I have been looking for various sound samples (especially of speeches), and was wondering if anyone had found any especially nice/useful online collections.
An online collection that I have found interesting to explore so far has been the Associated Press Archive youtube channel. It is a collection of raw news footage from the past 70 years or so, and contains footage of events from around the world. As I have dug through it, I have found many interesting muffled recordings - all without news commentary.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHTK-2W11Vh1V4uwofOfR4w
Also, in light of the near-infinite number of ways that sound samples can be incorporated into music, I was wondering what you all think makes for a good use of a sound sample. Recently, I have been greatly impressed by the use of a recorded speech on the A side of X.E.'s "The White Will" ep, as the repetition of the blunt/clear speech excerpt makes for a powerful impression on the listener.
there was a thread a while ago where Mikko pointed out that online resources and the ready availability of such "extreme" content lessens the effect that it oncehad when you really needed to search for these things. i would say a good sample is something that the discerning listener either cannot or will not have found before - sourced elsewhere than the internet
Quote from: NaturalOrthodoxy on September 17, 2019, 11:40:48 PM
there was a thread a while ago where Mikko pointed out that online resources and the ready availability of such "extreme" content lessens the effect that it oncehad when you really needed to search for these things. i would say a good sample is something that the discerning listener either cannot or will not have found before - sourced elsewhere than the internet
I agree. It can really diminish how interesting a track is if the sample used is something yuo could easily just google and find... the same actually goes for images too. I will spend hours at the library digging through dusty old books in foreign languages to find the right things to use in a collage or for a logo. Better than something yuo can find easily on google images, or that you can tell the artist just got off of tumblr
Of course this isn't to say that a widely recognisable sample can't be effective - look at Tim Roth's dialogue from Made in Britain in that one Genocide Organ track, and I've even been guilty of sampling from Scum (but I guess I look at my own project as more of a hobby than serious art).
Even if something is widely available, it could be used in an interesting way, given the context. Koufar sampling from The Wire is a good example of this- cements the idea of the project as modern, tough, and real.
Quote from: teenagelightning on September 18, 2019, 12:46:39 AMBetter than something yuo can find easily on google images, or that you can tell the artist just got off of tumblr
Agree with this but also the massive expansion of online archiving in recent years means that you can increasingly find amazing stuff that previously you'd have only been able to find in old books etc. If you get deep into searching big library/university/museum archive etc sites you can definitely find high resolution scans of totally obscure and unique stuff that it's unlikely that some random instagram 'designer' would ever even know to look for
online Software Defined Radio receivers are a universe of amazing and unrepeatable sample material http://websdr.org/
also on radio: I recently bought this incredibly cheap hacked car radio Eurorack module, was going to build the exact same thing but these people beat me too it and sell it for less than the time + effort would cost me :) https://www.tesseractmodular.com/eurorack-modules/low-coast
It's good for live indeterminate radio transmissions into the Noise, and also can play back samples from a USB stick :)
I love digging in records stores for spoken word / stories on vinyl. I picked up an old BBC sound archive record of different train engines plus speeches from engineers / railway bosses. Some of it dated back to the early 1900s. Great stuff for £2.
You can usually find half decent stuff in charity shops and at car boot sales. If you live in a city go out into the countryside a bit where there should be less demand for "retro" vinyl :)
Always worth a gamble if its cheap.
I also once raided a skip outside a house clearance where an old lady had lived - found a few 78s (mostly scratched to fuck / broken unfortunately) and a few VHS tapes - turned out to be just coronation street recordings but it was worth a go!
Quote from: Soloman Tump on September 18, 2019, 05:20:06 PM
I love digging in records stores for spoken word / stories on vinyl. I picked up an old BBC sound archive record of different train engines plus speeches from engineers / railway bosses. Some of it dated back to the early 1900s. Great stuff for £2.
Amazing! my fiancee actually bought me an old BBC sound effects album of "disaster" sounds- explosions, thunder, crumbling buildings, stampedes of wild animals. Really saturated and ancient sounding, will definitely find its way onto a release a sound source.
EDIT: it's this one https://www.discogs.com/No-Artist-Sound-Effects-No-16-Disasters/release/963162
Quote from: Cementimental on September 18, 2019, 02:23:08 PM
Quote from: teenagelightning on September 18, 2019, 12:46:39 AMBetter than something yuo can find easily on google images, or that you can tell the artist just got off of tumblr
Agree with this but also the massive expansion of online archiving in recent years means that you can increasingly find amazing stuff that previously you'd have only been able to find in old books etc. If you get deep into searching big library/university/museum archive etc sites you can definitely find high resolution scans of totally obscure and unique stuff that it's unlikely that some random instagram 'designer' would ever even know to look for
That's the way that I have been looking at it! The internet is essentially a huge library - with just a few starting places it is possible to delve really deep into super obscure materials.
Old spoken word records are choice. I love finding old personal tapes too; once walking down Colfax in Denver I found a cassette on the side of the road labeled 'THE REALITY OF HELL'" containing a fiery sermon on the torments...of hell. Can't beat it!
