| That would be outstanding. Perhaps putting the 
recording in the control room of the MRI facility and having the wires run into 
the room, two stereo microphones on either side of the machine would be ideal, 
but that may not be feasible. Even a basis minidisc recorder with a small 
stereo microphone attached would be good enough raw material for me!  
:)   Your comment about the headphones explains why the 
headphones they put on me were attached to plastic tubing that ran to the 
control room...just the like good ol' fashion communication system in boats and 
submarines!  I think a mic would be fine outside the machine. When I had my 
MRI, there were plenty of objects in the room around the machine...I just 
couldn't have any metallic objects on my body inside it. They were really 
concerned about that. I was shot in the leg by a .357 magnum when I was a 
teenager, which left several pieces of soft lead in my leg, which were removed 
surgically. That was enough for them to open their manual and search for data on 
that caliber of gun, types of bullets, copper vs. lead shells, 
etc.  Kris
   
  ----- Original Message -----  Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 5:01 
  PM Subject: RE: The MRI and Looping: For 
  Ambient & Experimental Music? 
 I 
  have connections and could probably sneak into one, the challenge is recording 
  it with something non-magnetic.  It's been a challenge to design 
  headphones that won't rip off your head (read that as you like;-) ) or mess up 
  the images.  Let me think about a technique.... 
    
    I just had a most exhilarating experience: my 
    first MRI (on my lower back).  This was amazing. I laid down on a 
    sliding table, and they pushed me into a sarcophagus like tube with 
    mere inches around my entire body.  They put large headphones on 
    my head, and then for the next 30 minutes I was eased into a seemingly 
    euphoric and meditative state. What I heard were a series of interesting 
    sounds...from jackhammer-like hammering, to buzzing or vibrating cycles, 
    bizarre sci-fi industrial like sounds, and so on. It was delightful.  
    The MRI technician said it was a rarity for someone to actually 
    enjoy that procedure.  At one point in time, I was in a half 
    waking/dream state and was awoke by my leg twitching.  I could have 
    stayed in there most of the day. And the amazing thing is that 
    when I asked about the source of the sounds, he said they were not 
    mechanically generated; rather, around my body, encased in metal, was a 
    giant electrical coil surrounded by helium, chilled down to a cool minus 270 
    degrees.  The sounds were a result of changes they were making in the 
    electrical current and the resulting vibrations to the machine. 
    Unbelievable...not sure how all that produces an image of my back, 
    however.   ...anyway, I started thinking, I would love to 
    have that 30 minutes captured on a digital recorder so that I could use it 
    for looping or as an ambient backdrop to my more experimental 
    looping.   Are there any MRI technicians on the 
    list?   Kris   ***************************************************** |