Sound – Environments 1: The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore / 2: Orptimum Aviary – LP

Environments is a series created by producer and sound recordist Irv Teibel for Syntonic Research Inc. between 1969 and 1979. The series consists of recordings of natural sounds such as a seashore with crashing waves or a thunderstorm with falling rain, without musical accompaniment. The series helped ignite a worldwide interest in field recordings which resulted in many imitations being released throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s both with, and without, music (i.e.: Moods, Solitudes, Echoes of Nature, Nature Recordings, Magic Moods, etc.

Track Listing:
A. 1. The Psychologically Ultimate Seashore - 30:00
B. 1. Optimum Aviary - 30:00

Reviews:

1. AllMusic - Johnny Loftus
Harkening back to the 1970s and the advent of relaxation and environmental recordings is Atlantic Records' Environments series. Produced in association with New York-based Syntonic Research, Inc., the series bears the amazing subtitle "The Music of the Future Isn't Music," and features painstaking field recordings of nature and the environment. Environments 1: Psychologically Ultimate Seashore presented 60 minutes of uninterrupted ocean sounds, recorded at night to reduce noise from birds and the like. While it may be possible to hear distant fog horns, that claim has been disputed, since it's possible to hear many things in the unending crash and lull of the waves. Although it may not apply directly to each strata of society, as mastermind I.S. Teibel suggests in the liner notes, Psychologically Ultimate Seashore is incredibly relaxing and will serve nicely as a white noise background for sleeping or meditation.