Quote from: Eigen Bast on September 18, 2019, 07:10:08 PM
Old spoken word records are choice. I love finding old personal tapes too; once walking down Colfax in Denver I found a cassette on the side of the road labeled 'THE REALITY OF HELL'" containing a fiery sermon on the torments...of hell. Can't beat it!
Awesome. I found a particularly tragic self-help audiobook with all the audio clarity of a Transilvanian Hunger bootleg at an Oxfam years ago, definitely good to loop some odd phrases
I'd argue that the abundance in sample material available via digital media makes it harder to find any gems.
I've been really interested in using stock/commercial music sites for some of my weirder projects lately. Don't know if this is of any use to anyone here since it's pretty specific for a certain type of sound you'd need to be going for but just throwing it out there.
Have never seen this one out in the wilds but this would be great source of sounds. Prefer not to pay brand new prices - probably better if its a 30 year old copy that is full of hiss and crackle
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BBC-Sound-Effects-Death-Horror/dp/B01KIP3PNK
QuoteA vintage BBC release of over 80 gruesome sounds, not for the squeamish. From chopping and sawing limbs, to screams and howling. Mike Harding (BBC and Radiophonic Workshops) has captured the sound brilliantly. Presented on 180g blood splattered vinyl, this is a must have for horror enthusiasts.
1. Execution and Torture
2. Monsters and Animals
3. Creaking Doors and Grave Digging
4. Musical Effects and Footsteps
5. Vocal Effects and Heartbeats
6. Weather, Atmosphere and Bells
I actually used a bunch of samples from that record on a tape of mine.
https://www.discogs.com/fr/Audio-Camera-%C3%89pouvante-Insolite/release/6285264
http://yesdivulgation.bandcamp.com/album/violent-shogun-rot-2
once again find myself offering a contrary perspective: I use lots of easily-available samples culled from the internet, because my samples usually are thematically related to to "concept" as it were. There's no obscure, cool story of me sampling congressman mo brooks talking about steve scalise getting shot on CNN, or orson welles on the dick cavett show. But they serve a narrative and conceptual function primarily. Sampling from hollywood movies is another thing...
edit: on tech side would strenuously recommend the free program AUDIO HIJACK for sampling from the computer
Quote from: l.b. on September 19, 2019, 08:02:28 PM
once again find myself offering a contrary perspective: I use lots of easily-available samples culled from the internet, because my samples usually are thematically related to to "concept" as it were. There's no obscure, cool story of me sampling congressman mo brooks talking about steve scalise getting shot on CNN, or orson welles on the dick cavett show. But they serve a narrative and conceptual function primarily. Sampling from hollywood movies is another thing...
edit: on tech side would strenuously recommend the free program AUDIO HIJACK for sampling from the computer
I think that the secret is finding something that matches your intention with the project. If it meshes well with what you intend to create and the noise tones that are used, then it shouldn't be problematic whether the sample is easy to identify/find or not. The result would probably be even better in spite of it due to the conceptual integrity of the work taken as a whole. There is no point in being obscure simply for the sake of obscurity.
I have always liked to go on physical record hunting missions, and besides finding actual good records there is the hunt to find really obscure stuff to sample. I like to keep a physical archive of tapes and lps with different stuff that can be used on occation. Same goes for movie/soundtrack samples. Having been involved in making beats for some time, also way before every movie was online, there was always a quest of finding killer loops from old movies. Even back when i first saw Cannibal Holocaust on some dusty vhs for the first time the song was so obvious a great sample from an infamous that someone for sure would have lifted it before. Flea markets and garage sales forever!
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on September 19, 2019, 11:33:51 PM
There is no point in being obscure simply for the sake of obscurity.
You can sort of tell who's willing to work hard at these sorts of things versus who's lazier based on their justifications. Abundance in the digital age is convenient yet clearly expedites and therefore cheapens "the search." Spending time finding, acquiring and using the found sound has a more personal and relevant function in one's worl when more effort and physical energy is required. Give me home recorded tapes from thrift stores and vhs copies of old documentaries any day over somebody's YouTube channel. You can find some media-exploited surviving victim of some predator crying on camera for your PE project or whatever quite easily, but instead you might look at secondhand shops for tapes of trauma counseling sessions. If you're supposedly dedicated to your craft/art, the work involved should reflect that.
Quote from: Force Neurotic on September 20, 2019, 05:39:04 PM
[...]work hard at these sorts of things versus who's lazier [...] cheapens "the search." [...] more effort and physical energy
Some weird value statements here - as if the defining factor of a good recording was how much energy you spent on it...
Quote from: Force Neurotic on September 20, 2019, 05:39:04 PM
Give me home recorded tapes from thrift stores and vhs copies of old documentaries any day over somebody's YouTube channel. You can find some media-exploited surviving victim of some predator crying on camera for your PE project or whatever quite easily, but instead you might look at secondhand shops for tapes of trauma counseling sessions. If you're supposedly dedicated to your craft/art, the work involved should reflect that.
