Read, Eat, Sleep

August 3, 2006 11:31 AM

Where do The Books get their samples?

I introduced a few friends to The Books recently, and we've decided to make a similar band. We have all the standard instruments we could want, and tracker/sampler software, but we are having trouble finding samples. I've been running around the farm picking up tons of percussive found sounds, but what I'd really like to get my hands on are recordings of people talking. Not spoken word poetry, but people with unique voices telling stories. Most of what I've found through google is low-quality generic sound effects type stuff, or the occasional famous speech (I love cutting up speeches, if you know where I could get some).

posted by tylermoody to media & arts (17 comments total)

You could put out dozens of records with the stories recorded by the StoryCorps project.
posted by jjg at 11:40 AM on August 3, 2006

Another possible source is LibriVox, in which volunteers create free audiobooks of literature in the public domain.
posted by jjg at 11:41 AM on August 3, 2006

It seems that Nick Zammuto is forever recording things and searching through things he hasn't recorded -- that it's a personal hobby, rather than just a band thing. At a show in Chicago last year, if I recall correctly, he relayed the story of his bachelor party, which consisted of something like an evening in with his friends watching films and other visual recordings. My advice is to start taping everything, and try to get your hands on as much as you can that has been recorded by others.
posted by penchant at 11:42 AM on August 3, 2006

Also, I think he said something about knowing someone that worked at the Library of Congress... Perhaps that route would prove fruitful?
posted by penchant at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2006

I've wondered this too, as some of the samples come from network television and other copyrighted sources. In one song ('If not now, whenever' from Lost and Safe) we can hear "I can't find the books, they must be in Lahoya" which is lifted from one of my favorite This American Life episodes. I just figured it was a mix between found-sounds, out of copyright material and some gray area material all folded together.
posted by elwoodwiles at 11:56 AM on August 3, 2006

I had the impression also that he searches out audiotapes from thrift stores - just weird recordings of "A Tape Letter to Grandma" or "Bobby Telling a Joke" or old answering machine tapes... stuff like that. I myself have never found much stuff like that at thrift stores, but I know it exists - here are some examples.
posted by chr1sb0y at 12:14 PM on August 3, 2006

Oh yeah - and this site posts new bits of found audio regularly...
posted by chr1sb0y at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2006

I don't know from The Books, specifically, but it does sound like the thrift stores are your friend. Check the cassette tapes but also the old vinyl. I've found great old records of breathing excercises, Joe McCarthy speeches, and Aldous Huxley's wife talking you through a bad trip.
And do tape stuff yourself. Carry around one of those cheap cassette recorders.
posted by zoinks at 12:35 PM on August 3, 2006

I am about to totally win this thread:

Freesound!!!
posted by phrontist at 12:38 PM on August 3, 2006

And please post your recordings to Freesound for our benefit.
posted by phrontist at 12:39 PM on August 3, 2006

(Oh, and I should clarify that Freesound is where you can get sounds not where The Books do)
posted by phrontist at 12:40 PM on August 3, 2006

I'm believe a lot of their samples are from the audio tracks of video clips. If you see them live you'll know what I mean. Many sounds in their music have accompanying images that screen behind them as they play. I get the feeling they record DV constantly, and go from there.

I always imagined "Tokyo" was cut down from home video footage of the Books visiting Japan.

That having been said, collect everyone in your band's home movies and see what gems you've been sitting on without realizing it?
posted by nathancaswell at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2006

Project Gutenberg has some (free) audiobooks, but as they're working with the above-mentioned LibriVox there's going to be at least some overlap there.
posted by Lebannen at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2006

I came seem to find a record of it online, but I recall hearing a story about The Books on NPR, and how they went about getting their sounds. As others have said, it seems that they are constantly doing field recordings and experimenting with sounds. I remember that one of the techniques they used was to surface mount a speaker to a metal file cabinet and record the sounds it produced when they played back recordings at high volume.

I think it also mentioned that one of the guys had all of his sounds in a database and had written some custom software to search through it. So for instance if he knew he needed an 8 second clip with a certain tempo, his software would pull all of his sounds that matched his needs from the database.

Very cool interview if anyone can find it...

Good luck with your band!
posted by woj at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2006

Realaudio link: here you go.

Here's the episode link on wnyc.
posted by O9scar at 5:43 PM on August 3, 2006

Thanks, 09scar, that's the one!
posted by woj at 6:03 PM on August 3, 2006

Another good interview with the books, featuring the stories behind a few of the samples (like the intro in "Motherless Bastard"), and their method of collecting them (continuous).
It also contains all the laughs, sighs and speech disfluencies that went into making up the track "p.s."
(Patti Schmidt, the gorgeous voiced interviewer-host, broadcasts Brave New Waves every weeknight, midnight till 4am, on CBC radio2.
(Via blanketfort who introduced me to The Books)
posted by growabrain at 11:32 PM on August 15, 2006