Relaxing in the White Noise Lounge

What are you doing with your portable recorder? Former O'Reilly producer Justin Watt (aka DJ Justin Somnia) and partner Stephanie Soleil (MC Soleil) capture whispery ambiances and upload them to the White Noise Lounge. They complement each brief aural trip with an artsy black-and-white photo.

The project started as a joke, but like everything Justin touches, it's elegant and thought-provoking. (He and I worked together closely during the early days of the Digital Media site.) I told him it reminded me of the One-Minute Vacation field recordings, although the photos take it to another level.

Justin and Stephanie use a Zoom H2 handheld surround recorder, which Justin picked up after reading our review. The H2 has four built-in microphones — two facing forward and angled 90° apart and two facing the other way, angled 120° apart. The H2 can save stereo recordings from either pair or mix all four mic signals into a super-stereo file.

Justin reveals, "We use different mics depending on the scenario. The 120° is great for ambient handheld, because I can see the LCD readout while recording. I use the 90° mics if the sound is really localized, and the 2-channel surround if I'm trying to capture a 360° environment, like the food court at the mall."

I really like this concept of pairing audio snapshots with visual ones. It's a richer form of street photography and reminds us that life comes at us in fascinating little slices.