Feeds:
Færslur
Athugasemdir

Archive for the ‘Mannlíf’ Category

IMG_2200

Although Iceland produces the most electricity per capita of any nation, wind turbines are not common in Iceland. They have either burned or overturned or something else. They are also not eye-catching, so fortunately there are no more than two that come to mind.
But that could change. Many energy oligarchs, domestic and foreign, have worked hard to be allowed to do what they want when it comes to building power plants of all kinds in Icelandic nature. They are mainly interested in it because the price of energy to the Icelandic public is not yet as extreme as in most other parts of the western world. So these Oligarchs see great profit prospects by imposing dividend taxes on the public in the future.
But stop now talking about this miserable situation and future in Iceland. I’m going crazy just thinking about it.
Let’s talk about the recording below.
Although this is a sound that is heard in many places, especially in the Western countries, these sounds from wind turbines are not yet common in Iceland. I therefore allow myself to share this recording.
It wasn’t until I started listening to it that I noticed the wide variation in the sounds, or noise coming from such structures. This is one of Iceland’s two 900KW wind turbines, of the type Enercon E-44. This wind generator reaches a height of 77 meters, with a rotor blades width of 44 meters and a generator height of 55 meters.
The wind was quite stable and directional, but you can clearly hear the hydraulic pumps that are either turning the rotor blades into the wind direction, or changing the rotation of the blades to get maximum energy each time. You can also hear when the wind sounds change in the blades after such control. Then you can hear quite a lot of „electrical noise“ which is either vibration from the generator or from the energy regulators up in the generator carrier. You can also hear that one blade make more noise than other two. It is either because that blade has a scratched surface, or that blade is dirtier than the other two.

(mp3 256Kbps / 44Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6
Mics: Sennheiser MKH8020/8040 (Parallel baffled AB35)
Pics: Samsung S22

Location: 64.12940, -19.72784
Weather: Cloudy, 14°C, 7-12m/sec 

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

More than 5 months have passed and the genocide is still going on in Gaza in occupied Palestine. Since the Western-backed Zionists started destroying Gaza and the West Bank and the genocide of the people of Gaza, the Iceland-Palestine Association and other peace activists have been holding actions in various places in Reykjavik almost every week all this winter.
I myself have not been able to attend all these solidarity marches, but I did so here when they marched through the center of Reykjavik to the British and German embassies on March 2, 2024.
I encourage people to attend such solidarity marches with Palestine around the world and record them. We must end the horrors that Western imperialism and colonialism have cost the rest of the world for centuries, and most recently in Palestine.

It was quite cold but sunny, and sometimes there was a gust of wind that sometimes interrupted the recording because I didn’t use HPF. Here I am recording in binaural and using Primo EM 172 capsules which are located near my ears and point 180° in each direction.
The recording was done on a Sony PCM-D100 so the equipment fit in a pocket, was light and compact.
At the first peace meeting I attended in October, I used a Baffled-AB-Binaural microphone set based on 2×2 EM172 capsules, which can withstand much higher winds, but at the same time requires more bulky and heavier equipment.

(mp3 256kbps / 53Mb)

Recorder: Sony PCM-D100
Mics: Primo EM172 binaural
Pix: Samsung S22
Weather: Clear sky. Gust 1-10 m/sec -2°C

Location: Hallgrímskirkja where the parade started (pix)

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

Recording fireworks is probably like photographing a sunset for a photographer. Nothing special but there is always some duty that calls for it to be done.
It is not the loud sound that fascinates, but the interaction of the sound with the environment. Reflection of a sound wave. e.g. the echoes from houses, mountains or trees that make it interesting to record fireworks. The problem, however, is that I am often confined to staying at home with my family on this day. I am therefore not in different places from year to year, and therefore I have to say that I have not made a good or interesting recording of fireworks, apart from maybe one recording in Tenerife. I’m also always experimenting with microphone setups, which usually don’t work out well when there’s a lot of other things going on.
It is with mixed feelings that I put a fireworks recording on the web this time. Have done it before and therefore not urgent to do it again because it always sounds as a loud noise which is not healthy for the ears or speakers.
But this new year is marked by terrible wars, which unfortunately all have their origins to the western hegemony and imperialism, as usual. Most recently with the targeted genocide in Palestine which as of this writing can easily escalate into an even bigger war, more or less all over the middle east.
The NATO proxy war in Ukraine is still going on after almost ten years conflict. It has destroyed Ukraine and seems to be also destroying Europe in coming years, if not in decades because of politicians stupidity. This time, the West, led by the United States, EU & GB has lost both credibility and the trust of most nations in the world.
The world is changing. US unipolar empire is falling and new multipolar empires are rising. At the same time, the US will drag Europe down in the fall and destroy Europe as a flourishing continent, only because of insane hatred towards Russia.
The new year therefore does not seem to offer anything good for many nations, but only continued with conflict and disaster. Fireworks with all its noise are therefore no longer part of entertainment in my mind, but a reminder of war with destruction, killings and mutilations.

