Audible Tire: Field Recordings, The After School 2023-2024

Field recording for the Village Voice workshop. Recording Date: February 24, 2021. Recording Site: Yangwan Village, Dongshan Town, Suzhou. Equipment: ZOOM H3-VR. Recordist: Ou Ning

Rooster Crowing

A wooden percussion instrument that serves to keep the rhythm during sutra chanting. Field recording for the Village Voice workshop. Recording Date: March 30, 2021. Recording Site: Dunlun Hall, Mingyuewan Village, Xishan Island, Suzhou. Equipment: ZOOM H3-VR. Recordist: Ou Ning

Wooden Fish/Wooden Bell/Chinese Temple Block

Field recording in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Date: December 27, 2022. Recording Site: The historic locomotive and cars on Strasburg Rail Road. Equipment: Zoom H8. Recordist: Ou Ning.

A Ride on Strasburg Rail Road

The sound of the 16mm projector when it screened Michael Snow's Wavelength (1967) in Jack Shainman Gallery | The School, Kinderhook, New York, November 25, 2023. Recorded by Ou Ning with iPhone 12 + AVR X

The Sound of 16mm Projector

The adhan at 5:15 am in Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: iPhone 12 with AVR X
Time: 5:15 am, April 6, 2024
Location: Gülcüoğlu Konağı, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

The Adhan at 5:15 AM - April 6

On the Türkocağı Cd., near Leman Hanım Konağı, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 7:38 am, April 6, 2024
Location: Türkocağı Cd., Tire, Izmir, Turkey

On The Türkocağı Cd

Morning soundscape, near Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 7:41 am, April 6, 2024
Location: Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

Morning Soundscape around Yeni Cami

Morning soundscape near Gazazhane Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 8:08 am, April 6, 2024
Location: Gazazhane Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

Morning Soundscape around Gazazhane Cami

Having breakfast in the Koç Kardeşler Lokantası.
Bedesten, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 7:53 am, April 6, 2024
Location: Koç Kardeşler Lokantası, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

Breakfast Time in the Koç Kardeşler Lokantası - April 6

Recorded in the Koç Kardeşler Lokantası, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 1:18 pm, April 6, 2024
Location: Koç Kardeşler Lokantası, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

The Adhan at 1:18 PM - April 6

Eid al-Fitr Prayer in Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 7:26 am, April 10, 2024
Location: Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

Eid al-Fitr Prayer in Yeni Cami - Part 1

Eid al-Fitr Prayer in Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 7:38 am, April 10, 2024
Location: Yeni Cami, Tire, Izmir, Turkey

Eid al-Fitr Prayer in Yeni Cami - Part 3

Recorded at the UCLA campus (near Powell Library), Los Angeles.
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Time: 1:45 pm, April 28, 2024
Location: UCLA, Los Angeles.

UCLA Pro-Palestine Protests 1

Recorded in Tafaria Castle & Centre for the Arts in the rural areas of Central Kenya
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Date: October 23, 2024

Night Whispers of Insects and People in Tafaria Castle

Muslims account for more than 70% of the population in Mombasa Old Town, so there are various mosques, old and new, all over the town. Every day in the town, the Adhan will be heard, mixed with the buzzing sounds of motor vehicles on the busy streets, so that the whole town is bathed in a rich religious atmosphere.

Recorded outside the Mackinnon Market, Mombasa Old Town
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8
Date: October 30, 2024


The Adhan on the Busy Streets

Xianchiquan (Springs of Heaven Lake) was found in a forest of Changbai Mountain, 
and protected as the water supply source. The surging and flowing water sounds vigorously! 

Recorded in Xianchiquan, Erdaobaihe Town, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China
Time: 15:20, April 4, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

Xianchiquan: The Water Source

The local botanist Zhou Haicheng guided us for a field trip in the Hanconggou Ecological Park. You can hear the footsteps trampling on fallen leaves and the running water of a brook.

Recorded in Hanconggou Ecological Park, Erdaobaihe Town, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 9:40, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

Walking in the Forest

The local zoologists Piao Zhengji(Jeongkil Park) demonstrated using a special whistle to communicate with animals in a forest near Heping Ski Resort.
Recorded in a forest near Heping Ski Resort, Erdaobaihe Town, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 10:00, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

Calling the Wildlife

Before entering the Yonghong Village in a valley of Changbai Mountain, I went to the shore under a bridge to record the stopping rain on Erdaosonghua River.

Recorded near Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:10, April 5, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning 
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Stopping Rain on Erdaosonghua River

In a cave temple near Yonghong Village, the statues of Buddhism, Taoism and local Shamanism are worshipped in the same space. The Taoist who takes care of the temple said that the local government does not support the Shaman religion, so he usually covers the Shaman statues with fabrics. He uncovered them because of the rain at that day, so we were able to see them.

