Public Domain Tapes

Sources: * “Secret Agent Rock” by John Bartmann [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/secret-agent-rock] * “purity & danger” by Katapulto [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Katapulto/Purity_and_Danger/5purity__danger] * “Secret Tapes 9” from Secret Ops by Mystified [https://archive.org/details/MystifiedSecretOps/05_Secret_Tapes_9.flac] * “Walk That Dog” by U.S. Army Blues [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/US_Army_Blues/Live_At_Blues_Alley/0_-_11_-_The_US_Army_Blues_-_Walk_That_Dog] * “The Plan.aif” by Inavision [https://freesound.org/people/Inavision/sounds/482693/] * “Memory Malfunction.cleaned” by Bonnot [https://archive.org/details/musiccollect/Memory+Malfunction.cleaned.mp3] * “Our Secrets” by Kindred Heart [https://archive.org/details/OurSecrets_677] * “Salle d’attente” from Fin De La Communication by Rrrrrose Wieck [https://archive.org/details/RrrrroseWieck-FinDeLaCommunication/Rrrrrose+Wieck+-+Fin+de+la+communication+-+01+Salle+d'attente.flac] * “Paranoia” from Secret Ops by Mystified [https://archive.org/details/MystifiedSecretOps/03_Paranoia.flac] * “04” from We Are War by Barry Paul & Raven Johnson [https://archive.org/details/WeAreWar/04.mp3] * “Protect” from Space Porn by Monplaisir [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/Space_Porn/Monplaisir_-_Space_Porn_-_04_Protect] * “Fully Automated Gay Space Communism.cleaned” by Bonnot [https://archive.org/details/musiccollect/Fully+Automated+Gay+Space+Communism.cleaned.mp3] * “You Want To Know” by Chris Devol [https://archive.org/details/YouWantToKnow] * “Le Bleu de la Nuit” from Fin De La Communication by Rrrrrose Wieck [https://archive.org/details/RrrrroseWieck-FinDeLaCommunication/Rrrrrose+Wieck+-+Fin+de+la+communication+-+10+Le+Bleu+de+la+Nuit.flac] * “1945 Russian and Manchurian Strategic Urban Areas” by United States Army [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1945_Russian_and_Manchurian_Strategic_Urban_Areas.jpg]

> I went out at night alone; The young blood flowing beyond the sea Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings — I bore my sorrow heavily. But when I lifted up my head From shadows shaken on the snow, I saw Orion in the east Burn steadily as long ago. — from “Winter Stars” by Sara Teasdale Sources: * “Close-micd Snow Steps.flac” by billox30 [https://freesound.org/people/billox30/sounds/175002/] * “Polar Wind” by Fission9 [https://freesound.org/people/Fission9/sounds/521820/] * “DMP013016 HEAVY SNOW STORM MS.wav” by martypinso [https://freesound.org/people/martypinso/sounds/35480/] * “Door Open and Close.mp3” by harrietniamh [https://freesound.org/people/harrietniamh/sounds/219667/] * “Footsteps, Solid Wood Rug, Male Boots, Medium Pace and Scuffs.wav” by SpliceSound [https://freesound.org/people/SpliceSound/sounds/150444/] * “Leather Sofa, Sit Down, Stand Up” by Kinoton [https://freesound.org/people/Kinoton/sounds/397847/] * “crackling-fire.aiff” by alienistcog [https://freesound.org/people/alienistcog/sounds/219272/] * “fire-crackling.wav” by jmehlferber [https://freesound.org/people/jmehlferber/sounds/370938/] * “13_Fire in fireplace.wav” by 16FThumaF [https://freesound.org/people/16FThumaF/sounds/499032/] * “Solitude” by Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, feat. Kay Starr [https://archive.org/details/solitude_201908] * “VIII. At the Fireside” from Scenes from Childhood, Op. 15, by Robert Schumann, performed by Donald Betts [https://musopen.org/music/2326-scenes-from-childhood-op-15/] * “So Cold” by Rafael Archangel [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rafael_Archangel/Library_Music_Vol1/Rafael_Archangel_-_Library_Music_Vol1_-_14_So_Cold] * “Cliffside Prison” from fervor nullified by Swaying Smoke [https://archive.org/details/swaying-smoke-RW-111/4+Cliffside+Prison.mp3] * “Frosted Tundra - 02” by Mystified [https://archive.org/details/Frigid_Radiance/02_Frosted_Tundra.flac] * “Track II” from Isolation Loops by Frank Audiffret [https://archive.org/details/20200317050740/Track+II.wav] * “Approximately Four A.M. in January - Children’s Song” from We All Have Hot Chocolate Tummies and Frozen Faces by He Can Jog [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/He_Can_Jog/We_All_Have_Hot_Chocolate_Tummies_and_Frozen_Faces/Approximately_Four_AM_in_January_-_Childrens_Song] * “595.jpg” by Adrian Pelletier [https://magdeleine.co/photo-adrian-pelletier-n-764/]

> Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon’s blood, Then the charm is firm and good. — Song of the Witches, from Macbeth by William Shakespeare Have a very spooky All Hallows’ Eve! Sources: * “Vinyl Crackle 33RPM” by YourFriendJesse [https://freesound.org/people/YourFriendJesse/sounds/471007/] * “wind2.wav” by sagetyrtle [https://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/30444/] * “Wind in the Trees” by willstepp [https://freesound.org/people/willstepp/sounds/188288/] * “The Night Wind” by Eugene Field, read by Mia Capo [https://librivox.org/short-poetry-collection-077/] * Nocturne in B-flat minor by Frédéric Chopin, performed by Olga Gurevich [https://musopen.org/music/108-nocturnes-op-9/] * Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Paul Pitman [https://musopen.org/music/3704-toccata-and-fugue-in-d-minor-bwv-565/] * “DANUTZ EXHUMATION 1” by DANUTZ [https://archive.org/details/DANUTZEXHUMATION1] * “The Hag” by Robert Herrick, read by Jannie Meisberger [https://librivox.org/the-hag-by-robert-herrick/] * “Thunder Clap OWB KY 441x16.wav” by Dave Welsh [https://freesound.org/people/Dave%20Welsh/sounds/194364/] * “The Haunted Corridors of Time” by jeff carter [https://archive.org/details/TheHauntedCorridorsOfTime] * “Demon Wife and Child” by Buddhist on Fire [https://archive.org/details/HELL365-026/03-Demon_Wife_and_Child.mp3] * “intro” by Dread Admiral Mastemah [https://archive.org/details/BestialInquisitor-BloodForTheDevil/intro.mp3] * “Bending - 01” by Mystified [https://archive.org/details/Frigid_Radiance/01_Bending.flac] * “The Witch” by Mary Coleridge, read by Alison Raouf [https://librivox.org/short-poetry-collection-019/] * Sonata Op. 27 No. 2, I. adagio sostenuto (“Moonlight”) by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed by Paul Pitman [https://musopen.org/music/2547-piano-sonata-no-14-in-c-sharp-minor-moonlight-sonata-op-27-no-2/] * “Heks” by Jan van de Velde II [https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-1898-A-20264]

> “Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat, only thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our pilgrimage to no country and to no end. In that shoreless ocean, at thy silently listening smile my songs would swell in melodies, free as waves, free from all bondage of words. Is the time not come yet? Are there works still to do? Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore and in the fading light the seabirds come flying to their nests. Who knows when the chains will be off, and the boat, like the last glimmer of sunset, vanish into the night?” — Rabindranath Tagore Well, this one took much longer than expected as well! I’m learning to let go of (or at least relax my grip on) any particular creative vision for an episode and to try to find a vision contained within the pieces available to me. I kept trying to make this episode go one way, but then I couldn’t find pieces to fit that vision. Oh, well. I’m happy with how it turned out, though! I’m sorry that the audio quality is a little poorer on a couple of the recordings — but it can’t be helped since I’ve limited myself to using only resources that are in the public domain. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Sources: * The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave), Op. 26 by Felix Mendelssohn, performed by Musopen Symphony [https://musopen.org/music/306-the-hebrides-fingals-cave-op-26/] * “Une barque sur l’ocean” from Miroirs by Maurice Ravel, performed by Robert Ewen Birchall [https://musopen.org/music/4707-miroirs/] * Etude Op. 25 no. 12 in C minor (“Ocean”) by Frederic Chopin, performed by Edward Neeman [https://musopen.org/music/611-etudes-op-25/] * “Gesang der Geister über den Wassern” by Franz Schubert [https://musopen.org/music/16692-gesang-der-geister-uber-den-wassern-d-714/] * “Rain and Thunder 4” by FlatHill [https://freesound.org/people/FlatHill/sounds/237729/] * “Wind and rain in Iceland_48Khz_Ms” by bashrambali [https://freesound.org/people/bashrambali/sounds/448196/] * “sea gulls.wav” by Snapper4298 [https://freesound.org/people/Snapper4298/sounds/166703/] * “Ocean Waves.wav” by Noted451 [https://freesound.org/people/Noted451/sounds/531015/] * “Ocean by a pier.wav” by RobinDavidsen [https://freesound.org/people/RobinDavidsen/sounds/437211/] * “LargeWoodenShip.mp3” by PimFeijen [https://freesound.org/people/PimFeijen/sounds/195193/] * “The Gust” by Willem van de Velde II [https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-1848]

