DAT machine rewinding an old tape as i go through
archives for my old Audio.NL material for re-release.
DECEMBER
16
Pound Ridge, NY, 4:40pm
finding quiet in an electric-piano inspired sound i created.
DECEMBER
15
Pound Ridge, NY, around 11am
renovations on the house begin. the sound of men digging footings
for the new addition. recorded through my studio window as i worry
over the coming 6 months of construction and noise.
DECEMBER
14
no sound.
DECEMBER
13
Pound Ridge, NY, late evening
turning the pages of my archival storage book of last year's one-polaroid-everyday
project. trying to remember the circumstances under which each
image was taken and reflecting on the year.
DECEMBER
12
Pound Ridge, NY, 10:14pm
christmas has hit the house, tree, fire, warm cocktails. this
is a small christmas music box playing by the fire.
DECEMBER
11
Pound Ridge, NY, 1:30pm
i put the recorder out on the railing under the birdfeeder and
walked away. let the birds eat and poke around the recorder. fortunately,
none of them landed on it.
DECEMBER
10
Pound Ridge, NY, around 7pm
snow, and strong wind, blowing against the living room window.
DECEMBER
9
Pound Ridge, NY, 10am
more looper fun. just small acoustic instruments.
DECEMBER
8
Pound Ridge, NY, afternoon
re-wired my patch bay to allow easier access to my loopers via
my preamps. testing out hookup with my relatively new beyerdynamic
MC930 microphones.
DECEMBER
7
no sound.
DECEMBER
6
Pound Ridge, NY, 12:20am
the sound of snow falling from inside of the car. it was the least
windy place i could find to record the soft sounds of snow striking
glass. almost slipped on the ice on my way out to the car in the
pitch black... left the recorder running and forgot about it until
after 1 in the morning. this for my upcoming project that i posted
some images for before this on the blog.
DECEMBER
5
Pound Ridge, NY, late morning
acoustic, ebow, and Memory Man w/ Hazarai pedal. i let this one
run pretty much all day in the studio.
DECEMBER
4
Pound Ridge, NY, around 4 or 5pm
a moment of sound is better than a moment of silence, isn't it?
made after i had to say goodbye to one of my beloved cats, sushi.
DECEMBER
3
Pound Ridge, NY, night
loop3 with the time factor. dark, maybe i knew.
DECEMBER
2
Pound Ridge, NY, 4:20pm
much nicer than yesterdays. acoustic, ebow, time factor and nice
big reverb.
DECEMBER
1
Pound Ridge, NY, 10:30am
the start of a week of quick guitar loops. this one created with
the acoustic, an ebow + eventide time factor.