This recording was made in my backyard, between houses with LCT540s in IRT. You can hear that the echo time is short. Some might think it’s because I used a Limiter. But the Limiter was turned off, as always should be done when recording fireworks. Recording sound pressure rose to a peak of +7.7dB (-7.4 LUFS-S) .
Details that can often be heard in fireworks when they are launched are not heard clearly in this recording because they were launched from beyond the houses in this backyard. However, I had another microphone set (MKH20/40 parallel AB) close to a place where people were setting off fireworks, but that recording did not go well for various reasons.
Even though this recording has been downgraded to mp3, be careful when listening to this recording. Don´t put up the volume, especially not when listening with speakers.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at mid/high-level.
Following picture shows the spectrogram of the whole recording this new years eve. But following recording start at 22:30min. Midnight is at 30:00min and the recording end at 52:30min
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in a new tab or frame.

(mp3 256kbps / 67Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices 788
Mics: Lewitt 540s, IRT cross setup
Weather: Calm, about -4°C
Pix: Spek Spectrogram
Location: Reykjavik Iceland

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

On October 15, 2023, a solidarity meeting with Palestine was held at Austurvelli in downtown Reykjavík. I think I could estimate that about 5-6 hundred people came to the meeting, which can be considered quite good by Icelandic standards
The week before, on October 7th, western propaganda media had reported some vague attack by „Hamas“ forces that was considered terrorism against civilians of the so-called „state of Israel“. Much is still unclear about what will happen on this October day. Even the occupiers themselves were not all on the same page about what really happened that day, as it became clear that Apache military helicopters from the occupying forces had probably caused more damage and killed even more people than „Hamas“ forces in some places.
But if Hamas had done something, it was enough for the „Israeli“ occupation authorities to think they had the right to let bombs rain on innocent civilians in the world’s most densely populated area, the Gaza strip. Gaza is nothing more than a concentration camp, fully controlled by this „Israel“ fascist colony state, supported by the west since 1948.
More about this conflict:
The untold history of Hamas.
The ‘Hamas human shield’ justification for Israeli war crimes
Why does the US support Israel?
I am not going to comment further on these miserable conditions that the Palestinians have had to withstand for 75 years. It is quite clear that the legacy of Hitler and the imperialist policies of the West is ruling the occupied Palestine.
At Austurvöllur on October 15, several speeches were given as well as songs. To be able to stick to the time frame, I took out one speech and the songs.

(mp3 256kbps / 60Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: DIY Stereo mic. Double Primo EM172 capsules in AB baffled/binaural setup
Pix: Samsung G22

Weather: Cloudy, wind up to 4m/s, about 2°C
Location: 64.147308, -21.940289

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

I was reminded this winter that I should record more street life. I’ve always had that in mind, but somehow it’s always something in nature that fascinates me more.
On Labor Day earlier this month, I went down to the center of Reykjavík to record human life and the traditional program on this great day. Instead of going on a mass march through the streets of the city, I went straight down to Hallærisplan square and waited for the marchers and brass bands..
A large stage with a sound system had been set up in the square and there were only a few people. But shortly after I had started the recording, marchers and brass bands came rushing onto the square. The speeches of the day were nothing special, but the music was fine. It will not be audible here, except of course the brass bands that accompanied the mass march.
It took me a while to decide to put this recording on the web. It sounds bad in HD650 headphones, but slightly better in MDR7506.
But the remarkable thing about this recording in my opinion is the hum, noise or tone at 4Khz, 6Khz 8Khz and 10Khz. Anyone with trained hearing can hear these tones in this recording below, although an unrelated fan hum is also evident in the recording.
I first noticed this noise when I was recording COVID silence in the same square during the „lock down“ in the first weeks of the COVID, in the spring of 2020. Then it only came from one direction and also contained 15khz which is not audible now.
However, I have never been able to locate the source of this noise. I thought for a long time that this noise was coming from a broken transformer for the LED lighting. But here it was a clear day and all lights were off so this noise is coming from something else.