I generally agree that it's more likely to find "better" material for conceptual use by obtaining recordings as close to the source of matter as possible. Material that is not heavily pre-selected as you would expect it from many internet sources and that requires to really dig in and look for appropriate samples (an own unique recording of a witnessed counselling session might be superior to your example for instance).
However you make this sound so dismissive. If the output is the same, the source for the used sample material is absolutely irrelevant.
I get what you mean, and I guess it's a pretty opinionated point of view, but it's honestly how I feel. Hey, if someone whose work I love can find something with ease and expediency, more power to them. When it comes to what I do, though, I have serious regrets re: taking the easy route in past projects and such. I just think that ultimately if I'm to present something to an audience, it should be a labor of love and fussed over until as close to my vision as it can get. This means being neurotic about every detail.
Quote from: Force Neurotic on September 20, 2019, 05:39:04 PM
You can sort of tell who's willing to work hard at these sorts of things versus who's lazier based on their justifications. Abundance in the digital age is convenient yet clearly expedites and therefore cheapens "the search." Spending time finding, acquiring and using the found sound has a more personal and relevant function in one's worl when more effort and physical energy is required. Give me home recorded tapes from thrift stores and vhs copies of old documentaries any day over somebody's YouTube channel. You can find some media-exploited surviving victim of some predator crying on camera for your PE project or whatever quite easily, but instead you might look at secondhand shops for tapes of trauma counseling sessions. If you're supposedly dedicated to your craft/art, the work involved should reflect that.
I am not so sure that just because a sample was puled from the internet that the search for it was necessarily easier or quicker. As GEWALTMONOPOL suggested above, the sheer volume of digital material often means that the process of finding the perfect sample is often long and difficult.
Quote from: theworldisawarfilm on September 20, 2019, 04:57:50 PM
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on September 19, 2019, 11:33:51 PM
There is no point in being obscure simply for the sake of obscurity.
This may or may not be true, but I think I need to get N. Senada's input on the subject.
100gb of high quality recordings of malfunctioning equipment, via Tom Whitwell (Music Thing) -
https://zenodo.org/record/3384388?fbclid=IwAR28gQw9pJ2d6dMkOF1GqaFo2NIcl6wiKJBJTjmdcw1HdgG6VsoM8kWjNoo#.XYjCZZNKjUJ
QuoteThis dataset is a sound dataset for malfunctioning industrial machine investigation and inspection (MIMII dataset). It contains the sounds generated from four types of industrial machines, i.e. valves, pumps, fans, and slide rails. Each type of machine includes seven individual product models*1, and the data for each model contains normal sounds (from 5000 seconds to 10000 seconds) and anomalous sounds (about 1000 seconds). To resemble a real-life scenario, various anomalous sounds were recorded (e.g., contamination, leakage, rotating unbalance, and rail damage). Also, the background noise recorded in multiple real factories was mixed with the machine sounds. The sounds were recorded by eight-channel microphone array with 16 kHz sampling rate and 16 bit per sample. The MIMII dataset assists benchmark for sound-based machine fault diagnosis. Users can test the performance for specific functions e.g., unsupervised anomaly detection, transfer learning, noise robustness, etc. The detail of the dataset is described in [1][2].
This dataset is made available by Hitachi, Ltd. under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.
Quote from: Bloated Slutbag on September 22, 2019, 11:27:17 AM
Quote from: theworldisawarfilm on September 20, 2019, 04:57:50 PM
Quote from: Balor/SS1535 on September 19, 2019, 11:33:51 PM
There is no point in being obscure simply for the sake of obscurity.
This may or may not be true, but I think I need to get N. Senada's input on the subject.
At first I read that as Neil Sedaka
Quote from: Cementimental on September 23, 2019, 04:03:40 PM
100gb of high quality recordings of malfunctioning equipment, via Tom Whitwell (Music Thing) -
https://zenodo.org/record/3384388?fbclid=IwAR28gQw9pJ2d6dMkOF1GqaFo2NIcl6wiKJBJTjmdcw1HdgG6VsoM8kWjNoo#.XYjCZZNKjUJ
QuoteThis dataset is a sound dataset for malfunctioning industrial machine investigation and inspection (MIMII dataset). It contains the sounds generated from four types of industrial machines, i.e. valves, pumps, fans, and slide rails. Each type of machine includes seven individual product models*1, and the data for each model contains normal sounds (from 5000 seconds to 10000 seconds) and anomalous sounds (about 1000 seconds). To resemble a real-life scenario, various anomalous sounds were recorded (e.g., contamination, leakage, rotating unbalance, and rail damage). Also, the background noise recorded in multiple real factories was mixed with the machine sounds. The sounds were recorded by eight-channel microphone array with 16 kHz sampling rate and 16 bit per sample. The MIMII dataset assists benchmark for sound-based machine fault diagnosis. Users can test the performance for specific functions e.g., unsupervised anomaly detection, transfer learning, noise robustness, etc. The detail of the dataset is described in [1][2].
This dataset is made available by Hitachi, Ltd. under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license.
Very cool.