April Investigations

4/27/2019

Every day during the month of April 2019 Rafael and I recorded sounds of our daily lives with Sony ICD PX-470 stereo digital dictaphones.
We also took photographs of sights of our daily lives.

APRIL
INVESTIGATIONS
a CONFIDENTIAL report
by Special Agents
Rafael González and Hal McGee
a collaborative online installation
documenting and celebrating
the quotidian, everyday found sound and art, coincidence, happenstance, and friendship
by two best amigos who live 3925 miles (6320 km) apart
data collected in:
San Cristóbal de La Laguna and Santa Cruz de Tenerife,
and other locations in The Canary Islands;
Gijón, Asturias, and Madrid, Spain;
and Gainesville, Florida, USA
April 1-30, 2019
with contributions by Stanley and Lumen K

listen to the seven assemblages in any order you wish
and
view a slideshow consisting of more than 650 photos, below

alternative version of the slideshow, with larger versions of the photos

49 Comments

Electronic Cottage
Editor
Hal McGee

I have been making my own homemade experimental music since 1981.

I was an active participant in the 1980s Cassette Culture scene, and I operated the Cause And Effect Cassette Distribution Service and label, and recorded solo as Dog As Master, and in a duo as Viscera.

From 1989 to 1991 I published six issues of the original Electronic Cottage print magazine.

In the last 40 years I have recorded, produced and released more than 300 solo audio works, collaborations and compilations.

email
website

Leslie Singer

5/2/2019 09:12:38

I woke up and it was an April Investigations morning. So great to hear you channel Uncle Billy’s call to the special agents with date, temperature, time, and postal communications documented in all zones. I’m in part 3 and loving all of it. Clapping hands emoji to you, Hal and Rafael. And as always, it is a treat to get to hear the erudite Lumen K.

Rafael González

5/2/2019 10:53:55

Leslie, it has made me very happy to include you in this adventure. Thank you very much for your Mail Art that has helped me a lot to solve a problem. The pieces of the puzzle fit!

5/2/2019 12:54:20

Rafael, thank you so much! I'm so glad that my mail art could help and to be included in this amazing adventure.

5/2/2019 11:31:29

¡Hola Lumen K! it's always a great pleasure to hear you!

5/2/2019 14:58:10

Leslie, thank you very much for having been in the investigation. Your Mail Art has helped a lot!

Lumen K

5/2/2019 15:56:03

Thank you, Leslie and Rafael! I am very honored. Hanging out with Hal sparks lots of interesting thoughts and he is very open to listening to them. I am glad it adds to and does not detract from the recording!

5/2/2019 16:14:32

Lumen K, on the contrary, this adds great value. I'm so happy to hear you here, that you're inside ... never leave!

5/2/2019 10:49:18

Hal, thank you very much for everything!!! I had a lot of fun doing this, I had a fantastic month of April thanks to this project that has filled my life with hope and happiness, not without some danger ... the life of Special Agent is very complicated sometimes, especially if you have to wait in the red room!

Special Agent Halamigo

5/2/2019 10:54:25

!Siiiiiiiiiiiii! ¡So true, RAFAEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Special Agent Rafamigo

5/2/2019 10:59:13

Siiiiiiiii!!!!!! Quiero un café solo!

Juan Angel Italiano

5/2/2019 10:49:55

Wow! excellent work, the strange combination of soundscapes so far away.
Interesting textures of languages.

Hal

5/2/2019 10:55:20

¡Gracias, Juan!

5/2/2019 11:00:00

Merci beaucoup cher ami!

5/2/2019 10:51:41

¡Muy buenos collages visuales, también!

5/2/2019 11:02:09

Me alegra mucho que te guste, Juan. He tenido una gran diversión haciendo todo esto. De hecho puedo decir que hace mucho tiempo que yo no tenía tanta diversión.

5/2/2019 10:57:40

Of course, I recommend listening while watching the slideshow, and the experience will be much more complete!

Seiei Jack

5/2/2019 15:41:43

Very cool and funny. Great job! Respect!

5/2/2019 16:41:11

Thank you very much SJ! You are also here, as we have used the famous SJRG rubber stamp!

Eduardo GOZNE

5/2/2019 22:22:14

excelente ! y en español. En hora buena

5/3/2019 03:50:22

¡Muchas gracias, Eduardo! Me alegra mucho que te guste. Como ya he dicho hasta la saciedad, he pasado un mes de abril maravilloso: mucha diversión.

Vermillion

5/3/2019 00:28:00

Qué lindo proyecto! 🎉 ❤️ Qué quede para la historia! De qué manera a través de estos medios de comunicación como el cibe mundo. Me gustó mucho la poética y el uso de diferentes herramienta para registrar su propio concepto de recolección de datos desde la distancia! Saludos desde Argentina!

5/3/2019 04:02:24

Vermillion, muchas gracias por tus palabras. Te explico un poco la idea: se trataba de registrar (sonora y visualmente) cada día durante el mes de abril, claro está, desde nuestro punto de vista. Al final, lo contidiano se ha vuelto realmente misterioso. Bueno, esto ya lo sabíamos. Hal y yo siempre hemos pensado así. Es todo un enigma.

cecelia chapman

5/3/2019 02:33:48

So great...Rafa and Hal's latest April investigations are so cool...love this work.

