Environments (series)
Encyclopedia
Environments is a series of LP
s, cassette
s, 8-Track cartridges and CD
s created by producer and sound recordist Irving Solomon Teibel (1938-2010) for Syntonic Research Inc. between 1970 and 1979. The series consists of recordings of natural sounds
such as a seashore with crashing waves or a thunderstorm with falling rain, without musical accompaniment. The series ignited a worldwide interest in field recordings which resulted in literally thousands of imitations being released throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s both with, and without, music (i.e.: Moods, Solitudes
, Echoes of Nature, Nature Recordings, Magic Moods, etc.).
The Environments albums were considered definitive enough to have excerpts included on the Voyager Gold Record. The Environments series also presented some of the longest album-sides ever released.
, comprised 11 long-playing records with a different environment on each side, for 22 total Environments.
The initial recording in the series goes back to 1968. Working under the direction of Tony Conrad
and Beverly Grant Conrad, Teibel recorded ocean waves at Coney Island for use in their feature film "Coming Attractions" (1970). Teibel immediately sensed the marketability of this material, noting its effect on improving concentration, enhancing sleep and sex, and imparting a sense of calm to the listener. Conrad, who wished to credit Walter De Maria
for his prior usage of ocean recordings, was not willing to become a partner in the Syntonics Research enterprise as envisioned by Teibel, so Teibel parted ways with the "Coming Attractions" project. Subsequently Teibel himself felt unsatisfied with his results —- though his Uher
stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder had faithfully captured the sounds of the surf, he felt that they were less convincing on playback. A friend of Teibel's had access to an IBM 360 computer, and he and Teibel played around with processing the recordings until eventually the two of them hit upon a series of manipulations (basically some rolling filtering and overdubbing) which sounded 'more real than real.'
For the second side of the LP, Teibel recorded an enclosure of birds at the Bronx Zoo
aviary
. Later soundscapes were much more naturalistic.
Alone among the Environments series, "Tintinnabulation
" is not natural sounds at all but a series of computer-generated bell sounds playable at any speed from 16-2/3 to 78 RPM. The CD reissue opted for the 16-2/3 RPM speed.
The quintessential "field recording" with owls, crows, doves, insects, dogs and geese recorded early one morning in June 1969.
The sounds of a spontaneous gathering in Central Park
, April 6, 1969 with strolling musicians, dancers, anti-war protesters, and fragments of conversations. This recording presents the unmistakable ambiance of a place and time in culture now gone. Though many of the Environments recordings have been imitated, this one stands alone as a totally unique recording.
A warm summer night (recorded August 1970) deep in the backwoods of Eastern Pennsylvania, surrounded by insects and the occasional distant hound.
One of the most-imitated nature recordings, with thunder, lightning and a torrential downpour. This one was recorded from a balcony in the city, unlike Environments 11 which was recorded outdoors in the country.
This recording revealed a paradoxical effect, where low-level high-frequency sounds could make a room seem quieter than when the recording was not playing.
Note: Announced inside Environments 4 but never released:
Children at Play/Cocktail Party (was to be Environments 9) and
Spanish Train/Cable Car (S.F.)
(was to be Environments 10).
A stethoscope heartbeat recording which can be used to calm infants, aid meditation or enhance lovemaking.
The soft rush of wind rustling the leaves of a grove in late autumn.
Accessible only by airboat, Georgia's verdant wetlands are home to thousands of species both large and small, including growling alligators. Both recordings were taken at the same location, but ten hours apart.
A blended chorus of male & female singers intoning an "Om
" chant.
The cicadas, grasshoppers and katydids of a Vermont field provide a blanket of pulsating sound, subtly enhanced by further bug sounds from an EML
synthesizer.
Creaking boards, straining lines, and a taut canvas recorded aboard a 42-foot sloop under full sail.
A small meandering stream near Stockbridge MA
with insects, birds and the sound of water flowing over rocks. Another oft-imitated soundscape in the series.
Slower and calmer than the Atlantic recordings on Environments 1, with seagulls.
Gently lapping waves on a white sand beach.
Songbirds recorded in the Sussex
countryside, near the Long Man of Wilmington
chalk drawing.
The sound of a vast sea of insects, primarily cicada
s.
Howling wind and banging shutters in a ski chateau—a recording which seemingly lowers the temperature of any room.
A quiet afternoon of insects and birds gradually gives way to distant thunder, approaching rain squalls, and then a full-on rainstorm.
