Camera and Recording Gear
A few people have asked about the camera and recording gear I am using. The camera is a Fujifilm X100T. It’s a 10 year old, 16MP mirrorless viewfinder style digital camera made in Japan. Pretty old technology by today’s standards but I love the images that come out of it. I don’t do any post processing or editing. I set the camera how I like it and whatever comes out, I use it as is. In other words, I use JPG files right out of the camera, instead of shooting RAW files and post processing. There is nothing wrong with post processing photos. I just don’t enjoy doing it.
The controls are mostly buttons and dials and it feels just like a film camera. It has a fixed focal length lens, so there is no zooming in close or pulling back for big wide angles. Instead, you have to move your body closer to your subject or reframe your subject in a different way to get an interesting shot. So, in a lot of ways, it is a very limiting camera. It is capable of taking a great picture, but it’s up to the photographer to do most of the work. Here is a link to their latest model. The camera I am using now is available used for much less and is still excellent.
Sound Recording
For sound recording, I am using this little Sony PCM A-10 digital recorder and a pair of Micbooster “Clippy” stereo microphones. The Sony recorder is tiny and records in WAV files which are higher than CD quality. The tiny microphones are the style that you would clip on someones clothes if you were interviewing them. They are hand built by a small company in the UK. The microphone capsules are incredibly sensitive and make no self-noise (hissing). I have them inside these fuzzy wind-bubbles to keep wind noise to a minimum. In the right conditions, the recordings are incredibly alive and detailed. I am not sure that Sony still makes these recorders but if not, they can be found used.
When I am out recording in the city, I clip the microphones to a strap on top of my backpack and stuff the Sony into a pocket inside
The Sony recorder connects to my phone via Bluetooth and through the app, I can monitor and control all of the most important functions from my iPhone while the recorder itself is in my backpack somewhere. It is a lot of fun to record daily travels and listen back later. The memories elicited by sound are different and sometimes more vivid than those that come from looking at pictures.
When I post photos and sounds, the website software crushes and compresses them so that they fit on the website and load at a certain usable speed. The actual photo files and sound files are far more detailed and nuanced but I still think they look and sound pretty good on here. I hope you enjoy them.
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Kabukicho at Night
Kabukicho at night is a “red light” district in Shinjuku, crawling with tourists, working girls, scam artists and host bars. But, it is worth going at least once to see the lights at night. There is a view just outside the entrance to Kabukicho that is like a beautiful scene from a movie. All the movement is mesmerizing. Bright buildings in the background frame a busy road and pedestrian walkway passing under a multi-track train corridor. Everything is moving colour in different directions all at once but it seems to work. Kind of like Tokyo in general.
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Songs of the Hibiya Line
Today we rode the Hibiya Line on the way to Shibuya to look for records. This train has some of the best sounds I have heard so far. Songs of the Hibiya Line are different at each station. Here is an official list of all the stations from end to end. If I ever travel to Tokyo again, I would like to do a more organized sound map of at least a few lines. It would be fun to go station to station and get good recordings of all the songs on the way, taking pictures of the trains and station interiors. Then again, I wonder who else besides me would be interested in such a document…wouldn’t stop me from making it though. The collection process is the most fun!
Our house was at Minowa Station of the Hibiya Line so this was the line I heard most often.
I enjoy using the Tokyo Metro system. The trains and stations are clean and cheerful. The sounds and maps and ticket machines all combine to add an air of fun to traveling within the city. I know that a tourist’s impression of local transit is not necessary the same as a daily commuters experience. But, I also got to ride a few times in the famous Tokyo rush hour and although you are crushed together like canned sardines, people are polite and cooperative.
If you enjoy subway sounds, check out this post from Seoul and this one from Busan.
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