@sugarlift: Thanks a lot! Keep checking back as I will be uploading quite a few more soundscapes like this one before the end of the year.

Free download = Please also like / leave feedback :)

Netlabels & podcast creators: Please message me directly through soundcloud for inclusion of my original works in your releases. I am always happy to collaborate, edit existing tracks, or create wholly new tracks for you, just ask & cite accordingly :)

Welcome, this is the home for all my original field recording & soundscape projects currently available on soundcloud. There is a mixture of older (44.1 K) and newer (96 K) tracks, displaying a wide range of sound sources and environments, ranging from natural to urban, soothing to unsettling. Typically my approach is to present an edited collage of sound meant to seem like it could almost be a straight-through take, but is designed with a clear beginning, middle and end. This allows for a layering of different recordings, resulting in a thick haze of sound that rewards close headphone listening. For contrast, a few unedited recordings are available as well, uploaded with essentially no post-production work. Either way, the goal is to present a recording that can transport the listener into another time and situation. Some of these tracks are also available as downloads to producers in need of sfx or DJs looking for creative intro/outro tools. 

R.J. Stefanski ~ Original Works: [3 hrs of compositions for use in netlabels, mixtapes, podcasts]

post apocalyptic - [ @postapocalypticsociety ]
+ [ www.instagram.com/post_apocalyptic_society ]

Post Apocalyptic - Metaphysical

Attraverso il Suono - mixtape 1

Download only available thru bandcamp: https://rjstefanski.bandcamp.com/

Headphones Recommended:
My latest soundscape curated from recordings made in 2014 with my new set-up (jumping from 44.1 to 96 kHz): "Calming Waters..." mixes three different perspectives on a beaver dam in Northern Macomb county Michigan, USA for a uniquely immersive listening experience. You begin a bit further away from the actual dam (an impressive structure probably 60 feet by 12 feet, situated right off/under an old railway converted into a bike path), the rushing water is audible but quiet as other woodland sounds like crickets and birds enter the mix. As the soundscape continues, the microphone placement nears the river and the water builds to an almost white noise-level of sound, calming and powerful at the same time. At times you can also hear a bee buzz right next to the right channel (headphones recommended). This soundscape is bookended with clips of deep woods near Houghton Lake, Michigan, but is designed to play out like one straight-through recording with no editing.

Captured with Tascam DR-07 and maintained at original 96 K / 24 bit audiophile quality throughout editing. Add to your favorite sleep playlist, use as a meditation tool, or throw into your own productions (I like to use these as intro/outro for DJ sets). If you do use this clip somehow, please share with me so I can see how it turned out!

Calming Waters of a Beaver Dam

Buy on Bandcamp

Calming Waters of a Beaver Dam [Field Recording: 96 kHz / 24 bit / WAV]

We are pleased to deliver our new Compilation Celebrating 6 Years of KVLTÖ Records by different friends who have deepened in sharing the great sound synergy that represents them and thus carry out a story for this celebration that we honor every sound implemented, thank you for always being and thank you for your great support in every day that passes for us.

Tracklist of each of the artists who contribute with their musical energy:

1.- @akobmusic - S(pa)ceptism 
2.- @adam-warped - Timeloop
3.- @bernstein_musik - Raygen
4.- @ctafad - Together 
5.- @javrsalazar - Erhu
6.- @martynpaschmusic - Experience
7.- @onaimusica - Common Thoughts
8.- @sub-accent - Wolf Moon
9.- @sebbykowalmusic - Tokyo Edge

We wish you to receive a lot of energy in your lives always.

- Thanks for believing in KVLTÖ -

Mastered By: @red_noisedj
Artwork By: @martynpaschmusic
Catalogue: KV055
Release Date: March 31, 2024

Free Download

KVLTÖ Records VI Years [KV055]

Little dream

Download full EP: https://coldtearrecords.bandcamp.com/album/modal-cat-space-scavengers-duende

Duende

Modal Cat & Space Scavengers - Duende

Hopler Route - The Shape of the Beat [2024]
Slope Point [slp053]

All tracks mastered by Dal Güel.
Original picture by Pawel Czerwinski.
Cover design by Slope Point Team.

