Ethereal "clacking" sound in select BOC songs

Turbo Moe · Post by **Turbo Moe** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:46 am

Hello everyone. Sorry I don't post often. I just enjoy quietly reading how Boards of Canada has had such a profound effect on so many people's lives.

I am posting about the ethereal, godly, sometimes menacing, "CLACK" that is apparent on select Boards of Canada songs. Hearing them sends jolts of chills down my spine to this day. Now this clack noise isn't a sequence or part of the beat. It appears very randomly, and is quite laconic in all their songs. Has anyone noticed this?

Here are a few examples:

- Dandelion (Geogaddi) - When Leslie Nielsen says, "A new contraption to capture (CLACK!!!) a dandelion in one piece has been put together by the crew..." (:40 seconds in)
This is probably the most menacing of the three I've noticed.

- Alpha and Omega (Geogaddi) - Although it appears subtly among the sequences, it's very apparent in the opening of the song (:2 seconds) and again towards the end (5:05 and 5:44). There must be some pattern here!

- Chromakey Dreamcoat (The Campfire Headphase) - There are sounds in this song that are similar to the clack in question, but it's much, much louder than usual at 3:04. So loud to where it hits me you surprise. Again, very random.

Please let me know what you guys think about this. Do you think BoC put it in their songs on purpose? Or was it completely random? Or am I just imagining things??

dave_from_2001 · Post by **dave_from_2001** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:59 am

wooden sticks strike broken bricks ...

clack

clack

and again..

CLACK

CLACK!

eerie.. something or someone comes near.

Jakerpoo · Post by **Jakerpoo** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:23 am

my guess is pressing play on a tape player

bleak. · Post by **bleak.** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:50 am

it's all to do with anchoring...perhaps? :wink:

interesting. i wonder if it's intentional...

Nazeal · Post by **Nazeal** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:16 am

it sounds like a phasing of a layered drum sample to me

(parenthesis) · Post by **(parenthesis)** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:02 pm

yeah, that loud clack in Dandelion made me wonder if boc put it in or if it was in the original.

Closing_Logo · Post by **Closing_Logo** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:34 pm

Dandelion: probably a background sound in the TV episode sampled
Alpha and Omega: sounds like someone hitting "stop" on a tape recorder
Chromakey Dreamcoat: I'm not sure I hear anything @ 3:04

Seems an unusual group of sounds to focus on - I've always filtered these out as insignificant relative to the other sounds going on when listening to these tracks. I vote for "Unintentional."

ryetronics · Post by **ryetronics** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:03 pm

Closing_Logo wrote:Dandelion: probably a background sound in the TV episode sampled
Alpha and Omega: sounds like someone hitting "stop" on a tape recorder
Chromakey Dreamcoat: I'm not sure I hear anything @ 3:04

Seems an unusual group of sounds to focus on - I've always filtered these out as insignificant relative to the other sounds going on when listening to these tracks. I vote for "Unintentional."

But can anything be deemed unintentional when an album is 3 to 4 years in the making?

nurthice · Post by **nurthice** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:09 pm

ryetronics wrote:
Closing_Logo wrote:Dandelion: probably a background sound in the TV episode sampled
Alpha and Omega: sounds like someone hitting "stop" on a tape recorder
Chromakey Dreamcoat: I'm not sure I hear anything @ 3:04

Seems an unusual group of sounds to focus on - I've always filtered these out as insignificant relative to the other sounds going on when listening to these tracks. I vote for "Unintentional."

But can anything be deemed unintentional when an album is 3 to 4 years in the making?

yes. it can.

Skytree · Post by **Skytree** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:41 pm

Just thought I'd speak from personal experience here..."clacks" in my tracks (nice little rhyme) are usually just artifacts from a field recording/found sound that I leave in because of the lovely texture, especially when the clack in question hits off beat (it confuses the ear a bit in the best of ways). That doesn't mean it's intentional...I doubt BoC calculated the exact position of the clack via a Fourier sequence or a seance with L. Ron Hubbard. They probably just heard it, thought it was nice, and left it in.

polar sky · Post by **polar sky** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:58 pm

Closing_Logo wrote:Dandelion: probably a background sound in the TV episode sampled
Alpha and Omega: sounds like someone hitting "stop" on a tape recorder
Chromakey Dreamcoat: I'm not sure I hear anything @ 3:04

Seems an unusual group of sounds to focus on - I've always filtered these out as insignificant relative to the other sounds going on when listening to these tracks. I vote for "Unintentional."

yeah its in the tv sample in the back round, not put there by them. who really knows though. I love those little things.

harpoon dodger · Post by **harpoon dodger** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:38 am

A-Ball, from the forum (godz rest his soul) and I, used to call this sound..the rock-clap. As we assumed those cray-t Sandisons went out into the wild, bashed some rocks together, distorted/treated/fucked the hell out of the audio, and then created that classic clack we all know and love. We had plans to actually try this ourselves..never got around to it. Though I suppose I could, now that I own 2 portable reel-to-reels?

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:49 am

i got news for you, i copied their signature clack sound, it was the first thing i learned to imitate

sorry

suddenly i get this distinct feeling that's only funny to me

Cupz · Post by **Cupz** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:03 am

turquoise70 wrote:i got news for you, i copied their signature clack sound, it was the first thing i learned to imitate

sorry

suddenly i get this distinct feeling that's only funny to me

no its not.

soundxplorer · Post by **soundxplorer** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:21 pm

I've always thought these sounds were typical snaps and pops made by an analog tape machine or even a film projector. Whether they were there in the original source samples (like the Dandelion sample of the guy speaking) or if they were added intentionally as texture, who knows.