Quite a while back, I learned about a very interesting little machine entitled the AMBIENT ADDITION, which was a thesis from an MIT student named Noah Vawter The purpose of the machine was to transform everyday sounds into musical notes. He had made the valid point that with the whole 'i' revolution (iTunes, iPod, iPad, etc.), the 'i' represented isolation. I actually downloaded the whole thesis, and gave it a very good bit of my attention. For some reason, there have been no other sort of things like this, and it seems that this idea turned out to be nothing more than just an idea. Granted, there are a few apps that I have on my (old) iPhone, like the INCEPTION app as well as RJDJ (if you have an iPhone, I highly suggest these; I believe that RJDJ is no longer a functioning app, but I could be wrong). We can't escape the noise, but maybe we can take in what is there and process the good bits through our minds to keep us grounded.Another mention that I have to make is of a book called HEPCAT. I've read this to my kids for years. I'm fascinated by this story of how a jazz cat learns to hear each sounds of the city as separate musical entities, until his mind creates the symphony of each noise, not unlike seeing separate colors and forming a picture. I'm not kidding when I tell that I've taken the story of this book to heart. Obviously, we all have. I'm not at all alone in being fascinated and creating and purchasing music that lives and breathes field recordings.