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
s, cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
s, 8-Track cartridges and CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s created by producer and sound recordist Irving Solomon Teibel (1938-2010) for Syntonic Research Inc. between 1970 and 1979. The series consists of recordings of natural sounds
Natural sounds
Natural sounds include animal sounds, from the chirruping of crickets to the vocalisations of mammals. They also include the sounds of other natural phenomena, such as water sounds; for example, the sound of rain falling on the ground or on water, the sound of a waterfall, a rushing river, waves...
such as a seashore with crashing waves or a thunderstorm with falling rain, without musical accompaniment. The series ignited a worldwide interest in field recordings which resulted in literally thousands of imitations being released throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s both with, and without, music (i.e.: Moods, Solitudes
Solitudes
Solitudes is a brand of music created by the late Dan Gibson who was a Canadian photographer, cinematographer and sound recordist.During the late 1940s, he took photographs and made nature films, including Audubon Wildlife Theatre. He produced many films and television series. It was through this...
, Echoes of Nature, Nature Recordings, Magic Moods, etc.).
The Environments albums were considered definitive enough to have excerpts included on the Voyager Gold Record. The Environments series also presented some of the longest album-sides ever released.
Environments LPs
The original series, released by Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, comprised 11 long-playing records with a different environment on each side, for 22 total Environments.
Environments 1 (1970)
- Side 1: The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore (30:00)
The initial recording in the series goes back to 1968. Working under the direction of Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
and Beverly Grant Conrad, Teibel recorded ocean waves at Coney Island for use in their feature film "Coming Attractions" (1970). Teibel immediately sensed the marketability of this material, noting its effect on improving concentration, enhancing sleep and sex, and imparting a sense of calm to the listener. Conrad, who wished to credit Walter De Maria
Walter De Maria
-Early life and career:De Maria was born in Albany, California on October 1, 1935. He studied history and art at the University of California, Berkeley from 1953 to 1959. Although trained as a painter, De Maria soon turned to sculpture and began using other media...
for his prior usage of ocean recordings, was not willing to become a partner in the Syntonics Research enterprise as envisioned by Teibel, so Teibel parted ways with the "Coming Attractions" project. Subsequently Teibel himself felt unsatisfied with his results —- though his Uher
Uher (brand)
Uher is a German brand of electronic equipment currently owned and licensed by Assmann Electronics of Bad Homburg.The manufacturer, Uher Werke was based in Munich, Germany, and is probably best-known for its former range of portable reel-to-reel tape recorders which were once widely used by...
stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder had faithfully captured the sounds of the surf, he felt that they were less convincing on playback. A friend of Teibel's had access to an IBM 360 computer, and he and Teibel played around with processing the recordings until eventually the two of them hit upon a series of manipulations (basically some rolling filtering and overdubbing) which sounded 'more real than real.'
- Side 2: Optimum Aviary (30:00)
For the second side of the LP, Teibel recorded an enclosure of birds at the Bronx Zoo
Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo is located in the Bronx borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States, comprising of park lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows....
aviary
Aviary
An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...
. Later soundscapes were much more naturalistic.
Environments 2 (1970)
- Side One: Tintinnabulation (30:00)
Alone among the Environments series, "Tintinnabulation
Tinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
" is not natural sounds at all but a series of computer-generated bell sounds playable at any speed from 16-2/3 to 78 RPM. The CD reissue opted for the 16-2/3 RPM speed.
- Side Two: Dawn at New Hope, PA (30:00)
The quintessential "field recording" with owls, crows, doves, insects, dogs and geese recorded early one morning in June 1969.
Environments 3 (1971)
- Side One: Be-In (34:00)
The sounds of a spontaneous gathering in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, April 6, 1969 with strolling musicians, dancers, anti-war protesters, and fragments of conversations. This recording presents the unmistakable ambiance of a place and time in culture now gone. Though many of the Environments recordings have been imitated, this one stands alone as a totally unique recording.
- Side Two: Dusk at New Hope, PA (37:00)
A warm summer night (recorded August 1970) deep in the backwoods of Eastern Pennsylvania, surrounded by insects and the occasional distant hound.
Environments 4 (1974)
- Side One: Ultimate Thunderstorm (32:00)
One of the most-imitated nature recordings, with thunder, lightning and a torrential downpour. This one was recorded from a balcony in the city, unlike Environments 11 which was recorded outdoors in the country.
- Side Two: Gentle Rain in a Pine Forest (34:00)
This recording revealed a paradoxical effect, where low-level high-frequency sounds could make a room seem quieter than when the recording was not playing.
Note: Announced inside Environments 4 but never released:
Children at Play/Cocktail Party (was to be Environments 9) and
Spanish Train/Cable Car (S.F.)