Hopler Route - Sunday Driver

a bit more of an experimental approach to bend the lines between genres, styles and tempis. 

-🌞

neshama@ bains les bains

Following late 2015's "Precursor EP" comes a new release and another change in the overall presentation of my field recordings. Over the next 1-2 weeks I will be posting a trilogy of extended soundscapes that share an affinity for a specific geographic focus, occupying a psychedelic space between the more scholarly process of creating sound maps and experimental ambient music. The first installment of these experimental sound maps (which highlight three important places from around my home in Detroit, MI) is infatuated with the power and presence of the many waters of Detroit's Belle Isle Park. Unlike some sound maps which aim for a total representation of a location, these pieces have a more insular approach, opting to provide the listener with a guided tour through specific landmarks.

The scene is set with the bleached out bliss of a hot midafternoon sun on Belle Isle's sandy public beach. Children goof around a few towels over - one boy tries to trick another into saying "underwear" - while down the beach the river lightly laps at the beach, and a little further away some field crickets begin to stir.  Just past the midway point of the river a few boats pass, one lingers in the middle of the stereo field, slowly getting closer and slightly louder before turning away. The backdrop of waves and field noise (crickets and passing boats) is constantly shifting throughout the soundscape, the best remnants from several field recording expeditions. We move a little away from the shore and through open fields towards the notorious Hidden Beach. There we find a small group of people with a few dogs cooling off in the shady canal with some slowly passing fishing boats. We move further inland to the Conservatory Garden Fountain, close enough to hear the water bubble up from the pump beneath the surface. Even though we're so close to the fountain, a gardener using a weed whacker in the distance can be heard.  Our walk continues, leaving the Conservatory and heading towards a historic bell tower just in time to hear a peaceful melody. Finally we move towards the far shoreline, choosing an open field not far from the water to rest. By this point in the afternoon the field crickets have really picked up, competing in overall volume with an array of sounds including police sirens from Windsor and a huge barge which is about to pass through the river. You can hear the aging motors of the barge rattling away as the huge boat slowly passes from roughly 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock (in terms of position to the listener's stereo field).

A number of the recordings from this track were made with the Crown SASS stereo mic, complimenting the movement of passing ships from one side of the stereo field to the other. All sounds recorded and edited by RJ Stefanski in 2015.

Surrounded by Shores [Field Recorded Sound Map 1.1 | Waters of Belle Isle]

R.J. Stefanski / Cathedral in Grayscale.

A new chapter in the evolution of how I manipulate my field recordings, "Cathedral in Grayscale" is a six minute mini-odyssey sitting at the meeting point of ambient, drone, and sound collage. The foundation of the soundscape is a new piano piece blurred with effects and slowly accented with a flurry of new recordings. Winter rain, passing trains, a crowded  shopping market, seagulls, and waves are just some of the sounds that were added in one by one, layering them all into one dense atmosphere. 
The track is further augmented by taking a few field recordings (downtown ambiance, barcode readers, frogs) and slathering them with effects and slowing them down into a blissed out pool of reverb. More piano compositions were also slowed down to resemble stringed instruments, a technique acquired from hours of listening to Stars of the Lid. 
Throughout "Cathedral" the human voice enters through the fog, including AM preachers, astronauts, famous opera singers, and elderly people speaking on surviving the Great Depression. Enjoy on good headphones, any feedback / requests to include in podcasts / etc.. please message me.

All sounds, editing, and artwork RJ Stefanski 2016.

unreleased

Cathedral in Grayscale [original ambient piano composition]

Sonic Portraits: A new series of shorter field recording compositions designed to present a single location through a small number of recordings with minimal editing.  The first installment is culled from three different recordings I made in the middle of a pond in the rural outskirts of Romeo, MI with a Crown SASS-P Stereo Mic into a Tascam recorder set at the HD quality of 96kHz / 24 bit / WAV. 

001 - Romeo Campground Swamp at Night: Three stereo field recordings featuring tons of late Summer crickets chirping away in the middle of a muggy night. Frogs occasionally croak from off in the distance, and towards the end a scary creature that sounds like the squeal of a pig appears.

Campground Swamp at Night [HD Field Recording of Crickets and Frogs in Deep Woods]

Blending elements of a full length LP, an experimental DJ set, and a retrospective compilation - "Selected Field Recording Works..." is the latest journey into sound design from R.J. Stefanski.