  (mp3 256kbps / 61,2Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Primo EM172 / EM272 capsules v. LOM phantom power amps (Baffled AB)
Pix: Samsung S22

Location: 64.148076, -21.941375
Weather: 3-6m/sec, partly cloudy. about 10°C

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

In recent years, I have been on the evening shift on December 23 (Þorláksmessa). So I haven’t been able to go downtown Reykjavík to record the ‘mood for Christmas’. But this December I was on a day shift which gave me the opportunity to record.
The last time was 5 years ago when I recorded this beautiful song on December 23, 2017.
It was a different atmosphere in the city center this year. I didn’t understand what it was, at least now there were more foreign tourists and the streets were covered in salt-slush and ice. This year there were no beautiful singing voices in the crowd as so often before. However, music comes from some street stalls and bars. On the ice skating rink at Hallærisplan (Ingólfstorg square), music was played loud during the skating dance.
After total 1Km long walk the recording ends rather quietly in a bar where I bought a beer.
In this recording I am using the same ultralight stereo microphone as I did in 2017. Baffled double capsule EM172/272 with a LOM Phantom power amp,
But today I have filled the empty space inside the wind shield between the microphones with a sponge of different density which has improved the separation between the right and left channels. It reduced the audible phase error between the channels which was clearly audible in the 2017 recording.
In addition, in the space between the microphone, outside the Rycote WS2 windshield and under the HWC2 Hi-wind fleece cover, is also a sponge. That sponge stops most of the vibration in the windshield due to wind, without affecting the sound quality.
This stereo microphone is very light, can withstand incredibly high winds, as well it has almost no „handling noise“. It is therefore good for booming where strong winds can be expected.
In this recording I did not use HPF. Between the houses and out in the open spaces where I walked, there was a considerable amount of wind that probably few, if any, microphones would have been able to withstand without wearing a good fur windshield plus additional HPF.
The more I use this DIY mic, which is mostly made from scrap materials, the happier I am with it.
Earlier that same night, I also recorded with simple EM172 binaural microphones. In many ways, that recording was very funny because no one around me noticed that I was recording, unlike the recording below. But that recording will have to wait to be published until later.
I also recorded for over an hour at the bar a nice mood recording, but I will never be able to publish it because the bar was playing copyrighted music.
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at mid to mid+ volume.
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in a new tab or frame.

(mp3 256kbps / 48Mb)

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6
Mics: Primo EM172 / EM272 capsules v. LOM phantom power amps  (Baffled AB)
Pix: Samsung S22

Weather: -10°C, calm to 5m/sec, clear sky.
Location: Downtown Reykjavík

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

One of my friends for many years is Gísli Sigurgeirsson. He is a genius in many fields. In recent years, he has had strong opinions on climate change, and I therefore have great respect for him as a climate activist. I myself have given up on fighting for cycling infrastructure and a sustainable life for everyone, although I try my best to live as sustainably as possible in a western society. I am also always ready and waiting for radical movement if the governments like to change society into a sustainable lifestyle.
On August 20, 2022, a Climate festival was held in Reykjavík downtown in connection with a Reykjavik Culture Night. That day I was recording several things, including Gísla Sigurgeirsson’s speech.
Before and after the speech there were musical performances. The first was Maria Viktoria who sang and played. Then came Gísla’s speech and after that Vala Yates and Maria Viktoria sang and played a song together. Both these ladies are very talented, so everyone should remember these names.
Everyone involved in this recording gave me permission to put this content on the web.
It was very windy that day so I didn’t have much choice of microphone. My best stereo microphone for that is actually a homemade „baffled – binaural“ array with double EM172 and LOM mic amps in a Rycote WS2 windshield.
I have to admit that it always surprises me how good this DIY microphone is with unbelievable low „handling noise“ and low wind noise, even without HPF.
Although there were strong gusts of wind, you can hardly hear it in this recording, other than the sound waves from the sound system from the stage is distorted because of the wind.

  (mp3 26,7Mb / 265kbps)

Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Promo EM172 Baffled – Binaural.
Pix: Samsung S6

Location:  64.147287, -21.940348
Weather: Strong gust, partly cloudy, around 14°C

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

It was at Sunday 19th of September 2021 that I suddenly decided to go on sea to record with the hydrophone. The weather- and tide forecast promise me a few hours of decent circumstances.
But when I arrive at the harbor, people there like to chat about my kayak and equipment. So when I finally went on I was getting late. The wind had increased and the tide was getting too low for the place where I was heading to, so after 4 km paddling I ended up beside a pier in Viðey island which is only 800m NE from Reykjavik Sundahöfn harbor.
I tied my boat to the pier and put the hydrophone about three meters below the boat. It surprised me how quiet this place was. Almost no sign of life, mussels or shrimps, probably because just 700 meter away is a dock for cruise ships which have most likely destroyed the ocean floor in this area with their powerful propellers.
Nevertheless the silence is as interesting in the ocean as the silence on open land, so it is worth listening to.
While I was recording, the ferry to Viðey came and went. So be careful, you need to lower the volume between 11 to 14 min because the propeller noise will be very loud .
You can get an idea how Bethowave 7121 hydrophones perform in this recording. It comes straight from the recorder. No noise reduction, just fade in and out and downgrade from 24/48 wav to 256 kbps mp3

