Environments

“Wood-Masted Sailboat” is among the most popular recordings in the series. As Environments 8’s publicity literature asks, “Have you ever been aboard a trim, lithe, ocean-going sailing vessel?” But contrary to what the marketing effort implied, “Wood-Masted Sailboat” is a collage of sounds—a Platonic ideal of a sloop at sea. Keep your eyes tuned to the creaking wooden mast, clattering rigging, squeaking boom-vang, and chiming buoys. The boat used for this recording is a 42-foot gaff-rigged ship built around 1900. Teibel proudly introduced this as the first recording in the series to present the idea of a “moving” environment.

Side B, “A Country Stream,” is another popular recording often imitated by Irv Teibel's successors. These sounds were taken using quadraphonic techniques at a stream flowing into the Housatonic River near the New England town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Teibel recommends “A Country Stream” for creating a calm, relaxed atmosphere, “ideal for quiet social gatherings,” and to paradoxically carve out “isolation from distractions in an over-silent or too noisy environment.”