Found Sounds

I used a lot of found sounds in the creation  of the beats for the Ambient Toolkit Vol 2. These sounds ranged from dropping metal bars in revereberant spaces to close micing keys and chains being dropped onto hard surfaces.Burial is a producer who uses this technique regularly on his productions, giving his tracks a  unique sound and atmosphere. I like the idea of using everyday sounds from the world around us and incorporating them into musical textures and rythmns. I tend to layer these found sounds with snare hits from a SR 16 drum machine ,MPC 1000 or other found sounds i've recorded.I then compress and EQ the layered sound to create a one shot snare.Working this way ensures that the building blocks to the beats i create are unique .

I also like the way that Burial incorporates rain,vinyl crackle and hiss onto his productions.I think this gives his productions depth and life.I also sample sounds from the outside world such as bird song,traffic,rain and incorporate them subtly into synth samples and beats.By doing this,the samples sound as though they belong in the real world and can add depth and character to beats,pads and SFX. I view the sampler as an empty box that can be filled with any sound and made into a potential musical element.I think working this way helps create totally unique sounds which is what i'm trying to achieve with all of my sample packs including Ambient Toolkit Vol 2

Here is a link to an interview that Burial did for Wire magazine

http://thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/burial_unedited-transcript