This project materialized over nearly a year of molding together soundscapes that span the full time range since upgrading my field recording set up (2013-2016), with a few unreleased pieces and brand new tracks thrown into the mix. A defining feature of this project is the focus on original piano compositions which appear and recede into the distance throughout the forty minutes. I also tried to maintain a full and clear volume across the mix - hopefully presenting these HD recordings in a way that any listener with quality headphones can appreciate. My aim is for this album to meet the standard qualifier for successful ambient music - whether you want to let it simply be background noise or something more substantial to listen to deeply - I hope it achieves whichever you need it for. 

Tracklisting / Outline of Sounds Presented ~

01. Cathedral in Grayscale [00-05]
02. Lake Erie Surf / Cedar Point Track UNRELEASED [05-10]
03. Urban Atmospheres [09-11]
04. Calming Waters of a Beaver Dam [11-13]
05. Green Acres of Detroit [13-16]
06. Midsummer Thunderstorm [ 16-18]
07. The Retired Cosmonaut SIDE B [18-20]
08. NEW Belle Isle Soundscape [20-22]
09. Drowning Butterflies [21-24]
10. NEW Mechanical Soundscape [23-27]
11. Welcome to Gotham [27-29]
12. Winter Freezing Rain and Sleet [29-31]
13. NEW NYC Soundscape Bryant Park & Central Park [31-36]
14. NEW Closing Outro [36-38]

All Sounds Captured by RJ Stefanski on either a Tascam DR-07 or a Crown SASS-P Stereo Mic then edited and maintained at 96 K / 24 Bit Wav files.

Selected Field Recording Works 2013-16 [All Original Ambient Compositions]

Purchase soundscapes & recordings on bandcamp:
https://rjstefanski.bandcamp.com/

A new track in the Therapy series is here, 17 minutes of ocean surf:
https://soundcloud.com/rjsfoundsounds/sound-therapy-sessions-002-relaxing-ocean-surf-relaxing-music-for-sleep-relaxation-hd-wav

After recently realizing I had yet to release any rain / thunder based recordings in 2016, I used the opportunity to begin yet another series examining the different formats available in curating, editing, and presenting original field recordings.  The Sound Therapy Sessions will feature lengthy sonic excursions favoring tranquil moods and the interesting mixtures of related sources within a specific location, theme, or concept.
-     -     -     -      -     -
STS 001: Quiet Rain, Thunder & Waves
Obviously my favorite sound to build a track with - the rain for this particular piece was recorded on April 1, 2016 in Romeo, MI. Recording nature sounds near my parents home vs. Detroit allows me to avoid as much car/airplane/etc interference as possible. I try to make sure each new thunderstorm track I put out has a different feel then the previous examples - so with this version I decided to foreground the light, relaxing white noise of a light to medium rain (as compared to my usual focus on loud thunder). Over the course of the opening 6-8 minutes there are more and more layers of simple rain mixed in, all together from four separate recordings from two storms taped on an enclosed back porch. 

Slowly the rain forms into waves that ebb and flow throughout the stereo field. These were taped later in the summer of 2016 at Belle Isle Park in Detroit, MI. Around the same time a pair of boys playing and laughing on a trampoline in a Hamtramck backyard can also be heard.

Combining two soothing examples of the sound of water in nature with an extended run time and HD quality fidelity makes this track ideal for contemplative listening on good headphones. Enjoy.

All sounds, editing, and artwork by RJ Stefanski. December 2016

Sound Therapy Sessions

Sound Therapy Session 001 - Quiet Rain, Thunder & Waves [Relaxing Music for Sleep & Meditation]

From the passionate lands of France, Arnaud Galoppe, known as Focal and Kinosura, has hand-mixed an emotional labyrinth of dark techno and melancholy ambience in Ultimae’s latest compilation.
Polarity is a double-sided conglomerate of electronic expressions from all over the world, spanning across atmospheric soundworlds of intimate drone and deep, industrial progressions.
This collection of heartwarming soundscapes and foot-stomping house beats is smoother than butter, a series of 26 top-notch tracks that paint an interesting, auditory adventure. Although the album has a minimalistic approach, it offers a surprisingly detailed production. Each track is layered with expert craftsmanship and hypnotic melodies laced against diverse, psychedelic noise echoing in the distance.
Polarity is certainly an experience worth traversing, and we are proud to host it as an excellent addition to any electronica connoisseur's sound-library.