Recorded near Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:30, April 5, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning 
Recorder: ZOOM H8

A Taoist's Sayings

The Joseonjok Buddhist old lady was chanting at home in Yonghong Village, whose voice and the sound of wooden fish could be heard by the passers-by. 

Recorded in Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 15:20, April 5, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

Home Chanting in a Joseonjok Village

When walking through the vast field of black soil with the remained stalks, I found this small pond and caught its sound.

Recorded in Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:00, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8, with BOYA BM6060

A Soliloquizing Pond

The river runs in front of Yonghong Village had a different soundscape from my last visit.

Recorded in Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:20, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8, with BOYA BM6060

A Piece of Variation of Erdaosonghua River

A big wolfdog barked at me when I visited Yonghong Village again after one month.

Recorded in Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:30, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8, with BOYA BM6060

The Loud Bow-wow

Part of the recording of the conversation in Korean between the old lady and the Singapore-based South Korean curator Haeju Kim is uploaded here.

Recorded in Yonghong Village, Antu County, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 16:40, May 7, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8, with BOYA BM6060

Meeting with the Joseonjok Buddhist Old Lady

The locals ignited a bonfire and hosted a dinner with Joseonjok performance for us.

Recorded in Longshan Village, Dongshengyong Town, Longjing City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, China.
Time: 19:30, May 8, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Bonfire

When visiting the Japanese Shinto shrine Kenkoku Chureibyo in Changchun, I saw an old gentleman playing the song People Say Shanxi is Good Place with his electronic wind instrument there.

Recorded at the Kenkoku Chureibyo, Changchun City, Jilin Province, China.
Time: 14:40, April 8, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

People Say Shanxi is Good Place

A machine designed especially for producing the paper Yuanbao (gold or silver ingots used as money in ancient China) for sacrificial activities, was found in a family workshop.
 
Recorded in Lishu Town, Siping City, Jilin Province, China.
Time: 11:20, April 9, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Yuanbao Machine

The Joseonjok people working on the machine in their shop in the morning.
 
Recorded in the market of Xita Koreatown, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China.
Time: 9:00, April 11, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Pepper Processing Workshop

The Xita neighborhood is the biggest Koreatown in Northeast China. Its market is always crowded and noisy. 

Recorded in the market of Xita Koreatown, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China.
Time: 9:20, April 11, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Xita Korean Market

We were so close to Sinuiju on the other side of Yalu River. We could see it clearly during the day and hear it distinctly at night.

Recorded on the balcony of Yalu River Art Museum, Dandong City, Liaoning Province, China.
Time: 21:30, April 11, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Night Sound from Sinuiju, North Korea

The machine is especially popular among the street vendors in Northeast China.

Recorded on Toudaojie, within the Chinese Baroque Streets, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China.
Time: 17:30, May 4, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Shrimp Biscuit Machine

In 1992 the Japanese architectural historian Yasuhiko Nishizawa named the style of the buildings in Fujiadian, Harbin as “Chinese Baroque”. The old neighborhood was regenerated and transferred into a tourist destination with the name Chinese Baroque Streets and reopened to public in 2014. During the May Day holidays in 2025, the Streets are totally occupied by the crowded tourists, local cosplayers, and live streamers.

Recorded on Erdaojie, within the Chinese Baroque Streets, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China.
Time: 18:00, May 4, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Chinese Baroque Streets in Harbin

Yongle Gong (Yongle Palace) is a historic Taoist temple complex in Ruicheng, Shanxi Province, notable for its Yuan dynasty murals. Built over a period of 128 years between 1240 and 1358, the temple was originally located in Yongle Town some 15 miles west of its current site. It was dismantled and relocated piece-by-piece to the current location between 1958 and 1966 since construction of the Sanmenxia Dam flooded its original site.

There are so many birds in the woods around Yongle Gong. The birdsong is very euphonious, but it must compete with the BMG broadcasted in the temple complex, and sometimes is disturbed by the roar of airplanes flying over the sky.

Recorded at Yongle Gong, Ruicheng, Shanxi Province, China.
Time: 13:00, April 17, 2025
Recordist: Ou Ning
Recorder: ZOOM H8

The Birdsong of Yongle Gong

Ou Ning is the director of the documentaries San Yuan Li (2003) and Meishi Street (2006); chief curator of the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (2009); jury member of 8th Benesse Prize at 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); member of the Asian Art Council at the Guggenheim Museum (2011); founding chief editor of the literary journal Chutzpah!(2010-2014); founder of the Bishan Project (2011-2016); a visiting professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (2016-2017); and a senior research fellow of the Center for Arts, Design, and Social Research in Boston (2019-2024). His collected writings Utopia in Practice: Bishan Project and Rural Reconstruction is just published by Palgrave Macmillan (2020).

https://columbia.academia.edu/OuNing

Institute of Sound

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks