Unexpected joy. Its a subset of a feeling that many of us prize but havent quite defined. Programming our live events space during On Beings first year of independence, Ive been thinking a good deal about how to create space for this elevated sensation. And Im remembering back, thinking about all the wonderful flash mobs Ive watched over and over, especially this very quiet scene on the Copenhagen Metro in 2012. The Sjællands Symfoniorkester, aka the Copenhagen Phil, created a feeling of unexpected joy for the quiet commuters of Denmark (check out the womans expression at the 1:05 mark in the video) by playing Griegs Peer Gynt. But, how to capture the expressions and the fidelity of the sound? Thats where the brilliance of audio technicians from Radio Klassisk: The Copenhagen Metro is very quiet and the recording you hear is where the train is standing still. Thats why the recording you hear is so clean and crisp — and the sound is actually surprisingly good in the Copenhagen metro. We did this deliberately because we feel that a good sound experience is vital when trying to portray the actual experience that day. Further to the main recording, when the train was standing still, the recordings from the cameras was, as far as possible, mixed into the sound. And for you audiophiles out there: I recorded the sound with XY Oktava MK-012 supercardioid microphones close to the soloists and a set of DPA 4060 omnidirectional microphones as overhead for the rest of the orchestra. For some of the closeupshots, the cameramikes (Sennheiser ME 66) was added. Perhaps you could help me think along on what it means to create these experiences of unexpected joy. What might we do to give back to you and the larger community? Previous The W.E.B. Du Bois Reading List by Mariah Helgeson July 07, 2014 Next Tackling the Color Line in the 21st Century by Mariah Helgeson July 08, 2014 Share Post Contributor Trent Gilliss is executive editor of On Being and chief content officer of Krista Tippett Public Productions. He received a Peabody Award in 2007 for his work on The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi and garnered two Webby Awards (in 2005, and again in 2008). The Online News Association nominated his journalistic work multiple times in the general excellence and outstanding specialty journalism categories. Trents reported and produced stories from Turkey to rural Alabama, from Israel and the West Bank to Cambridge, England. Keywords flash mob, classical music, copenhagen, interactive experience Share Your Reflection
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 15:03:25 +0000