The Man Who Sold the Ocean
April 15, 2016 3:33 AM   Subscribe

The story of Irv Teibel, the man behind Syntonic Research and the Environments record series. [Environments previously on MetaFilter]

Making a good record of ocean sounds — at least in the late 1960s — wasn't as simple as just recording the ocean:
Compared to music, or spoken conversation, the ocean is “noisy,” full of surprising tones and frequencies your average microphone doesn’t bother to preserve. And though the human ear is used to filling in gaps left by a choppy radio or telephone, Teibel found it to be much less forgiving when taking in natural sounds. “Into this maelstrom of inaccuracy I plunged with my trusty Uher portable stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder and a tangle of microphones and cables,” he wrote. “Nearly a year later I had produced a hundred stereo recordings not one of which actually sounded, to my mind’s eye, like the ocean I wanted to hear.”
Some entries in the Environments series:
  • The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore - Environments 1 side 1. Presented here as the CD release which was remixed and extended to an hour. The original was also released as casette 1, "Slow Ocean."
  • Tintinnabulation - Environments 2 side 1. The jacket for this one noted the record could be played at any speed between 16⅔ and 78 RPM. For the CD release here, it's the 16⅔ RPM version to extend it to an hour.
  • Be-In - Environments 3 side 1.
  • Dusk at New Hope, PA - Environments 3 side 2. Also released as cassette 5 (called "Night in the Country") and track 2 of CD 3.
  • Gentle Rain in a Pine Forest - Environments 4 side 2. Also released as cassette 10.
  • Intonation - Environments 7 side 1. Also released as cassette 12.
posted by DevilsAdvocate (6 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love these recordings a bunch, along with my Solitudes records.
And ummm if anyone has any of these, MeMail me pls?
Environments disc 8: Wood-Masted Sailboat / Country Stream
Environments disc 10: English Meadow / Night In The Country
Environments 16: Alpine Blizzard
Environments 3: Wood-Masted Sailboat

(the numbering varies, and is inconsistent between the records, the cassette releases, and the CDs)
posted by Theta States at 6:59 AM on April 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


We used to have a bunch of these, a really good stereo system, and a very attentive (and confused) bird dog. It was hilarious.
posted by sexyrobot at 7:09 AM on April 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


I have an entire set of those records. They're nearly pristine as I only used them to make 90-minute cassette copies. The records themselves were touted to be of specially durable quality for multiple plays with minimal wear, but I never tested that.

The Youtube versions are a bit hissy, whereas the originals (the LPs, not the cassettes) are deeply dimensional and lovely. Gentle Rain is my all-time favorite--occasional drops of water splashing, the sound of distant forest birds and other details too random to be synthetic. The effect is incredibly restful. I was listening to a copy just last week as a background for reading.

Be-In is a time capsule complete with chanting hippies and giggling stoners. The cool and echoey Ultimate Aviary makes any space feel larger. Ultimate Thunderstorm begins with the sound of bleating sheep in a meadow as rain begins to fall and builds organically from there.

Wood-Masted Sailboat is insanely evocative, with sounds of water splashing, bell-buoys being sailed past and all sorts of wonderful woody creakings. It is quite literally a trip.

Caribbean Lagoon once provided a lush, perfect backdrop for an atmospheric evening pool party, with its exotic insects and gently lapping waves. One guest commented, hours into the event, "I suddenly realized that the pool water doesn't move, so why is it splashing?"

Alpine Blizzard, with its banging shutters, howling wind and driven snow is a great backdrop for a cozy and romantic evening, winter and summer both.

So many great recordings! Thanks for reminding me that I need to listen to the melodic burblings of A Country Stream, the pulsating summer heat of the Summer Cornfield and the distant, lonesome barking dog of Dusk At New Hope again.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:10 AM on April 15, 2016 [5 favorites]


kinnakeet, have you thought about digitizing them? I'd be willing to PayPal you some $ for a digital download.
posted by domo at 9:40 AM on April 15, 2016 [2 favorites]


Great post, thanks.
posted by nickyskye at 11:05 AM on April 15, 2016


Yeah, I would dearly love to hear the Wood-Masted Sailboat and the Blizzard and the Cornfield. Or, heck, any of them!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:24 PM on April 15, 2016


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