The Polarity artwork was imagined by plasticians Suzy Lelièvre and Raphaël Kuntz.
From a sphere, they conceived a parametric deformation protocol for a decomposition in several stages.
While Suzy imagines shapes and the potential modifications to impact, Raphaël works on the incarnation process to extract a mineral matter look, something geological, almost chemical. As they materialise, with slow lighting work, shapes undergo random offsets, revealing the tension between a near scientific protocol and its subjective interpretation. Beyond the infinite production of singular shapes, the goal of both artists, especially for this project, is to invent new processes that invite a reconsideration of our attitude to shapes.
In the same way, from Ambient to Techno, through a game of modulation of pads, rhythms and frequencies, Polarity offers a variety of musical spectra flowing into one another, a melodic exploration of the twists and turns which link both universes.

Mastered by Vincent Villuis & Vladislav Isaev at Ultimae Studios. 
Original Artworks by Suzy Lelièvre & Raphaël Kuntz.
Artwork by Arnaud Galoppe.
Text credits : Emmanuelle Hebert & Nick Sumbles.

POLARITY | mixed by Focal

Beyond Air

Download

CV313 | Beyond Air

Matt Karmil - PB

Paris-based DJ crew and party provider HORS-SOL launched Outrebleu early 2020: a side project aimed at pushing ambient, IDM, experimental and deep techno music to the forefront of the Parisian scene, with multidisciplinary events and experiences. Through this approach, the collective wishes to offer something different, with an emotional, sensitive and introspective approach. Through this mix, the artists behind HORS-SOL seek to translate the emotions of a post-festive Sunday: those of a foggy morning awakening, where the fuzzy memories of a night of excess, joy and dance intertwine. Those of a day of wandering, where the tired body and mind are the open doors to changing moods, introspection and contemplation.

Tracklist:
Kasper Marott - Hajsoen 
Sonmi451 - Vladivostok 
Sa Pa - Room With a View
Varuna - Timoti de Foris
DJ Metatron - Untitled
Ø - Mennyt
Snore Magnar Solberg - No No 5 (Subtil Remix 1)
Nella - Nano Space Sound
Etapp Kyle - Luna
NTHNG - Touches
Fluxion - Stations
Pan American - Plains
Vril - Alte Sele (Original Mix)

HORS-SOL on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/hors-sol
HORS-SOL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hors_sol


www.itsdelayed.com
www.instagram.com/_itsdelayed_
www.facebook.com/itsdelayed

Sundays are for... HORS-SOL

Brooklyn NYC + Detroit | Message directly for inquiries about sampling recordings, bookings, collaborations, or questions | Since releasing a series of diverse mixtapes in 2011, Stefanski has slowly turned his focus to his own ambient productions, often built entirely of original field recordings. He has released a wide array of original soundscapes ranging from brief, high-def clips of thunderstorms to extended sound collages, each project sharing a hazy, psychedelic glow. Before moving to Brooklyn, Stefanski curated the chill out room for infamous Detroit after-hours rave BAK DØR. After relocating he released an LP of short field recordinged ("20 X 2"), a podcast for an experimental NYC label (Metamorph) and an album for Bivouac's "60 Minute Cities" series. His relaxing rain soundscapes are some of the most popular on soundcloud, with one clip nearing 14 million streams as of late 2020. More recently Stefanski expanded his productions with visual components, including a new website which hosts the unique travelogue "The San Diego Tapes" and photography prints for sale.

~FEEL FREE to use my field recordings/original tracks in any of your own works, I only ask you cite me as a source and please send me a link of the finished product.  MESSAGE ME for questions, I won't see questions in comments.

#ambient #fieldrecording #soundscape #relaxing #fieldrecordings #sounddesign #meditation #soundeffects #drone #yoga #studying #study #newage #experimental #audiophile #foley

Calming Waters of a Beaver Dam [Field Recording: 96 kHz / 24 bit / WAV]

R.J. Stefanski

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