My brother, John Stephens of muti-track fame, worked with Homer Rodeheaver on some of his International Sacred Recordings label, and on one Homer was giving a sermon and recitation that included a pet dog long gone. So, for "atmosphere", John supplied the distant mournful off mike dog bark and howl.
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From: Donald Clarke <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, August 2, 2013 10:53 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Phonobomb examples?
Mitch Miller wanted Frank Sinatra to bark like a dog on one of his later Columbia sides, but he wouldn't do it and Miller had to get somebody else. A famous recording of Scheherezade by the Philadelphia Orchestra, transferred from 78s for the new long-playing record in 1948, had reverb added to it, using an old piece of tape that had a barking dog on it, and you could hear that on the finished LP. And there's a few live folk recordings made outdoors with barkers in the chorus; I've heard one, but I don't remember what it was. There were fiddlers playing "The Hot Canary", Leroy Anderson's "The Waltzing Cat"…
Donald Clarke
On Aug 2, 2013, at 11:36 AM, Hooyenga, Susan Marie wrote:
Patrick Feaster and I were talking about recordings in which people imitate animals (specifically, we were listening to The Pussy Cat Rag on the National Jukebox), and I remembered field recordings in which real animals have been audible. I've heard a dog yelping on a recording from Nepal (and the ethnomusicologist saying, "Damn dog," suggesting that the animal had been interfering with the equipment). Also, a recording of folk songs in the US, in which the elderly singer was accompanied by his squawking parakeet.
Patrick suggested that we could call these "phonobombs." Has anyone else heard things like this?
Susan Hooyenga
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