San Francisco cable car system
The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, in the US sense of a tramway whose cars are pulled along by cables embedded in the street. It is an icon of San Francisco, California...
(was to be Environments 10).
Environments 5 (1974)
- Side One: Ultimate Heartbeat (20:00)
A stethoscope heartbeat recording which can be used to calm infants, aid meditation or enhance lovemaking.
- Side Two: Wind in the Trees (34:00)
The soft rush of wind rustling the leaves of a grove in late autumn.
Environments 6 (1974)
- Side One: Dawn in the Okefenokee SwampOkefenokee SwampThe Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000 acre , peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida border in the United States. A majority of the swamp is in Georgia and protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be...
(34:00) - Side Two: Dusk in the Okefenokee Swamp (34:00)
Accessible only by airboat, Georgia's verdant wetlands are home to thousands of species both large and small, including growling alligators. Both recordings were taken at the same location, but ten hours apart.
Environments 7 (1976)
- Side One: Intonation (30:00)
A blended chorus of male & female singers intoning an "Om
Aum
Om or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
" chant.
- Side Two: Summer Cornfield (35:00)
The cicadas, grasshoppers and katydids of a Vermont field provide a blanket of pulsating sound, subtly enhanced by further bug sounds from an EML
Electronic Music Laboratories
Electronic Music Laboratories, commonly abbreviated to EML, was an audio synthesizer company. Founded in 1968 in Vernon, Connecticut by four former engineers, the company manufactured and designed a variety of synthesizers sharing the same basic design but configured in different ways.The company...
synthesizer.
Environments 8 (1974)
- Side One: Wood-Masted Sailboat (34:00)
Creaking boards, straining lines, and a taut canvas recorded aboard a 42-foot sloop under full sail.
- Side Two: A Country Stream (34:00)
A small meandering stream near Stockbridge MA
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
with insects, birds and the sound of water flowing over rocks. Another oft-imitated soundscape in the series.
Environments 9 (1979)
- Side One: Pacific Ocean (30:00)
Slower and calmer than the Atlantic recordings on Environments 1, with seagulls.
- Side Two: Caribbean Lagoon (30:00)
Gently lapping waves on a white sand beach.
Environments 10 (1979)
- Side One: English Meadow (30:00)
Songbirds recorded in the Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
countryside, near the Long Man of Wilmington
Long Man of Wilmington
The Long Man of Wilmington is a hill figure located in Wilmington, East Sussex, England on the steep slopes of Windover Hill, northwest of Eastbourne. The Long Man is tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below....
chalk drawing.
- Side Two: Night in the Country (30:00)
The sound of a vast sea of insects, primarily cicada
Cicada
A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha , in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many of them remain unclassified...
s.
Environments 11 (1979)
- Side One: Alpine Blizzard (30:00)
Howling wind and banging shutters in a ski chateau—a recording which seemingly lowers the temperature of any room.
- Side Two: Country Thunderstorm (30:00)
A quiet afternoon of insects and birds gradually gives way to distant thunder, approaching rain squalls, and then a full-on rainstorm.
Environments Cassettes
The cassettes, marketed by Syntonic Research, consist of two half-hour sides with the same program on each side (except #14). These are the same recordings as on the LP series.- 1 - Slow Ocean
- 2 - Ultimate Thunderstorm
- 3 - Wood-Masted Sailboat
- 4 - (unissued)
- 5 - Night in the Country (Note: This cassette, also sold with the title "Crickets", is not the same recording as Side Two of the Environments 10 album, but instead is thought to be the same recording as Side Two of the Environments 3 album, "Dusk in New Hope, Pennsylvania".)
- 6 - Caribbean Lagoon
- 7 - Country Stream
- 8 - Wind in the Trees
- 9 - Heartbeat
- 10 - Gentle Rain in a Pine Forest
- 11 - English Meadow
- 12 - Intonation
- 13 - Summer Cornfield
- 14 - Okefenokee Swamp (Dawn & Dusk)
- 15 - Country Thunderstorm
- 16 - Alpine Blizzard
Environments CDs
The compact discs, released by Atlantic Records in 1987, provide 60 minutes of material.- 1 - Psychologically Ultimate Seashore - (The original Environments 1 (side 1) recording remixed and extended)
- 2 - Tintinnabulation - (The original Environments 2 (side 1) recording, slowed to half normal playing speed to make a full hour)
- 3 - Dawn & Dusk at New Hope, PA - (The original Environments 2 (side 2) and Environments 3 (side 2) recordings)