(mp3 256 kbps / 58Mb)

Recorder: Sound devices MixPre6
Mics: Benthowave BII-7121
Pix: LG G6

Location: 64.161135, -21.855538
Weather: Gust 5-8m, cloudy, about 7°C

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

Bjarni Jónsson ( 21. október 1881 – 19. nóvember 1965) fæddist í Mýrarholti sem var býli við Bakkastíg í Vesturbæ Reykjavíkur og voru foreldrar hans hjónin Jón Oddsson tómthúsmaður og Ólöf Hafliðadóttir. Eiginkona Bjarna var Áslaug Ágústsdóttir og eignuðust þau þrjú börn, Ágúst, Ólöfu og Önnu.
Bjarni lauk stúdentsprófi frá Lærða skólanum árið 1902 og lauk embættisprófi í guðfræði árið 1907 frá Kaupmannahafnarháskóla. Samhliða námi kenndi Bjarni við Stýrimannaskólann í Reykjavík og Kvennaskólann í Reykjavík. Haustið 1907 varð hann skólastjóri Barnaskólans á Ísafirði. Hann varð prestur við Dómkirkjuna í Reykjavík árið 1910, var prófastur í Kjarlarnesprófastsdæmi 1932-1938 og dómprófastur í Reykjavíkurprófastsdæmi frá 1945-1951. Hann varð vígslubiskup í Skálholtsbiskupsdæmi forna frá 1937 og til æviloka. Starfsferill Bjarna var langur og hann var starfandi prestur og vígslubiskup í rúmlega hálfa öld. Hann varð heiðursdoktor í guðfræði við Háskóla Íslands árið 1941 og hlaut ýmsar orður og heiðursmerki m.a. stórkross Hinnar íslensku fálkaorðu og hina dönsku Dannebrogsorðu. Bjarni var heiðursfélagi í fjölda félaga og árið 1961 varð hann heiðursborgari Reykjavíkurborgar en Bjarni þótti með þekktari borgurum Reykjavíkur og vakti athygli vegfarenda þegar hann gekk hempuklæddur milli Dómkirkjunnar og heimilis síns að Lækjargötu 12b.
Árið 1952 gafst íslenskum kjósendum í fyrsta sinn færi á því að kjósa sér forseta en fyrsti forseti Íslands, Sveinn Björnsson var þingkjörinn árið 1944 og endurkjörinn án atkvæðagreiðslu 1945 og 1949. Þrír frambjóðendur gáfu kost á sér Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Bjarni Jónsson og Gísli Sveinsson forseti sameinaðs þings. Kosningarnar voru afar pólitískar og naut Bjarni stuðnings framsóknar- og sjálfstæðisfólks en vinstra fólk, einkum alþýðuflokksfólk studdi Ásgeir. Bjarni naut stuðnings Morgunblaðsins, málgagns Sjálfstæðisflokksins og á kjördag hvatti blaðið til þess í forsíðufrétt sinni að kjósendur myndu sameinast um Bjarna og sagði að „allir þjóðhollir Íslendingar kjósa séra Bjarna Jónsson.“ Niðurstaða kosninganna varð sú að Ásgeir Ásgeirsson var kjörinn forseti með 48,3% atkvæða en Bjarni hlaut 45,5,%. Þriðji frambjóðandinn Gísli Sveinsson hlaut 6,2% atkvæða (Wikipedia).
Það gæti talist vel við hæfi að sr. Bjarni sjái nú um predikun á netinu í Páskaviku og miðjum COVID-19 faraldri því hann var prestur í Dómkirkjuni á dögum spönsku veikinnar 1918.
Hér er á ferðini nokkuð dularfull upptaka með Bjarna því ekki er vitað hvaða ár hún var tekin upp eða af hvaða tilefni.
Upptökuna gerði Hörður Þormar, efnafæðingur frá Laufási í Eyjafirði, á segulbandstæki einhvern tíma á árunum 1955-1965.
Árið 2012 færði ég allt hans gamla spólusafn yfir á stafrænt form og gaf hann leyfi til að gera þessa upptökuna aðgengilega ef einhver gæti gefið nánari upplýsingar um hana. Það er nokkuð augljóst að tekið er upp úr LW útvarpi því heyra má öðru hverju smelli sem gætu allt eins stafað af sólvindum.
Það er ljóst að Ríkisútvarpið hefur átt og á kanski enn þessa upptöku. Það sem hins vegar er ekki ljóst, er hvenær þetta hefur verið tekið og útvapað sem varð til þess að Hörður hljóðritaði þessa predikun. Sjálfur man hann það ekki. Bjarni hætti prestskap 1951 en þá átti Hörður ekki spólutæki. Það kann hinsvegar að vera að Ríkisútvarpið hafi útvarpað þessari predikun þegar Bjarni var gerður að heiðursborgara Reykjavíkur 1961.
Ef einhver getur gefið nánari upplýsingar um þetta hljóðrit þá væri það vel þegið.
Upptakan er í tveimur hlutum því hún var á tveimur spólum.