5/3/2019 04:03:36

¡Hola Cecelia! Glad you like, my friend!

Hal McGee

5/3/2019 08:49:10

Cecilia, welcome to Electronic Cottage, and thank you for listening to and looking at April Investigations!

Rafamigo

5/3/2019 11:03:59

https://www.electroniccottage.org/rafael-gonzaacutelez/mail-art-postcards-from-cecelia-chapman-and-eberhard-janke

Niniji

5/3/2019 08:20:43

Hola amigos! Congratulations to you for completing this great work!! It's as if I am looking through the looking glass. I enjoyed comparing the similarities and differences in our daily lives.

5/3/2019 08:26:45

Niniji, welcome to Electronic Cottage, and thank you for your comment on April Investigations! I am happy that you like it and that you find it worthwhile and interesting. Rafa and I had a lot of fun doing it! There is great joy in the simplest things in life if only we will take the time to observe the everyday world around us.

5/3/2019 10:57:23

你好 Niniji! thank you very much for commenting on EC.
Halamigo has explained it very well, I can only say: Bueno amigos, esto es todo por ahora. Nos vemos pronto.

5/3/2019 20:22:00

Back again to say I really enjoy the references to Rafael’s Code Red album and Hal’s delightful re-telling, as in a children’s fairy tale, some of the events in the amazing Part 8 of Twin Peaks-The Return. Very entertaining!

5/3/2019 22:37:10

Good night! This is fantastic ... I love hearing Hal. By the way ... Code Red ... April Investigations ... You are right, Leslie!

Penny

5/4/2019 03:12:38

Yay💝 i am looking forward to hearing this tonight after work tonight.. Listening to these outside of work via headphones and with sweet tea..🌈

5/4/2019 05:49:39

Ohhhh Thank you, thank you very much, but please, drink coffee. I think that with coffee you can get a better experience. You can hear here the sound of coffee boiling!

Chris Phinney

5/4/2019 12:55:33

I love these assemblages, Hal & Rafael totally entertaining excelent work. I think we all may have an office downstairs with Air conditioning & we will have to battle after the man retires or join forces. The slide show is great the food makes me want some. Though the jalapenos will tear my ass a new one :} Always great to see & hear Stanley! Looks like I see a Mississippi Sand Hill Crane here, one of my favorite birds besides pelicans. Always goood to see your Mom & Dad Hal, been so long since I have been in their presence. I need a filter to filter out my fucking pizza ha ha lol. Fantastic & captivating amigos!

5/4/2019 15:20:43

Chris. Thank you very much for, so glad you like it. Your words should be included in an assemblage! I understand you, I am Stanley fan too. The Asturian food could destroy your stomach, although I'm sure you would like it: very fluxus!

5/5/2019 00:00:38

Chris, thanks for your comments on April Investigations! I appreciate you listening so closely, and I'm especially grateful that you found enjoyment in it and some things to relate to. Yep, there are a pair of Sand Hill Cranes that graze in the park near me every morning. Rafa and I had a great time creating April Investigations!

Jay Peele link

5/4/2019 12:24:25

Look forward to taking this in. :)

5/4/2019 15:21:44

¡Hola amigo!

5/4/2019 15:45:26

This is now one of my favorite assemblages. What an an amazing collage of sounds! Hal’s wisdom about art is right on!

5/5/2019 00:09:17

Lumen, thank you for listening. Rafamigo and I had a wonderful time assembling April Investigations and we plan to do it again sometime in the future. Thank you for your contribution!

5/5/2019 11:52:18

That's true, I have really enjoyed it a lot. Thank you very much, you both are great!

Phillip Klampe

5/6/2019 00:13:26

Stellar collaboration! Photo slide show is a great idea and completes the experience. Enjoy being transported to other places. Thanks special agents!

5/6/2019 01:13:03

Agent Philamigo, thank you for supporting this mission. We value your feedback!

5/6/2019 09:27:04

This is true, we greatly appreciate the support and words of Philamigo! Thank you very much!

Jerry Kranitz

5/6/2019 19:32:38

Instead of detailed thoughts, I'll just THANK special agents Halamigo and Rafamigo for a much needed relaxing evening of sound art serenade. A stellar sound exploratory collaboration. VERY pleased that there are so many images in the slideshow because I VEGETATED listening to the sounds and watching the pics scroll by. Just chillin' and groovin'. And of course I always love hearing Hal narrativing, spoken wording, and stream of consciousnessing. You are CORRECT Hal that the meaning we get from life is contingent upon the EFFORT we put into it!! There are, indeed, wonders all around. YESSIR... you are doing your part to fill the void. Thanks guys. I go beddy sweep now...

5/7/2019 13:39:30

Jerry, thank you very much for your wonderful comment. It makes me very happy, like April Investigations.

Judith link

5/11/2019 05:32:40

What I particularly like about April Investigations is that "the spirits are divorcing themselves": In his way the work is a work that stands against the mental porridge. Rarely. A Path.

5/11/2019 05:36:04

Judith, welcome to Electronic Cottage!

5/11/2019 06:14:03

Judith, thank you very much for you comment, I really appreciate your words! Welcome to EC!

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