Field Recordings – Nepal 1998

These recordings were all made in October of 1998 during a visit to Nepal, using a cassette recorder with a built-in condenser mic, so the recordings are definitely not audiophile quality by any means, but hopefully will be of some interest. Recordings made in Indonesia and Thailand during the same period (and more in keeping with the regional specification of the title of this blog) will be forthcoming in the next few days…

 

Boudanath prayer wheels at sunset

Boudanath, located on the outskirts of Kathmandu,  is (if I remember correctly) the most important Tibetan stupa outside of Tibet itself. Every day at sunset people come out to walk around the stupa and spin the prayer wheels, which line the outside of the stupa and issue prayers and/or blessing when spun.

Tibetan nun chanting at Boudanath

An elderly Tibetan nun was chanting over a bunch of votive candles in the courtyard the same evening.

Tibetan horns and dogs barking

recorded from the window of the guesthouse where I was staying outside of Boudanath. There are loads of monasteries in the area and you would often hear chanting, ritual horns, and other such sounds coming from indeterminate and unseen origins during the sun-bleached, high altitude Kathmandu midday.

Nepali street musician and daughter part 1

Nepali street musician and daughter part 2

Nepali street musician and daughter part 3

Was walking around a neighborhood of Kathmandu near one of the markets and happened across a folk musician and his little daughter playing for tips. The guy was playing a 4 stringed vertical sarangi carved out of a single piece of wood, and the daughter was about 7 years old and was an adorable little kid. I’m really glad I was able to capture so much of their playing, and that I happened to have an extra blank tape with me! It reminds me of Norwegian hardanger fiddle playing in some ways, strangely…