Feb 26 2006
You Really Orta Hear This
Have you ever heard a binaural recording?
If you’ve never heard one, then you are in for a treat. Put on headphones (or earbuds), and go to quiet american’s field recordings page. Highlights include Beach Rain, Children, and Frogs. Remember, do not use speakers. For best effect, close your eyes. You might end up snapping them open to make sure someone or something is not in the room with you.
For another treat, go to this page and click on the dog at the top center. Other links in his page are terribly broken, but this one works and is a great example of binaural’s realism.
One popular way to make these recordings is to wear small microphones that look just like a set of earbuds, because the distance between the omnidirectional mics is the key to a good binaural recording. It must resemble as closely as possible the distance between the ears (about 6-8″).
Okay, I’ve geeked out enough for today. I’ve always been fascinated with audio recordings, but when I was a kid running around with a cassette-corder capturing things like toilet flushes, I didn’t have a blog. Aren’t you glad?
I am very, very, glad. :)
I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, but I will later.
My favourite band is The Tragically Hip, and one of their recent albums went by the title, ‘Binaural’.
I never, until I read this post, knew what that meant.
(I mean, I could easily have googled it, I just never bothered.)