= Field recording workshops in Hong Kong 香港田野錄音工作坊 =
2014.11.14-15

2014.11.15@Tung Ping Chau 東平洲

Horror for Baby Woodworm 蛀蟲幼體的恐怖片

For this recording, I was slotting a pair of contact mics into the splints of a piece of bamboo found and left on a pebble beach.  I recorded the sound they picked up via the bamboo while I was walking on the pebbles around it, sometimes throwing pebbles to the bamboo, and even stepping onto it and trying to bend and break it into half.  The shaking sound in the beginning seems like an intro to the track.  My stepping on the pebbles now sounds like old wooden trolley being dragged on rough hard road.   Then suddenly the track turns to the sound of a vicious attack by a wild beast!  Listening to the track now, I could easily imagine myself as a baby woodworm inside that piece of bamboo, which was left in peace and quiet most of time except in weekend when unseen aliens invade and attack my world, cracking every wall of my house!  At some points, the aliens seemed to have left for a second only to return again.  I was absolutely scared for my life!

對於這個聲音記錄，我在卵石灘上發現了一片廢棄的竹片，我把一對接觸式收音咪（Contact mics）插到這竹片上，記錄著這些通過竹片傳來的聲音──我繞著這片竹踏著小石而行；有時候我會向這片竹拋石頭；甚至踏著它；亦試圖把這竹片斷開兩截。開始時候的晃動聲音仿佛是聲檔中的引子。在小石上步行時，所發出的聲音就像舊的木頭車在粗糙的石屎路上拖行一樣。然後，這條聲軌會突然之間會出現野獸來襲的聲音！現在傾聽這聲檔，我幻想自己是條蛀在這竹片上的幼蟲，大部分時間都活在平和與聒靜的時間裡，除了週末那些看不見的異種入侵與攻擊了我的世界，打破我房子的每一道牆壁！某時候，這些異種看來只是僅僅離開半刻，然後又向我方來襲，完全把我的生活擊倒！

:: Afterthought 再思 ::

As an artist, I always treat (and probably focus too much on) images as well as sounds as some kind of text for reading and interpreting, to be deconstructed and analysed for meaning and messages.  But the trip to Tung Ping Chau where most sounds come from the natural environment and our interaction with it has given me a very different experience with sound.  This time, I understand a bit more about the idea of sound as material, a physical thing.  I experimented with knocking on different objects on the beach (pebble, shell, wood, plastic, metal, etc) and experienced the very different sounds they produced.   I also tried pointing the recorder at different angles / height / distances the “thing” I wanted to hear, and the results were surprisingly different.  I had experience a more formalistic aspect of sound – like its various textures, depths, weight, distance, clarity, solid, layers, tones, etc…  Also, I understand a bit more about the meaning behind the term “sound collecting / collector”, and it leads me to think about how field recording is a conscious act –  i.e. active thinking / reflecting / interacting with the various elements at the site.  But the different listening experiences (what I actually hear) from listening with my organic ears and through the recorder-headphone have also made me think about how tools (like electronic devices) have altered our experiences with the world, providing us new knowledges, opening new realities.  I wonder how we could compare seeing / experiencing the world through camera and hearing / experiencing the world through recorder.  Last but not least, I appreciate Yannick’s reminder during Sunday’s sharing, that we have to be aware of the “magic of field recording”.  The situation in the field might have some special effects on our listening and our imagination – which could be very subjective and situation-specific, and that experience might not be objectively repeated afterward off-site.  Lots to think about.

作為一個藝術家，我總會將（也可能過份地關注）圖像以及聲音視為某種文本來閱讀和詮釋，以便解構及分析當中的意義與訊息。但經過這次東平洲的行程，這裡大部分的聲音都來自大自然的環境，而我們跟自然的互動，令我獲得一些非比尋常的聲音體驗。這次，令我更明白一點關於「聲音作為素材、物理性物質」這種想法，我試著在海灘上敲打不同的物件（卵石、貝殼、木頭、塑料、金屬等），體驗它們發出各種各異的聲音。我還嘗試將錄音機指向那些我想聽到的「東西」上，在不同的角度／高度／距離下，所得出來的聲音樣本卻是意外地不盡相同。我亦遇過很多形式化的聲音──就好像不同的質地、深度、重量、距離、清晰、厚實、層次、調度等……另外，我更明白到「田野錄音／採聲人」背後的含義，這使我體會到現場錄音是一種自覺的行為，例如怎樣跟一個地點裡不同元素進行主動的思考／反射／互動。然而，我親耳聽到的外部的聲音以及透過錄音機、耳機所聽到的聲音，兩者所得到不同的聆聽經驗，也使我思考工具（如電子設備）已經扭轉我們對世界的固有經驗、為我們帶來了新的知識、開啟了新的真實性。我們如何比較透過相機來觀看／經歷這個世界，與透過錄音機來聽／經歷這個世界？還有一樣得要補充，我實在欣賞星期日當天的分享上澎葉生對我們的提點：我們必須意識到「田野錄音中的魔法」。實地的情況或會在我們聆聽及想像中造成一些特別的效果──而這是一種非常主觀，以及特定情況下使然的事，然而，當我們離開了這特定的場域，這些因時因地的經驗或許不會再客觀地重複。這方面實在很值得深思。

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