4 ms·

Bone music: the Soviet bootleg records pressed on x-rays (2015)

73 points by ToFab123 7y ago

dang 7y ago
Related from 2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10724639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10724639 and a bit from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14287608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14287608
- dharmab 7y ago
  And a 99% Invisible episode: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/bone-music/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/bone-music/
kyrieeschaton 7y ago
Speaking of bootleg uses of xrays - apparently they are made of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, which when sandwiched in many layers works as impromptu body armor (proper laminates are used when lightweight or positive buoyancy armor is required). The Filipinos were using this during one of their recent disturbances when they began duct taping discarded xray sheets from their local hospital to their chests.
- mirimir 7y ago
  It helps a lot to have alternating layers with very different hardness/elasticity.[0] So maybe x-ray film and metal foil? 0) https://www.nrl.navy.mil/techtransfer/available-technologies/materials/multi-ply-heterogeneous-armor https://www.nrl.navy.mil/techtransfer/available-technologies...
- tyingq 7y ago
  Apparently also popular in Thailand. This guy tested one, and it did work against .22 and some .38 pistol rounds, which is surprising. Failed with anything more powerful: https://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-58-homemade-x-ray-film-bullet-proof-vests/ https://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-58-homemade-x-r...
dugditches 7y ago
This is an _excellent_ Radio Documentary on a Russian Pianist that mentions these records 'Music on the Ribs'(41:00~). He was persecuted and sent away to work camps. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03csqbn https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03csqbn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Kozin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Kozin
- PappaPatat 7y ago
  Thank you so much for the link to Vadim Kozin! Lovely voice and music.
yellowapple 7y ago
Obligatory documentary on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCCYnDvpJQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCCYnDvpJQ
aasasd 7y ago
> the small ads of music papers in the 1960s were frequently littered with desperate pleas from people who had heard a song once, sometimes years previously, and were haunted by the memory Understandable. I'd very much like to know what was that song that died together with my hard disk almost fifteen years ago: a simple repetitive upbeat-but-relaxed rhythm of mid-bass synth with animeish girl voice chattering over it, and a refrain with the words “Ichi ni san go.” The melody of which refrain is somehow almost identical to that of “Perfect” by Princess Superstar—which didn't help me one bit in my search. And the only metadata I know about the song is that it was ‘12.mp3’ in some compilation. With the google-fu, I've managed to find two cartoons from my childhood just by vague descriptions, but no such luck with this song. I also sometimes get a melody stuck in my head for days on end until I finally remember where it comes from. And sometimes, only a chance listening to the album relieves the curse when I'm pretty much ready to wade through the entire genre that in fact turns out to be mostly unrelated (damn you wild Japanese synth-jazz experimenters).
- vintermann 7y ago
  Reddit's tip of my tongue subreddit is pretty good at finding out this sort of thing.
  - aasasd 7y ago
    Tried that too, in relation to the ‘12.mp3’―no luck, though I posted only once so far. I'll probably have to barge in on some similar Japanese resource. At other occasions, I'm usually having trouble describing what I'm looking for, since it's practically all instrumental and sometimes rather vague. (“Circusey frantic melody?” Good luck with that to me. Turned out to be from the excellent and, critically, diverse “World Shopping” album by Space Ponch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-VxYG0nRWhk https://youtube.com/watch?v=-VxYG0nRWhk).
- ocfnash 7y ago
  If you can remember enough of it you might try writing down a Parsons Code and searching against, say: https://www.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.html https://www.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_code

73 points by ToFab123 7y ago

dang 7y ago

Related from 2015: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10724639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10724639 and a bit from 2017: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14287608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14287608

dharmab 7y ago
And a 99% Invisible episode: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/bone-music/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/bone-music/

kyrieeschaton 7y ago

Speaking of bootleg uses of xrays - apparently they are made of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene, which when sandwiched in many layers works as impromptu body armor (proper laminates are used when lightweight or positive buoyancy armor is required). The Filipinos were using this during one of their recent disturbances when they began duct taping discarded xray sheets from their local hospital to their chests.

mirimir 7y ago
It helps a lot to have alternating layers with very different hardness/elasticity.[0] So maybe x-ray film and metal foil? 0) https://www.nrl.navy.mil/techtransfer/available-technologies/materials/multi-ply-heterogeneous-armor https://www.nrl.navy.mil/techtransfer/available-technologies...
tyingq 7y ago
Apparently also popular in Thailand. This guy tested one, and it did work against .22 and some .38 pistol rounds, which is surprising. Failed with anything more powerful: https://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-58-homemade-x-ray-film-bullet-proof-vests/ https://www.theboxotruth.com/the-box-o-truth-58-homemade-x-r...

dugditches 7y ago

This is an _excellent_ Radio Documentary on a Russian Pianist that mentions these records 'Music on the Ribs'(41:00~). He was persecuted and sent away to work camps. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03csqbn https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03csqbn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Kozin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadim_Kozin

PappaPatat 7y ago
Thank you so much for the link to Vadim Kozin! Lovely voice and music.

yellowapple 7y ago

Obligatory documentary on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCCYnDvpJQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCCYnDvpJQ

aasasd 7y ago

> the small ads of music papers in the 1960s were frequently littered with desperate pleas from people who had heard a song once, sometimes years previously, and were haunted by the memory Understandable. I'd very much like to know what was that song that died together with my hard disk almost fifteen years ago: a simple repetitive upbeat-but-relaxed rhythm of mid-bass synth with animeish girl voice chattering over it, and a refrain with the words “Ichi ni san go.” The melody of which refrain is somehow almost identical to that of “Perfect” by Princess Superstar—which didn't help me one bit in my search. And the only metadata I know about the song is that it was ‘12.mp3’ in some compilation. With the google-fu, I've managed to find two cartoons from my childhood just by vague descriptions, but no such luck with this song. I also sometimes get a melody stuck in my head for days on end until I finally remember where it comes from. And sometimes, only a chance listening to the album relieves the curse when I'm pretty much ready to wade through the entire genre that in fact turns out to be mostly unrelated (damn you wild Japanese synth-jazz experimenters).

vintermann 7y ago
Reddit's tip of my tongue subreddit is pretty good at finding out this sort of thing.
- aasasd 7y ago
  Tried that too, in relation to the ‘12.mp3’―no luck, though I posted only once so far. I'll probably have to barge in on some similar Japanese resource. At other occasions, I'm usually having trouble describing what I'm looking for, since it's practically all instrumental and sometimes rather vague. (“Circusey frantic melody?” Good luck with that to me. Turned out to be from the excellent and, critically, diverse “World Shopping” album by Space Ponch: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-VxYG0nRWhk https://youtube.com/watch?v=-VxYG0nRWhk).
ocfnash 7y ago
If you can remember enough of it you might try writing down a Parsons Code and searching against, say: https://www.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.html https://www.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsons_code