Tutor and analog synth artist Charlie Baldwin (aka Cocktail Party Effect) took our music production students to the Museum für Naturkunde to use their sound archive,  as part of a workshop on sampling and sound design.

If given access to a massive sound archive with the likes of growls,  chirps and squeaks, could you mix a track? This was the task at the  Museum für Naturkunde sampling workshop. Back in April we collaborated with RE:VIVE to set up the Museum für Naturkunde  sampling workshop at their prestigious building in the heart of Berlin.  This all day event had attendees learning how to tap into the museum’s  massive animalsound archive to make unique tracks. 

This exercise happened in tandem with the release of a new app from the  Museum für Naturkunde Berlin sponsored by the Federal Ministry for the  Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).  Called Naturblick,  it helps users explore Berlin’s wildlife by identifying animals and  plants. Stemming from an effort to use new media to focus attention to  natural spaces and promote environmental education in the digital age,  when we got wind of it we thought “what better way to bring attention to  something than make a soundtrack for it”.

Our students were invited to attend an all day sampling workshop at the prestigious Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. They were given unbridled access to the museum’s massive animal sound archive featuring thousands of unique recordings. The challenge: make a new track using only these sounds. Our very own dBs Tutor Charlie was there to lead them through the secrets of sampling. The workshop was done in tandem with the museum releasing a new app which is basically a ‘shazzam’ for plants and bird songs, and RE:VIVE is the sound archive collective from the Netherlands who helped us make it happen.

Read more about the event: http://dbsberlin.net/museum-fur-naturkunde-sampling-sampling-workshop/

Samping nature sounds at Museum fur Naturkunde by dBs Music Berlin

The workshop  challenged producers of all levels to be critical listeners and adept  sound designers. It was guided by the Netherlands Institute for Sound  and Vision’s RE:VIVE  Initiative, an initiative that connects electronic musicians with sound  archives, and ourselves. Our tutor Charlie led an intensive lecture and  production course on sampling and sound design after we all had a tour  of the museum.

Many of our own students attended the workshop and they were given a  chance to work on their tracks amongst the inspiring collections of the  museum. After a few hours of work, we all gathered again to share what  we had done and reveal which kinds of animal sounds were used in the  tracks. It was great and we’d like to share it with you! Take a listen  to some of the tracks that were made above.

We recap Catalyst Berlin music production tutor Charlie Baldwin (aka Cocktail Party Effect)'s sampling workshop at Museum für Naturkunde.

Exploring Museum für Naturkunde's Sound Archive

We Recap Our Sampling Workshop at Museum für Naturkunde 

Tutor and analog synth artist Charlie Baldwin (aka Cocktail Party Effect) took our music production students to the Museum für Naturkunde to use their sound archive, as part of a workshop on sampling and sound design.

What we did