Field Dept. (estlin usher & Andy Klingensmith)
2021, Modern Concern

https://moco.bandcamp.com/album/regressor

Regressor is an audio exercise exploring communication through the internal and external topographies of magnetic tape. The demonstration begins with an unmanipulated field recording which is then degraded manually through repeated transfers between both cassettes and actual physical space. These recordings document the process of those transfers by examining different variables of tape use, microphone positioning, and distance. The two authors lived separately and exchanged material only once.

The original digital file was initially recorded to tape while capturing the natural acoustics and sonic phenomena of the author’s chosen room of playback. Once recorded, it was passed between devices in the home, naturally diluting the sonic material through discrepancies in compression, saturation, and ambient noise. Four transfers were relayed to the second author by email, who then played these recordings on both old and new cassette tapes in their own home, at both large and small distances between playback and recording devices, obfuscating the original source entirely.

The summative result of these recordings has been compiled here, arranged with consideration to narrative and pace. The recordings have not been altered in any way aside from length and position, finally.