Hey! Normally, I probably won’t write a full blog post with an episode, but I felt that this one warranted a little bit of commentary. First of all, I’m sorry that this one took so long to make. I had hoped to release episodes monthly, but life happened and made that much more difficult than I’d previously planned. When I began work on this second episode, COVID-19 was just starting to hit the United States. My initial plan was to try to capture some of the loneliness and isolation and depression and lethargy and fear that came with it. But the more I worked on it, the less happy I was with it. Then, George Floyd was murdered, and protests blazed across the country. So, I set to work trying to capture a small bit of that fervor. Second, and closely related, it was very hard to find the right tone once I’d decided on a theme. I’m a white, straight man with a podcast, which is about the most boring, vanilla thing you could ask for — and the exact sort of person who ought to shut up and listen right now, not the kind who should be doing any of the talking. Who am I to make anything that attempts to represent or reflect the experience of black people? (I don’t even know if I’m supposed to capitalize “Black”! Am I? I’m so ignorant!) All I can say is: I’m trying to be an ally and a supporter and a friend. I don’t know how to do that well. I want to learn. But I also have an artistic impulse, and I’m trying to put that to use to elevate black voices for others to hear. Please forgive me if I do anything ignorant. Third, I’m still experimenting with form and style for this podcast. In the first episode, I limited myself to the rule that all sources must have the word “dream” in the title. For this episode, though, I didn’t feel that there was one word that accurately summed up what I was trying to capture. There’s “injustice,” “anger,” “protest,” “brutality,” and many, many others that only begin to get at some of the complexity of the emotions around these problems. So, I allowed myself a bit more slack on this one to pick out sources that fit thematically even if they didn’t have exactly the right words in the titles or whatever. I also didn’t do as much “chopping” on this one as I did with the first episode. The first episode sounds a bit more like what ransom notes look like: cut and chopped and glued together in all sorts of crazy styles. But I tried to let this one have longer, clearer segments. Again, I’m still experimenting; feel free to send feedback if you like one style or the other. Thanks for listening! Black lives matter! Sources: * We’ll Never Turn Back [https://archive.org/details/we-ll-never-turn-back-1963/we-ll-never-turn-back-1963-10mbps.mp4] * “Talk About Suffering” by Lucas Gonze [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lucas_Gonze/Ghost_Solos/LGonze-GhostSolos-TalkAboutSuffering] * “Exploring Dark Places - Atmosphere” by Dom Almond [https://freesound.org/people/TheNordicDawn/sounds/519181/] * “Air Raid Siren Alarm” by ScreamStudio [https://freesound.org/people/ScreamStudio/sounds/412171/] * “Address to the Churches” by Martin Luther King, Jr. [https://archive.org/details/AddressToTheChurches] * “Shredded Trauma” by Soft and Furious [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_and_Furious/Mothlight_OST/Soft_and_Furious_-_Mothlight_OST_-_06_Shredded_Trauma] * “Black Lives Matter OKC Rally 10 July 2016” by Oklahoma Activist [https://archive.org/details/blacklivesmatterokc_rally20160710] * “Requiem of the Class War” by b0nn0t [https://archive.org/details/musiccollect/Requiem+Of+The+Class+War.cleaned.mp3] * “All My Trials” by Elroy Stubbern [https://archive.org/details/AllMyTrials] * “Trouble in Mind” by Richard M. Jones [https://archive.org/details/RichardM.Jones-TroubleInMind1926] * “Black Lives Matter - Denver - Day 9” by Thomas Elliot [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=91194430]