__________________________________________________________________

This is an old recording which was recorded on reel to reel recorder somewhere between the years 1955-1965 from a LW radio in Iceland. It is a church sermon with pastor Bjarni Jónsson (1881-1965). He was old style priest and well known cathedral bishop in Reykjavik from early to mid last century. This recording was found on a two reels in my parents friend´s storage. There was also other old personal recordings which I helped him to digitize in 2012.
What makes this recording interesting now when Covid-19 spreads all over the world is the fact Bjarni Jónsson was a pastor of the Reykjavik Cathedral when the Spanish flu crossed into Iceland in 1918 as well all over the Western world.
It is most likely this could be the only recording with this pastor from the last century which is almost forgotten now in modern days

(mp3 192kbps / 48.3Mb)
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in new tab or frame.

Recorder: Sound devices 744 24bit/44khz
Reel player: Revox B77

Read Full Post »

IMG_2200

Hólmavatn is a heath lake in the interior in west of Iceland between the two valley Kjarrárdalur and Hvítársíða. It is a part of a big lake system on a heath named Arnarvatnsheiði.
I have once before record the soundscape by this lake before. That was mostly a struggle with wind all the time, so I did not get anything interesting.
But at 22nd of June 2019 the weather forecast was perfect for this area, clear sky and calm most of the night.
I arrived with my gear around 9 pm at my previous recording place. It was still windy and some anglers about 500m away east of the lake. I quickly put up my rigs knowing that a calm weather meant just lot of gnats. I decided to put a two stereo pairs close to the shore, facing out to the lake. LCT450s in NOS about 60 m east from my car and MKH20 pair 70 m in the west. Suddenly around 11pm the wind stopped to blow and I started the recording.
What glorious soundscape. All those small tiny things and all those bird species. The LCT540s sounds much cleaner and brighter than MKH20, I guess mainly because of the different location.
But there was a big problem which I did not notice with my bare ears. The anglers made so much noise it was clear they would destroy my „natural silence“ recordings this night. They were playing a radio all the time, talking, starting car engines, and even worse, soon after I started the recording two of them started a motor boat. All this noise lasted for about two or two and a half hours.
Later that night when this noisy anglers were gone, all the birdsong became calm and less active. I am not sure why, but afterwards when I listened to the recordings it seemed like the anglers on the boat were disturbing birds on their habitat.
Following recording is a part of this „anglers moment“, probably the best part because the motorboat was mostly far east on the lake most of this time.
In the beginning of the recording you can clearly hear tiny sparks. It is coming from foam which forms between stones in the shore during windy days. When the bobbles in this foam blows, they make this tiny sparking sound. During the recording the sparks get fewer and lower because the weather is calm and no waves on the lake.
But there are so many bird species I guess I will not know them all. Great Northern Diver, Read Throated Diever, Arctic Tern, Whooper Swan, Pink Footed Goose, Black Headed Gull, Golden Plower, Dunlin, Whimbrell, Common Snipe, Common Redshank, Arctic Skua, Rock Ptarmigan and probably some other which you are welcome, if you know, to name in comments below.
You will hear the fish jumping and Arctic Tern hunting on the lake surface. Other background noise other than human noise from anglers is mainly from the river Kjarrá which flows in the Kjarrárdalur valley 4Km north of the lake .
This recording got a gently noise reduction, mainly because of high gain.
It was recorded with 47dB gain. In post the gain was normalized +26dB up to -5dB
Quality open headphones are recommended while listening at low to mid level, or in speakers at medium level.

(mp3 256kbps / 68Mb)
If the media player doesn’t start to play, please reload this individual blog in new tab or frame

Recorder: Sonosax SX-R4+
Mics: Lewitt LCT540s (NOS setup)
Pix: Canon EOS M50
Location: 64.799603, -20.895132
Weather: Dry. Mostly calm up to 5m/sec

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »